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Val Spies • E-RYT 500, CHopra Health TeacherOwner & Director of the Lotus Pond Yoga Teacher Training Programs
Val is a certified Kripalu yoga teacher who specializes in the inner quest for joy through the practice of yoga, meditation and breathwork. She has been leading workshops, travel tours, and training sessions for yoga groups and corporate enterprises for over 20 years, and offers expertise in tailoring programs to fit the needs of individual groups. Val was originally drawn to yoga through a yearning to find peace and comfort in her body and spirit. Over the years, yoga became a survival tool for her as she worked in corporate America and found less and less time for inner peace. Today, Val is best known for her ability to deliver the complex studies of yoga in a comprehensive and intriguing style that appeals to students of all levels. Her teachings encompass the philosophical studies of the yoga tradition and the mind/body connection of the practice. As a Chopra Health Teacher she also leads workshops on Ayurveda Health and Nutrition as well as meditation workshops. She is the director and lead teacher of the Lotus Pond 200 and 300hr Yoga Teacher Training Programs and "yogi mama" to 700+ graduating yoga teachers across the country. As co-founder of the Heart Space Grief App and Grief Workshop Program, Val provides a much needed respite for students on the path to recovery from Grief. Her life work is to contribute to a more peaceful and healthy life for her students and community. |
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Maia Bellavia • RYT 200Studio Manager, Promotions Manager & Event Coordinator
Maia Bellavia is a heart-centered person with a passion for helping others. With a background in social work, aiding the homeless and managing businesses, she now plays a vital role in serving the Lotus Pond community and maintaining smooth operations. As studio manager, you’ll frequently see Maia at the front desk eager to welcome you with a warm and friendly smile. She graduated from the Lotus Pond teacher training program in 2018, holds a bachelors in Psychology and is currently studying at USF for her masters degree in social work. |
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Lynda Savidge • RYT 200Lynda started exploring yoga when she began studying with Deepak Chopra, MD in 1994. Soon after she became a Certified Massage Therapist in CA and opened her first healing shop. Her desire to share as she learned led to opening an integrative wellness center and co-teaching courses on Ayurveda, Meditation, Aromatherapy, and other healing modalities. Her desire to assist in the healing process led her to delve into a host of healing techniques from Reiki and Craniosacral to Sports Massage and PNF stretching. Lynda sensed a need for clients to utilize their bodies' natural ability to heal and incorporated this into her nurturing treatments.
Lynda's quest for knowledge continues, and the integration of Yoga became a natural extension of her journey. As an RYT-200 Yoga Alliance member and excited to be in the RYT-500 program at The Lotus Pond, Lynda loves teaching Hatha, Slow Flow, Gentle and Restorative Yoga. Her background lends itself to a warm, safe and meditative journey during her classes. The potential she desires for all of her students/clients— bliss. |
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Ryan devin • e-RYT 500
Lead Teacher in the Lotus Pond Yoga Teacher Training Programs
Ryan Devin has extensive training in intuitive alignment-based yoga, acrobatic yoga, pranayama (yogic breathing) and meditation. With over 2500 hours of experience in teaching, he is a passionate and enthusiastic leader with a patient and loving approach. His co-teachers and students say he exudes wisdom and intuition beyond his years. With a Bachelor’s in Alternative Medicine, he merges an understanding of the human body and holistic practices into his teachings. “Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing is so gentle as real strength.” |
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Melissa Caroll • e-RYT 500 • YACEP • MFA
Lead Teacher in the Lotus Pond Online Yoga Teacher Training Program
Melissa Carroll is a lead teacher in the Lotus Pond Teacher Training Programs, college creative writing professor, and the author of four books, including Going OM: Real-Life Stories on and off the Yoga Mat. In 2006 Melissa discovered yoga and Reiki as paths toward inner peace, and she has dedicated her life to sharing these practices with others. Melissa has taught yoga for the past 11 years and specializes in philosophy, alignment, Yin Yoga, meditation, and the subtle body. Learn more at www.TheYogaWriter.com. Creator of the online course SHADOW+LIGHT: A Journey Toward Self-Mastery |
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Manasa Kanithi, M.S. • E-RYT 500Having been a student of yoga from the age of five under the guidance of her parents, Manasa brings authentic teachings of Philosophy, Sanskrit, Mantra, and Ayurveda to the YTT programs at Lotus Pond. As a graduate of the Lotus Pond 200hr and advanced teacher training, Manasa offers classes that draw from multiple lineages that take students right to the heart of yoga. Manasa holds her M.S. in Medical Sciences from the Morsani College of Medicine at USF. She also carries a graduate certificate in Aging and Neurosciences certificate in Ayurvedic Studies. She strives to weave together the traditions of yoga with the scientific principles to promote health and wellness for her students. Her travels to 22 countries and extensive work with non-profits local and abroad inspire her teachings to promote diversity, inclusivity, and the importance of service and social action
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Pam Velez • E-RYT 500I have been practicing yoga for the past 13 years. I began taking yoga classes at a gym with the intention of getting a good workout. What began as part of an exercise routine has become so much more. I credit yoga for making me a better person: more patient, compassionate and less judgmental. I am a goofy person who loves to laugh and I bring this element of lightheartedness to each class. My classes are taught with the end result in mind- leave class feeling like you just had a good workout and a relaxing massage. I am certified as an RYT 500 and received my training right here at the beautiful Lotus Pond. In addition to teaching yoga, I am a holistic health coach specializing in working with corporate clients.
