Our Team
Founder, Director of Trainings Indira Kate Kalmbach, E-RYT 500
Indira began her yoga journey literally in-utero: her mom tells stories of practicing the headstand up until the day before giving birth. As a child growing up in the lush jungles of the Osa Peninsula, she remembers practicing playful sun-salutations on the beach, and kicking up into handstands against any available palm-tree. After college, while working in Japan, her time at a Zen monastery awakened an urge to combine deep meditative mind states with conscious movement and breath. These explorations eventually brought her back to Costa Rica for further study of the yogic arts. After extensive training both in Costa Rica and throughout the United States, she accepted a position on faculty at the Nosara Yoga Institute where she co-taught yoga teacher trainings in Costa Rica and Canada until the opening of Pavones Yoga Center. Indira continues to expand her understanding of the yogic path of transformation by studying under master teachers in diverse specialties such as yoga for scoliosis, yoga anatomy with Ray Long, and restorative yoga therapeutics. Her first vinyasa-yoga DVD, Spirit Within Movement, was filmed on the gorgeous Pavones coastline and is dedicated, fittingly, to her mom.
Classes with Indira have been described as "divine," "heart-felt," and "like medicine." She understands yoga as a physical, mental, and emotional discipline that can help us to reach our maximum potential as evolving human beings.
Senior Faculty, Assistant Director Chris Crotty, M.A. E-RYT 200
Chris practices and teaches hatha yoga emphasizing mindfulness as a foundation for personal growth and overall wellness. A practitioner of meditation since 1998, Chris continues to take retreat yearly and has completed seven months of silent retreat. Chris aims to inspire passion for practice and to cultivate people's capacity to live consciously, skillfully, and compassionately. Chris is an adjunct instructor in Wellness and Alternative Medicine at Johnson State College focusing on the role of contemplative practice and spiritual development in health and wellbeing. He is certified in Trauma Sensitive yoga and is a staff yoga teacher at the Trauma Center at Justice Resource Institute. Through his private coaching practice Chris integrates contemplative and western techniques to support people of all ages to achieve greater wellbeing and fulfillment in their lives. His non–clinical, client–centered approach focuses on empowering others to live more fully present within the changing conditions of life through the confidence of their own self-awareness. Chris can be reached at chris.crotty@me.com.
Senior Faculty, Graphic Designer Extraordinaire Chelsea Very
Chelsea believes the skills you obtain on your yoga mat translate into the real world, so if you can learn to practice with true dedication, patience and loving-kindness, you can approach all of life with these same qualities. She is very grateful and enthusiastic to be teaching yoga, and believes that if we all leave our mats with the hint of a smile, we can spread a little love to the world.
Chelsea teaches a vinyasa flow yoga class inspired by her practice in Ashtanga, Bikram, Vinyasa and Anusara. After living in the city of Chicago for five years where she completed her 200- and 500-hour yoga teacher trainings, Chelsea discovered the natural beauty and power of Costa Rica on a volunteer farming/yoga teaching experience. After extending her visit a few months, she decided to make the jungle her home, and is now constantly inspired by the healing powers that nature provides. Chelsea is a graduate of Pavones Yoga Center's 108-hour The Heart of Practice advanced yoga teacher training. In addition to teaching public classes at Pavones Yoga Center, Chelsea also teaches alongside Indira during The Art of Flow advanced yoga teacher training.
Karma Yoga Teacher, Chris Dougherty
Chris Dougherty is from Chicago and is a recent graduate of our 200-hour Multidimensional yoga teacher training program and our 108-hour The Art of Flow advanced yoga teacher training module. As a former Producer in the fast-paced world of marketing and film production, Chris has chosen Pavones as the ideal spot in which to decompress and continue to deepen his study of yoga. Chris has an easy wit and a deep interest in yoga philosophy that lend themselves to his natural ability to guide wise and humorous yoga classes. He teaches Karma Yoga classes on Wednesday mornings. 100% of the proceeds from these classes go toward the purchase and planting of hardwood trees in areas that have been deforested.
