About
Photo by www.laurenstorerphotography.com
Chrissy Lefavour started Rising and Vibing long before this vision came to a name in 2019. She began her 200 hour YTT with Kathy McNames of Yoga Vermont in July 2012. Naturally she was invited to teach Ashtanga in her hometown community of Montpelier, VT in the fall of that year.
In the next year and a half Chrissy’s class offerings had grown to include: SUP yoga, Yoga for Kids, Yoga with Horses, private instruction along with her studio classes, Power Yoga, Ashtanga, Chandra Flow, + more… After graduating from the advanced 500 hour training at Yoga Vermont in the spring of 2014, Chrissy founded Grateful Yoga, an Ashtanga inspired studio dedicated to hard work, loving kindness and gratitude towards everything in October of that year. Since 2020, Grateful Yoga runs as a *virtual* studio, offering unlimited access to yoga online and around the world.
With a focused vision and passion for teaching, she expanded her offerings to include a comprehensive Yoga Teacher Training program in January 2016 and launched her first international retreat to the Dominican Republic in March. This is when Chrissy’s travel spark (chispa) lite up and the thirst for learning was stoked again.
Today, the YTT program includes a small staff of dynamic + inspiring trainers, advanced 300 + 500 hour options, a unique training formula and international recognition. Chrissy continues to offer retreats + trainings worldwide and now lives in between Yoga Kite Camp in the DR and her VT yoga community with her husband + 2 cats.
While the Rise + Vibe School of Yoga continues to evolve, the mission remains: elevate, meditate, liberate. We must raise our awareness (elevate) and focus our minds (meditate) on the well-being of humanity and the universe at large (liberate).
Send her an email to learn more about Rise + Vibe today!
Click here to see Chrissy’s weekly class schedule *online* with Grateful Yoga
The Rise + Vibe Training Team
Our trainers all hold a RYT500 certification and bring a unique wealth of knowledge to the school! Meet the team below…
Sorsha Anderson
Sorsha Anderson has been offering yoga to the community for almost a decade. A practitioner for 30 years and a teacher for 15, she has always offered yoga as a nomad of sorts and dreamed intermittently about a yoga home of her own. Also passionate about the arts, this sometimes actor/director found herself with an abundance of creative energy after the COVID cancellation of theater. And thus, Yoga Lab sprang into existence! Sorsha is thrilled to offer this studio to the community in the sweet space at Campe Meade in Middlesex, VT
Sorsha believes yoga is essential. She believes in excellent teachers, solid alignment and a blend of gentle guidance and optimistic encouragement. Each student is their own best teacher and guide; the primary role of the teacher is to awaken this knowledge.
“Do not concern yourself with results. Do it because it must be done”. ~Sri Dharma Mittra
Click here to see Sorsha’s weekly class schedule at the Yoga Lab
Mindy Pistacchio
E-RYT 500 + Certified Massage Therapist
With over 750 hours in training, Mindy’s yoga background is much like a rich stew. Her first teacher training gave a solid foundation in pranayama, meditation and alignment. From there she studied bikram, vinyasa sequencing, restorative, yin and ashtanga.
Mindy has been teaching yoga for over eight years, and has had the opportunity to work with high school students, teach kids at music festivals and summer camps, lead restorative yoga with massage, and instruct on the beach and in an apple orchard. All of these events have allowed her to come into my own as a teacher. Mindy’s practice is deeply rooted in mindful movement, play and anatomy.
Click here to see Mindy’s weekly class schedule at different locations in VT
Christina Morris
RYT500, Reiki Master, Lomilomi Practitioner, Intuitive Arts and Bodywork Specialist, Photographer, Mom, scorpio, art lover and espresso enthusiast.
Yoga is more than what we find within ourselves while we’re on the mat. It is a way of be-ing that offers profound insights that can change your life. Yoga was initally a way for me to reconnect with my body post-childbirth, but it became so much more than that because it helped me connect back to “me”. Yoga gave me the tools to live a more mindful life, with deeper connections to myself and others.
