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Amy started practicing yoga her freshmen year of college, over 20 years ago. The benefits she gained from her own regular yoga practice inspired her to share the gift of yoga with others. In 2008, she completed her 200-hour YTT in Tulum, Mexico, then went on to obtain an additional 300-hour YTT. Amy is an ERYT 200 and a RYT 500. She has been teaching yoga for over 14 years. She teaches all styles of yoga, but her passion is Vinyasa, Hot and Kids Yoga. As a former elementary and secondary physical education teacher, Amy is passionate about sharing the gift of yoga with youth. She has developed curriculum for kids yoga teacher trainings and summer camps that focus on mindful movement, yoga stories, partner yoga, mindfulness activities and yoga art.
Amy has a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise and Wellness and a Master’s Degree in Physical Education. With her educational background, Amy creates thoughtful sequences that challenge both the mind and body, while leaving you feeling nourished, balanced and inspired. When Amy is not teaching yoga she enjoys spending time with her twins, Raya and Luca, her husband Tony and their dog Miles.
Shey completed the 200-hour Sumit’s Yoga Teacher Training in 2013. Her personal style of yoga is fluid - full of ‘maybe’s, ‘optional’s, ‘what feels right today’s, ‘just for fun’s, and encouragements to try something new. Always from the inside out and leading with the heart.
Over the last decade she has taught yoga in studios, schools, churches, homes and parks to kids, moms, dedicated yogi’s and beginners that never expected to find themselves on a yoga mat. She feels yoga is wonderful in all forms and flavors. When she is not doing yoga, Shey hikes, reads all sorts of books, grows her house plant collection and spends time with her husband, kids and dogs. Originally from the Midwest, Tucson sunshine never gets old.
Even on a tough day, yoga leaves her feeling stronger, happier, and less cynical in this crazy world. She is excited to be a part of the Flourish Yoga community.
Jamie started her yoga journey in 1999 when she took her first yoga class, she was instantly hooked. The way it made her feel on and off the mat was something she had never experienced before and never wanted to go without again. It wasn't until the year 2010 that she wanted to take yoga to the next level and teach what she loved.
Jamie studied under her teacher Carlyn Sikes at Scottsdale Community College. She completed her YTT500 program in Hatha Yoga with emphasis in Iyengar, as well as receiving an AA in Yoga Instruction. Jamie is an E-RYT500 and has spent the last 11 years teaching hot yoga, teaching others to become yoga teachers and managing a yoga studio in Gilbert, AZ.
In 2021, Jamie moved to Tucson where she found a new yoga home with Amy (a long time friend) at Flourish Yoga. Jamie loves being in an environment of like-minded people who care deeply about their health and well-being. She also enjoys practicing yoga, going to the gym, being outdoors and spending lots of time with her family and friends.
"What I love about yoga is there’s no “final point”. It’s a continual process. What’s achievable one day, simply isn’t what our body needs the next. It’s humbling and beautiful at the same time. I love how yoga can an amazing compliment to other aspects of an active lifestyle.”
Melissa began her yoga journey in 2003 while living in Maine. She loves taking as many different instructor’s classes as possible. Melissa studied under Darren Rhodes and Sam Rice at Yoga Oasis and completed her YTT200 hour program in 2020 and has been teaching since. In addition to her 200hr yoga training, she has also trained and received certifications for barre and yin yoga. She loves all styles of yoga but enjoys teaching hot flow sequences and yin the most.
When not practicing or teaching yoga, she loves to read, exercise and rock climb with her two kids.
What I love about yoga is that it’s extremely customizable and versatile. I’ve been doing yoga as an exercise since college, but after joining the military it became an outlet to relieve stress.
Yoga allows you to take what works for your mind and body to improve your lifestyle at your own pace; however you see fit. The awareness and the confidence it promotes to put yourself first is what served me in my journey with mental health, recovering from surgery, and coping with the ever changing world we live in. Whether you come for the physical, mental, or emotional benefits it truly is a practice for everyone.
