Meet the Teachers: Who Will Be Leading AYM's 2026/27 Teacher Training?

A teacher training is only as good as the people who teach it. Here's an honest introduction to the faculty behind AYM's 2026/27 program.

Jeanne Mudie, Co-Lead

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Jeanne has been teaching yoga for nearly twenty-five years, and her practice has evolved progressively toward a deeply therapeutic approach. Trained extensively in Restorative and Therapeutic Yoga as well as Thai Yoga Massage, she brings a refined eye for the subtle imbalances in the body, an eye trained first through her background as a dancer.

Her teaching is grounded in one central idea: yoga helps us listen to our bodies so we can understand what they need in order to heal. Whether you're working with an injury, navigating a physical limitation, or simply wanting to understand the mechanics of movement more deeply, Jeanne brings both expertise and genuine care to that process.

Shankara Darby, Co-Lead

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Shankara was born in Mysore, India, and was encouraged into teaching yoga by his father, Mark Darby, in his early twenties. Over the past twenty-six years, his path has taken him through the Krishnamacharya lineage, the Kriya Yoga tradition, Chinese martial arts and traditional medicine, and a deep immersion in Native American spirituality.

What he found, after all of that exploration, was a profound respect for the simplicity of traditional teachings and how they open up with deepening experience. In the studio, his teaching is rooted in breath, postural alignment, and the guidance of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Whether you seek a deeper connection to the body, emotional clarity, peace of mind, or spiritual unfolding - the traditional teachings will support your journey for the time we are together, and for many years beyond.

Leslie Kaminoff, Anatomy

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Leslie Kaminoff is the co-author of Yoga Anatomy, one of the world's best-selling yoga books — over one million copies in print, translated into 23 languages, and used as a reference in teacher training programs globally. He has spent four decades in the fields of yoga and breath anatomy, inspired by the tradition of T.K.V. Desikachar, and was a founding voice in the conversations that shaped Yoga Alliance's certification standards.

Leslie's anatomy curriculum is delivered as a complete online program, building a thorough, practical understanding of how breath and the body work together - not just anatomy theory, but anatomy that directly informs how you teach and how you adjust.

Guest Professors

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In addition to the core faculty, the program features three guest professors, each bringing deep expertise in a specific domain:

• Terri McCollum: Nearly thirty years of practice and study, with formal university training in Asian religion and South Asian studies, and extensive study with teachers in India in yoga, meditation, Sanskrit, and philosophy. Terri approaches yoga with curiosity, humor, and a genuine wariness of dogma.

• Michael Bridge-Dickson: Over twenty years of teaching experience, with a particular expertise in injury prevention, sustainability in practice, and helping practitioners understand the interconnected factors that build a stronger, healthier long-term relationship with yoga.

• Kate Markle: An AYM graduate herself, Kate teaches yoga for beginners, yoga for Traumatic Brain Injury “TBI” (through LoveYourBrain), yoga for anxiety and depression, and yoga for musicians. She brings an inclusive, breath-focused approach to making yoga genuinely accessible to people who might otherwise feel excluded from it.

A faculty built around what you actually need to teach

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This isn't a lineup assembled for credential value. Each member of the faculty teaches something you'll use, Jeanne and Shankara on the foundations of practice and teaching, Leslie on the anatomy that makes safe instruction possible, and the guest professors on the specialized knowledge that rounds out a genuinely confident, adaptable teacher.

→ Learn more and apply: ashtangamontreal.com/teachers-training