Rebecca began her love affair with yoga in 1996. As a collegiate springboard diver, she suffered from spinal fractures and degenerative disk disease at the age of 19. She struggled with severe chronic pain, until she was introduced to yoga by a friend. After just one class she was hooked and has never looked back. Yoga became her medicine, her sanity, and her saving grace. In 2007, she went to India and received her certification to teach at the Sivananda Ashram in Kerala, and completed her advanced certification with Integrative Yoga Therapy in 2009.
While living in Okinawa, Japan she began practicing and teaching yoga on a standup paddle board (SUP). There was just nothing like exploring her deep affection for yoga with the salty air and the turquoise waters beneath her. She was the first to teach organized group SUP yoga classes on the island. She then started her own company and created her own brand of SUP boards.
Over twenty years of practice, and 4,500 hours of teaching later, she has her own yoga school registered with the Yoga Alliance and leads 200 hr and 300 hr teacher trainings. She has a passion for training teachers and guiding others through the ins and outs of yoga entrepreneurship. As a military spouse, Rebecca has moved and started from scratch in 7 different cities. Each time, she got better at marketing, networking, and learning from failures.
Rebecca has the ability to easily guide students through the challenging asanas as well as the easy ones. Drawing on her experience, it’s effortless for her to creatively sequence any type of class. She is known for her ability to challenge students and build confidence at the same time.
Rebecca is a registered yoga teacher at the ERYT500 level, is trained in Thai Massage and has a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University at Buffalo, New York.
Melanie Macdonald 19 Mi