CHRISTINE DURANT
Yoga has been an important part of Christine’s life as a spiritual, physical, and mental health practice since her teenage years. While working on her master’s degree in counseling psychology Christine began to study the effects of meditation, pranayama (breath work), and asanas (postures) on the symptoms of mental health patients. Working with another counselor and yoga instructor, Christine began to incorporate hatha yoga into group therapy sessions with adolescent boys and was pleased at the subsequent peace and reduction in symptoms for her clients. Upon moving from Boston to New Orleans Christine decided to deeper her own personal practice while also learning to share yoga with others by training with Ganga White and Tracey Rich at the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, California. As Life’s Yoga Studio Director Christine believes that yoga is for every body and emphasizes connecting the breath with movement while playfully challenging yourself!
SHARON FLOYD
Sharon began studying yoga in 2004 and committed herself to sharing this ancient practice with the world just a few years later. After receiving her teaching certification from Peachtree Yoga Center and Atlanta Yoga Fellowship, she relocated to New Orleans where she continues her personal study in nutrition and the healing arts. She has deep appreciation for the health sciences including modern Psychology in which she earned a BS from Georgia State University. As a student of yoga, Sharon practices Ashtanga, Jivamukti, and Vinyasa styles which influence her strong background in Hatha. Her teaching approach is insightful and light-hearted, with respect to individual differences and focus on the healing power of movement. Sharon also writes about the influence of yoga on her career as a mixologist at ConsciousCocktail.com.
LAUREN DARNELL
Originally from New Orleans, she returns home to us via New York and London. Lauren started practicing yoga due to a hip injury in 2006. In 2008, she discovered Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga with Dylan Ayaloo, founding Director of Hot Power Yoga in London. The heated power vinyasa practice challenged her personal limitations. She was able to move beyond the physical, emotional, and mental restraints to feel joy, freedom and an inner strength in her body that she had never tapped into before. In October 2009, Lauren completed her Level 1 teacher training in Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga and became apart of the teaching team at Hot Power Yoga. Since then, she has assisted Dylan Ayaloo, Master Teachers, Gregor Singleton and Claire Este-Mcdonald, and Baron Baptiste in delivering workshops, Teacher Trainings, Hands-On Assisting, and 40-day to Personal Revolution programs. Lauren believes in seeking the fullest expression of yourself without boundaries. She teaches with the intention to provide the space for students to tap into their power within and discover their own path to joy and transformation through a deeper connection to their body. Her classes are playful, intelligent, and compassionate.
ABIGAIL BROWN
From the Colorado Rockies to the Himalayan Mountains, Abigail’s wanderlust began a spiritual journey through meditation, massage and yoga. While living in Thailand, she immersed herself in the study of traditional Thai Yoga Therapy, deepening her knowledge of the body and yoga. Her yoga practice led her to India where she combined the ancient healing of Ayurveda into her practice. After returning to the United States, she began teaching yoga at Lake Martin, AL, bringing her knowledge and training back to her home town. Her love for teaching yoga was passionate and she knew it was her calling. She furthered her training at the Yandara Yoga Institute in Baja, California, Mexico; earing her 200-RYT Yoga Alliance Certification in Hatha Flow Yoga. This Iyengar style lineage of yoga focuses on precision and alignment. Abigail’s classes flow through a series of asanas to simply awaken the Supreme energy in the body and allow it to transform completely. Her playful and energetic teaching style adheres to all of her students. Everyone is welcome!
BROOKE BAILEY
Brooke Bailey took her first yoga class in Australia in 2000. Initially, she was drawn to yoga for its reported ability to increase strength and flexibility. The more yoga classes she took, the more intrigued Brooke became by the way yoga made her feel compared to other forms of exercise. In an attempt to uncover what it was about these physical movements that gave her both relaxation and focus, she enrolled in a teacher training program.
In 2006 Brooke received her Yoga Alliance 200 Hour Certification in Hatha Yoga from Synergy Center for Yoga and the Healing Arts in Miami, Florida. Her study of yoga has included a variety of styles including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Sivananda, and Vinyasa. In 2008 Brooke began studying with Rod Stryker, the founder of ParaYoga, and is continuing to broaden her understanding of this yoga style and its tantric lineage through the ParaYoga Master Training Certification Program.
SUZANNE WARD
*has been practicing yoga since 2002 at first coming to it just to lose weight. Soon became intrigued by the calmness she felt after classes and began to learn more about all the eight limbs.
*RYT-200, through Yogafit. Teaching since 2007, she loves sharing her Vinyasa-based practiced with others.
*her classes incorporate chanting, pranayama and meditation with mindful movement. She loves to get the Chakra energies flowing and blends all varieties of music in her classes.
*she is very involved with the running scene and believes yoga and running blend together very well. The focus and concentration learned in yoga help her stick to her running schedule. The asanas provide muscle balance needed for the long runs and aide in quick recovery.
*active in animal welfare. has 4 spoiled cats who believe Lion’s pose trumps downward facing dog.
*believes everyone can benefit from yoga-it enriches your mind as well as stretching your body.
MELISSA REMARK
Melissa’s introduction to yoga came in the form of a birthday gift – a six class pass – and she has been studying and practicing all forms of yoga since that summer of 2003. She trained to teach Ashtanga and Hatha Vinyasa yoga at the beautiful Yoga Sanctuary in downtown Toronto with teachers Cynthia Funk and Jonathan Austman in 2005. While Melissa’s yogic path found its roots in the energetic Ashtanga discipline, she stresses the importance of practicing all styles of yoga to create perspective, balance and fluidity on the mat, as well as in life. Melissa’s Ashtanga classes focus on building a practice — creating something lasting through breath, continuity, postures that develop strength and ease, and Zen meditation. Currently, Melissa is completing an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of New Orleans, co-editing a literary journal – Bayou Magazine, and working on a novel.
Emily began practicing yoga in 2006, originally fueled by a desire to find greater flexibility in her chronically stiff and sore runner/musician body. She soon discovered that yoga’s gifts extend far beyond the realm of the physical, and with the encouragement of her many teachers, she completed her 200-hour Vinyasa teacher training at New York City’s Om Factory in April 2011. A longtime teacher of theatre and music, Emily brings to her yoga classes an energetic style, creative flow and soulful tunes. She encourages her students to bring an open heart and a playful spirit to their practice in order to transcend perceived limitations, cultivate self-compassion and quiet the mind.
LIZ SALUKE
A long-time student of the body and how it moves, Liz Saluke began her yoga practice in 2007 as a complement to her dancing. After a brief yoga-hiatus due to the struggles of beginning an MFA in Dance at Florida State University, she rediscovered yoga in the fall of 2010. At the time she was facing a serious injury that had kept her from dancing for several months. Liz is convinced that yoga was absolutely vital to recovering from that injury, and that it continues to sustain her dance career (not to mention her general sense of peace and well-being!) to this day. She completed her 200 hour RYT in July of 2011 under the amazing tutelage of Sarasvati Devi and began teaching almost immediately at Journeys in Yoga in Tallahassee, FL. Liz has also trained in Pilates and Ballet and Modern Dance techniques, and taught students of all ages in these disciplines. In her classes, Liz emphasizes anatomical alignment and core strength and hopes to empower students to find the best ways to work with their own unique body structure.
Do you know what “Namaste” truly means? Even if you’ve been practicing for years, you may not have been acquainted with the word past a common translation—“The divine light within me honors the divine light within you.” Yes, Namaste is that, but also so much more.
