• Currently in 200hr Yoga Alliance Certified program with the Samudra School of Yoga & Shiva Rea.
• Childrens Yoga Certification progam at Yogani Studios.
• Certified Spin Instructor.  Spin instructor at BodyMax in 2000.
• Tim Feldman Primary series workshop at Yogani Studios
• Lover of mountain biking, road biking and rock climbing.
• Former cubicle rat.   Emphasis on the word “former”

Laraine O’Neill

M.A., E-RYT 200, RYT 500
I teach at Yogani Studios and The Lotus Room in Tampa and have a roster of private students receiving alignment, pose-specific and vinyasa training, yoga therapy, pranayama and meditation instruction.
I received my RYTs at Stephanie Keach’s Asheville Yoga Center. My RYT training was multi-disciplinary.  I have hundreds of hours of training beyond that with concentrations in Anusara and yoga therapy, as well as specific certification intensives with David Swenson and Eric Shiffmann, among a host of other nationally-recognized teachers and styles ranging from Yin, Iyengar, Restorative, Partners Yoga to Vinyasa. I have studied yoga philosophy with Stephen Cope and the art of kirtan with Jai Uttal. My training has synthesized into an alignment-focused mindful flow style.  I begin and end class with pranayama and Restorative poses for grounding and meditation while I weave the rich lore and philosophy of yoga throughout, often chanting as the spirit moves me.  I regularly facilitate Yoga Nidra at Yogani’s Studios.  I can be reached at 813-760-0958 or tambay@aol.com.

Roni Sloman

After being in full-time ministry here in Tampa, spending time in the wilderness, and performing some mission work I had come to a place where I was thirsty to find an even more conscious way of interacting with the world around me. The practice of yoga and meditation was quickly life changing and I felt called to share it with others. Bella Prana studio focuses on breath awareness, smaller classes, personal attention, and mind body awareness. Students at Bella Prana learn more than the asanas, but should walk away with a greater understanding of the philosophy of yoga and how it applies to their everyday life. Bella Prana means “Beautiful Breath” in honor of the invisible yet life giving source that sustains us everyday. It is with humility that I teach yoga and meditation and pray that you will find rest within these walls.

200 Hour Yoga Alliance Certified
Emergency Medical Technician 2008
Florida State University, Fuller Theological Seminary
Outward Bound Wilderness Instructor Training

Ally Ford

ERYT
Ally began practicing Hatha and Bikram yoga in 1997 to improve her breath control for triathlons, marathons and to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. Soon, the “breath practice” would change her life completely. After discovering Ashtanga Yoga in San Francisco, Ally began a dedicated practice under the guidance of John Berlinsky and Lea Watkins, completed her first Ashtanga-based teacher training with Its Yoga, and began teaching in 2001. She traveled to Mysore, India in 2003 to study with the beloved Guru, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and has studied with both Guruji and his grandson, Sharath Rangaswamy on many of their U.S. workshop tours. In 2004, Ally moved to Clearwater, Florida and maintains a daily, self-practice.

Ally believes strongly in the healing ability of yoga and is passionate about studying and teaching the yoga philosophy. She believes to be a teacher means to be an eternal student and continues to study with her teachers annually.  Some of her trainings include Advanced Teacher Trainings with John Berlinsky, Ana Forrest, and Richard Freeman. Ally is an ERYT (Experienced Yoga Teacher) with the Yoga Alliance®, and currently leads 200-hour Yoga Alliance®Registered Teacher Training programs in Tampa Bay, and special workshops, retreats, and classes. For more information, visit www.analayoga.com.

ELUV (Eluv Music)

Eluv (Elise Zotos)  is a recording artist, musician and radio personality born and educated in Melbourne, Australia. While training for a National Power lifting Competition, she was discovered by American film producer George Butler, who was filming the sequel to his movie “Pumping Iron” with Arnold Schwarzenegger. George recruited Eluv for “Pumping Iron-The Women” and brought her to the United States to continue filming. After completing the film, she decided to stay in New York City, and pursue singing, songwriting and acting.

