Meet The Team

She has been working in the fitness industry and has studied Taekwondo for over 30 years. Over the past 20 years her focus has turned to mind body fitness and nutrition integration. As a nutritional coach, she helps her clients better understand macros and how to apply intermittent fasting into everyone’s routine. Barb is also a certified Integrated Human Performance Coach. If you are looking for a coach to help you navigate through the chapters of life, reach out and ask about the IHP program.  She has trained extensively in Baptiste power vinyasa yoga practice and continues to develop as a practitioner as well as a teacher. Barb was born and raised in Alberta, Canada. She lived in Missoula and Las Vegas but for the last 23 years has called Liberty Lake home with her husband and 3 children.  

Kristen is an Anusara-Inspired yoga instructor trained under the lineage of Amy Ippoliti, Karen Sprute-Francovich, Indu Arora, Shanti Shanti Kaur Khalsa, Chinnamasta Stiles, Swami Lisa Pearson, Neil Pearson, John Friend, and Doug Keller. She is also a Certified Childlight Yoga Instructor, a Reiki Level II practitioner and DONA trained Doula. Combined with a university level education in Anatomy, Physiology, and Exercise Science, her teachings focus on optimal alignment for wellness, injury prevention and pain-relief. A meditation practitioner since the age of 10, she is an avid student of mindfulness and its effects on the body. Through breath and body awareness she strives to guide each student inward toward a more steady, aware, and peaceful place. 

Kristen teaches vinyasa, hatha, gentle, restorative, children's, and prenatal yoga. Her favorite part of her job is having the opportunity to share the benefits of yoga with a wide spectrum of people from the highly abled athlete to the disabled veteran, new moms to retirees. At its heart, yoga asks us to come as we are. 

Kristen is currently in the practicum portion of her training as a yoga therapist with Inner Peace Yoga Therapy, in addition to 3+ years as an Exercise Specialist at Evergreen Physical Therapy in Spokane Valley, WA. 

If you are looking to elevate your yoga practice and overall wellbeing, be sure to catch Kristen at one of her Yoga Therapy classes on Sun, Tues or Thurs; OR her Power UP classes taught on Sundays and Thursdays. If you would like to learn more about Kristen and Yoga Therapy, check out her website: JoyfulPose.com.

Bridgette is a stay at home mom of two wonderful kids, and loves every minute of it!

She enjoys hiking, paddleboarding, reading, spending time with her family and watching her kids do the activities they love. 

Bridgette started yoga right after high school and practiced off and on for several years. Through her practice she found that yoga gave her some much needed “me time” amongst the responsibilities of being an adult and full time mom and wife. 

 Bridgette graduated from Joyful Pose Yoga Teacher Training here at the Mat in 2020. She is energetic, fun and might have a joke or two to tell during class. Bridgette believes that yoga is about being true to yourself and doing what is best for your body in each moment.

Nikki has been practicing Yoga for almost 20 years and has always been a “Hot Power Yoga Fan Girl”. She is a former gymnast and fell in love with the playfulness of yoga and can never resist attempting an advanced yoga pose. Nikki elevated her yoga practice by participating in the Joyful Pose Yoga Teacher Training offered at The Mat and has enjoyed teaching ever since! Nikki is married with 2 daughters and when she is not at The Mat or working her day job you can catcher at kids’ gymnastics and ballet practice, snowboarding, camping, or hiking with her family! Nikki teaches Hatha on Mondays and Wednesday evenings and works hard to guide a practice suitable for all levels by breaking down bus stops for advanced poses and offering multiple variations of practice. 

Bridget was born and raised in the PNW with a heart for travel. After graduating form Western Washington University, Bridget worked and wandered abroad in Southeast Asia and Central America teaching English before returning to the Spokane area. A longtime educator of all ages, she has over a decade of experience working with people in a variety of settings. She loves practicing and teaching all styles of yoga but restorative, yin, gentle and hatha are her favorites.

Bridget is also an Ayurveda Specialist. Ayurveda is a natural system of medicine, based on the idea that disease is caused by bodily imbalance or stress. Ayurvedic living helps bring you back into balance and reduce stress., if you are interested in a one-on-one Ayurveda focused private session with Bridget you can reach her yogiauracle@gmail.com.

It's Christy's honor to guide you through an Anusara inspired asan practice. She was trained in the Anusara method, heart-centered yoga, under the incredible guidance of Kristen Gustke at Joyful Pose Yoga School. 

Teaching yoga and watching you grow and expand is truly one of her greatest joys!  She's deeply passionate about making sure she provides a space where you can feel embodied, getting to come back home to yourself and be empowered to live the day and life you want to when you leave.  

Christy began her journey of intentional movement & embodiment through dance beginning at the age of 2 and continuing into college.  She wished that she had found yoga sooner in her life.  

To have had the knowledge of the principles of alignment, that she now does, to provide even safer movement while dancing would have been a gift.  Instruction of the yoga principals of alignment are something that you can always expect to receive in her classes, enabling you to feel strong, centered & expansive. 

She gets to be a wife to Seth, mama to 3 amazing kids Everett, Aubrey & Miles, coach and counselor as a certified Positive & Conscious Parenting Educator and Life Coach serving her clients through her company This Radiant Life.  She has her Master's in School Counseling and has served as a school counselor throughout her life as well. 

She loves being outside surrounded by nature and adventures any season of the year, backpacking, paddle boarding, playing tennis, skiing and soaking up the sun at the lake.  And she adores her ever-present shadow in her sweet dog Rosie. 

Jen began her journey as a yoga instructor in 2018 and completed her RYT-200 Teacher Training with Alison Rubin at Harmony Yoga.  She focused heavily on alignment of yoga poses throughout her training. Her practice has become a daily routine in her life she welcomes with passion. She enjoys teaching gentle, restorative, yin, chair, and hatha yoga including mindful breathing in each asana. Being on her mat is a place she can go to relax that is safe, peaceful, and focus on just being in the present moment.  She wants her students to experience what she feels. Her practice includes variations and modifications for all levels. She has taught over 1000 hours of yoga which puts her at an E-RYT. Recently she received a certification from Barre Above in 2022 and teach Barre classes. She enjoys reading books and being outdoors in the summer hiking, paddle boarding, and kayaking.