Meet the Teachers!
Native Prayer + Land Blessing
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Workshop Description
To open the day's festivities, we welcome to the stage Joe Sawatis, Mohawk/Seneca from the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada 🪶 Joe will offer a beautiful native prayer and blessing of the land, water, 7 directions, and all those who step onto the land during Sol Fest.
You won't want to miss a minute of this meaningful connection to one another, our ancestors, the elements, and the collective energy of the day!
Facilitator BioJoe Sawatis walks a humble path as a spiritual intercessor of many traditional ceremonies open to others as he believes “ If you come with a good heart, good mind and good intent, you can do nothing wrong."
on Shiva Stage
Soul Medicine Flow:
Live Music + Yoga
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Workshop Description
A soulful collaboration of acoustic live music, guided meditation, and an awakening all-levels yoga flow to join us together in the heartspace and set the tone for an unforgettable day of healing, playfulness, and elevating our collective consciousness!
Facilitator BiosNahko’s music transcends borders, cultures, and genres, creating a tapestry of sounds that speak to the heart. As he tours the world, Nahko invites everyone to join him in celebrating life, love, and music. To learn more about Nahko, read his full bio at the end of this page.
Monica Graves Garcia is the woman behind this Sol Fest mission, and she is thrilled to serve as your Guide and Emcee for this remarkable event! To learn more about Monica and her journey, visit our Team page.
on Shiva Stage
AlterNATIVE Astrology
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Workshop Description
Experience a glimpse into the profound teachings in Native American astrology. In this workshop, you'll gain understanding about your birth chart and learn new knowledge from the Dakota Sioux’s way of thinking.
You'll leave this class with expanded “Star Knowledge" that will help you understand the natural world, your place in it, and the interconnectedness of the Universe!
Facilitator Bio12 year ago, Charity Ross created her body of work AlterNATIVE Astrology - which marked a pivotal moment in rediscovering her Dakota Sioux heritage. Under the close mentorship of distinguished Native American astrologer, Ray Couture, Charity honed her skills and tapped into her innate abilities. She then went on to work with Stoneworks Wellness Center, where she interacted with numerous healers and became an active participant in the owner's annual psychic fair - conducting birth chart readings, utilizing her Native American mediumship skills, and discovering many more facets of her Creator-given talents.
Charity has long envisioned herself as a speaker, driven by a passion to help others. Yet, like so many others, she has struggled to truly claim this aspect of her leadership and step onto the stage. At this expansive chapter of her journey, Charity knows she has been prepared for this very moment. She is stepping onto the Sol Fest stage to celebrate her inaugural speaking engagement and is ready to share her truth -- integrating her Native American wisdom with universal principles to uplift, guide, and support others.
on Shakti Stage
Percussion Party!
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Workshop Description
Percussion Party! is a dynamic, high-energy rhythm experience designed to energize and unite people from all walks of life. This fast-paced activity combines the power of rhythm, movement, and teamwork to break barriers and spark connections.
Participants will engage in an exhilarating group rhythm-making where every beat contributes to a shared groove, symbolizing collaboration and synergy. With infectious energy and interactive guidance, this program transforms individuals into a cohesive unit, amplifying focus, communication, and motivation.
Facilitator BioMatt Price is a passionate and professional drum circle facilitator that has been facilitating since 2017. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2009 and has been teaching music and drumming since then. He has two drum circle facilitation training certificates: One from 2017 with Jim Donovan and one from 2023 with Arthur Hull. He is also a member of the Drum Circle Facilitators Guild. His enthusiasm and engaging facilitation style captivate crowds, making the drumming process exciting and enjoyable.
Matt firmly believes in the profound influence of rhythm on our lives, and he has wholeheartedly committed himself to sharing this transformative knowledge with others. Through his facilitation, he instills inspiration and empowerment, enabling individuals and communities to unlock their creative potential and forge deep connections. Matt seamlessly combines the arts of rhythm, movement, and mindfulness to provide a comprehensive and enriching experience.
on Shiva Stage
Cultivating Healing thru Environmental Justice
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Workshop Description
Environmental justice isn’t just about policy — it’s about people. This workshop highlights how community connection plays a vital role in creating healthier environments for all.
Through storytelling, reflection, and group discussion, we’ll raise awareness and explore how collective action can address environmental challenges while fostering deeper relationships with our neighbors and ourselves.
