Kathleen and Wade met at their daily Mysore Ashtanga class and were married six months later! (when you know, you know!) They are grateful for the opportunity to share their love for God, yoga and each other, with their students.

Kathleen Kastner Mortenson: www.kathleenkastner.com

Kathleen Kastner has been teaching ashtanga and vinyasa yoga for eleven years and currently teaches yoga at Maha Yoga, in Los Angeles, CA. She is also the owner of Maya Yoga studio, in Kansas City, MO: www.mayayoga.com. Kathleen's first yoga DVD, "TEEN YOGA," is being released in May at Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy and can be purchased on the "Store" page. Kathleen graduated from the University of Kansas with a master's degree in exercise physiology and a bachelors degree in journalism.

After college, she moved to San Diego and met her first spiritual teacher, Dr. Deepak Chopra. She worked as Deepak's personal trainer and was introduced to yoga by one of his staff members in 1993. She fell in love with yoga from her very first class: "Even though I was terrible when I began yoga, I just kept coming back to the mat, because I loved the challenge and felt so incredible when I would leave the class. Yoga provided me with a sense of depth, that conventional exercise had never given me. It also changed the way I thought about food, myself and my life, which has transformed me in so many ways. That's the beauty of yoga, every time you step on your mat, a re-birthing takes place, you release limiting thought patterns and discover a deeper, more authentic sense of your true Self. Anything that is not aligned with your highest good, begins to loose it's power over you. and you begin to live your life more fully and freely, without fear, addictions and attachments. You begin to realize that GOD, not people, substances and things, is your source for EVERYTHING in your life."

Kathleen began her yogic journey with viniyoga, taught by Trish O'Reilly and Laura Yon Brooks, of Solona Beach, CA. She then moved to Santa Monica and worked as an exercise physiologist at the Pritkin Longevity Center, and was also introduced to vinyasa yoga by Max Strom, at Yoga Works. With a strong fitness background, Kathleen immediately gravitated towards this flowing and challenging style of yoga. Kathleen returned to the midwest and opened her first yoga studio, "The Yoga Gallery", in Kansas City, MO in 1999, which was eventually destroyed by a fire, three years later. The fire lead Kathleen to open Maya Yoga in 2002, which she still owns and operates from Los Angeles.

Kathleen completed her ashtanga teacher training with Tim Miller and her vinyasa teacher training with Max Strom in 2000. She has also studied with: Bhavani Maki, David Williams, Danny Paradise and Karen Noble, all from the Hawaiian Islands. She has been practicing ashtanga yoga daily for over ten years and currently practices with Jorgen Christianson at Maha Yoga.

Kathleen is a writer and has a yoga and weight loss blog on www.iyogalife.com, called, "Zen Mind Buff Body." She has also written articles for Yoga Magazine and The Kansas City Wellness Magazine: http://www.kathleenkastner.com/writer.html.

Kathleen is a vegan, animal advocate, and the proud mama of three cats: Julian, Oliver and Natasha, and a step-mother to Kaden and Kaiah.

Wade Mortenson

Wade enjoys teaching an Ashtanga influenced class, to lift energy and create a physically challenging Vinyasa flow sequence. Wade currently teaches yoga at Maha Yoga, in Los Angeles, CA. He is a compassionate and inspiring teacher who enjoys introducing beginner and experienced practitioners to yoga and encouraging them to evolve in their practice.

Wade discovered Yoga while living in Henderson Nevada and almost immediately began integrating Yoga into every aspect of his life. Knowing that he wanted to share the gift of Yoga with as many people as possible, Wade has completed a 200 hour Yoga Alliance certified teachers training at the It’s Yoga, studio in Las Vegas. Wade will be attending another teacher training with Tim Miller in June of 2008.“ I knew early on that Yoga was different than any other type of exercise that I had done. I had been a Police Officer for 10 years, which was a profession that perpetuated the 80's mentality of “No Pain No Gain” and “The more muscle the better” body image . It wasn't until I walked into my first yoga class, thinking I was in good shape from 2 hours a day of weight training that I realized there was a big difference between strength and bulk. I was 30 pounds heavier with a muscular build, but I couldn't touch my toes or clasp my hands behind my back. Yoga has changed my diet, my body and my overall health and sense of well being. Most importantly it has deepened my connection to God. I encourage anyone who has yet to try Yoga to come with an open mind, an open heart and prepare to be amazed.”

Wade has served as the senior teacher at the Yogi’s Life studio in Henderson Nevada and taught Yoga at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. Wade is also an avid Reiki practitioner and enjoys working with the subtle energies of the body through modalities such as Yoga and Reiki. Wade practices daily Mysore Ashtanga Yoga with Jorgen Chritiansson at Maha Yoga in Santa Monica, California.

Wade is the proud father of Kaden and Kaiah and a kitty cat dad to Julian, Oliver and Natasha.