Lisa
Lisa has been practicing
and teaching yoga for more than 17 years. She has
studied and practiced with many incredible people
including Dean Campbell, Marlena Lambert, Charlotte
Bell, D’ana Baptiste, Doug Keller, Krishna Das, Bryan
Kest, MC Yogi, Amanda Devi, and Elena Brower. Lisa
enjoys traveling, offering Yoga Workshops and Retreats
all over the world, and experiencing new cultures and
new foods. With a love of the outdoors, she also
spends her time away from the studio hiking, playing
tennis, and doing everything possible in the water!
Surfing, water skiing, snorkeling, and swimming. As a
Yoga Instructor, Lisa enjoys teaching a variety of
classes that may range from a powerful and serious
Ashtanga influence to structured Iyengar poses, as
well as eclectic yoga with several styles mixed
together. Lisa loves interacting with other people,
laughing, and helping them find their authentic
self.
Dawn
Dawn started practicing
yoga over 10 years ago because a friend told her it
might help her avoid climbing injuries. Boy were they
right! Not only did a regular practice help keep
injuries away, but there was a fabulous benefit of
awareness and peace that happened as well. Dawn
started teaching yoga to her preschoolers with autism,
and also to the kids she coached. She got certified to
teach Hatha Yoga in 2007 at the Ananda Seva Mission in
Santa Rosa California. She is currently working on
becoming Anusara inspired. She's taken workshops
with John Friend, Desiree Rumbaugh, Adam
Ballenger, and a little Acroyoga with Jason
Magness. In her 'spare' time, she can be found in
the Wasatch or in the desert rock climbing.
Tina
Tina
grew up dancing and teaching dance in the Salt Lake Valley
for over 20 years. After a neck injury and subsequent
spinal surgery she was introduced to yoga. Tina fell in
love with the physical benefits she experienced while
practicing yoga. Yoga brought to her life Balance, Peace,
and Happiness. Characteristics such as poise, grace and
flexibility ingrained as a dancer have translated well into
Yoga. Tina recently Certified with Lifted Life Yoga in
Alpine Utah and continues to study and practice many
different styles of Yoga. She is happily married and the
“Mom” to three amazing children. Tina loves to travel,
practice yoga, play tennis, hike, camp, ride ATV’s, garden
and cook. She has witnessed first hand the healing benefits
of practicing Yoga. The Flexibility, Peace, Joy and
Strength has been a gift that she hopes to share with
others.
Mallory
Mallory’s
dance and athletic background give her a unique
approach to yoga, creating a style that focuses on
finding ones own power through challenging alignment.
A dancer from a very young age, Mallory had the
opportunity to choreograph, travel, and perform with
Murray Dance Company. Now an amateur boxer, most of
Mallory’s time is spent training for the ring. Through
her teacher training at Centered City Yoga, Mallory
has learned that the body holds incredible power, yoga
can be a tool for finding, owning and using this
power.
Nick
Nick
has been practicing yoga for about 3 years. He was
originally drawn to yoga as a crash recovery technique
with regards to snowboarding and longboarding. Through
intensified practice and study he has come to realize
the widespread benefits from physical to emotional and
spiritual. Nick has recently completed 70 hours of
certification with Lisa Smiley through localYOGA. The
opportunity to share the peace and joy of yoga has
become a growing passion alongside his personal
practice.
Suzy
Attracted
to the physical benefits of yoga, Suzy has discovered
the emotional and spiritual side of the practice as
well. Her first attempt at yoga was not at all what
you would say "graceful" or "pretty", but the calm
feeling of becoming aware of the present and taking
time for herself has kept her practicing. The benefits
of yoga have an impact in her performance in sports,
training/competing in triathlons and her outsdoorsy
lifestyle. Yoga is not only an "in the studio"
practice but a lifestyle!
Susan
Susan
first discovered the wonderful benefits of yoga during
her first pregnancy over six years ago, and continued
to practice throughout all three of her pregnancies.
Recently she embarked on a deeper spiritual, mental
and physical journey, using yoga as a vehicle for
self-discovery. Yoga has helped to reverse some of the
damage in her body caused by scoliosis, and has helped
tremendously in pain relief. Practicing yoga offers an
avenue for her to center herself, find inner peace and
mental balance, and explore spirituality, while being
physically empowering.
Yvette
After
attending her first yoga class Yvette knew she loved
yoga.
That
first class she attended was taught in Japanese,
making it more interesting, and enjoyable. Yoga has helped
Yvette become more focused, and present in her personal
life. She also realized she wasn't really breathing! Yoga
has given her the tools, and knowledge to breathe fuller,
and deeper; breathing tension away, and bringing stillness
to a busy life. Yvette has found that the physical strength
and flexibility gained from the different postures give her
the energy she didn’t know was possible. Along with her
love for yoga Yvette loves being outdoors. Some of her
passions are; skiing, boating, camping, jeeping, and
gardening. She has added SUP (stand up paddle
boarding) to her list, and loves to practice yoga while on
her board. Yvette loves the friendships made, and the sense
of community yoga brings to her life. Yvette's hope is
to share the beautiful practice of yoga with everyone she
meets.