Participants will leave feeling inspired to create change through small, meaningful steps.
Facilitator Bio
Teela Samone Patterson is a Cleveland-based environmental justice advocate, wellness practitioner, and social entrepreneur with over a decade of experience driving community-centered initiatives. As the founder of Healing Spaces CLE, Teela has become a forerunner in Cleveland’s environmental justice movement, blending her background in biology, health sciences, and journalism with her passion for social change.
As an experienced Yogi and Reiki practitioner in Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) and Reiki, Teela creates transformative spaces where wellness, environmental awareness, health advocacy and community connection intersect. Her signature workshop, Rooted in Justice: Cultivating Community & Healing through Environmental Action, empowers participants to engage with environmental justice through storytelling, reflection, and meaningful conversation.
Teela’s innovative approach centers on making complex topics accessible by creating inviting, aesthetic spaces that inspire dialogue and action. Whether curating events, facilitating workshops, or guiding mindful practices, Teela is committed to fostering environments where individuals feel seen, heard, and empowered to contribute to collective healing — both for themselves and the planet.
For more information, visit @healingspacescle on Instagram
on Shakti Stage
Healing our Shadows Together
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Workshop Description
What if the parts of yourself you’ve been taught to hide were actually the key to your freedom?
In this transformative session, we will use ancient Tibetan practices to explore the hidden corners of our psyche—the anger, fear, regret, shame, resentment, jealousy, and guilt that have been cast into the shadows. But rather than banishing them, we will welcome them with compassion, seeing them not as burdens but as teachers.
Through guided techniques, you will learn how to meet your shadows with love, transmute their weight into wisdom, and reclaim the energy that has been locked away for too long. You’ll walk away not just with tools for continued shadow work, but with a deeper sense of wholeness—an appreciation for every part of who you are.
Come ready to meet yourself in a way you never have before. The light you seek is already within.
Facilitator Bio
Ross Marshall is a breathworker, energy alchemist, and guide for those ready to meet themselves in the liminal spaces—where the inhale meets the exhale, where the seen meets the unseen. Returning for his third year at SolFest Erie, he invites you on a journey where breath becomes a vessel for transformation, and presence unlocks the mystery within.
His work isn’t about fixing what’s broken; it’s about remembering what’s whole. Through breathwork, Reiki, and deep inner journeying, he helps others soften into themselves, uncovering the wisdom and wonder that’s been there all along. Whether you arrive seeking clarity, healing, or just the next step on your path, Ross holds space with warmth, depth, and a touch of the unexpected.
Come breathe. Come explore. Come home.
Find him on Instagram @rossmarshallpractices
on Shiva Stage
Immersive
Sound Bath
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Workshop Description
Immerse yourself in this one-of-a-kind sound bath that will take you on a rejuvenative journey for the mind, body and spirit.
Begin with an introduction to sound healing and light breathwork that will sync the group into a shared wavelength. Then, dive into a rich tapestry of sounds that include guitar, crystal and Tibetan bowls, shruti box, toning pyramids, rain sticks and many other surprise sounds that will soothe your senses.
This intentional and immersive experience will leave you feeling inspired, refreshed and fully supported.
Facilitator Bio
Steve Turner is a renowned Sound Healer, Yoga Teacher + Reiki Practitioner from Cleveland, OH. He travels throughout the country to hold space for healing at many yoga and music festivals, including Pyro, EDC, Imagine, Resonance, Summerdance and more.
When he’s not traveling the festivals, Steve hosts sold-out weekend Sound Baths at spas and yoga studios in the Cleveland area. He also teaches a weekly gentle grounding flow. Steve's sound immersions are a unique blend of focused breath, intention, mindful movement, and deep relaxation. Steve teaches that it's in these moments of connection that the healing happens.
on Shakti Stage
Move, Connect, Play: Partner Yoga
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Workshop Description
Join us for a joyful and lighthearted Partner Yoga workshop designed to bring people together, spark connection, and invite a sense of playfulness into your practice! This session will help you deepen your stretches, explore balance and trust, and definitely share laughter along the way.
Through fun and accessible partner poses, you'll experience the magic of mutual support—learning to lean in, let go, and elevate your mood through synchronized movement with another.
No experience or partner is needed—in fact, it's the perfect opportunity to meet someone new in the community! Come ready to move, connect, and embrace the fun side of yoga!
