OUR TEAM

SAIRA ESTRADA

Saira began her yogic journey at the Chula Vista Yoga Center in the beginning of 2011, where she completed her RYT-200 certified teacher training program.

In search of a new perspective and learning about self-love, she decided to participate in a 30-day consecutive yoga challenge. During this time a shift of energy within her mind, body and soul, created a sense of fulfillment which she attributes to a life-changing experience. As her yoga practice evolved, it was clear that yoga was her life-long path.

Inspired by her teachers, Saira’s teaching is to share the importance of each individual's personal practice that aligns with oneself and brings joy. She continues to strive within her personal journey while she applies all the teachings of yoga to everyday life; the teacher will always be the student.

BRENT HONNERLAW

Brent Honnerlaw is an E-RYT 500, holding teaching certificates in both Hatha and Kundalini Yoga. He truly enjoys teaching and practicing a variety of styles so as to encourage versatility and balance in his and his student’s lives.

Brent plays a symphonic gong, crystal singing bowls, handpans, drums and chimes that he regularly incorporates into his classes. He currently teaches studio and private classes, offers sound healings, workshops, retreats, festivals and is a guest lecturer for yoga teacher training's.

Along with sound healing, Brent frequently applies his knowledge of yoga philosophy and mythology through storytelling. As a teacher, his goal is to guide students into a deeper state of internal awareness and closer to the Divine. Brent is a Spiritual and compassionate yogi who lives his yoga on and off the mat, inspiring others to do the same.

JANO GALINDO

A student of yoga since 2001, Jano’s study of hatha yoga, meditation, yoga philosophy and pranayama led him to become a Bikram certified teacher since 2003. Jano has been based and teaches extensively throughout the Jano Galindo has been teaching yoga for the past 20 years in San Diego. He leads retreats and teacher trainings all over the world, integrating multicultural experiences into the practice. He is forever grateful to his teachers Dharma Mitra, Tim Miller, Bikram Choudhry and Kristyan Stjerne, as well as every student that he has ever shared space with.

Follow his journey on instagram @janogalindo

ROBERT HAMMILL

I grew up in the construction industry, where back and hip pain seemed an inevitable part of life. I suffered my first incapacitating back spasms at age 13 and it became a fairly regular thing.

A series of fortunate events led me to find salvation through yoga. Grateful for the relief, I began to teach fellow workers on the job site each morning.

I moved to San Diego in 2000 to learn and teach. First with Beth Shaw of Yoga fit. A vigorous and athletic style. Being an athletic and vigorous person, it wasn’t too many years before new chronic injuries appeared. This led me to an interest in therapeutic applications of yoga.

I teach classic Hatha yoga as I continue my studies in the Iyengar method. I also owe a great deal of gratitude to Rachel Krentzman of Healthy Backs Yoga, who’s training greatly influences my practice and teaching. Classes often include foam rollers and tennis balls to aid in releasing stored tension in the body, as well as breathing techniques to release stored tension in the mind. Ginseng has the wonderful benefit of yoga rope walls, giving access to a whole series of techniques used to rejuvenate the spine. Exercises to strengthen and stabilize overly loose joints are learned.

DR . AMELIA CHANG

Dr. Amelia Chang, is a Doctor of Physical Therapy with advanced training in Yoga Therapeutics. She brings a wealth of experience to make the practice of Yoga accessible to those interested in incorporating its principles for physical and mental well-being.

Amelia's personal journey on the transformative power of Yoga ~ began after the birth of her second daughter and realized it became more than a hobby. She extensively studied the practice of Yoga as a science toward healthier mind-body; and as an art for gracious living. Amelia is in a unique position to impart combined Yoga Therapeutics in the Iyengar tradition and Physical Therapy for rehabilitation or injury-prevention. You can find her regularly teaching Yoga for healthy aging, or Yoga Wall for Healthy Back. Her services now include corporate wellness programs for employee health and well-being. View easy to follow videos at YOGALIFE with Amelia U tube channel.

Dr. Amelia Chang, DPT, E-RYT is a continuing education provider for Yoga Alliance and Physical Therapy association. Dr. Chang conducts courses for PTs, OTs, and healthcare professionals.

HEATHER STANTS

Heather Stants is a dancer and mover. Since 1999 she has taught dance in San Diego and has toured the world extensively performing and teaching intensives, workshops, and retreats. Dealing with injury and the wear and tear on her dancer’s body led her to pilates and yoga as means of cross training and healing. Beyond the physical benefits, yoga has brought Heather a sense of calm and a greater connection between body and mind. In 2009 she completed yoga teacher training with Dana Rae Paré. Heather’s teaching style draws upon her dance performance, choreography, and teaching experience. She creates fluid energizing sequences with a strong focus on breath, core, and alignment that offer the right balance between challenge and rejuvenation. She is the creator of Dance Flow Yoga, a seamless blend of vinyasa flow yoga and dance. Find more info on Heather at www.danceflowyoga.com

DR ELIZABETH BARR

Elizabeth received her doctorate degree in physical therapy from San Diego State University. She currently works at the Pelvic Health Center at Kaiser Point Loma and specializes in men and women’s pelvic rehabilitation, treating patients of all ages who suffer from pelvic dysfunction. She is a guest lecturer at her alma mater, where she teaches a pre- and post- natal exercise course.

Elizabeth has been a group exercise addict since she started taking Jazzercise classes with her mom twenty years ago, and is certified in yoga, Pilates, barre, TRX, Spinning and Zumba. She loves to combine her knowledge of anatomy and alignment with challenging, fun and creative workouts.

BREANNA TAYLOR

With over 10 years of experience, Breanna Taylor is a passionate yoga instructor and yoga business coach. She discovered yoga after a college rowing injury and has since taught over 5,000 hours in various settings, including studios, gyms, offices, homes, workshops, and retreats.

Breanna specializes in alignment-focused Vinyasa flow, combining mindful movement with breathwork and hands-on assists. She also shares her expertise in Yin yoga and Reiki for deep release and restoration. Her teaching philosophy centers on yoga as a mindfulness practice that transforms the mind, body, and spirit, cultivating transformation, clarity, and compassion.

Originally from Connecticut, Breanna lived in Denver before moving to San Diego in April 2024. With her blend of expertise, creativity, and heart-centered approach, Breanna's classes offer an opportunity to explore breath, reflect on the mind through yogic philosophy, and gain a deeper understanding of emotions, minds, and bodies. Her classes promise a transformative and accessible experience for beginners and experienced yogis alike.

ELKA HAECKEL

Elka is a worldwide yoga instructor who has developed a juicy yoga practice like none other. She’s a certified Yoga Teacher with specializations in Ayurveda, Reiki, Prana Flow, Restorative Yoga, Tantra Yoga, The Radiance Sutras, Vinyasa Flow, SUP Yoga, Yoga Therapy and Thai Medical Massage and accredited Life-coaching.

Elka’s exuberance and passion for teaching, extensive knowledge of yoga philosophy, and holistic health, combined with her experience of having owned two successful San Diego yoga studios for 15 years, leading teacher trainings, workshops, international retreats, makes her a positive force to be reckoned with. 

The first question Elka will ask you is, "What is your intention today?" For almost two decades, Elka has been teaching yoga. She teaches more than just asana (postures) you'll gain a whole new sense of body awareness. Yoga sessions with Elka will transform not only your body but also your entire sense of well-being. She will guide you on how to breathe (an essential tool in yoga) and how to feel your body in a way you never felt before and also to understand the importance of self-care.

Sara was introduced to yoga at 17 years old, renting a VHS from the library, unfolding a bath towel on the living room floor.  As a young gymnast and dancer she loved the physicality and the stretch, but also the balancing effects of the relaxation.

In 2006 while going through a divorce she began to practice more seriously as a way to heal, to process her emotions and stay grounded in positive community.  Sara was urged to become a yoga teacher by three people in the same week, it had never occurred to her before! It was Cleveland in a different era of yoga, there weren’t a lot of options, but she researched and found the first teacher training being led by renowned yoga instructor, Marni Task.

Sara is an e-RYT 200+ with over 17 years of experience instructing yoga, mindfulness and breathwork. She teaches classes, courses, workshops and retreats in San Diego, across the US and abroad as well as virtually across the web. She thanks her most influential teachers, Ginny Walters, Marni Task, Jules Febre, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Pema Chodron and Tara Brach.

Yoga has now become a long-lived way of life. Sara’s approach is soothing, welcoming and meets you where you are.  With a focus on the alchemical properties of the breath, she leads a mindful class including mantra, mudra, music, asana, hands-on assists and meditation.  Sara’s aim is to create an environment that invites you to become closer to your own highest wellbeing, providing a space to process, rest and heal.

As a certified yoga therapist and yoga educator, I specialize in offerings that involve postural awareness, breathwork, heartfelt intention, and contemplation on how our practice can show up in our lives. Because of my love for both language and yogic philosophy, there is often an interweaving of the two within my classes to make the experience feel like a bit like poetry in motion.

With over 2000 hours of education and 12 years of experience under my belt, I find myself a forever student of this beautiful practice. It is a sincere joy and privilege to hold space for folks seeking to better understand their bodies, nourish their nervous systems, and learn about the roots of yoga.

NANCINE DECHERD

Nothing helps to uncover, welcome, and embrace one’s inherently divine nature better than practicing yoga and meditation on a regular basis. Yoga, a meditation in motion, not only opens the body, but also the mind, eyes, and heart. Nancine was born in New York and raised in Atlanta. She began her exploration of yoga and self over a decade ago while traveling in Southeast Asia and studying vipassana meditation. She is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans with a B.A. in Mass Communication and earned a high school teaching credential through National University in San Diego. Her background includes more than 200 hours of yoga teacher training with 2 Anusara immersions at the La Jolla Yoga Center. She completed vinyasa teacher training in the spring of 2010 and is a registered instructor through Yoga Alliance. Other areas of study that make their way into Nancine’s classes include dance, Pilates, and martial arts.

ARIANA TORRES

As a former professional NFL and NBA dancer, Ariana found yoga while in search for a restorative practice that would help her cultivate more body awareness and heal her severe anxiety. Since 2009, she has experienced the intangible benefits of yoga through conscious breath work and movement meditation. During her yoga classes, Ariana offers creative sequences suitable for all levels. Her intention is to help you build strength while focusing on proper alignment. Students can expect to leave her classes feeling empowered, supported and with a new sense of presence.

STACEY FILICE

Stacey teaches various styles of yoga, meditation and sound healing. Her years of teaching have included many studios throughout San Diego, full-time instruction at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, BC, Mexico, online through the Insight Timer app, and working with students therapeutically one-on-one. Stacey enjoys empowering her students to go inward and connect to the calm, safe place that exists within them. Her passion is using ancient practices to help people therapeutically so that they may find true, deep healing.

NICOLE ROERICK

Originally from Fargo, ND, relocated to San Diego in the fall of 2018 after living abroad in Cairo, Egypt for 4 years. She is a passionate teacher and Yogini. She found Yoga through Dance and has benefitted from it in more ways than she thought possible. She has been practicing since 2007. She also completed 200 hours towards her advanced certification in Thailand in November 2016 and completed her Teen Yoga certification from the UK in October 2017. She has studied Hatha, Vinyasa and Yin styles, and has also worked with Anusara and Iyengar teachers. The diversity comes through in her teaching.

Nicole focuses on working towards proper alignment and muscle usage in the body while also focusing on individual needs and adjustments. Her teaching is fluid, direct, and very light hearted. Nicole gives much gratitude to her teachers that helped deepen her knowledge of the practice and teaching of yoga.

JOSIE KRAMER

After doing my initial 200 hour yoga teacher training at Center for Yoga, I quit acting and modeling and went back to school…lots and lots of school! If I was going to do this work, I wanted to do it with as much depth and integrity as possible. I was introduced along the way to other powerful approaches to healing such as therapeutic massage, holistic nutrition, somatic experiencing, mindfulness meditation, and transpersonal development.

I completed an additional 1,000 hour yoga teacher training certification and graduated with my B.A. in Traditional Eastern Arts/Somatic Psychology from Naropa University. I graduated as a Massage Therapist with a 550 hour certification from The Institute of Psycho-Structural Balancing, graduated as a Holistic Health Coach from The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and graduated with my M.A. degree in Transpersonal Psychology from Sofia University. I was truly blessed with an amazing education! Each program was instrumental in supporting the next level of my personal growth while also strengthening the quality of my work.

I’ve taught classes and led retreats in Los Angeles, Hawaii, India, Costa Rica, Africa, Greece, Mexico, and Panama. I’m currently based out of San Diego and pursing more exciting education at Somatic Experiencing International. Drawing on 20 years of experience, I'm happy and inspired to offer you the healing practices that have had such a profound impact on my own journey towards health and wholeness. I’m dedicated to offering you in-person and online sessions that empower your innate capacity to heal and transform!

PETRA BEALS

Petra founded her solace in the practice of yoga, as a contrast to her hectic vocation as an ER Nurse. A Yoga Teacher training changed her life. In her classes, Petra focuses on proper alignment and incorporates pranayama to achieve a deeper relaxation. To Petra, yoga is a state of connection that allows us to connect to anything.

LAUREN BOSWORTH

Lauren grew up in San Diego having a strong connection with nature, the ocean and movement. She played many sports and fell in love with dance at the age of 8, focusing on Ballet until she was 16 years old. She began to experience hip pain and sacroiliac joint dysfunction in her early teens years and turned to body dynamics for healing and building awareness of alignment. She danced in the Superbowl when she was 17 years old but decided to leave dance behind for Business Marketing School at the University of Arizona. Facing a life- altering diagnosis, a tumor in her femur bone, Lauren discovered the profound healing power of Therapeutic Yoga. This personal transformation ignited a passion to share this gift with others, guiding them toward physical and emotional well-being.

Lauren’s expertise is rooted in years of dedicated study. Her 200-hour certification from Yoga One provides a strong foundation in interdisciplinary yoga styles, enhanced by intensive trainings in yoga therapy. As the former owner of Happy Back Hawaii, a successful Yoga Wall Studio of 7 years, up on Pupukea, on the North Shore of Oahu, she brings unique experience in this specialized practice. She completed a Yoga Philosophy course based on the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, acknowledging that movement practice is just one of the many sheaths of Yoga and wellness. Her passion for anatomy and movement led her to pursue a 100-hour certification in Happy Back Yoga, a mentorship with Rachel Krentzman, and more recently, a Breathwork Facilitator Certification with Our Breathwork Collective. She currently owns and operates Serene Wellness in San Diego, working with private clients and corporations. Lauren continues to deepen her teachings and practice, by exploring  and incorporating therapeutic and restorative styles, Hatha, Iyengar, and Breathwork. She recognizes the interconnectedness of mind, body, and spirit, and believes in the power of yoga to promote holistic well-being. In Lauren’s classes, you’ll discover the path to a healthier, more balanced life.

Through mindful breathwork and personalized guidance, you’ll cultivate strength, flexibility, and inner peace. Experience a profound sense of self- discovery as you unlock your body’s natural healing potential.

JENNA MELKONIAN

Jenna is a dedicated teacher and yoga therapist with over a decade of experience. Her passion for wellness began while studying special education at Boston College. With a natural inclination towards fostering growth and development in others, she found her calling in the practice of yoga.

Jenna’s teaching style is inspired by Ashtanga vinyasa, Iyengar yoga, and Kripalu yoga traditions, as well as 18 years of dance training. Her classes are known for their peaceful vibe and accessible techniques that invite students of all levels to explore and expand their practice.

Holding E-RYT 500 and C-IAYT designations, Jenna brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her classes. Her passion for holistic wellbeing shines through to create a nurturing space where individuals can embark on a journey of self-discovery and transformation. 

JEN LAGEDROST-CAVENDER

Jen’s yoga classes uphold the traditional Ashtanga sequences and guidelines, and her teaching style invites her students to meet themselves where they are and to explore postures with curiosity, compassion, and an openness to develop over time. Her teacher always says: "Yoga Chikitsa means Yoga Therapy," emphasizing how the practice is ultimately all about meeting and healing oneself.

Jen is a multifarious artist and entrepreneur on a lifelong healing journey. In addition to her RYT-200 certification in Ashtanga Vinyassa Yoga, Jen also holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing and is a certified Level II Reiki practitioner, a trained Sound Healer, and a certified Ayurvedic health counselor. Additionally, she is the founder of Nectar & Bloom, a holistic floral design studio that empowers creatives with transformative floral education, and the author of Tarot of Flowers, an original tarot deck based on the metaphoric wisdom of flowers.

Jen finds each practice she studies and each tool she discovers to fuel to her passion for teaching and empowering others, and she loves to infuse her classes, workshops, and retreats — from floristry to yoga to sound healing and beyond — with these integrated creativity and wellbeing modalities.

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