Meet The Team
Kaila Kaufmann
E-RYT 500, B.Comm
In 2013, shortly before opening Bambu Hot Yoga, Kaila completed her YHot 200-Hour Teacher Training with two of British Columbia’s pioneering hot yoga teachers, Kristin Campbell and Coco Finaldi of The YYoga Teachers College. This transformative experience solidified her understanding of the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of alignment.
Continuing her studies with Kristin Campbell, Kaila completed her 70-Hour Power Vinyasa Training, followed by a 20-Hour Redefining Mobility Training with Matt Phippen. Most recently, Kaila achieved her 500-Hour Teacher Training Certification under the guidance of Noah Maze and Rocky Heron in Los Angeles, California, a journey she fondly refers to as “graduate school for yogis.”
Kaila loves teaching alignment-based Hot Yoga for its accessibility and its powerful ability to transform and heal the body and mind. She believes the practice is one of our greatest allies, a constant support through the happy, challenging, and tender seasons of life. She enjoys guiding students toward the meditative qualities of the practice, helping them build both strength and mental focus.
Her Vinyasa and Mat Pilates Fusion classes blend strength, cardio, balance, and conditioning, all set to upbeat, worldly music. Kaila’s creative sequencing incorporates dynamic drills and mobility work in all planes of movement, designed to draw students out of their “monkey mind” and into the present moment, aligning with their life force.
Kaila invites you to come to your mat exactly as you are.
Emma Jaffe
RYT-500, Mat Pilates
Emma completed her 200-hour Multi-Style yoga training (Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Yin, Hatha, Aerial) in Goa, India, in 2017. Seeking a deeper understanding, she pursued a 300-hour Hatha training in Rishikesh. Her passion for continuous learning led her to explore meditation, embodiment, and movement through various trainings while traveling and teaching.
Justine Kaufmann
RYT-200, RTC, CLC
Yoga has been a rich part of Justine's life for the last 10 years. The practice has taught her the importance of cultivating awareness between the mind and body connection to cultivate greater harmony within.
Justine completed her 200hr YTT designation with Christopher Perkins and Nicolina Sandstelt at Yandara Yoga Institute in 2014.
Ryan Kilpatrick
RYT-200
Yoga found Ryan when he was upside-down in an otherwise routine downward dog. It happened when he had exhaled fully and deeply but hadn’t yet begun to inhale. In this little elusive moment between breaths, he found enough space to notice something small. He noticed, that unlike last year, his heels were now almost tickling his mat. It apparently happened incrementally and put one of those little yoga grins on his face. After missing the next two cues from his teacher Christi-an Slomka, he knew this yoga thing would last.
Hannah Devries
RYT-200, Mat Pilates, RMT
Hannah discovered the path of yoga at age 14, drawn by curiosity about its impact on physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Through her practice, she began cultivating more inner-awareness, patience, and self compassion, qualities that became profoundly liberating and transformative.
This journey inspired her to complete her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training with Christina Raskin in Vancouver, BC, in 2015. Since then, Hannah has been teaching and practicing yoga and meditation consistently for over a decade.
Hannah’s training includes Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative, Mat Pilates, Shaking Medicine Yoga (Trauma Release Exercise), as well as studies in the Chakra System and Ayurvedic Yoga. She is currently expanding her knowledge in Somatic Yoga and Somatic Inquiry, under her mentor, Reanna Costa, (from Hal Boulter).
Hannah’s classes are an invitation to let the body lead, and to listen to the rhythms of your body to help guide you. She continues to be inspired by the way yoga invites us into deep presence, curiosity, and playfulness on the mat. Her classes are designed to support these qualities, balancing grounding stillness with mindful challenge. Her teachings offer a journey toward empowerment, surrender, release, and soothing rest to access the parasympathetic nervous system. Each class invites you to center, soften, and truly land home in your body.
LA Narayan
RYT-200, RCC, MACP
LA's Yoga journey began with traditional Hatha, branching off into Bikram and Ashtanga with mentorship from Sharath Jois. LA is also a long time Vipassana student and brings a meditation component into her classes. LA takes a biopsychosocial approach to teaching, connecting the physical and spiritual through linking pranayama with asana. Her classes will leave you feeling happy and refreshed!
Sophie Hitchman
RYT-200
Sophie believes in celebrating yoga for every body and is passionate about creating an inclusive, accessible, and welcoming space for the community, while honouring yoga’s roots - going beyond solely the physical practice. She teaches with calm intention and enjoys weaving mindfulness and breath throughout practice, holding space for presence and introspection.
Jaya Levesque
RYT-200
After moving to this beautiful community in the summer of 2025, Jaya brings with her a deep well of experience and enthusiasm for all things health and wellness.
Teaching yoga since 2008, Jaya holds over 1,000 hours of training in Vinyasa, Hatha, Kundalini, Prenatal, and Meditation. Her classes are known for being dynamic, fun, and light-hearted—inviting students to explore movement, breath, and presence in a joyful and grounded way.
For the past seven years, she managed a thriving gym and yoga studio on the Island while raising a family, giving her a well-rounded perspective on balance, strength, and self-care. Off the mat, you’ll likely find her adventuring outdoors or spending time with her kids.
Jaya is excited to connect with the Nelson community and can’t wait to move, breathe, and grow alongside you.
Kelsey Baerg
200-Hour Trained Instructor
With over a decade of teaching experience and a 500-hour YTT certification, Kelsey brings a deep, integrative approach to Yoga. She has studied Yogic philosophy with BNS Iyengar and trained in the Ashtanga Vinyasa tradition under Ajay Kumar in Mysore, India.
An ultrarunner, cyclist, and lover of human-powered adventures, Kelsey uses Yoga as a vital tool for endurance—on the mat and far beyond it. Her classes create space to explore strength, mobility, and presence, whether you're preparing for a big adventure or simply reconnecting with yourself. Both challenging and compassionate, her teaching is rooted in the belief that movement can be a discipline and a form of freedom.
Outside the studio, Kelsey has built a career in Canada’s charitable sector and currently works to empower youth entrepreneurs to realize their dreams.
