About Us

YOGA SHERPA STAFF

Founder and Chief of Service: Bear Peterson earned a B.A. in International Studies from Middlebury College and a Masters in Business Administration from Tulane University.  He has worked with several international travel companies and most recently was a Director and the Country Manager of India for Rustic Pathways.  He has lived, worked, and travelled in over 20 countries.  He first practiced yoga 11 years  ago with Prem Prakash in Vermont and is currently in a 350 hour training program with Michele Baker.  When he is not traveling around the globe, he resides in his hometown of New Orleans.

 Chief of Adventure: Alicia Willemet is a certified yoga instructor and an avid traveler. Since studying yoga and  meditation at the Shambhavananda Ashram  in 2009, she has been teaching full-time, managing local studios, and mentoring  the Swan River Yoga Teacher Training  program. Alicia has led international yoga retreats to the Amazon rainforest in Iquitos,  Peru, as well as hosted a series of  workshops in Niigata, Japan. She is excited to help teachers and students pursue their  yoga  and traveling dreams.  

 Chief of Inspiration: Camie Bargerstock was introduced to yoga and meditation by her parents when she was a  kid. Growing up with yoga as a daily focus has  kept her on the growing edge of discovery and adventure. In college, she  traveled to Bali, Indonesia to apprentice with  humanitarian midwife Robin Lim, recently named the 2011 CNN Hero. In 2009,  Camie completed yoga teacher training at the Kripalu Center for  Health and Wellbeing and has taught in diverse settings in  Boston, Iowa and Vermont. Camie’s background is rooted in photography/video production, small business management and  event planning. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Documentary Film at Wake Forest University in Winston Salem, NC. 

Yoga Sherpa is an international travel company designed specifically for yoga studios and instructors.  Our goal is to help you easily plan an international retreat for your students, while allowing you to keep your focus on your studio, your teachings, and your own practice. 

We are passionate about yoga, international travel, and the environment; and we would be honored to help you plan an international yoga retreat.

Yoga Sherpa donates at least 5% of its total net profits to local organizations in the communities where we operate.  We are proud to support our local partners in their important social and environmental initiatives such as building schools, conserving wildlife, preserving reefs and rainforests, and much more.  We take great care to build a culturally respectful relationship with our local partners, and we are thrilled to offer you the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on the communities you visit.

Yoga Sherpa's Mission:  To improve individuals' personal well-being and foster yoga studios' sense of community by coordinating extraordinary international group yoga retreats.

What is a sherpa?  Sherpa people are an ethnic group in the Himalaya Mountains.  They are experts at guiding others through some of the most challenging terrain on the planet.  They are strong, humble mountaineers that take great pride in helping others connect with nature, achieve their goals, grow in positive new directions, and remember to smile on a regular basis. At Yoga Sherpa, we embrace these qualities, so that we can best serve our fellow yogis as they venture off to new horizons.