My name is Denise Fernandez. I started practicing hot yoga in 2011 to heal a knee injury. I found the 26&2 series and loved the challenge of the heat/humidity combo right away. In 2017, I completed my 200hr RYT certification through Sumits Yoga here in Tucson. I learned about the various postures, benefits and the physical/emotional connection yoga has to offer. I became a teacher to share and spread my love for yoga with the Tucson community. In my years of teaching, I have gained experience in teaching yoga to kids and the calming presence of yin. However, my love for yoga resides with the heat!
Outside of yoga, I obtained my Doctorate in Behavioral Health in May of 2021. I now teach at the School of Social Work for ASU. I enjoy hiking, baking and spending time with my family. I met my husband Steve through yoga and we have two amazing kiddos. Phil who is a 9-year-old soccer stud and I just had my little girl Sophia-Quinn in July of 2021.
Tayler is a fitness junkie that loves all things movement related. After a sports injury, she found yoga and used it as a tool for her recovery. Throughout the years, yoga has played a different role, but it’s always been present in her life. Tayler took her love for yoga a step further and completed her 200RYT training a little over a year ago here in Tucson.
In addition to her 200hr yoga training, she has also trained and received certifications for barre, yin yoga, group fitness instruction, personal training, Olympic lifting, and nutrition coaching.
Tayler has a molecular biology degree and received a full-ride scholarship for pole vaulting. She is married and is a dog-mom to Daisy the wiener dog!
Natalie received her 200 hour yoga certification in 2019 and has been a practicing yogi for about 6 years. She teaches hot Vinyasa flow as well as Yin.
Natalie is also a licensed mental health therapist and found the mental and physical practice of yoga, and mindfulness to be a natural extension of her professional training. Not being naturally athletic, she was always nervous to engage in activities that required physical movement. She always clung to the myths, “I am not flexible. I am not graceful. I am not strong.” In yoga she found that none of that was true, nor mattered. She loves how accessible yoga is and how much positivity and self-esteem blossomed through her practice. It was that realization and gratitude for the practice that led her to become an instructor, with hope that she could help others find all the benefits yoga can bring.
Her passion is hot Vinyasa flow and feels that through the movement, breath, heat, music and intensity, you can be transformed.
Yoga came to me in 2019 while I transitioned from my role as a contemporary dancer and was looking for a way to keep movement in my life. What I found, however, was so much more than physical; yoga provided a welcoming community, a way to deepen and explore my spirituality, and a healthier relationship with my body. I completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training in March 2021 with Yoga Pod Tucson under Shaelyn Delgado and Megan Cannon.
My classes focus on a playful, creative, and mindful practice and always learning more about yoga on and off the mat. As a practicing mental health therapist, I incorporate parallel concepts of mental health into my teaching and believe that mindful movement is an extremely powerful tool for healing, change, and well-being. My hope for my students is to leave my classes feeling challenged, strong, empowered, and supported, both mentally and physically.
Eva started regularly taking yoga after graduating college. Originally she gravitated towards yoga to help with stress and anxiety. She had taken various types of yoga classes but never really got hooked until she discovered vinyasa yoga. Finding the natural rhythm of linking the movement and breath together in a flow became so comforting and therapeutic for her.
In 2020 she completed her 200 RYT in Phoenix under Megan Cannon and Shaelyn Delgado. Eva teaches hot and is passionate about creating an experience for students with thoughtful sequences and playful music.
Eva has a bachelors degree in Kinesiology and Physical Education and is an Elementary PE teacher outside of the yoga studio. When she is not teaching Eva loves running on the river path, being outdoors, and spending time with her fiancé and their crazy husky and 3 cats.
Born and raised in Seattle, Kim moved to Phoenix in 1998. She has been a hairstylist for almost 30 years and still loves it!
She found her yoga practice in 2008 and was immediately hooked and began practicing regularly. There was just something about the transformation she felt while connecting breath with movement and the sweat! Oh the sweet sweat while practicing in the heat. It truly was a whole body experience. She loved it so much that she decided to take a huge leap out of her comfort zone and in 2018 completed her 200-hour YTT training through Aim Free Teacher Training in Gilbert, AZ. Kim loves to teach and enjoys the whole experience she creates in a class with her fellow yogis.
Kim has been married to her husband, Ross, for 19 years. Together they have their amazing 16-year-old son, Logan, and their three rescue pups, Murphy, Jojo and Molly.