Joanna
I
have been practicing yoga for over 10 years and have
experience in Vinyasa, Bikram, Baptiste, Power,
Lasater Restore, Yin, Freedom and Prana Flow styles of
yoga. I have completed teacher trainings with Erich
Schiffmann (2004, Freedom), D'ana Baptiste (2008,
Vinyasa), Max Strom (2010, Vinyasa) and Annie
Carpenter/Denise Kaufman (2011, Restore/Yin). I
am a 500 hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with the
Yoga Alliance (under my maiden name, Joanna
Kennedy).
I practice yoga because it brings me joy, comfort and
self-healing. I naturally fell into teaching in California
in 2005 because I loved the practice so much that I wanted
to share my passion and experience with others. Here I am,
seven (7) years later, and I still love to share ... :)
Stef
After
becoming an Emergency Medical Technician, Registered
Respiratory Therapist and holding a teaching position
@ Weber State University / Respiratory Therapy
Program, Stef excelled in hospital pharmaceutical and
medical equipment sales for 20 years. Stef discovered
yoga in 2010, and recognized a significant difference
in the way her body felt, a noticeable reduction in
stress, anxiety, and injuries and more restful
sleep. Yoga enhances the other sports and
activities that Stef loves: snow skiing, tennis, water
skiing, hiking, motocross, and photography. She
enrolled in and completed her 200 hour RYT and began
teaching. Stef continues to attend multiple
workshops, retreats, and classes regularly offered by
many of the wonderful studios and teachers here in
Utah. You will often see photographs taken by
Stef at these events as she loves to document the
amazing postures and capture the love and friendship
that many others in the Utah yoga community offer. RYT
200
Michelle
Since childhood dance,
rhythm and movement have played a significant part of
Michelle’s life. She was introduced to yoga during
High School in 'stretch' classes, as the instructor
emphasized breathing through parts of the body. During
various times in life Michelle has turned to yoga to
find inner strength and peace. During university,
pregnancies, births of her three children, and the
once a week ritual with friends, yoga has fed her
social, emotional, and physical well-being. During the
past two years she believes that yoga has quite
literally saved her life. After years of wanting to
become a certified instructor, she finally pursued her
dream through localYOGA, and Michelle looks forward to
sharing the gifts of yoga with you!
Bekah
Bekah
has been practicing yoga for almost 2 years and has
loved it from the very first time she did it. She is
passionate about teaching, and after a year of
practice she wanted nothing more than to share her
love of yoga and it's teachings with anyone that will
listen to her! Bekah's approach to yoga is to enhance
mental and physical healing and to keep our bodies in
good shape. Nothing shows who and what you as when you
show up on your mat everyday and listen to yourself.
"Yoga is the martial art of the soul, and the opponent
is the strongest you've ever faced: your
ego."
Heidi
Growing
up with a love of music, dance, and theater, Heidi’s
passion soon shifted to a love of health and
well-being. ‘It’s simple; when you feel at peace in
all areas of your life, you perform better”.
Heidi is
constantly pursuing educational opportunities in nutrition,
yoga, fitness, LOA (Law of Attraction), meditation,
financial management, and Biblical studies. Admittedly
there is so much to learn and so little time, that life can
seem overwhelming. But she keeps open to learning something
from everyone she meets and every situation she encounters,
taking life one day/project at a time.
Having been a former dance and aerobics instructor she is
thrilled to be on staff at localYOGA and looks forward to
bringing fun, new challenges to practice.
Brandy
Brandy
is originally from Southern California, where her
active, athletic upbringing fostered a fascination
with the mechanics of the human body, primarily how
movement affects the body. This fascination led to her
initial pursuits of yoga. Since then, Brandy has
practiced and studied yoga for eight years, and has
taught for the past year. Over the years, her practice
has developed into a style founded in anatomy and
alignment, allowing her students (and herself) to
safely explore asana. Brandy moved to Utah in 2001 for
college, and has lived here ever since. In her free
time, Brandy enjoys hiking, taking pictures,
exploring, skiing, surfing, playing the guitar,
reading, singing, listening to music, traveling,
writing, playing softball, learning, cooking, and
spending time with her dog-ter, Opie (short for
Optimus Prime).
Curtis
Curtis
began practicing Yoga in the fall of 2009 as part of a
new exercise routine. After his first practice, he
fell in love with not only the physical benefits of
Yoga, but also the emotional awareness that came as
well. He knew immediately that he was to share this
experience with everyone he could. Curtis
completed his Teaching Certification with Lisa Smiley
through localYOGA during the fall of 2012. His main
focus throughout his practice has been to help others
overcome anxiety, depression, and other mental
illnesses such as drug and alcohol addictions.
His classes tend to include a focus on the
unifying benefits of yoga practice in conjunction
with the entire nervous system.
Kate
Kate
has a deep passion for yoga that extends over ten
years. Her laid back demeanor yet edgy style bring a
unique twist to her classes. She is constantly seeking
new adventures whether on the yoga mat or off, perhaps
traveling to a new place or climbing outdoors. She
understands the most difficult part of yoga is rolling
out the mat, so her classes are designed for everyone
regardless of shape, size or experience level. Her
classes are challenging yet playful and her soothing
voice lends words of encouragement that will support
you through the whole hour. Don't be fooled, she will
give you a full-body workout that is sure to stretch
your limits, but will always leave you wanting
more.
