Teachers

All of the teachers at Shakti Yoga have completed an intensive teacher-training course at an accredited Yoga training facility. We all have experienced first hand the effects of yoga in our daily lives and feel passionately about sharing that with others.

Collette Beneteau

Collette Beneteau began living her yoga practice in 2003 when she first stepped on her mat at Downtown Yoga in Windsor, Ontario. There, she met many people who inspired her to seek out a path less travelled and to find a gentler way to live life to its fullest. Her practice became the beautiful, holistic tool that led her to deepen and strengthen physically, mentally and spiritually.

At the time, she was a stay at home mom with four children. Her youngest child was in and out of the hospital,and the other 3 were home schooled. Collette found the time to go to yoga and strengthen herself, then went back home to strengthen her family.

Collette has been practicing yoga for 7 years. In 2003 and 2004 she took the teacher training course with Jonny Kest at the Center for Yoga in Bloomfield, Michigan. In 2007 she took a kids teacher training course at Yoga Buds in Toronto. She then further deepened her studies with world famous teachers Manju Pattabhi Jois and David Williams.

Collette became a Registered Massage Therapist in 2009. She blends the skills she has learned from massage and yoga into one another for a more holistic experience. She has also taken Reiki and Thai massage to better her understanding of natural healing. Collette's ultimate goal is to share the wonders of yoga with everyone around her and to lend a healing hand when needed.

Karen Sanchuk

While traveling in India in 1999, Karen and her husband met a couple who had just come from a yoga ashram, claiming it had changed their lives. Already curious about yoga, and not having any plans that sounded better than that, they found their way to a Sivananda yoga ashram.

Karen earned her teacher certification in March, 2004 from the Yandara Yoga Institute. She has completed a 108 hour Anusara Immersion course and is presently studying with Agama Yoga in Thailand under the tutelage of Swami Vivekananda Saraswati.

Karen became a teacher in order to inspire others to discover and practice yoga. She emphasizes mindfulness, mind / body awareness and alignment. To Karen, yoga is much more than the asanas. “As my practice progressed, I began to realize how its effects trickled into the rest of my life. Through learning to focus on the breath and striving to be in the moment, I’m gradually coming to understand things like the beauty of stillness and acceptance, the importance of kindness and letting go and a growing curiosity to find the Truth.

She is grateful to all her teachers and is eternally thankful to that couple in that dusty diner in Delhi.

Virginia Wigle

Virginia grew up in Chatham and currently resides outside Merlin along the north shore of Lake Erie with her husband. Her first exposure to yoga was as a fitness instructor in 1997. Her interest in teaching fitness classes was fueled by her love of dance and movement, having studied ballet and jazz as a child, teenager and young adult. In 2006 she received her certificate as a Teacher of Yoga from the Stillpoint Yoga Centre in Picton, Ontario. Since 1996, Virginia has taught a variety of fitness classes such as Step and Spin, as well as yoga based classes. She has been teaching mainly yoga classes since 2004 at various locations, including the Recreation Department of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent. She has taught at Shakti Yoga Studio since September, 2006.

Virginia teaches primarily beginner and gentle classes. She developed an interest in Yin Yoga resulting in her completing Paul Grilley’s Yin Yoga Teacher Training workshop in May, 2007. In September of 2007 she started teaching Yin Yoga at Shakti. She continues to cultivate her love for yoga and appreciation for its spiritual importance in her life by attending continuing education opportunities, workshops and retreats. In April, 2008, she attended a workshop on Yin and Yang yoga at the Kripalu Center. It is her heart’s desire to live the spirit of yoga in all aspects of her life.

Cathy Cogghe

After 15 years of studying the body/mind/spirit connection through other arts, Cathy recieved her Yoga Teacher Certificate in 2009 at StillPoint Yoga (Picton, ON.) She combines her knowledge and training in Reiki, Jin Shin Acupressure, Massage Therapy and Shamanic Arts to help guide each class and create a space that encourages healing and growth on all levels. She offers gentle & beginner style classes with emphasis on developing the subtle skill of listening to your body, and learning to move in ways that nurture and open all aspects of ourselves.