Team Tara
Marisa LaValette
Marisa is the founder of Tara Yoga Studio where she is known for invigorating vinyasa yoga classes that make you sweat on your mat, laugh with your satsang, and cry out loud when you realize…that you are everything.
Marisa trained through YogaWorks with Erika Trice, Hillary Skibell, Eka Ekong, Sarah Ezrin, and Michele Klink, and also trained in Jivamukti-derived vinyasa yoga methods with Lesley Desaulniers.
She completed her Yoga Teacher Trainer certification through YogaWorks.
Marisa studies kirtan with Mirabai Warkulwiz.
She can’t wait to see YOU shine your light. After all, you’re a star.
Kate Dolkas
Kate first discovered yoga at a small Bikram studio in Los Angeles 20 years ago while working as an actor. Kate now practices yoga for quiet space, strength, and connection.
As a teacher, her classes are challenging and fun, set to upbeat music, with a focus on alignment and breathwork. Kate is a 200-hour Yoga Alliance RYT.
When not on the mat, Kate keeps busy on her small farm with her husband, two sons, nine goats, twenty three chickens, one dog, two barn cats and a tortoise.
Dana Hancock
Known for her soulful, creative flows, Dana is a sought-after vinyasa teacher in beautiful Sonoma and Marin Counties. Classically trained as an opera singer, musician, and composer, she sees yoga practice and teaching as an art form. Every class with Dana features fun, sweaty sequences, hands-on assists, spiritual teachings, and meditation.
A student of yoga since 2003, Dana trained with master teachers Lesley Desaulniers from the Jivamukti Yoga tradition and Nubia Teixeira from the Bhakti tradition. Dana has also studied harmonium and chanting with Grammy-nominated singer Jai Uttal, and infuses chanting into each of her teachings.
A lifelong student, Dana continues to evolve her practice to better serve her community and share her passion for yoga. She is thankful to all the incredible teachers she’s encountered on her path and feels honored to be able to share this rich practice with others.
Denisha Brekke
Denisha’s yoga journey began when she moved to San Francisco in 2014 and started taking power vinyasa and yin classes at the gym. Yoga offered a depth of self discovery that nothing else did, and access to a supportive internal dialogue.
She felt inspired to teach as a way to go deeper with her practice and help others heal. In 2021, she signed up for her first teacher training in Nepal and never looked back.
Denisha completed two more Bay Area trainings because she loves being in yoga containers and wanted to keep learning from incredible teachers. Teaching has been a gift - it unlocks freedom and connection, which is all she’s ever wanted.
Denisha teaches power vinyasa style classes that offer a space of lightness while guiding students to access physical, emotional, and spiritual discovery.
She leads workshops around arm balances, binding, and yoga philosophy. She’s taught well over 1,000 classes and has supported multiple yoga teacher trainings.
Outside of yoga, she loves surfing, hiking, and her pup Naia. Check out Denisha’s sauce business—Da Sauce. It’s a wild, delicious adventure.
Sarah Lee
Sarah is a yoga and meditation teacher, life coach, and business professor.
She helps you connect with your body, find your unique flow, and channel your energy toward purpose through movement, mindfulness, and mindset.
Her journey through mindful movement began in high school as a way to heal from overworking her body in competitive sports. What started as therapy became a lifelong passion, leading her to train in various styles of yoga, barre, Pilates, meditation, and life coaching.
Sarah’s teaching blends intention and playfulness, focusing on alignment, breath, and non-judgment. Whether on the mat, in coaching, or in the classroom, she creates safe, transformative spaces to shed conditioning, reconnect with your truth, and step fully into the life you’re meant to live.
Keely Ferguson
Keely brings 500 hours of training in Jivamukti-rooted teaching methods with Lesley Desaulniers, including deep anatomy study with Alison Smith, Sanskrit and yoga philosophy with Ramana Erickson, and restorative practice with Erika Trice.
Keely’s teaching brings forth her deep passion for music and connecting with people, along with dharma wisdom and creative sequencing. Her classes have a beautiful arc set to her curated uplifting playlists.
In her ‘alternative’ career, Keely has practiced real estate for 27 years and can also DJ your party.
David McGuire
David brings over 20 years of experience as a personal trainer, coach and group exercise instructor. David’s passion lies in motivating and inspiring anyone with a call to come home to themselves in both body and spirit. With a background in professional ballet and competitive gymnastics, David took his first yoga class and knew he had found a place to call home. David’s method of teaching is a simple one – to walk in love and encourage all those around him to see themselves as they truly are – their inner light, their shine, their amazing gifts. David sees yoga as a way of being – to love, to serve, and to step into a softness with ourselves that can only lead to a radiant openness of heart. David’s classes focus on releasing self-judgment and an acceptance of all pieces of who we are (and maybe having some fun along the way). With a consistent practice, David believes we create the most spectacular garden of compassion within ourselves that simply cannot be contained within the four corners of our mat.