@DonnasFitLife

I have lived in Florida most of my life and graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelors in Elementary Education.  I taught fourth grade for five years before venturing into the corporate world where I worked in the technology, hospitality, retail and banking industries and held various titles from Corporate Trainer to Product Developer to Vice President of Sales and Marketing.  

Though my corporate roles were varied throughout the years, there was always an element of “teaching” in everything I did.   While working my full-time jobs, I also taught group exercise classes as a side gig at the Dr. Phillips YMCA in Orlando, teaching classes like kick boxing, boot camp, and Step Reebok.  I was also an adjunct instructor and taught Kick Boxing at Valencia Community College.  

Throughout my adult life my preferred methods of exercise were always the high intensity types of work outs: Kick Boxing, Zumba, running, etc. and I used yoga as a complement to those exercises on my active rest days.  It wasn’t until 2019, after years of abusing my body with high impact activities and suffering from plantar fasciitis and my second torn labrum in my hip that I began a consistent yoga practice. 

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t thrilled when my Orthopedic surgeon told me yoga was the only option for exercise for me.  He said it was the one activity that wouldn’t do further damage to my hips.  Even walking wasn’t an option despite it being low impact because the repetitive motion would likely cause further damage to the already torn labrum and result in a total hip replacement sooner rather than later.  I had gained 35+ lbs. over recent years, was depressed and in constant pain so I had no choice but to give yoga a chance.

After starting a consistent practice at a local studio (Warrior One Winter Garden Windermere), I quickly became passionate about yoga.  What initially started as an alternate form of exercise to manage pain, quickly became a journey of discovering the POWER of yoga as a tool in changing and reshaping not only my body, but my mindset. Yoga helped me cure my plantar fasciitis, manage stress and physical pain, and overcome depression.  It was apparent to me yoga was something I desperately needed in my life because it helped me transform and grow in so many ways.  I knew that if I could benefit this much from yoga, I needed to share about it with others.

I completed a 10-month Yoga Teacher Training program and became a 200-HR Certified Yoga Teacher.  I also became certified as a SUP Yoga Instructor and love the added challenge of practicing yoga while floating on water and connecting with nature at the same time.  In February of 2021, I finished my Stand-Up Paddleboard Instructor certification and because I want to always continue learning and growing, I still mentor with other yoga teachers and assist in other training programs.

My goal is to use yoga as a tool to empower my students to discover the boundless possibilities of living life beyond the extent of their own imaginations.  I believe we all just need the opportunity to discover and explore, and I hope to provide that for you through yoga, whether it is on land or water, in person or on-line.