Learn from leaders in healthy living.
Margaret Burns Vap
Margaret is the founder of Big Sky Yoga Retreats. Her relationship with yoga began almost a decade ago, in a bid to combat a hectic New York City lifestyle and a corporate career with cosmetics giant L’Oreal. A few years and several hundred down dogs later, Margaret knew that the corporate world no longer held her future, so switching her designer duds for comfy pants - and NYC for Washington DC - she combined her business know-how with her passion for yoga and created Georgetown Yoga, one of DC's most popular yoga studios.
Now Margaret brings that same recipe for yoga success to Montana. Margaret combines her fresh approach to teaching with a unique ability to create a nurturing, safe space in which to learn yoga. Her teaching will leave you calm and refreshed after a vigorous flowing practice, putting you in touch with your true potential and transforming your health and well being in the process.
Margaret has studied with many top instructors at the Jivamukti Yoga Center in NYC and Richard Freeman's studio in Boulder, CO; has attended David Swenson's intensive training in the foundation and teaching techniques of the Ashtanga yoga Primary series, and has done intensive practice and study of the Ashtanga Primary and Intermediate series with Dave Oliver from At One Yoga in Phoenix, Arizona. Margaret completed a 200-hour teacher training intensive with Yoga Works; this training was the 
result of a partnership between her studio Georgetown Yoga in Washington, DC and the renowned CA-NY based Yoga Works. Margaret has also traveled to Hawaii for Baron Baptiste’s Level 1 teacher training bootcamp. Margaret is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance; her photo "mountain dancer" taken in Big Sky was chosen for the 2008 Yoga Alliance calendar. Margaret represents companies she believes in: she was an Athleta sponsored athlete in 2008 and currently writes for their Chi blog; she is a product ambassador for Cloudveil Inspired Mountain Apparel and LUNA bars. Margaret has been asked to speak on career transition and, of course, yoga. She authors a blog called Cowgirl Yoga. Margaret teaches weekly yoga classes at Be The Change yoga studio in Bozeman.
Margaret holds a BS in Business and Languages from Georgetown University and an MBA from Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management. She speaks fluent French, Spanish, and a little Italian and has lived abroad on numerous occasions.
Margaret is mom to Morgane Sienna, who will be five in June 2010 and loves yoga poses named after animals. In early 2007, Margaret, her husband David, Morgane and their two Boston Terriers Lola and Rocco all packed up and moved to Bozeman, Montana. They enjoy an active outdoor lifestyle in their new mountain home. Margaret continues her life’s work of sharing yoga, while watching Morgane grow up learning to ski and horseback ride. Margaret and Morgane were featured as Cowgirl Yoginis in a JADE yoga ad.
Janice Cartwright
Janice Cartwright is our head wrangler for Cowgirl Yoga and founder of Montana Horse Sense. Originally from Pittsburgh, Janice attended the University of Pittsburgh as a Health, Physical Education and Recreation major.
Her family spent every free minute at their private boy’s camp in Ohio; there she was able to discover and nourish her love for horses. She started teaching horsemanship when she was 12 years old; she's always been a teacher by nature. She chooses to teach through her horses - lucky her. After moving to Atlanta in 1981, Janice managed to continue her with her love of horses and teaching while raising 3 daughters and starting a new business, Roswell Bicycles. Her introduction to Montana was on a vacation in 2001, and she immediately related to this special place. After all, she had always felt she was born in boots and jeans! After her last daughter graduated from high school, the move was made. Having lived here for the past 4 years, Janice has thoroughly enjoyed getting to know this beautiful place and the friendly people she's met, usually from the back of a horse.
Upon arriving in Montana, Janice joined the Back Country Horsemen. This organization works with the US Forest Service to maintain the trails that she was so eager to discover. She was 
immediately immersed and became Vice President and a board director. Given her teaching background, the yearly Defensive Horsemanship Clinics dealing with safety on and around horses in all situations became her responsibility. Janice also met a wonderful man with some cows so...thus her cowgirl instruction began. Just because you ride a quarter horse does not mean they automatically know what to do with a cow.