Facilitator Bio
Kelly is a certified yoga teacher through Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT) since 2004 and a certified mindfulness teacher. Originally from Erie, she now calls Panama home, where she shares her passion for movement, connection, and well-being.
About six years ago, she discovered the magic of acro yoga and partner yoga—and instantly fell in love with the joy, laughter, and deep connection these practices bring. Her teaching style is playful, accessible, and heart-centered, creating a space where everyone can explore movement, trust, and fun together.
on Shiva Stage
Yoga for the Heart
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Workshop Description
Heart opening yoga session focuses on expending the chest, improving posture and cultivating emotional openness, compassion and love.
This session includes gentle stretches, deep backbends, and breath work to release tension.
Activating the heart chakra, developing deeper intuition and connection, and cultivating gratitude and appreciation.
Facilitator Bio
Nati Jackson is the Founder of Natiyoga, and has been practicing yoga for the past 20 years. After receiving her 200hr YTT certificate last year, she started a YouTube channel to share the wisdom of Yoga Chakra Flow with the world. Nati adds new content about twice a month and is passionate about making the practice of yoga accessible to all.
on Shakti Stage
Songs + Stories from the Heart
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Workshop Description
In this transformative workshop, Kimberly June shares her deeply personal journey through songwriting, revealing how she overcame anxiety, depression, and addiction to rediscover joy and creativity. With raw honesty and hard-earned wisdom, she breaks the myth of the “tortured artist,” showing how you can nurture your artistry without sacrificing your well-being.
Through storytelling, music, and practical insights, KJ empowers you to create from a place of freedom, inspiration, and self-love—proving that a fulfilling life and a thriving creative spirit can go hand in hand.
Facilitator Bio
Kimberly June (“KJ”) is an indie-folk songwriter, performer, and producer with roots in both Nashville and Hawaii. Her authentic, soul-centered stage presence captivates audiences, while her songs—whimsical, witty, and wise—tell the raw and real stories of her life. At just 22, KJ signed her first publishing deal in Nashville, setting her on an early path in the music industry. She spent 11 transformative years in Hawaii, performing at Wanderlust Festival and opening for artists like G. Love, Donovan Frankenreiter, Nahko, Kimie, and Mike Love. Endorsed by Kala, Cordoba, and QSC Audio, KJ’s work has also been featured on TV shows like ABC’s Nashville, The Rookie, and Degrassi High. She recently went on tour as the supporting act for Nahko and Medicine for the People, performing at popular music venues in 15 major cities across the U.S.
Raised in the Dominican Republic and originally from New England, KJ’s journey took her through Berklee College of Music and Belmont University. At 25, she faced personal setbacks, including a failed marriage and a bout of writer’s block, leading her to question her place in the music industry. However, this moment of surrender sparked a new chapter, where she embraced living life on her own terms. Now, with a soulful and raw approach, she continues to create and collaborate in both LA and Nashville, sharing her music and story with the world.
In addition to her music, KJ is a yogi with her 200hr YTT and a passionate advocate for health and wellness with a health coaching certificate from INN. She lives an adventurous life, traveling all over the world to gain new experiences and wisdom, and sharing her inspiring journey on social media. For new music, tour updates, and to follow her epic adventures, make sure to find her on Instagram @JustKJ.Love
on Shiva Stage
Ambient Sound Meditation
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Workshop Description
Experience an ambient sound bath with guided meditation. This ambient performance will draw inspiration from our surroundings with violin, tape loops, water sounds, and synthesizer.
Facilitator Bio
Shadow Plea is the solo ambient project of Erie-based musician Dave Tamulonis, violinist and keyboardist of Smilo & the Ghost and This American Song. His experimental live performances feature improvisational ambient loops and drones with organic piano and violin melodies.
Dave has also collaborated with Anthony Carson and Jessica Frombach to produce Inner Light, a meditative sound performance blending guided meditation and sound therapy with experimental music.
on Shakti Stage
Dancing Warrior
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Workshop Description
Set to a high energy, electro dance soundscape, this creative vinyasa based flow unfolds like a dance.
Emphasizing feeling over form, this class invites you to get lost in the transitions and unleash your version of pure expression and body love.
Facilitator Bio
Ash describes herself as a modern day ecstatic, traveling the world and collecting bits of magic from each transcendent experience to create her own brand of spiritual alchemy.