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Katie Beene • RYT 200Lotus Pond Yoga Teacher Training Coordinator, Front Desk Staff & Yoga Teacher
With a background in dance and circus arts, Katie has a passion for movement! Along with teaching yoga, she also custom crafts hula hoops and teaches workshops and lessons on how to find you flow with a hoop. She's performed at local venues including: Ruth Eckhard Hall and the Straz Center and continues to light up the Tampa Bay Area with her flow props. Her style of yoga is a "slow flow", allowing time for each of her students to savor each moment, each posture, and each breath. She is Yoga Nidra Certified and has a passion for leading guided meditations. She believes that yoga and meditation are beautiful opportunities to slow down and be present, considering that the world can sometimes move so fast and provide many distractions from what's really important. Katie also teaches monthly donation based Full Moon Circles online via Zoom. When she's not teaching yoga, you'll find this blue hair fairy frolicking around in nature or island hopping in the Gulf. She loves being outside and feels the most connected to the teachings of yoga when she is in nature. |
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Carla Jiminez • e-RYT 500
Carla Jimenez is a native to Tampa, Florida where she started teaching yoga and dance in 2002. Carla has taught yoga and dance to people of all ages and abilities, including the football team at the University of South Florida, The Florida Dance Education Organization Conference, Various Performing Arts Elementary, Middle, and High Schools and The Patel Conservatory in Tampa. In 2011, she became a Yoga Teacher Trainer at the Lotus Pond Yoga Center in Tampa and continues to be a part of the school. She is currently a Dance Director at Orange Grove Middle Magnet School of the Arts. Carla is a Yoga Alliance 500 E-RYT and 200 E-RYT. She also has attained a State of Florida Dance Teaching Certification, Prenatal Yoga Certification, and American Ballet Theater Teacher Certification. Her yoga classes are creatively fluid and always include her singing the healing sounds of Mantra in the final meditation. Carla specializes in classes and workshops such as Gentle Yoga, Mom and Baby Yoga, Prenatal Yoga, Yoga for Dance, and Mantra Meditation.
She sings mantras during savasana in each yoga class and has delivered numerous workshops on chanting. Carla’s passion is teaching her students to achieve bliss by integrating yoga into every part of life. |
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Charles Burgess • RYT 200
Charles has been coming to the Lotus Pond for over 5 years after discovering how yoga brought joy and relief to his life that was otherwise filled with bouts of corporate burnout, running-related injuries, and the stress of everyday life. Now, through the teachings of yoga, he helps students find more balance, confidence, and compassion on and off the mat.
With a background in comedy, acrobatics, and mentorship, he takes a light-hearted approach to class that focuses on proper alignment and finding some fun in each posture. |
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Margie Sagafi • e-RYT 500
Maryelin has been practicing and studying yoga for more than 15 years, traveling the world and attending numerous workshops and conferences with Rodney Yee, Cindy Lee, Laurence Biscontini, David Regelin, Karin Stephan and others. She traveled to India seeking deeper knowledge; after a month of submerging into the practice of the physical and spiritual aspects of yoga, she received her yoga teacher certification from The Himalaya Yoga Institute. She is trained in Raja Dhiraja Yoga, a more extensive and comprehensive form of Ashtanga Yoga. Her teaching methods emphasize strong practice, precise alignment, meditation, visualization, and intention; flowing in coordination with breathing techniques. She is certified in Prenatal and Restorative Yoga. She teaches private lessons as well as group classes.
