Melissa first started practicing yoga in 2007 while in undergrad at UF, and fell in love with the way yoga allowed her to silence her mind and reconnect with herself. After graduate school at USF, Melissa moved to Chapel Hill, NC with her husband and started consistently practicing hot yoga. She quickly discovered how necessary her practice was in preserving her mental, emotional and physical health. She wanted to help others experience the serenity she found through yoga. Melissa completed Carolina Yoga Company’s 200-hour YTT, along with their Whole Mama Yoga 85-hour Prenatal YTT.
Through breath work, meditation, and asanas, Melissa creates a safe and fun environment where students are encouraged to find their own mental, emotional and physical balance and bring that harmony into their daily lives.
Deanna began practicing yoga in 2005 as a means to alleviate pain from scoliosis and to slow down and breathe while working a fast-paced job.
As the story usually goes, she was drawn deeper into the spiritual and emotional healing she found in yoga, along with the physical benefits, and she knew she wanted to share this with others. In 2007, she did her first yoga teacher training, and her love of learning inspired many more trainings and certifications in different styles of yoga, barre, and sound healing. She has carried these practices with her to keep her grounded amidst major life changes.
Deanna is a teacher of movement, breath, and meditation. She has always had a deep appreciation for movement and music, stillness and silence, and their ability to facilitate transformation. Her diverse trainings and experiences all compliment each other and come together to create an array of healing modalities she is passionate about sharing.
She loves creating space for fellow students to explore their inner self and re-align their energy, while also connecting to the community, and she welcomes you to meet her there.
Dr. Kelsey Evans-Amalu is a consultant, researcher, and teacher of somatic practice, contemplative philosophy, and applied mindfulness coaching for all ages. As a practitioner, Dr. K stands upon the intersection of trauma-informed and culturally responsive teaching through the use of mindfulness and social emotional learning.
Dr. K holds a PhD in Education, Masters in Education, 500 Hour E-RYT, Kids Yoga Certified, Trauma Yoga Certified, Certified Meditation Teacher, Reiki Certified, Hypnosis Certified and is a Certified Professional Life Coach.
Nevine has always had a passion for movement and supporting the human body through exercise, nutrition, and mind-body work. She has a bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and a master’s degree in Human Nutrition. She has taught fitness classes since 2011 and began regularly practicing hot power flow yoga in 2017.
She quickly fell in love with yoga for the innumerable body and mind benefits. She became drawn to prenatal yoga during her pregnancy in 2021, when she decided to pursue her YTT 200 certification.
In 2022, a car accident left Nevine with permanent spinal injuries. Her yoga experience and training gave her confidence to work through this, further deepening her love for the practice.
Our yoga mat provides a space for us to encounter challenges and practice moving through them, transforming us both physically and emotionally. One quickly finds that the practice of moving through challenges on the mat spills over into our daily lives, making life more peaceful. Pregnancy and labor are some of the most intense physical and mental experiences a woman encounters. Prenatal yoga aids us in finding the power within to calm the mind, breathe and move through our most significant challenges with grace.
Patti is an avid traveler, adventure seeker, soul searcher and student. She began her yoga journey while teaching 4th grade, integrating breathing techniques with her students. Her introduction to mindfulness soon became a school wide initiative. She resigned from teaching to start her company, Academic Adventures in Yoga, targeting the many layers of the school district: after school enrichment, professional development workshops for teachers, and the at-risk and neglected populations (i.e. foster care, homeless, incarceration). Patti has completed over 500 hours of Yoga Teacher Training (YTT), is a Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT), and a graduate of the Yoga Education Program: Pre K-12th grade. She holds a master’s degree in Management and a Yoga Gangster’s Certificate – teaching yoga to at-risk populations. She teaches at various locations in Tampa, offering Yin, Life Power Flow, Hatha Flow, Bikram and Ashtanga (short form). Her authenticity shines on the mat, and she believes that growth and transformation begin once you step out of your comfort zone.
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