Retreat Leaders

Katie O'Connell

Katie has been practicing yoga for over 24 years and is an Ayurvedic Health Practitioner, Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist, and ERYT. Katie owns her own retreat center, Dragonfly Yoga Barn, in the beautiful White Mountains of NH with her husband of 30 years, where they facilitate retreats and events of all kinds. Katie is a singer, poet, mother, gardener, and life-long student of Nature. She has taught over 15,000 hours of yoga classes, has over 1,400 hours of yoga study and certifications, nearly 1,000 hours in the study of Ayurveda with Dr. Paul Dugliss (New World Ayurveda) and Dr. Marc Halpern (California College of Ayurveda) as well as certifications in Heart Based Meditation, Thai Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Restorative Yoga, SUP Yoga, Reiki, and more. She runs international retreats, teaches daily yoga classes, provides education in Ayurveda and yoga, offers Ayurveda consultations, private yoga therapy, Thai bodywork, and yoga  & wellness coaching at Dragonfly.  Her greatest teachers of all are her students, her children, and her husband and partner in everything, Declan.

John de Kadt

John has practiced acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine for over 18 years. He is also an Ayurvedic consultant whose love for more natural healing modalities began at a young age and has always been a central part of his life.
John is also an acclaimed percussionist, poet, and storyteller who plays ethnic percussion instruments from across the globe and has a passion for spoken word, whether it’s in poetry, song, rap, or story. John has released 6 albums which are used widely across the globe for deep rest, dance and inspiration. He plays with kirtan artists worldwide and is a founding member of the devotional music group The Hanumen. Motivated by a love of the earth, community, and wisdom traditions, John’s music, story and healing practices stir the heart and awaken us towards a remembrance of ourselves in greater harmony with the wildness of the natural world.