Throughout all her time with horses, Janice has come to understand that to be as safe as possible around these wonderful creatures we must understand how they think. Their instincts are what drive them and the more we learn about them, the safer we can keep ourselves and our mounts. She has enjoyed the journey of helping others down this path. Check out the Interview with a Horsewoman on the Cowgirl Yoga blog.
Autumn Benedetti
Autumn began a personal practice in grade school, and pursued a deeper understanding of yoga after moving to Bozeman, Montana in 2006. Upon completing a 200 hour teacher training and numerous workshops in and out of the country she began to teach yoga in the Bozeman area. Autumn's passion for the art and practice of yoga stems from the continued inspiration, challenge and understanding involved.
Autumn was born and raised in Montana, resulting in her enthusiasm for the outdoors. She enjoys everything from snowboarding, mountain biking, wakeboarding, rafting, and hiking with her reliable pup. Additionally Autumn enjoys cooking savory dishes, photography, dance, the turning of the seasons and traveling the world! She graduated from Montana State University with a Bachelor's degree in Health and Human Development. She spends time working with various non-profits in the community, doing outreach with domestic violence, crisis, and at risk-youth. She thrives on the spontaneity, adventure, and energy that life in Montana offers.
Chris Hamilton
Chris is our Outdoor Adventure Consultant & Photographer and is affectionately known as the mountain goat. While mountain goats are not necessarily known for their yoga skills they are known for their incredible climbing abilities. As an experienced climber and mountaineer, Chris provides Big Sky Yoga Retreats with valuable advice and counsel on all our outings.
Based in Bozeman, Montana, Chris’ passion lies in exploring remote, wild places. He has been climbing and mountaineering around the world for over 15 years. From big mountain expeditions in the Alaska Range to solo ascents in the Southern Alps of New Zealand to big walls in Yosemite, Chris’ brings us a wealth of experience in the backcountry. When he’s not hanging from his ice axes, you’ll find him behind his camera. As a photographer and filmmaker, his focus is in bringing the natural beauty of these remote, vertical environments to life in both photography and film.
Chris holds a BS in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University. In his spare time, he is Director of Product Management at RightNow Technologies, Inc.
Chris is also the founder of High Peaks Productions and Gallery, showcasing his fine art photography.
Kate Huston
Kate Huston is the founder of Waywardraven Farms and Personal Chef Services in Bozeman, combining the growing of produce at her farm with her cooking talents. Waywardraven Farms produces gourmet lettuce mixes for the Community Food Co-Op and local restaurants, along with providing produce for several families in Gallatin County. Her personal chef business was derived from a need for locally grown, nutritious meals for people with special dietary needs. Meals are generally cooked with what's in season, using produce straight from her garden; she also outsources to other local growers and ranchers. Kate will be joining our 2010 5-day retreats as our private chef. We'll savor a healthy, local gourmet meal with Kate, who will also give a talk on being a farmer, along with tips for eating sustainably. Check out the Interview with a Grower & Cook on the Cowgirl Yoga blog.
Julia Kern
Find joy in your yoga practice and it will follow you into your life! Julia’s yoga practice started in 2004 and in her short yoga life she has taken workshops in many different styles including Ashtanga, Iyengar and Anusara. She has studied with Nikki Duane & Eddie Modestini, Shiva Rae, Jamie Allison, and Cyndi Lee. She is in the process of completing her training with Tias Little. In her classes Julia uses a short meditation as a way to center and focus the minds of her students before starting a challenging physical practice. Being a mother of 3 she knows first hand the importance of taking time out of your day to reconnect with your true inner self and feed your own soul. She believes that in your yoga practice you can find your own breath and use it to create balance and space in your own body, and then take this with you to find your own expression of peace and calm off your mat. Julia teaches weekly classes at the Be the Change Yoga Studio in Bozeman.
Jessica Smith
founder of Be The Change Yoga Studio in Bozeman, MT
bio coming soon!