Music and sound have always been a therapeutic part of her life and after attending her first sound bath, the effect was so profound that she left her corporate job and began her own healing practice, sharing her gifts through sound therapy, various forms of yoga, reiki and ecstatic dance.
Ash is also an intuitive tarot reader. After awakening this part of her ancestry over a decade ago, she uses the tarot to channel messages from spirit, ancestors and guides.
on Shiva Stage
Hypno-Breathwork Journey
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Workshop Description
Are you ready to embark on a transformative journey of self-discovery on the waves of your wise breath?
In this vibrant 30-minute Hypno-Breathwork class, you will explore the powerful connection between breath, consciousness, and energy healing.
Led by an experienced certified facilitator, this class is designed to release stagnant energy, break through blocks, process somatically, uplift your spirit and guide you to a place of inner peace and clarity. We’re guiding you home to yourself, allowing the thinking brain to take a “breather” ;) so your soul can speak. The benefits of breathwork combined with rewiring the subconscious mind are limitless.
Facilitator Bio
Although she sees her spiritual journey as lifelong, Larissa Sainte started her path in this field after earning a graduate degree in Developmental Psychology, where she began her professional adventure as an Early Childhood Teacher at the University of Pittsburgh. That role opened her eyes to how crucial a nurturing, freedom and play-based environment is for growth and healing, and it ignited a spark in her to dive deeper into how she can best impact young minds, families, and the collective.
Larissa's holistic healing teacher journey really took off in early 2020, fueled by her lifelong passion for spirituality and genuine personal development. Like many practitioners, she had unofficially been everyone’s life coach, guide, confidante, (and low key astrologer) for as long as she can remember. At the time Covid shut the world down, Larissa was called to become certified in Transformative Breathwork, which she completed 3x over as her mentor kept inviting her back for more. And the rest is kind of history! Larissa now contributes as a return student turned teacher trainer when schedules allow back to Los Angeles (or Zoom).Today, Larissa is certified in multiple modalities including Transformative Breathwork, Hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), Mindset Coaching, NLP, Neural Energetic Encoding and a few more. Armed with these powerful tools, she loves guiding others through their transformative journeys by way of their own inner healer warriors, intuition and superpowers!
on Shakti Stage
Break+Soundcheck
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While our tech magicians do soundcheck for the sunset concert by Nahko - enjoy some downtime to integrate your experience and explore the rest of Sol Fest!
The Healing Arts Sanctuary and Vendor Village will be closing soon at 7pm. Now is an ideal time to grab some dinner and purchase last-minute gifts you may want to take home with you.
Make another new friend and have a heart to heart moment, sharing you Sol Fest experience :)
Take an opportunity to rest and reflect on your experience so far. What have you learned in the afternoon sessions? What has it awakened and inspired within you?
Tonal Alchemy: Closing Meditation
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Workshop Description
Tonal Alchemy is an activation of voice and vibration, that will end our event on powerful high.The intention of this practice is to open, balance and super-charge your Chakra energy centers for a greater sense of clarity and connection to oneself, others, and the Universe. It will support you to integrate all of your Sol Fest learnings and leave feeling awakened, transformed and ready to take this energy back out into the world!
Facilitator Bio
Monica Graves Garcia is the woman behind this Sol Fest mission, and she is thrilled to serve as your Host and Emcee for this remarkable event! To learn more about Monica and her journey, visit our Team page.
on Shiva Stage
Live Music at Sunset Celebration!
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Celebrate the culmination of the 3rd Annual Sol Fest by dancing the evening away, right until sunset at 8:59pm!
Artist Bio"Many have been silenced, but I have to come sing."
Singer-songwriter Nahko returned in 2023 with his 7th album, TRENCHES, marking a triumphant new chapter in his artistic journey. Recently celebrating the 10th anniversary of his debut and second albums, Nahko reflects on a decade of music that has inspired fans worldwide. With TRENCHES, Nahko is reborn, reclaiming his voice and power after a period of survival.
In support of his anniversary editions, Nahko has embarked on a world tour, delivering intimate solo acoustic performances across Australia, Europe, and the United States.
His shows are more than just concerts—they’re powerful communal experiences that unite people through music, storytelling, and shared emotions. Nahko’s journey from survival to revival is a testament to his resilience and unwavering spirit.
His music transcends borders, cultures, and genres, creating a tapestry of sounds that speak to the heart. As he tours the world, Nahko invites everyone to join him in celebrating life, love, and music.
on Shiva Stage