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Tara Drucker • RYT 200Tara began practicing yoga in 2019 to deepen her meditation practice. She quickly found that yoga gave her the mind, body, and spirit connection she had been longing for her entire life. Through yoga, she was able to begin healing the grief associated with losing both parents and balance her physical, mental, and energetic body. Following her intuition, Tara completed her 200 hour Teacher Training at the Lotus Pond, where she is currently working on her advanced training to become a 500 hour teacher. She is also a Pranic healer (energy healer) and incorporates it into her yoga practice. Yoga and Pranic healing are a perfect match as both focus on moving energy through the body to avoid congestion as well as connecting on a deeper level to the divinity with us. Tara is passionate about helping students feel ease and confidence in yoga postures so they can find balance and bliss in their lives. She focuses on alignment while incorporating breath work, mindfulness, and joy into her classes.
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Teri Martin • E-RYT 500Teri Martin is an E-RYT500 Experienced Yoga Instructor from Boston and has been a yoga practitioner for over 20 years. In her yoga teaching she encourages, leads, and empowers students to tune in to and connect with themselves, creating increased physical and personal awareness.
Teri is an Artist, Art Consultant, Business Advisor and founder of TheArtNetwork. Her left brain has a Harvard MBA and is a former executive at HBO, Cinemax and Citicorp. Teri’s vinyasa flow classes are enjoyable, thoughtfully choreographed and appropriately paced flows of ashtanga - based postures and movement with strong emphasis on proper alignment, breath, personal awareness and individual attention. |
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Sarah Sclafani • RYT 500Sarah Sclafani is an RYT500 experienced yoga teacher with a wide range of class styles for all levels. A certified Chair and Yin Yoga teacher , a Reiki Master and a Silver Sneakers certified in fitness and yoga instructor. She loves to she share her passion through yoga through her teachings.
Sarah is a mother of 4, grandmother of 7. Sarah's motto: You are one yoga class away from a good mood! |
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analiese Deabreu • RYT 200Rediscovered her passion for yoga after diving deeper into the studies of meditation and began to teach at the Lotus Pond in 2019. She firmly believes in the “ripple effect” of yoga, the softening that begins towards oneself and spreads to others as the movement and breath do their magic, and carries this philosophy into all her classes. Her focus as a teacher is for her students to leave feeling lighter physically and energetically, with a greater awareness of their daily experience of living. Analiese feels yoga is not a practice just for the mat but for all areas of life and co-teaches a monthly online Full Moon Circle to support others in discovering their own inner wisdom.
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Alyssa liadis • RYT 200Lotus Pond Studio Assistant Manager and Yoga Teacher
Alyssa was drawn to yoga as a way to find movement outside of her corporate job. As her physical practice began to deepen, she realized there was a bigger connection to her mind and spirit. With this, and her passion to teach, she knew she found the right path - teaching yoga. Alyssa has completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training at Lotus Pond and looks forward to meeting with her students. |
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Jennifer gaudreau • RYT 200Yoga found Jenn over two years ago on retreat. While she had taken classes before, it was the first time she had experienced a sense of peace and connection to her inner guidance through yoga. Thus began a journey of inner healing and traveling around the world to learn more about yoga, meditation, sound healing, reiki, vocal activation, sacred ceremonies, and other healing arts.
Jenn is always learning and growing, recognizing this is a lifelong journey and that we all have something to learn from one another. It's her deep desire to create a brave and inclusive space, where everyone is welcome. She is interested in the ways mindfulness and spiritual practice can help individuals find emotional healing. Jenn is also a personal brand photographer and coach for healers, conscious creators, and mindfulness guides. Jenn completed her 200 hour teacher training at the Lotus Pond and is very grateful to be part of this community. You can learn more about her work at www.jenngaudreau.com. |
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Karen Frost • RYT 200Karen was drawn to yoga in 2000 because of work and personal stress, and she felt right at home once she began practicing regularly. A runner for years, yoga provided the chance to really stretch in a unique way. More than that, it pushed her toward regular meditation. Karen became a YTT 200-hour certified teacher through the Lotus Pond in 2012, and she has been a teacher of gentle practice at the Pond since 2013. She invites her students to learn their bodies, to have fun and relax, and to explore the amazing flexibility that the human mind and body can have when you give them permission.
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