TEACHING TEAM

CORE TEACHERS

Catherine Allen

Pronouns: she/her

Catherine Allen is the Founder and Director of Poppy Perinatal Yoga. Cat created the Poppy Perinatal Yoga Training (prenatal and postnatal yoga) after encountering an abundance of fear-based misinformation and limited support for the challenges she faced during her pregnancies, pregnancy loss, childbirth, and postpartum depression. Cat has taught countless pregnant and postpartum students throughout her 21-year teaching career and has learned immensely from birth professionals and experts. She weaves together all the collected wisdom from her personal and professional experiences to bring to you the most up-to-date information for teaching your pregnant and postpartum students. Yoga teachers and birth workers worldwide throughout the United States and Europe have been trained in the Poppy Perinatal Yoga approach. Cat is a E-RYT 500, RPYT, Birth, Loss, Postpartum Doula, Childbirth Educator, Spinning Babies Certified Parent Educator, and Level 5 Certified Forrest Yoga Mentor Guardian. For more info about Cat, visit www.catallen.yoga.

Charlotte Speller

Pronouns: she/her

Charlie is an authorized trainer of the 3-Day and 5-Day Poppy Perinatal Yoga Teacher Training. She is a bodyworker, Forrest Yoga Guardian, and energy healer — having studied and worked as an assistant to Shaman, Esther Lim. Charlie specialises in helping people to get out of pain and to realise their potential. Her passion and commitment to teaching prenatal and postnatal yoga stems from experiences in her own pregnancy loss, subsequent pregnancy and postpartum recovery. Charlie worked with pelvic floor re-education specialists as part of her own re-habilitation and studied baby massage. She is an experienced teaching coach, who brings compassion, empathy and truth to her teaching. For more info about Charlie and her blog visit www.lumaia.life.

GUEST TEACHERS

Bridget Boland

Pronouns: she/her

Bridget Boland is a shamanic energy healer certified by The Four Winds, an award-winning writer, Forrest Yoga teacher, birth and death coach, and former attorney. Bridget strives to provide a sanctuary for students to explore their emotional, energetic and physical landscapes through breath, movement and energetic processes including soul retrieval and destiny retrieval. Bridget teaches the “Energetics for Conception, Pregnancy, Labor and Delivery and Postpartum” Workshop in the 9-Day Training. Click here to learn more about Bridget.

Amber McMillan Braverman

Pronouns: she/her

From a young age, Amber always wanted to be with the trees. She found comfort in being amongst the world of wild plants and animals. Herbs and plant magic were her gateway into finding strength within herself. She began studying herbal medicine in earnest in 2016 with Robin Rose Bennett, and finished her four year apprenticeship in 2020. She was initiated as a Green Witch in 2019 and continues to develop her understanding of Western Herbal medicine. Additionally, she is a Forrest Yoga Guardian in Training and a Yoga Nidra guide. She is passionate about education, self care, and connecting to the earth.

Ellen Heed

Pronouns: she/her

Ellen Heed has been educating students and clients about how to attain radiant health worldwide since the turn of the millennia. Using keen perceptual skills to accurately assess the needs of her clients, Ellen connects the dots and facilitates successful outcomes for health issues ranging from chronic pain and sexual dysfunction to emotional stagnation and nutritional imbalances. Ellen has pioneered new techniques for scar tissue remediation for women, and is a leading anatomy educator who trains yoga teachers, Sexological Bodyworkers, and other somatic professionals in the US and abroad. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Somatic Psychology and maintains a thriving practice in Los Angeles, California. Ellen teaches the Radiant Health for Pregnancy and Postpartum Workshop in the 9-Day Training where she delivers comprehensive information about biomechanics, scar tissue remediation, nutrition, and emotions and how they each impact pregnancy and postpartum health. Click here to learn more about Ellen.

AGBO IKOR

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Agbo Ikor is a queer Nigerian-American taurus sun, virgo moon, and leo rising born and raised in metro Atlanta, GA. She works with SPARK Reproductive Justice Now as their Director of Programs working at the intersection of Reproductive Justice and Queer Liberation.
Though Agbo has found a theoretical home with Reproductive Justice, her initial introduction to organizing was through feminist issues like pay equity, sex discrimination, and civic engagement. Though she was positioned more as an ally at the time, Agbo organized around queer and trans issues, successfully campaigning for her university to provide gender neutral bathrooms for all students and facilitating political education for campus leaders in LGBTQIA issues. She also has a passion for mental health justice and advocacy.
Upon graduating from Vanderbilt University with her Bachelors in Women & Gender Studies, Philosophy, and Psychology, Agbo went on to intern with Atlanta Women for Equality (AWE), a legal aid organization advocating for women and girls who face sex discrimination on the job or at school. During her time at AWE, Agbo advocated for Title IX protections to extend to victims of sexual assault on college and university campuses. She also planned and implemented a digital campaign for Black Women’s Equal Pay Day.
Agbo has dedicated her professional and personal life to advocating for the liberation of Black women and is grateful for the Reproductive Justice framework. In her free time you can find her kickboxing, hiking, or daydreaming. Her pronouns are she/her/hers.

AUTUMN LEONARD

Pronouns:

Autumn Leonard inherited a love of equality from her parents who braved laws against interracial marriage and got legally hitched in 1960. Her love of storytelling began when she was eight years old and accidentally stumbled into a stage debut at the Edinburgh Fringe. That combination of justice and story has infused her work ever since. Autumn worked as the Creative Action Coordinator for United for a Fair Economy, using performance and a well crafted verse to craft press events and stage creative actions. Autumn made the leap into film to find more expansive ways of communicating about justice and liberation. She has a history of taking physical performance and applying it to messaging, social justice and liberation. She has been a trainer for Ruckus and a puppet builder for Art & Revolution; she now chairs the Race Task Force at Kolot Chayeinu in support of other Jews of Color and previously taught at Kolot’s K’tanim early childhood program. Autumn is a member of the Jewish Women of Color Resilience Circle, an Elder member of the Jew of Color Caucus at Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and a core member of Black Yids Matter. A mother of two, Autumn believes avidly in the importance of play in education. She applies playfulness and progressive education techniques to leading workshops and conversations for parents and kids about race. You’re never too young or too old to start talking and taking action about race! Currently Autumn runs yoga and anti-oppression trainings and firmly believes that liberation begins in our bodies.

Autumn graduated with a BA in Theater Studies at Yale and holds an MFA in Film from UT Austin. Autumn is an anti-racism trainer and facilitator with Body Get Free and teaches yoga in NYC schools through the Urban Yoga Foundation.

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