Karma Yoga Teacher, Faye Winmill
Yoga Teacher, Katie Martin, NCMT, RYT-200
Katie Martin delivers the science of anatomy with a feather-light touch and deadpan humor. Her extensive training and decades of work in the massage therapy industry give her the background and experience necessary to transmit keys to unlocking the mysteries of alignment and physiology as it relates to yoga as a physical practice. Katie divides her time between Asheville, North Carolina and Guanacaste, Costa Rica, where she grew up. Co-founder, Artist In Residence, Playful Prankster Alex Lanau
Pavones Yoga Center is graced by the presence of artist in residence Alex Lanau. His workshops are filled with a goofy sense of fun and light-heartedness, the ideal atmosphere for tapping into one's creativity.
A self-taught artist, he is happy to be pursuing his dream living on the southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica painting, surfing, helping local children paint murals, and loving his dogs, cooking, and his wife, Indira. His work is inspired by his travels and heavily influenced by a combination of the Buddhist imagery he discovered in Indonesia and Malaysia, and the surf scene he has been a part of for decades.
Alex's art has been exhibited in major cities coast to coast, including Los Angeles, San Diego (CA), Seattle (WA), San Antonio (TX), Wrightsville Beach (NC), and Belmar (NJ). His work has been showcased in popular magazines including Sports Illustrated, Maxim, Surfer, and Surfing; he was a regular guest of San Diego's CBS Morning Show. His large-scale murals decorate the walls of public and private buildings and surf-charter boats around the globe and his paintings hang in a house on every continent.
A vegetarian since the age of 14, Alex's peaceful spirit and gentle soul colorfully enhance any surface lucky enough to be touched by him.
Property Manager, Pedro Antonio Molinares
Pedro hails from Nicaragua where he began working at a very young age, white-washing walls for a local construction company. Pedro teamed up with Pavones Yoga Center when we first broke ground. He was a part of the construction crew that built the center. Thus we like to say he has more blood, sweat, and tears in the game than all the rest of us combined. Pedro is a kind and helpful person with a generous smile, sharp memory and keen attention to detail. We have yet to meet anyone with organizational skills that match Pedro’s. His artful maintenance of the Pavones Yoga Center property and the support he offers throughout our programs is invaluable.
Pavones Yoga Center Chefs
At Pavones Yoga Center our chefs are known to provide delicious, fresh, conscious food that energizes and brings out the clarity inherent within all of us. Our chefs create unique and delicious dishes using local ingredients sourced within Costa Rica, bringing organic food to the table to the maximum extent possible. Our menu is primarily vegetarian and is occasionally accompanied by carefully selected local fresh fish and other sustainable protein sources. The food is simple yet flavorful, nutritionally dense and always prepared with love. Pavones Yoga Center chefs cater to food sensitivities and allergies.Robert and Dana "Reina" Zimmerman, Reigning Veggie-Food Masters
We met this power-duo a decade ago when they became locally famous for having the best veggie burgers in the country; and we have been chasing them down ever since. Robert has been a professional chef since the age of 17, and has studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, California followed by years of training under various chefs in Hawaii. His celebrity clients around the world still call upon him for his masterful food preparation. Dana tells us her biggest lessons in cooking came from the practice she had cooking for her kids: her toughest and most honest critics. Robert and Dana have owned and operated restaurants in Pavones and Hawaii, and have private seasonal clients around the world. What might be on the menu when this team are in town: Vietnamese spring rolls and tuna poki, Green goddess quinoa and spinach baked casserole, falafel and hummus, fresh and beautiful salads with locally grown herbs and hand-crafted dressings, and of course, the now world-famous best veggie burgers on the planet.
Jan Paul Kahlan, Raw Foods Specialist
Jan Paul (JP) is the founder and owner of Naked Foods which specializes in unprocessed, freshly-made food that is sourced in Costa Rica. Known for his big smile and helpful heart, JP has now become well-known for his raw desserts. The range of possibility in JP's kitchen includes raw sushi made with sweet beet almond pate alongside a daikon salad, typical Costa Rican dishes such as ‘gallo pinto’ made with organic brown rice, an array of green salads, and fresh juices created with seasonal fruit and vegetables.