OUR TEAM

Dr. COURTNEY STRATTON

  • Co-Founder

    Courtney, PhD, RYT-500, SEP, was initiated on her yogic path when she trained and lived at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm in Grass Valley in 2004. Since then, she has deepened her yogic studies, completed several trainings, and curated her own style, which relies heavily on helping students to develop their own inner knowing and connection to their bodies while feeling safe and having fun. She loves to help beginners feel at home in her classes as they embark on their yoga journey.

    Courtney firmly believes that yoga is for Every Body, and she will work tirelessly to find ways to help students enjoy their yogic practice with any tool she can find. She currently studies kundalini yoga and offers beginner gentle yoga and chair yoga classes, though she possesses vast experience in teaching other styles of hatha, vinyasa, restorative, yin, and face yoga. 

    Courtney also holds a specialty in anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics, as she studied these subjects in both undergraduate and graduate school. She taught these sciences for over seven years in massage schools and other yoga teacher training programs, and also offers advanced continuing ed. As a graduate of Masters in Education with a specialization in Adult Education and Training, she also has the experience and knowledge to put together well-rounded and meaningful learning events, which provide embodied learning.

    With her PhD in Transpersonal Psychology, Courtney brings the mystical as well as the practical to her trainings and classes. Her work is centered around the Divine Feminine and deepening our connection with our deep inner wild knowing. She loves the esoteric and energetic aspects of yoga, while also maintaining a grounded approach. Her unique blend of years of group study, bodywork, therapy, self-study, and practice support her in bringing a wisdom and skill set that enhances the learning environment for everyone.

ADRIANA PICKERING

  • Co-Founder

    Born and raised Costa Rican, Adri has devoted her life as a yoga teacher, gifted healer, wellness coach, and healthy chef since 1999.

    Adriana holds a Political Science Bachelor’s degree from The Universidad de Costa Rica, where she developed her passion for social justice.

    She maintains a strong stance that yoga should be accessible to all people. Her position forms a large part of the mission of SYS to dismantle the elitism around yoga, and to make it inclusive and supportive to marginalized populations. As a Latina/Asian immigrant, she has embodied recognition of the effects of Western yoga’s current elitist orientation, and she works to deconstruct this damaging tradition in order to bring the true essence of yoga to the world.  

    As a Yoga instructor, Adriana continues to study, teach, and transmit pampara (yogic tradition) from her teachers: In Ashtanga with Matías and Vaishnavi Flury, Noah Williams, and Tim Miller; in Unnata Yoga with Michele Dortignac; and Yin Yoga with Joe Barnett and Jill Mollenhauer. She has taught in several different yoga teacher trainings as a faculty member offering meditation, yogic philosophy, yogic history, pranayama, and Ashtanga asana. 

    Inspired by her loving Gurus and teachers Svami Purna and Sri Mata Amrita Anandamayi  Devi Amma, she has taught numerous yoga, meditation, and Akashic Record workshops, and has hosted yoga & travel retreats around the world.

    Adriana has received tantric, Vedic, and Ayurvedic training from renowned teachers in India. She has several years of experience with herbs, extracts, elixirs, and potions. Currently, Adriana is a Yoga teacher, healer, Herbalist, and skincare formulator.

    Adri currently lives in Morro Bay, California where she works as Co-Founder of Sagrada Bio Skincare and Internationally as a healer, integrating herbalism, coaching, healing, and yoga.