Acharya Shunya is a globally-recognized spiritual teacher and Vedic lineage-holder who awakens health and consciousness through the Vedic sciences of Ayurveda, Vedanta, and Yoga. She is the driving force behind Vedika Global, an online wisdom school and worldwide spiritual community, and the author of the best-selling book on the Vedic art of mind + body + soul well-being and health, Ayurveda Lifestyle Wisdom (2017) and a forthcoming second book with Sounds True, Sovereign Self (2020).

“My passion and inspiration for helping other yoga teachers are contagious and I harness this to inspire other yoga teachers to overcome self-doubt and burnout. I am dedicated to assisting yoga teachers to connect with their authenticity, enabling them to become powerful leaders of transformation in their yoga communities.

I became a yoga teacher in 2006. In addition to my master’s degree in exercise physiology, I have completed over 2,000 hours of formal yoga and yoga therapy training (C-IAYT).

I am the founder of the Yoga Teacher Conf, which provided affordable continuing education, community support, and connection for teachers.

I’m an extroverted optimist and I love hiking, skiing, and connecting in nature with my husband, Sean.”

Andrea Fiondo, MA, LLP, Educational Psychologist, 500 RYT

Andrea Fiondo is a yoga student since 2010 and has taught Kundalini Yoga with her husband since 2015, at their studio, Kundalini Yoga in Detroit, LLC. She worked as a middle and high school science teacher for five years, and as a School Psychologist for 27 years in the Detroit Public Schools, serving the special educational needs of children from age 2 to 26, within a wide variety of schools.
She is a life-long learner, and an avid reader and writer.

I turned to yoga when there was nothing left.

I had a rough childhood and lived on my own by the time I was 16. I turned to drugs and alcohol as vices; I succumbed to depression, suicide, and surrounded myself with anyone and anything to avoid confronting my reality of a life in decline. After I lost a partner, and had a cancer scare, I continued to lean into self-destructive behavior. We all have our limits, and I hit mine but yoga found me when I needed it most. Yoga met me where I was — not judging me, but demanding my attention.

With a consistent practice, I took multiple steps towards the path of becoming a teacher. Since then, I’ve studied and learned from the best, crediting Darren Main, Jason Crandell, Noah Maze, Rocky Heron, and Janet Stone in influencing my teaching and teaching style. Each class with me is intelligent, fun, functional, but most of all, authentic.

I consider myself a teacher who specializes in breaking down the elements of a vinyasa practice in an accessible, fun, and light-hearted way. My teaching philosophy is one that allows students to understand movements within their bodies at a functional level as opposed to having a standard, routine vinyasa practice. It is my hope that with each practice, students leave their mat with a stronger appreciation for what the body is capable of, how this practice goes off the mat beyond the physical asanas, fosters an unwavering community when we move and breathe together, and how yoga is always there to support you at any time.

As a practicing Ashtangi, I began my journey with Eric Schiffmann and Maty Ezraty at the original Yoga Works in 1993 and since then remain passionate about showing others the pathway to self-realization that yoga provides.

I own a yoga studio (since 2015) and have trained 30+ yoga teachers on a platform using the Ashtanga Method and Patanjali Sutras; where yoga is taught as a Preparation for Meditation in a studio that exemplifies Mindful Ethics. I have attended countless Ashtanga and Ashtanga Confluence workshops and continue to see myself as a lifelong learner of this amazing practice.

Having a Ph.D. in Education who taught Ethics and Cultural Diversity (Professor at the Univ. of California) I can offer a wealth of community knowledge to Yoga Unify in this regard. Prior to my work in academia, I rose to the level of Vice President for a Fortune 100 Company in the bank and investment sector of our economy, a work experience that might benefit the plan for Yoga Unify’s economic growth.

Heather, Founding Director Yoga Unify, is passionate about bringing authentic yoga to the global conscious community across a variety of platforms. Her commitment to building community and offering service in the field of yoga, arts, sustainability, and consciousness is reflected in decades of community building, community event and festival creation and direction, and program development. Heather has produced and directed the annual Sedona Yoga Festival in beautiful Sedona, AZ since 2013. She co-created Aumbase Sedona, a multi-disciplinary studio of authentic yoga teachers and an on the land guide service for yoga, sound healing, and shamanic journeys on the red rocks of Sedona. Heather studies and teaches in the Hatha Tantra tradition.

Judy Weaver is a yoga therapist and a yoga teacher. Using her 30 years of learning and teaching she founded Connected Warriors in 2010, a non-profit, delivering Trauma-Conscious yoga programs to veterans and their families around the world and BodyMind RecalibrationTM a multi-discipline practice building cognitive and somatic body-mind relationships. She is known as a trauma specialist developing protocols for 3 clinical studies used by Connected Warriors and health care practitioners. Judy lectures and leads 200/500 teacher trainings and workshops at universities, festivals, and conferences, is a Yoga Alliance On-line Presenter and part of their Standards Review Project, and a contributor to the YSC book “Best Practices for Yoga for Veterans”. 

LeBaron Meyers has had an eclectic career in investment management, radio, and digital media/tech. She specializes and consults on business development, effective leadership, and strategic communication. Her passion for the intersection of tech & humanity mirrors her love of business & yoga.