Her background features multiple art modalities, with the focus on composing music, live music performance, singing, voice overs and music production. She creates beautiful inspirational music, guided meditations and visualizations for special events, Spa, Yoga, Reiki and Relaxation,  Meditation, Sound Healing, Commercials and Film.  Eluv’s recordings are featured on the Monroe Institutes’s “Hemi-Sync” label, with binaural sound healing technology added to balance the left and right hemispheres of the brain. Eluv produces a weekly radio show called “Ultrasounds” on WMNF 88.5 FM Tampa, every Thursday night 9pm-11pm featuring exotic world music and live interviews on health,spirituality and more. She is a featured guest speaker, and educator on sound healing and performs live “Sound Healing Journeys” & live music for Yoga, Spa conferences and events worldwide.  Eluv is also co-founder with her partner Anthony Bonnet of “MN8 Multimedia” a Tampa based full service multi-media company that produces, HD film and video, websites, 2D and 3D animation, multi-media marketing materials, Search Engine Optimization,voice overs, custom music and more.

http://www.radiantsol.com

http://mn8multimedia.com

http://www.wmnf.org/programs/ultrasounds

Haris Lender and The Assana Posse

http://www.yogawithharis.com

Haris Lender

Haris (Harini) Lender is a certified Integral Yoga™ teacher. She teaches Yoga classes in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she lives with her family. Highly creative and an expert camper and outdoors person, she runs Camp Yogaville in Virginia every summer.

Among her many accomplishments are completing an Outward Bound course in North Carolina, studying with the National Outdoor Leadership School in Kenya, Africa, where she lived with Masai warriors, running the Outing Club at the University of North Carolina (hiking, canoeing, rock climbing, etc.), and serving as a Brownie troop leader.

Since becoming a certified Yoga teacher in 2000, I have received certificates for teaching Yoga for Children, Prenatal Women, Raja Yoga and most currently Stress Management. I am a 500 hour Registered Yoga Teacher (500 RYT) through the Yoga Alliance.

Haris will also be teaching a Kidding around Yoga class for children earlier in the day. For more info, see kiddingaroundyoga.com

Assana Posse

What could be better? You’re enjoying an all-levels Hatha class, while listening to some groovy guitar, jammin’ drums, smooth sitar, tremendous chanting, marvelous melodic mandolin, and all sorts of other celestial and cosmic vibes from crystal bowls, rain sticks, chimes and what not! Please join us for this ecstatic, blissful, experience.

Sahara Rodriquez

Sahara Rodriquez leads guided meditation sessions at the Lotus Room on Mondays at 5:30 p.m. and is available by appointment for massage and energy healing. She also teaches yoga and meditation to children.

Sahara has done bodywork, taught meditation and led holistic classes for 12 years. She has studied with spiritual teachers from around the world, bringing together many paths in the spirit of Oneness. She teaches that while we may be on a spiritual path, the love of our creator is available to us here and now, exactly how we are in this moment. As a Reiki Master and a graduate of the Bhakti Academy of Massage in Safety Harbor, Florida, she incorporates many forms of energy work into her massage sessions, including Bhakti Energy Healing and Quantum Healing. She is also the author of “Beyond the Reflection,” an inspirational book for young adults available Authorhouse.com.

Sahara has compassionately assisted many people in all levels of physical, mental and emotional illness, including those suffering from insomnia, migraines, depression, drug and alcohol addiction, multiple sclerosis, cancer, physical pain, AIDS and Alzheimer’s disease.

Amy Pfaelzer – Little Ones Yoga

Amy Pfaelzer, founder of Little One’s Yoga, is a registered yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance and holds a Master’s Degree in Education. Amy is a facilitator of the Radiant Child Yoga Program® and leads children’s yoga teacher trainings nationwide and internationally. Amy teaches Pre-Natal, Post-Natal and Children’s yoga in Clearwater, FL.  Amy believes that sharing yoga with children when they are young gives them the foundation for a lifelong path to health, happiness and peace.  Amy lives with her husband and their three beautiful little ones on Clearwater Beach.  For more information please visit, www.littleonesyoga.com

Chris Acosta – St. Petersburg Yoga

As the founder of St. Petersburg Yoga, Chris Acosta began a daily practice almost 30 ago while in a full body brace (for 4 years and for 23 hrs a day) to first heal his extreme scoliosis (2 curvatures with largest almost 50 degrees), multiple herniated discs, pinched nerves and spinal arthritis. Freed from the severe pain, deformation of the body, and armed with those successes, he focused on the greater liberations that Yoga was designed for.

