GABY COLLETTA
Somatic Therapist, AMFT E-RYT 500, YACEP, AHC
Gaby is a Yoga, Ayurveda and Meditation Teacher with over 15 years of practice in integrative wellness and healing arts. She facilitates nature-based retreats, guides mind-body courses and coaches individuals on how to create an ecosystem of internal resources that increase resilience and unveil intrinsic potential. Her teachings weave together the Ancient traditions of Ayurveda, Buddhism and Tantra, alongside modern-day neuroscience, somatic psychology and Earth wisdom. Through the tapestry of mind-body practices, Gaby shares tools for deeper intimacy and understanding one’s intuitive abilities, mental powers and pathways to freedom.
Gaby began her formal yoga teaching in 2014. She received her Ayurvedic training at the California College of Ayurveda in 2017 with additional study under Dr. Lad. Gaby is faculty of the Lakshmi Rising School of Yoga and Wellness. She is a Somatic Therapist with a Masters degree in Integral Counseling Psychology from CIIS, and a Bachelors degree in Media Culture and Communication from NYU.
My path to practice
I once read the words “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” A quote by Oscar Wilde and one that struck a chord. Perhaps it spoke to the adventurer in my heart, seeker of the unknown, the creatrix hunting for unlikely beauty or perhaps it was calling the yogini within. We often move through the motions of our daily life without taking a conscious moment to pause in the present, breathe and ask… do I feel alive?
“Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
Yoga found me when I was submerged in the churn of the advertising industry in New York City. It began as my calm amidst the chaos and became something far more profound. It brought about self-discovery, radical honesty and transformation. And then, it gave me courage to bid adieu to my perfectly fine job, leaving a path of certainty for one unknown.
In 2014, I bought a one-way ticket to the other side of the world and received my 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification in Hatha and Vinyasa. I ventured to teach at a retreat center in Spain and several studios across the San Francisco Bay and Sierra Nevada foothills. With a deep desire to unearth the pathways to wholeness that is Yoga. I went on to learn Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy at Sivananda Ashram through California College of Ayurveda. The wisdom of Ayurveda opened my eyes to the intelligence of the body and our innate ability to heal all layers of our being. In summer of 2016, I completed my 300-Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training rooted in Tantric Philosophy and found myself in the small mountain town of Nevada City, CA where I spent the following years studying to become a certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor. My devotion to this path is layered with teachings from somatics, neuroscience and psychotherapy as I competed a Masters in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2023. Today I work with folks in both 1:1 and group containers through individual coaching & therapy, workshops, teacher trainings and intentional retreats.
My classes are rooted in over two decades of Asana practice with an emphasis on discovery, self-exploration and expression. From foundational instruction to building advanced poses, I encourage students to explore movement both familiar and unknown. Sequences are grounded in alignment yet dynamic and unexpected - intended to explore the divine balance of form and freedom. We harness the power of awareness through of the breath and build “tapas” or heat, move stagnant energy through the body. Classes are intentional, drawing inspiration from poets, philosophers, novelists, yogis, thought leaders and more. Open to all who welcome a healthy challenge and a dose of perspective. In addition to a soulful Vinyasa practice, I also teach Restorative, Hatha, Foundational Yoga, Yin Yoga Nidra and Meditation. As a teacher, I am a perpetual student - I find lessons in the mountains and in my morning cup of tea.
When I’m not on my mat, you may find me hiking in the woods, rock climbing in the Eastern Sierras, exploring desert canyons, dismantling dominant narratives of society, savoring silence and simultaneously remembering how to slow down amidst the constant unraveling of life. The path is a practice.
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Masters in Integral Counseling Psychology | California Institute of Integral Studies | 2023
Bachelor of Science in Media, Culture & Communication | New York University | 2012
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Yoga Alliance Certified E-RYT 500, YACEP, Ayurvedic Health Counselor, Associate Marriage and Family Therapist AMFT (in California), Level 1 Family Constellations
Level 1 Family Constellations Practitioner | July 2026
Ayurvedic Health Counselor A.H.C. | California College of Ayurveda, CA | Mar 2017
300-Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training | Tantric Alchemy Institute, Costa Rica | RYT Yoga Alliance Certified | August 2016
Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist Training | Sivananda Ashram, Bahamas| California College of Ayurveda | Mar 2016
Yoga Nidra Teacher Training | Sivananda Ashram, Bahamas | California College of Ayurveda | Mar 2016
200-Hour Teacher Training in Hatha & Vinyasa | Sammasati Retreat, Koh Samui, Thailand | RYT Yoga Alliance Certified | Sept 2014
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Christina Sell & Darren Rhodes Immersion at Yoga Oasis | 2025, 2026
Forrest Yoga Continuing Education with Ana Forrest & Jose Calarco | 2019
125-Hour Heart of Hatha Teacher Training with Amanda Serene Dozal | 2017
8-Week Cultivating Compassion Training at Stanford with | 2017
A deep bow and reverence to my teachers, mentors and muses who have passed this ancient wisdom down to me. With special gratitude for those that deeply shaped my path: Dr. Liz Lindh, Naganath, Lucid Dawn, Dr. Robert Svoboda, Sam Rice, Amanda Dozal, Tracee Stanley & many more.