Our Cloud Nine Yoga Branch Teachers

One thing is for sure, a Yoga class is different everywhere you go! If you haven’t found a teacher or studio that really feeds your soul, don’t get discouraged. Keep looking, experiencing and seeking out a place to practice this beautiful art and magical healing movement. There is a teacher out there for every student.

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY AT CLOUD NINE YOGA… We are like a big, loving family. Most of us have been together for lifetimes! Look around here and enjoy all the inspiration. Our homes, studios and locations are mostly in Southern California. We provide classes, yoga teacher training, retreats and various workshops from Laguna Beach to Torrance, Long Beach to Hollywood, Huntington Beach to Gardena!!!

ATHENA ENGELMAN, E-R.Y.T. 500
Athena Engelman is an Advanced Certified Yoga Instructor and Teacher Trainer for Cloud Nine Yoga School. Athena loves creative expression and uses different genres of music and pranayama to help create a truly unique experience. She has a playful approach and enjoys teaching a class that integrates different techniques as well inspirational quotes that help the student to deepen their own practice by becoming aware of their whole being. She teaches all levels of classes including Yoga classes at Vistamar Independent High School, Vinyasa, Restorative, and Yoga on the Beach, Seniors yoga, and so many more. Athena is excited to share her love of yoga with everyone and encourages yoga practitioners to listen, honor and respect their bodies and the beauty that comes from the divine within. Hosting Yoga retreats locally and internationally she integrates her love of yoga and travel. Most recently Athena has embarked on a Holistic Teacher Training Program with Saul David Raye applying the principles of Tantra Yoga and celebrating your inner spirit.

BRUNA SAKANOI, R.Y.T. 500
Bruna Sakanoi is an Advanced Certified Yoga Instructor, Reiki Practitioner and Teacher Trainer for Cloud Nine Yoga School. She has a background in Dance and Capoeira. Bruna’s passion is to hold a sacred space, where one feels safe to explore what is under the surface in order to heal and re-connect with one’s Divine Essence. Bruna teaches all levels and enjoys teaching a class that integrates meditation, breath, visualization, vocal release, music, poetry and inspirational reading. She also loves to share her therapeutic grade aromatherapy oils with her students. Bruna has been studying with Erika F. Hattingh, Julian Walker and has recently completed a teacher training with Seane Corn.

STELLA TRYON, R.Y.T. 500
Stella has a creative approach to yoga, influenced by her affection for the art of living. Holding several national certifications in group exercise, Stella is coordinating group activities for L.A. Fitness in Garden Grove. She also teaches yoga for a variety of wellness programs including the Center for Successful Aging at Cal State University, Fullerton. With over ten years of Reiki experience, Stella’s healing hands are full of warmth and compassionate energy as she serves all ages and abilities to a range of holistic modalities. Honored to be a part of the expansion of Cloud Nine Yoga, she offers private and semi-private sessions as well as her regularly scheduled classes.

SIMONE MARKET, E-R.Y.T. 500
Simone Market is an Advanced Yoga Instructor and Teacher Trainer for Cloud Nine Yoga School. She is known for creating a healing space for yoga students of all levels and methodologies. Her extensive background as an advanced Yoga Therapy Rx Instructor helps her to create a personalized practice for sports enthusiasts as well as those dealing with specific body injuries. Simone’s approach in a group class varies from gentle and Restorative to advanced as well as reflective Meditation, Pranayama and Chakra opening. Simone encourages each student to follow their own inner guide while cultivating and developing their practice on their spiritual journey. She has been lucky enough to have studied extensively with Erich Schiffman, Julian Walker, Gurmukh, Paul Grilley, Rod Styker, Saul David Raye, Rodney Yee, and so many other amazing teachers of yoga. She feels truly blessed that she is able to be a positive light and able to follow her path on this beautiful life journey.

TRINITY STUART, RYT
Trinity lives out her dharma by integrating her two passions — her love of yoga and her love of literature, throughout her everyday life. She has a B.A. in English from California State University, Fullerton, earned her yoga certification through Cloud Nine Yoga School under Erika Faith Hattingh, and is also a certified Reiki Practitioner. Her classes are often peppered with the philosophies of literary teachers and beyond; she integrates stories, poetry, and life lessons into the space that she shares with her students. Trinity believes that a yoga class should be a place to meditate, laugh, sweat, and connect with the divine. She currently teaches Introduction to Hatha Yoga and Intermediate Hatha Yoga classes at Pasadena City College and is honored to be Co-Director of the Cloud Nine Yoga Branch in Central Los Angeles.

TOBI BECERRA, E-RYT 200
Tobi was a professional dancer at the age of 11 and earned a BFA in Dance & Theatre from Chapman University and her yoga teacher training certification through CNY under Erika Faith Hattingh and Mackenzie MacSween. She began practicing yoga as part of her dance training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York . After her dance career ended she discovered that yoga was the healing practice that her body and spirit needed to recover from the physical trauma associated with dance. Her Vinyasa Flow style class will challenge you both mentally and physically all the while showering you with love, nurturing and most importantly, fun! She is currently a lecturer for the Cloud Nine Yoga Teacher Training Program.

VALINDA COCHELLA, MA, E-RYT
Founder of South Bay Yoginis, has a Master’s Degree from UCLA in Dance/Movement Therapy and has been practicing yoga since 1994. She has completed six Yoga Teacher Training Programs since 2000. One year long intensive with Erika Faith Hattingh of Cloud Nine Yoga School, in 2002 her second through Santa Monica Yoga and in 2002 she also completed her Advanced Teacher Training with Julian Walker in Core Sequencing (of the Ana Forrest Lineage). Valinda began studying Kundalini Yoga in 2000 and became certified with Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, at the International Level in Kundalini, & Pre-natal Yoga in 2003. Her most recent Love is her daughter Bellina Faith born in 2004, so she is now cetified and teaching Radiant Child Yoga to children ages 3-7. She currently teaches exclusively at Lyfe Yoga Center in Hermosa Beach, CA. Her unique training at Clearsight Clairvoyant School, as a Reiki Practioner and Dance Therapist allow her to guide people to explore yoga on a deep personal level to heal the body, mind and spirit. She creates a safe spiritual, therapeutic environment. Come take a journey into yourself! “Still Your Mind, Open Your Heart, Speak Your Truth & Live Your Dreams”.