Kristin is founder of the Kunga Yoga School as well as a personal development coach and social entrepreneur. She is the creator of Rhythmic Flow Yoga w/the Kunga Drummers and Kunga Journeys service retreats. Rhythmic Flow workshops and Kunga Journeys are led by Kristin and her percussionist husband, Loren Gulak.  Kristin is the Founder of the Wilmington Yoga Center (est 2000), which she and her husband Loren sold in 2014.  She and Loren are the parents of an amazing little boy, and they are grateful to practice a natural parenting and laid-back lifestyle by the sea in Wilmington, NC.

Kristin is an experienced teacher, training thousands of students and yoga teachers internationally for over 20 years.  She has worked with children, seniors, and students living with cancer and HIV, and is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT). Kristin has worked privately with celebrity clients Katie Holmes, Ashley Judd and Cheryl Hines, as well as corporate executives and professional athletes.

At the beginning of her teaching journey she traveled for several years as a student, assistant, and percussionist for her teacher Shiva Rea, serving as a teaching mentor for Shiva’s Prana Flow 500hr Teacher Trainings. Kristin is a guest presenter for various teacher trainings in the U.S. and has presented at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Yoga Works Los Angeles and other studios and resorts within the U.S.

Kristin has contributed to various publications, and her interviews and writings have been featured in Yoga Journal, Huffington Post, and Live South. Kristin was the 2013 recipient of the YWCA Woman of Achievement Award for her social entrepreneurship work with orphaned girls in developing countries.

She began her studies in 1996 and her training background includes several trips to India and Thailand, with ongoing study in Thai Yoga Massage in the Lek Chaiya tradition. Her training also includes ongoing studies in the fields of Ayurveda, vegan living and macrobiotics at the Kushi Institute. She has enjoyed the benefits of a vegan diet and cruelty-free lifestyle since 1994 along with her husband and son, and shares her love of all things plant-based with passion.  Her primary vinyasa studies began with Shiva Rea in 2000 and have continued for many years, and she has completed many certifications and trainings around the world in a wide-range of subjects including meditation, advanced pranayama, therapeutics, Non-Violent Communication, PTSD, and nutrition.

She has been a percussionist for over 20 years and has had the honor of performing at various venues and festivals internationally with the Playing for Change Band, Joey Lugassi & Lisa Bonet, Dave Stringer, Shaman’s Dream, Daphne Tse, The Kripalu Drummers, John de Kadt, and Masankho Banda. She enjoys incorporating music and many teaching modalities into her trainings and feels that all forms inform one another and have the same goal of union, or “yoga”.

Kristin and the Kunga Yoga team are grateful for the opportunity to use yoga, and music as a "universal language" and platform for collaboration, education, and fundraising for children and animals around the world.

Nicole Fitzwater LaFon

Owner & Teacher, Kunga Yoga School Faculty, E-RYT500, YACEP, Chief Yoga Nerd 

Nicole is a Blacksburg native. She attended the University of Virginia and graduated with a B.S. in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce in 2001, and after 15 years of living away from the New River Valley returned home to her roots and purchased In Balance Yoga in the summer of 2013 from Becky McDaniel. Yoga found Nicole in January 2006 and they have been inseparable ever since.  Nicole has practiced in studios all over the country and even internationally, focusing on the Bikram, Barkan, Baptiste, Ashtanga, Dharma Yoga traditions and most recently – the Kunga Yoga School.   Her teachers include D’ana Baptiste, Becky McDaniel, Dharma Mittra, Jimmy Barkan and Kristin Cooper-Gulak.  Nicole is grateful to her mentors, influencers and all that have inspired her over the years.

She completed her:

• 200 Hour Foundational Teacher Training with Becky McDaniel in June 2013 at In Balance Yoga Studio
• 500 Hour with Sri Dharma Mittra in NYC at the Dharma Yoga Center, Life of A Yogi program in November 2014
• 300 Hour with Jimmy Barkan in Ft. Lauderdale, FL in the Barkan Method of Hot Yoga in October 2017
• 300 Hour with the Kunga Yoga School at Wilmington Yoga Center & In Balance Yoga Studio in July 2019
  • Specializing in:  5Elements Flow & Ayurveda, Seniors, Kids, Pre/Postnatal, Service Leadership / Yoga for PTSD, Gentle & Meditation, Hands on Assisting, Vinyasa & Power Flow, Detox, Anatomy, Business of Yoga, and Restorative
• Completed her Professional Level 200 HR Kunga Yoga School Leader Apprenticeship with Kristin Cooper-Gulak and Noelle Whittington in June of 2019 to be Lead Kunga Yoga School Faculty
• Restorative Yoga Teacher Training with Colleen Dwyer in 2015 & 2016 at In Balance Yoga Studio
• Certified in First, Second, and Advanced Degree Reiki Master with Nicola-Jayne Aymes, International Center for Reiki Training and Holy Fire from 2014-2015 at Reiki Journey
• Reiki for Animals with Nicola-Jayne Aymes in 2015 at Reiki Journey
• Advanced Art of Assisting with Baptiste Yoga in 2015 with Brandon Compagnone
• Anatomy Workshop with Akke Hulburt and Chris Pohowsky 2016 and 2017
• Five Hour Yin Training with Cindy Lunsford in November 2016 at In Balance Yoga Studio
• Attended Service Retreat with Kunga Yoga and worked / volunteered at Homes of Hope Orphanage in India in December 2016 – January 2017
• NuPower Method: Power Yoga + Strength Training in March 2017
• Certified in Aerial Yoga with FlyDog Yoga in April 2017
• Attended Mindbody University, November 2017, Boston, MA
• Co-led Yoga Retreats in Nosara, Costa Rica:  January 2018 and 2019, Cliffs of Moher, Ireland with Above Yoga:  September 2018, Service Retreat in India in March 2019
• Upcoming Retreats with Nicole: Costa Rica – January 2022
• Christina Phipps Foundation Certification:  Yoga for Cancer Patients, Survivors and Caretakers at In Balance Yoga, February 2019
• Thai Yoga Bodywork Level 1 Certification with Francisco Morales-Bermudez at In Balance Yoga, February 2019

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Nicole teaches at In Balance Yoga and anywhere she can throughout the world.  She has taught at Floyd Yoga Jam since 2015.  Nicole teaches to all levels / abilities, meeting each student where they are.  Nicole will teach both public classes or private sessions to individuals / groups.
 

Before having her dream job and becoming the Owner of In Balance Yoga, Nicole worked in development with both Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia for 5 years, 7 years in sports marketing as Marketing Manager with CBS Sports (University of Maryland, Virginia, LSU, Utah and corporate) and advertising with BBDO New York on the Gillette account. Nicole loves to share movement and breath and to meet each student where they are on their mat. Yoga helped her find her true self and self-care practice and she hopes to cultivate a community of service at In Balance Yoga to impact those in need in the area and beyond.

Nicole is grateful for all of the opportunities and experiences she has had: Nicole and her husband, BJ, have a daughter named Cleo, and she has two older sisters – P & G, as well as a dogs, Ogden and Mojo, and a cat, Hobie.

She is grateful to Green Valley Builders for building our dream studio.  

Nicole’s advice: practice yoga with as many teachers in as many places as you can…to learn and live as much as possible. Travel! Be receptive.  Practice patience, compassion and unconditional love. Try to simplify and keep moving! Love and light!  #practice #alwaysastudent #lifelonglearning #movement #community #service #om