The Zen Mountain Retreats Team

Maria Russo

Founder of Zen Mountain Retreats & Inner Peace,

Spiritual Guide & Counselor

My passion and purpose has always resided with assisting others in connecting with their highest selves and with one another. This process involves meeting each soul where they are at with acceptance, kindness, compassion and love. “This process is like one of unwrapping gifts and discovering the magic and beauty within.”

I am passionate about community and bringing “light beings”, like minded, and like hearted souls together.  Eradicating loneliness and delusions of “not being enough” or “not being lovable” and creating a family, a community where people genuinely care and support one another. 

My other greatest passion involves animal rescue. It’s been a life long practice of mine and I am a true believer that all souls matter and deserve respect and appreciation. I’m happy to share that this year I started a non-profit, Wandering Paws Sanctuary, dedicated to animal rescue for lost, abandoned, homeless and abused animals. For more information, click here.

Come join us for one or more of our retreats and experience the magic and transformation that only happens on Zen Mountain.

I’m already looking forward to meeting you :)

Paria Vaziri

Resident Naturopathic Doctor

Dr. Paria graduated from Bastyr University with a passion for changing the healthcare system. Discouraged by the mismanagement of her own health in conventional medicine, she set out on a mission to pursue a path that was holistic & targeted the root cause, not just symptoms.

Dr. Paria is passionate about educating & empowering individuals to take their health in their own hands by providing them with the tools and resources they need to create the most sustainable version of what health means to them. Each body is unique & deserves an individualized approach, not a one size fits all. For more information about Dr. Paria, click here.

Chandler Kohli

Resident Fitness Specialist & Nutritionist

Chandler started her fitness journey at a young age when she began playing organized sports. That experience sparked a fire that would thrive to be a lifelong passion for fitness & health. 

As an adult, she began a career as a bodybuilder & founded her own personal training business. It wasn’t until she overworked herself & ignored her own needs that she learned the lesson that health is more than just your physical body. 

Her mission is to help her clients create a healthy lifestyle of their own that encompasses more than just an hour in the gym a day. The mind, body, and soul is the trifecta of health & wellness. Chandler takes pride in being able to help her clients not just care for their body, but support them in caring for the other dimensions of being human.