Our Teachers
Our teachers are some of the best trained in the nation. All possess nationally-recognized certifications and have been studying the rich tapestry of yogic wisdom and practice for years.
Each teacher brings their own unique style to the classroom based upon training, special talents, and personal perspectives. Having been inspired and transformed by yoga themselves, they are all eager to help you experience the profound and life-changing benefits of this ancient practice.
Our founder is Eric Walrabenstein, a best-selling author, ordained Yogacharya, and one of the most sought-after authorities on the application of yogic technology for self-healing and empowerment in the nation. For 30 years, Eric has been dedicated to making the ancient power of yoga practical for use in our everyday lives.
In addition to his work here at Yoga Pura, Eric is also the creator of the BOOTSTRAP Yoga System for troops and veterans and the BrightLife Yoga Collective. When not teaching at Yoga Pura, Eric regularly travels the nation speaking about wellness and self-empowerment.
Since 2006, Laura Goethe has been a dedicated practitioner and teacher of yoga. It was with her very first yoga class that she first glimpsed the healing power of yoga.
That initial experience was in her words “a life-changing event” that would ultimately give her the tools to help manage an entire range of chronic health conditions that had been plaguing her for years.
Since that time, Laura has devoted her life to the study and teaching of this ancient practice, completing Yoga Pura’s 500 Hour master-level yoga teacher training program, including going on to become a mentor and teacher in that very same program.
Laura’s classes blend a genuine love of the practice with detailed instruction that helps her students get the very most out of their practice. Because of her great success in using yoga as a healing force in her own life, she has become a sought-after teacher for those wishing to use yoga to navigate chronic health challenges of every kind.
Michelle Phillips considers herself “born and raised” at Yoga Pura. Drawn to the practice over a decade ago, Michelle began with the studio’s Intro Series and later completed the 500hr Advanced Studies and Teacher Training Program.
Michelle communicates the authenticity and transformative power of yoga in a way that allows her students to take yoga’s most important teachings off the mat and into their lives.
Bridget Collins attended her first-ever yoga class in 2006, when she took a leap of faith and began experiencing the Intro Series at Yoga Pura - it felt like coming home. From there, in order to deepen her own practice and understanding of Self, Bridget completed the Advanced Yoga Studies and Teacher Training Program in 2008 as well as Yoga Pura's premier program for Yoga Nidra Facilitator Training in 2009.
Since then, she has been committed to her passion of sharing the benefits and experience of Yoga Nidra with groups and individuals in a variety of settings. She is honored to have the opportunity to share the essence of Yoga Nidra with the Yoga Pura community.
Sue Scales has been practicing yoga since 2011. She knew she wanted to share yoga and its power of life transformation with others and found her way to Yoga Pura’s Teacher Training and Life Mastery Program in 2018.
Sue aims for the perfect blend of challenge and encouragement in her classes, so every student can feel safe to explore outside their comfort zone. She brings her knowledge of massage therapy and Reiki to yoga practice, and she loves answering questions. When Sue is not in the yoga studio, you’re likely to find her writing, hiking, or going for a run.
Jenn Daniel started her journey with yoga back in 2007 at Yoga Pura. She completed a 200-hour YTT in San Diego in 2016 followed by several years of teaching.
After returning to Arizona in 2021, she knew she wanted to reconnect to her personal practice and was eager to participate in the 200-hour training with Yoga Pura.
Yoga has helped her navigate the hardest time of her life and kept her mind in a healthy place. She loves to share with others how profound a yoga practice can be, not just to feel good in the body, but to liberate the mind from struggles and to find inner peace.
Kaley Jones A New Orleans native who discovered her passion for Yoga in 2018. After years of seeking from sources outside of herself, philosophical principals taught in class enlightened her to go within.
Two years later she moved to Phoenix with her cats, Nova and Stella. She had no plan besides becoming a yoga teacher…eventually. After over a year of adjusting to a new city, making her way up the corporate hotel ladder, and exploring different studios, Kaley found Yoga Pura. She knew this would be her OM away from home and enrolled in the 200-hr YTT in Fall 2021.
Kaley is inspired by the natural world and cyclical patterns of life. She is certified in Reiki, Yin Yoga, and has a bachelor’s degree in Visual Art. Her creative mind and poetic outlook on life heavily influence her teaching style. She hopes to help guide others back to the divine light and loving awareness within them.
Mercy Demumbrum has been using the tools of yoga since her early teen years to help cope with mental health challenges, finding her passion for meditation and eventually, the physical practice of yoga. Yoga Pura instantly felt like home and she knew right away she wanted to join the yoga teacher training program.
Mercy teaches to help others embrace and explore all parts of themselves, while helping them to observe and see glimpses of their true divine nature.
Mercy played college soccer and coaches for a youth program to this day. She will bring her fun, loving, compassionate, and coach energy to encourage people to become the best versions of themselves.
Matthew Brink has always found joy in learning and teaching, so in 2013, took his first yoga class and fell in love with the practice. In 2015, he completed a Baptiste 200-hour program in Denver and began teaching vinyasa to anyone who would listen. In 2016, he moved to Arizona, participating in a yoga sculpt program.
Suffering from chronic pain and knowing there was more to yoga than he knew, he was inspired to return for more training. In 2023, he started his Yoga Pura journey with the 200-hour teacher training program under Eric Walrabenstein and Laura Goethe and found this wonderful community of health and healing.
Brink's passion is to share wellness, health, joy, and the myriad of ways the tools of yoga can be used to empower others.
Kasey Stevens began her yoga journey in 2011. With a background in gymnastics, yoga felt very natural to her, and she quickly gained back the flexibility and body awareness she had developed in her childhood. What began as a method to become more active and support a running habit, soon evolved into a practice that assisted her with stress management, pain, and self-confidence.
Compelled to share the benefits of yoga with others, she completed her 200-hr Teacher Training in 2015 with LifePower Yoga in Scottsdale. Since then she has taught at studios across the Phoenix area, leading classes for practitioners at all levels and phases of their yoga journey.