Gina Minyard
Teaching Assistant (Emotional Lit.)
Gina weaves yoga’s wisdom and with life’s ever-unfolding process, bringing it alive and experientially embodied through breath, muscle, and bone, creating a rich and magically alchemical experience through her teaching. Dynamic alignment principles, intelligent sequencing, and thematic metaphor infuse her engaging instruction, with a presence that is weighty, compassionate, and inviting. A “pillar of Grace” in the Atlanta yoga community, she is sought out for her charisma and passion, breadth of knowledge, and mastery of alignment-based methodology. For Gina, yoga is a radical practice to bring our truest Self – its steadiness, freedom, truth, and love – into full manifestation. Practicing and teaching yoga since 1999, she is committed to disciplined work infused with laughter and light-heartedness. Gina is an E-RYT 500 with Yoga Alliance, an Authorized Teacher of Neelakantha Meditation as taught in Blue Throat Yoga, and senior teacher at Yoga Collective in Atlanta, GA, where she directs and leads BODY of LIGHT Yoga Immersion and Teacher Training. Visit www.ginaminyard.com for more info.
Judi Checo
Teaching Assistant (Emotional Lit.)
From the very first time Judi took her first yoga class, it was love at first Savasana. Judi is trained in the Conquering Lion Yoga lineage (300 hours) and is also a prenatal yoga teacher, certified holistic doula, and certified Reiki 2 practitioner. As a Dominican-American, she is passionate about teaching yoga in Spanish and making the yoga community more inclusive and broader in its diversity. In the spirit of that pursuit, she teaches bilingual and Spanish classes by donation and with various organizations in the city including Community Health Network of NY. She believes in a dedicated meditation practice and that yoga is a powerful tool for self-exploration which we can use to cultivate healing, freedom, peace, and joy. She teaches in NYC and Westchester and her public classes often work with asana themes which are explored through breath, intention and exploring the bodies lines of energy.
Renee Gahan
Teaching Assistant (Emotional Lit.)
Renee Gahan teaches yoga and meditation at Clemson University and has been a yoga teacher in the Clemson area since 2002. Her ability to hold space in her classes allows students to find their peace and to explore the experience of embodiment. She brings to her classes a practice grounded in understanding the spectrum of the self and what it means to be at home in the self. She offers a practice where people can find their peace and get to know the inner workings of their psyche. Renee has studied extensively with Liva and also with Michael Stone and Max Strom. As a TA for Emotional Literacy for Yogis, Renee looks forward to helping people find their voice, to explore what Livia has to offer, and to see how this knowledge links up not only to teaching but to the rest of life and in the world.
Read more about Renee at jadeowlatlas.blogspot.com/
Makayla McDonald
INTERN, ASSISTANT, & ENTHUSIAST
Coming home to her body has been the epitome of ecstatic unfoldment for Makayla. She has a BA in Yoga from Naropa University, and has a background steeped in a love of permaculture, food, the body, and movement. Currently she is a body image coach, helping people make peace with food and love their bodies. She loves happy-baby pose, befriending her anger, eating perfectly ripe blueberries, and the way she feels in her heart when she sees puppies. makaylamcdonald.com