BOARD PRESIDENT

Maria Wichlac-Grove  is a long-time nonprofit executive who is excited to join the board in a fundraising role. She is a Buddhist and incorporates yoga and meditation in her practice.  She is a licensed EMT and mom to two wonderful humans.   

INTERIM TREASURER | PhD, RYT 200

Lee Furey has been doing yoga her entire adult life but became more serious about her practice in 2003, when asthma forced her to begin learning advanced pranayama. Lee has been involved with Pranakriya since December 2013, when she started practicing with a Pranakriya yoga teacher training class and began to try to find more classes like that one. After completing Pranakriya’s 200-hour teacher training at Evolation in Atlanta with William Hufschmidt (assisted by Vladimir Tchakarov and Chris Mastin) in April 2016, she continued to the 300-hour program.

She served on the Board of Directors since October 2018, including as the Board President 2021-2025 and currently as our Interim Treasurer.

BOARD SECRETARY | RYT 500, LMT, CLT

Melanie completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Main Street Yoga in Bloomington, IL in October 2018 and her 300-hour yoga teacher training with Pranakriya in December 2020. The awareness of the body, mind, and movement she learned in yoga teacher training supports her work as a licensed massage therapist and lymphatic therapist. She is also a passionate gardener working through ways to grow food and restore the land at her central Illinois home.   

BOARD MEMBER | RYT 500

Marybeth brings with her more than 26 years as part of the federal prison system, a career that taught her that all people have value, sometimes you just have to look deeper and see differently. She came to yoga to adjust to her changing physical abilities and completed her 500-hour certification and yoga therapy training through the Pranakriya School of Yoga Healing Arts. She has been an IAYT certified Yoga Therapist (retired) and thoroughly believes yoga is a path to healing.

BOARD MEMBER I RYT 500

Kara Douglas lives in Harpswell, Maine with her husband and two daughters. She teaches yoga and meditation classes in what was once the hayloft of their early 1900’s barn. Kara has been practicing yoga since 1998 and teaching since 2001. She has trained primarily in the Pranakriya (300-hour) and Kripalu Yoga (200-hour) traditions. Kara is a poet and free-lance writer and has worked as a science teacher and naturalist. She and began serving on the board of the Pranakriya School of Yoga Healing Arts in 2022.

BOARD MEMBER | E-RYT 200, RYT 500, YACEP

Chelsea's yoga practice started when it was time to pick an exercise class so she could graduate from college. She stayed with the physical practice to support her running goals, but learned yoga has greater gifts to offer. The gifts of yoga have supported many years of healing that in turn inspire her teachings. The biggest gift she's received from a dedicated holistic practice is how it supports her in motherhood. Yoga helps Chelsea navigate the world with mindfulness, non-judgmental compassion and to coexist with anxiety. Chelsea brings to the board over 10 years of online marketing experience. 

BOARD MEMBER | E-RYT 500, IAYT, LMT, CST

Shelbi completed her 200-hour yoga training in the Kripalu and Pranakriya traditions and her 500-hour in the Pranakriya tradition with a focus in Yoga Therapy. She created and has led the Client Relationship: Cultivating Intuitive Presence and Boundaries program, and the Teaching Restorative Yoga Program for the Pranakriya School of Yoga Healing Arts.

As a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT), Shelbi brings over 20 years of training and experience in private practice to her Craniosacral therapy (CST), medical intuition and distance energy healing sessions. Shelbi is a Certified Yoga Therapist through IAYT and is the former co-owner of Crofton Yoga.  She is the Curriculum Committee Chair for Pranakriya and has been on the Board since 2021.