Instructors
Barb Oviatt
Barb started The Mat adventure in 2010.
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 everyones 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 Wade
A self-confessed nerd, Kristen has been a spiritual seeker since childhood; studying yoga, Buddhism, and natural healing for over twenty years.
She has extensive training in the Anusara method, with a dedicated studentship to Amy Ippoliti. She is trained in prenatal yoga, yoga therapy, Reiki level II, and as a DONA Doula.
Her instruction aims to foster a seeking spirit intent on balancing physical expression and playfulness to develop inner wisdom. With a focus on alignment, a spiritual connection, and therapeutic attention, her classes are regarded as being challenging and lighthearted.
Kristen is a mother of three sweet, mischievous children and an exuberant, hairy dog. Her aim is to keep them moderately well fed, somewhat clean, and exceptionally happy.
Mary Naccarato
Mary is a middle school counselor and a mother to three wonderful boys.
Her yoga journey started in 2010, and when she began to feel the transformation it was having in her life, she felt inspired to share the gift of yoga with others.
Mary believes that the mind, body, and soul connection is a sacred one; one that should be nurtured and inspired.
Keeping this thought as a forefront in her mind, she teaches her classes from the heart, creating an uplifting and safe environment for people to explore with their own bodies.
Scott Brownlee
Scott started practicing yoga with his son because he thought it would be valuable to his son’s high school wrestling. (It was, he went on to win the state championship.)
Scott has been steadily practicing yoga ever since. When the opportunity arose to take a yoga certification training, he enrolled to deepen his own practice. The experience made him want to share with others what yoga has meant in/for his own life.
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After years of working in the film and television industry with clients including Disney and Marvel, Scott finds time in his busy schedule as an adjunct professor of Film Post Production at two institutions to teach yoga at The Mat and at the Airway Heights prison.
Christi Van Amberg​
Christi was introduced to Yoga in high school the ‘80’s from a very eccentric hippie Home Ec teacher , from that moment on she daily used those few poses to help with sleep and stress which is why part of her mission is to share yoga tools with teens!
She finished 8 weeks of Bikram Teacher training before realizing that she was very pregnant. Three Boys and a lot of life later, she was physically and mentally ready to finish her teacher training at at Mellow Monkey Studio in Spokane and has been ecstatically teaching at the Mat ever since.
She believes Yoga helped her through a rough start as a kid, helped with stress during a crazy LA career and has helped keep autoimmune illness at bay. She firmly believes that yoga is for EVERY body and loves to share the yoga glow with everyone she can. She is over the moon to be a part of the welcoming and diverse Mat Community.
Ryan Sawyer
Ryan comes from an athletic background as former National Champion Collegiate Football Coach having coached defensive line at EWU from 2008-2015. Leaving his coaching career, Ryan set out on a journey of self-realization which led to his own life transformation through intense studies and practices that include Breath Work, Meditation, Visualization, and Yoga. His journey led him to studying with and being mentored by Mark Divine a former Navy Seal commander and author of "The Unbeatable Mind". He has recently been certified as an Unbeatable Mind coach and a Kokoro Yoga instructor. Kokoro, the Japanese concept of warrior spirit or "merging heart and mind into action" is a combination of breathing, meditation, and visualization into both traditional yoga poses as well as cross-training/combat-conditioning exercises.
During his transformation, Ryan also built a residential painting business that he continues to own and operate. He is enthusiastic about sharing his love for Yoga, the Breath and Meditation. Ryan lives in Spokane Valley with his wide Heidi and their two beautiful children.
Bridgette Harris
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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.
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