He has gone on to becoming one of the area’s most popular and prolific instructors. Mr. Acosta was showcased in “Best [Yoga Instructor] of the Tampa Bay” by DuPont Registries (July 2007). He is known as a teachers teacher and has taught tens of thousands of classes over his career, though Chris primarily instructs one on one, he also teaches a large number of group classes, corporate, workshops, lectures, retreats, and is the primary instructor of St. Petersburg Yoga’s 200 and 500 level Yoga Teacher Trainings.

Mr. Acosta’s primarily loves to demonstrate the true power of authentic Yoga to transform any area that binds and limits, from the pain and handicaps of the body or the mental traps and seemingly inescapably cycles of suffering.
Chris holds an E- RYT 500 educator level certification from Yoga Alliance and is also honored to be part of the distinguished faculty at the Omega Institute in New York. He developed Yoga Traction Therapy. He instructs from many influences: Iyengar, Therapeutic, Restorative, Ashtanga, Power, Vinyasa, Pranayama, Mantra, Meditation, Yoga philosophy; Yoga Sutras, Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gita. He specializes in the injured and very beginner to intermediate through to the most advanced.

Nikki Leonardi

Nikki Leonardi is founder of STRETCH, a yoga and fitness program for kids. As a fitness enthusiast, Nikki has always been dedicated to sharing her passion for health and wellness with other people and has found it especially critical to introduce the building blocks of this lifestyle as early as possible.

Her yoga practice started over 10 years ago as a supplemental activity to her dance, cheer and fitness regime and quickly was infused into her daily life. While performing and instructing kids, Nikki found that yoga brought better focus, stamina and flexibility to her teams and quickly became the foundation to her coaching programs. Nikki is a certified children’s yoga instructor through Mini Yogis and has over 15 years of coaching and instruction experience with children between ages 0 and 18 years of age, including Director of Dance Programs for Cheer Chicago and American Cheer.

Nikki holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. A native of the Midwest, Nikki now lives with her husband and 2 children in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

Denise O’Dunn

CAP, LMT ma58502, E-RYT500
DENISE O’DUNN, president and founder of Balance & Bliss^® Inc., is a certified Ayurvedic Practitioner, Licensed Massage Therapist (ma58502) and Yoga Teacher, who began studying Yoga in 1970 and received certification as a Yoga Instructor in 1985. She is registered with Yoga Alliance as an experienced teacher at the 500-hour level. Denise received her degree in Ayurveda from the Florida Vedic College in 2005 and is a professional member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association.

BananaYoga Music Concert with Shana Banana

Shana “Banana” Smith

What happens when you get a Master’s degree in Oceanography?  You become a national children’s entertainer, of course!  After working and teaching (and playing lots of music) on a marine research vessel, Shana Smith decided to take a leap of faith and formalize her creative talents in singing and songwriting.  Shana discovered and developed her incredible joy of writing songs for children first as a touring folk musician when children were in the audience, and then on the grounds of her mother’s preschool.  Over the years, she became nationally known as “Shana Banana” and earned a reputation as one of today’s top children’s entertainers, with a voice that still delves into blues, jazz, and folk as well.

Performing at major festivals and performing arts centers across the United States, Shana Banana has earned many prestigious awards along the way, including: two first-round Grammy nominations, Parents’ Choice, iParenting, NAPPA, Kids’ First Coalition for Quality Children’s Media, and “Best Children’s Song In the Country” by the Just Plain Folks organization for her most requested  song:  I Want to be a Dinosaur.  She has performed at the White House, Chicago’s Lincoln Park, the Houston Children’s Museum, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Seattle’s Whirligig, the Florida Folk Festival, Merlefest (in honor of Merle Watson), and many more.  Her favorite “gig,” however, is as mom to her two young children.

Shana Banana continues to develop a variety of live themed shows, CD’s, DVD’s, books, study guides, and workshops for teachers, parents, and of course, kids!  She also continues her efforts with children’s hospitals and school outreach programs to assist in her long-term mission of making a positive difference in the lives of children, motivating and cheering them as they grow.  She has been endorsed by a local PBS station to create a new television series, called “Banana Bread,” has just completed a bedtime transitions CD called “Banana Bedtime,” and is currently working on her fourth CD, an ocean-themed treasure called “Banana Beach Party USA.”