I have studied Ashtanga yoga under Chrissy through both Grateful Yoga and Rise + Vibe Yoga for all of my 500 hours! I am so honored to continue her teachings through mine and extend that lineage through what I offer. I have also studied Yin, Nidra, Meditation, TCM and Meridian Theory through other teacher trainings and certifications.
My yoga practice has led me to open my own studio, Rooted Yoga in Barre, VT as well as Breath & Bone Reiki in Berlin, VT for my reiki, massage and bodywork practices. These businesses keep me really busy and are my passion. I truly love what I do and sharing it with others! I am also lucky to have a wonderful family with my husband, 2 beautiful children, 2 wild kitties, 1 playful old dog and countless backyard animals that we share our life with. Very blessed and very grateful!
Click here to see Christina’s weekly class schedule at Rooted Yoga
Hope Aguilera
Hope is a yogi, teacher, artist, and herbalist:
“I’m passionate about plant medicine, my indigenous culture, and healing for human consciousness and liberation . Yoga helped heal my back when I fractured my spine as a competitive softball player in CA when I was a teenager and I have not stopped practicing. It taught me how to feel connected and grounded in my body. It has brought me far around the world and deeply into my soul. It continues to heal my body, mind and spirit.
“I studied ashtanga based vinyasa and restorative yoga in my 200hr training with YogaNH in 2012 and then anusara alignment, yin, ayurveda, and therapeutic yoga in my 500hr training with Soma Yoga Institute in 2019. My classes are very focused on anusara alignment, as I appreciate a system to realign posture through practice for a healthy life, and on philosophy for mental and spiritual posture in the same way.
“When I’m not on my mat I am making plant medicines or painting or reading a good book on curanderismo with some herbal tea. My teaching is rooted in breath, meditation, and finding our inner bliss body which we all deserve to thrive in.”
Click here to see Hope’s weekly class schedule at Rooted Yoga
GUEST TEACHERS - you’ll find these folks dropping in to teach special subjects both online and in-person!
Stephanie Smith
Stephanie Smith is a writer, author, illustrator and RTY500 yoga teacher in Pennsylvania. After living in New York City for almost 20 years, Stephanie and her family recently relocated to the USA from the Dominican Republic where they enjoyed the slower vibe and better weather of island life for some years. In April 2019, she became a yoga teacher after completing her 200 HR training with Rise + Vibe Yoga in the DR; in August 2020, she completed her 300 HR training virtually. Stephanie teaches vinyasa and restorative classes for adults, and kids yoga. She has also published yoga coloring books and activity sheets for kids, available at Amazon.com and her website, SaltSandYoga.com
Sara Lamie
PT and RYT 500
“I began my interest in physical movement as a student-athlete, and continue to maintain an active lifestyle today in fitness and instruction. I obtained my Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Juniata College in 2006 and my Doctorate of Physical Therapy at Franklin Pierce University in 2009. Most recently, I completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training with Rise + Vibe Yoga.
Since departing from the hospital-based clinic setting in 2019, I have enjoyed exploring spaces where the traditional medical model fails to meet clients’ needs. These include fitness instruction and group classes, informational workshops, and injury prevention as well as maintenance. I have also enjoyed providing Hippotherapy (physical therapy for patients, using equine partners as a treatment tool) at High Horses Therapeutic Riding in Sharon, VT.
I thrive on crafting specific exercise programs with complementary manual therapy techniques in order to give my clients the tools to help them achieve and maintain their functional and recreational goals.
Bibby Burgos
RYT 500, IKO Level 2 + PADI Dive Master
Bibby calls his style of teaching Caribbean Flow, and it’s inspired by his lifelong drive towards movement, mobility and connection with nature. He is an instructor of: scuba diving, kitesurfing, paddle boarding, surfing and yoga.
Being born in raised in the Dominican Republic informs his practice as a form of freedom and expression. In Bibby’s classes you will be encouraged to think positively, to go with the flow and to always have fun! He is also the founder of his own kitesurfing school: www.kitelegendschool.com in Puerto Plata, DR. Come to visit anytime!
The Rise and Vibe School of Yoga operates unider a DBA of Grateful Yoga LLC. Click below to read our company mission statement and acknowledgements. Thank you!