A loving (living) legacy.
Teryl and Claudia have been coming to this place; now called Virsoleil for over 20 years and in 2018 took on the role as owners and stewards, with gratitude in legacy from Claudias father.
In the Spring of 2020 they decided to make Virsoleil their full time home and begin the work of creating and implementing their vision for Virsoleil.
Together they bring a wealth of knowledge, energy, and experience to realizing their dream of our planet healthy and thriving for generations to come.
Our story
Teryl has a diverse life story reflecting his passion for learning and adventure. He has enjoyed occupations as a Carpenter, Cabinet Maker, Massage Therapist, Bartender, Real Estate Broker, Permaculture Designer, Aquaponics Food Systems Designer, Indoor Vertical Farm Technician, and Workshop Facilitator..
Born in Paris France, Claudia is a native French speaker and along with her healing hands, brings her love of French culture to her role as co-founder and Cultural Advisor to Virsoleil. Claudia as an athlete and former dancer, has been a Performance and Muscular Therapist in private practice for over 30 years.
Teryl
As a lover surfing, sailing, windsurfing, kayaking, and anything to do with water, it was inevitable that while living in Hawaii, Teryl discovered Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe paddling and racing. After moving back to the East coast to raise his daughter, it was through outrigger paddling that he met his Love and Life Partner Claudia, also known as Sparky, and together they founded the "Nantucket Outrigger Canoe Club" on Nantucket Island.
With a Master's of Science degree in Integrative Eco-Social Design from Gaia University, he designed and built an aquaponics edible wall for Page restaurant in Sag Harbor, NY and a rooftop aquaponics teaching garden for the Joseph P. Kennedy Community Center in Harlem, NY. In Spring of 2020 during the Covid 19 crisis, Teryl Collaborated with Alegria Farms to design and build an organic parking lot farm for the Orange County Food Bank in Irvine, CA. Teryl is a certified HeartMath Institute "Resiliency Advantage" facilitator and Trainer of Trainers for Positive Discipline "Keeping The Joy in Relationships". As a member of Ecosystems Restoration Camps International and cofounder, he brings a love of Spirit and Nature to his role of Designer, Gardener, and Program Director at Camp Virsoleil, the first EcoSystems Restoration Camp in France.
Claudia
Drawing upon a lifetime in competitive athletics and theatre, she combines muscular therapy, strength and conditioning, motivational coaching, and nutrition to help her clients tap their inner resources and attain their full potential. It is this commitment to success that earned her multiple trips to the Olympic games as the therapist to The United States Rowing Team, The United States Track and Field Team, and The United States Paralympic Cycling Team. Throughout her career in dance and sports medicine she has maintained a practice in mid-town Manhattan serving the theatre and dance community, working with international companies including, Eifman Ballet of St.Petersburg, Australia Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet and has been the in-house therapist for City Centre Theatre.
She has earned the trust and respect of some of the worlds leading athletes and performing artists through results based muscular and fascial therapy. Prior to becoming a therapist, she worked in the theatre as a dancer and taught youth theater and staged musicals every summer for 18 years in Quogue, Long Island for one of the premier theater programs in the United States. Claudia sat on the boards of Laban Notation Bureau, Doug Elkins Dance Company, Et Toi, Tu Danses, and Ballet New England. She is a founding member of the Fascial Research Society, a recipient of the Nike "Unsung Hero Award" for service to Youth Athletics and as member of the New York Outrigger Canoe Club organized the "Liberty World challenge" outrigger canoe race on the Hudson River in NYC years 1997-2003.
"To feel grief, to feel pain, to feel the cry of the Earth—that is an honest, real response. And if the Earth is to be remembered and thought of as a sacred, living being and related to as a sacred, living being, then it asks of us to respond from a real place inside of ourselves."
- Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee