Rachael

Sneaking off to yoga classes used to be my getaway from the grind of the New York fashion industry. I knew I was tapping into something when I would leave a yoga class feeling intoxicated with the energy of Prana. This gave me the courage and clarity to take a leap and change my career path into the healing arts.
 
The tides of life brought me to Puerto Rico where I pursued my passions by taking a 200-hour training at It’s Yoga in Ashtanga Vinyasa. In 2009 I began training with Shiva Rea and her global community. I am currently pursuing my 500-hour certification in Prana Flow©, which incorporates classical and innovative perspectives of yoga according to the Krishnamacharya lineage, Ayurveda, Bhakti, Tantra, Somatics and Shiva Rea’s background in dance. I enjoy the art of teaching yoga, creative sequencing and the healing potential of bringing balance to the body and mind while connecting to the collective energy of nature that surrounds us. As a water lover I started a stand-up paddle yoga group in Puerto Rico, which has been a fun and challenging way to cultivate balance, focus and fluidity while exploring yoga poses on the board.
 
Having an undergraduate degree in psychology from Boston University led me to further investigate the science behind yoga and the potential yoga has as an adjunctive therapy to healing psychological and physical traumas. In 2010 I trained in Trauma Sensitive Yoga Therapy at the Trauma Center in Boston, Massachusetts. I continue to explore the power of yoga as an adjunct therapy by collaborating with psychologists and doctors to design and implement yoga programs in various settings.  
 
With an open mind and a compassionate heart, I strive to share the experience and “spark” of yoga with others and embrace the experience of yoga on and off the mat.

Nell

I started practicing yoga as a compliment to my undergraduate studies of dance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I found that I was drawn more and more into the practice as I transitioned into non-student life when I moved to Chicago after college. Spending 5 years working as a flight attendant on private jets while simultaneously earning an MBA, I found that yoga kept me grounded.  

I decided to focus my energy on my roots of movement and body work and in 2009 ventured off to New York to do a 200-hour teacher training with YogaWorks©. Soon after, I moved to Puerto Rico with my husband and began teaching. I’ll never forget what a profound and challenging transition it was to step into the role of yoga instructor after being a yoga student for 10 years! Of course, I will be a “student” for the rest of my life but have found other sides to my practice through teaching others. I enjoy infusing my classes with influences from diverse dance styles, anatomy and many other movement studies, including tai chi, capoeira, movement analysis, dance movement therapy, pilates and other cross-training techniques.
 
I’ve continued my growth as a yoga teacher by training to teach yoga to kids with Samadhi Yoga Institute and training to teach yoga to vulnerable populations with Street Yoga©. I am currently working on a certification for Core Strength Vinyasa with Sadie Nardini. I was appointed as the Associate Director of the Center for the Investigation of the Arts at FILIUS Institute, which is part of the University of Puerto Rico. I recently finished designing and directing a research project that offered programs of yoga, capoeira and theatre for two Juvenile Centers in Puerto Rico.  The next project will be with a population of youth with Asperger Syndrome that incorporates music, dance and yoga as therapeutic techniques.