About Us ~ Our Teachers

All of the yoga teachers at Healthy Life Yoga have 200-hour and higher certifications. They continue to train by attending various workshops and conferences throughout the year with world renown instructors to provide you with the best informative and supportive environment possible.

Additionally, our yoga teachers are registered yoga teachers (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. To register with Yoga Alliance, instructors must meet certain high training standards. 

>> Learn more... about the level of training that Yoga Alliance requires, which ensures a safer environment for you.

 

Laurie Dorsey, E-RYT

Certified Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher, Manager and owner of Healthy Life Yoga

"Yoga is a journey of the mind, body and spirit. It is taking the time to refresh and renew inside and out, and allowing that goodness to seep into every part of life and those around you." -Laurie

After persistent back pain, Laurie decided to give yoga a try and found significant, quick relief. Soon thereafter, she began teaching and has been doing so since Fall of 2004. She later trained at Chesapeake Hot Yoga in Chesapeake, VA and received her RYT in the Summer of 2007. Additionally, she possesses a degree from Virginia Tech in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise.

Laurie maintains an encouraging style of teaching where students not only leave feeling better, but the heart is lifted as well. Her devotion to the practice of yoga as a means to improve overall health to body, mind and spirit is contagious and inspiring.

Laurie dedicates a lot of time to her husband and 3 children, but in her spare time enjoys swimming, cooking, and keeping up with the latest on food/nutrition.

 

Shelia Burris, RYT

Certified Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hour

After many years as a passionate yoga practitioner, in 2008 Sheila studied intensively with Iyengar teacher Sandra Pleasants and Ashtanga teacher Jennifer Elliott to become certified to teach through the Yoga Source teacher training program in Richmond and Charlottesville. She is currently registered at the RYT 200 level with Yoga Alliance.

Sheila's approach to yoga is rooted in her own experience of the transformational power of this gentle Eastern healing art. As a teacher, her intention is to communicate to her students the sense of the rootedness, wholeness, and joy that the practice of yoga has brought to her own life. Her supportive teaching style brings to the practice a spirit of kindness, acceptance, and play for people of all ages and all levels of ability.

In addition to yoga she loves movement and dance of all sorts, music, books, and art. She lives in Midlothian with her husband Allen and their Shit Tzu Phoebe. She's the proud mom of two recently-launched young adults.

 

Kathleen Baber, E-RYT

Certified Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hour

Kathleen originally attended teacher training to gain deeper insight into her practice, but graduated with a passion to share all of yoga's benefits. Though she's taken workshops at Yogaville and with internationally-known yoga instructors, Kathleen has found she learns something new in every class she takes and teaches. It is that knowledge and inspiration she hopes to share with others.

Kathleen is certified RYT 200 with Yoga Alliance and her studies for RYT 500 are ongoing, with expected completion in 2011. Her classes combine several styles of yoga, balancing alignment and expression, so that a class is available for every body, and every mind.

A friend encouraged her to begin practicing in the late 1990s, and because of her growing devotion to yoga, continues to have a strong personal practice today.

 

Alexza DeCroix, RYT

Certified Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hour

Alexza has been an avid student of holistic living and health & fitness for over 25 years. After she received her 200 hour Yoga Alliance certification from Samadhi Yoga Institute in 2004, Alexza first taught in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, teaching group vinyasa classes at sunset on her roof deck. After moving to Manhattan, she was hired at Homebodies, Inc., one of New York’s premiere elite in-home fitness companies, where she was the sole yoga instructor. Other employers during her time in New York City were London Terrace, The Yoga Room, David Barton Gym as well as a roster of upper east and west-side private clients. She also enjoyed a three month teaching stint at Samasati yoga retreat in Costa Rica, where she was featured in an article by a Dutch yoga magazine, as well as recruited for a Canadian television show featuring yoga and travel.

Currently working toward her 500 Hour, she received a yoga therapy certification at B Yoga in 2008, as well as participating in two Anusara immersions. Alexza’s area of expertise in teaching utilizes a combination of Vinyasa, Hatha, and Anusara yoga. She weaves her knowledge of meditation, nutrition, energetic healing principles, music and universal love into her classes. She intends to be a lifelong student of healing work. Alexza has traveled extensively, speaks Spanish, and continues to pursue her own yoga and meditation practices in Midlothian, VA.

 

Wendy Morgan, RYT

Certified Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hour

Having practiced yoga for several years, Wendy was encouraged by her wonderful teachers to deepen her practice by pursuing a teacher training program. She enrolled in YogaWorks’ 200 hour certification program in the fall of 2010, completed in March of 2011. As a new teacher, Wendy wants to share her love of Yoga so that others may enjoy the physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of a regular practice. Her teaching style emphasizes the importance of alignment, and incorporates elements of Ashtanga and Iyengar Yoga to create a safe and well-balance practice.

Wendy believes that Yoga is a wellspring of goodness, encouraging us to practice mindfulness and gratitude in every moment. It is a path that leads to confidence and contentment and allows us all to let our bright inner light shine!

After a lifetime of moving around the country as a military daughter and wife, Wendy and her husband Steve, have happily settled in Midlothian with their three kids and two dogs. Life at the Morgan house is always lively, but when she can find a quiet moment, Wendy enjoys cooking, reading and making stained glass windows.

 

Cheryl Brousseau, RYT          

Certified Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hour 

An instructor with over 300 hours of study and teaching, Cheryl weaves a combination of flow and heart centered poses. She emphasizes core functional strength, flexibility, stress reduction, vitality and fun! A student of Yoga since 1998, she completed her yoga teacher training with Arlene Bjork of Grace Yoga Training Systems. In order to better educate herself on all schools and disciplines of yoga, she has taken classes and workshops around the United States. It is her great joy to share this quest with others. Cheryl has worked in the corporate world for over twenty years and understands the challenges, stressors, and emotions of this environment. She has a deep love of the outdoors and for animals. "Animals don't ask for anything but love" is her mantra. She is active in raising funds for local humane societies and cancer organizations throughout the Virginia area.

 

Julynn Holt (Johara)

Belly Dance Instructor

Johara has been studying the art of Middle Eastern Dance for 10 years. She enjoys studying many forms of the dance including Egyptian, American Tribal, Tribal Fusion, and American Cabaret. She is a member of the Rogue Bellydance Collective and has performed throughout Virginia. She is a sought after instructor and performer in the Richmond area.

 

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