Last year, their family decided to relocate to Kim’s husband’s hometown of Tucson. Being close to family and a smaller town is just what they wanted! Tucson has quickly become their home and favorite place. Kim enjoys practicing yoga, watching her son and the Seahawks play football and, most of all, spending a lot of time with family and friends.
I first became certified in 2006 as a Yoga Teacher in the Sivananda tradition at their Bahamian Yoga Center. This classical style of practice helped to impress upon me the importance of not just asana and pranayama, but how every facet of our lives can be cultivated as a mindfulness practice. I started teaching at the center immediately afterwards and continued my studies there for an additional six months. Since then I have been most fortunate to have studied with Doug and David Swenson, as well as Manju Jois of the Ashtanga tradition, Ted Grand and Jessica Robertson of Moksha Yoga Canada, as well as a multitude of other honored teachers who have helped me to make cohesive myriad styles and traditions of yoga.
In the past sixteen years I have been fortunate to not only share the mindfulness practice I love so much through my teaching, but have also personally designed and led three yoga teacher trainings as well as actively participated as a guest teacher in many more. As a compliment to my teaching practice I also seek to help my students with the healing modalities of Thai Yoga Massage, Therapeutic Massage Therapy, as well as Traditional Cupping Therapy to name a few. My goal is, and always has been, empowering my students to heal their bodies and minds through persistent practice and a big smile.
Heather has been teaching for more than a decade in the Chicagoland area and is delighted to share the gift of yoga with the Tucson community.
She received her 500hr training with Prairie Yoga and brings attention to alignment in her heart centered classes. Heather is a self proclaimed anatomy nerd and taught the topic in various yoga teacher trainings. While alignment is important she states, “The purpose of the pose isn’t about how it looks or how well it’s performed and is more about what you discover”.
She also released an album “The Journey Om” under the name Heather Anjali as a reminder of how no matter where we go in life or in our yoga practice we are already home.
Physical and mental capabilities of the human body & being have fascinated me since childhood. A yoga practice fuses my love for and interest in movement, mindfulness, connection, and emotional well-being.
After getting so much out of my practice as a student, I decided to continue studying yoga as a teacher in the hopes that I might guide and assist others in cultivating peace, strength, balance, and joy within themselves - on and off of their yoga mats. I enjoy teaching virtually all modalities of yoga and meditation. My classes tend to emphasize proper alignment / engagement / support, playful bonus options or challenges, and finding ease amidst the effort involved.
When not wearing my yogi hat, I'm a researcher of optical physics or photonics (I study light and work with or design associated technologies)!
Catherine attended her first yoga class in 2003 and loved it. After years of living a toxic, urban lifestyle, she wanted her life to radically change and started a disciplined vinyasa practice in 2012. She soon discovered that yoga was something well beyond a physical practice as she quit 15 years of binge drinking, and started shedding decades of self-loathing and limiting beliefs.
In 2013, she sold everything, quit her job, and left the United States to embark upon her self-love spiritual journey throughout Southeast Asia that lasted over 5 years. Within that time, she received 200hr Hatha Yoga, 100hr Yin Yoga and Reiki Level 2 certifications. She learned from various teachers and taught classes, workshops, and retreats for students from around the world in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Spain, China, and the United States.
Catherine’s authentic, from-the-heart blend of spiritual and practical teachings safely invites you to dive deep into your being. In her classes, you’ll be met where you’re at with mindful, breath-centered practices. She’s passionate about holding space for others, as she knows yoga can be a path to wellness and wholeness, healing andtransformation.
"I started practicing yoga as a pre-teen with my mother and sister as a way to exercise and spend time together. It later became a way of managing stress and sharing peaceful (as well as challenging moments!) with those I care about. I now see yoga as an essential part of my life that allows me to connect to myself and recenter before taking on the rest of my day. I love teaching yoga and feeling the energy of those in our community. Yoga has helped me find self-acceptance and peace in my most challenging phases of life- and it is one of my goals to help others realize the power of this practice.
Outside of practicing yoga, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, my cat Benito, baking, and working on my "greenish thumb". I am currently in a PhD program with a focus on teaching Spanish and learning how we process language."
Joanna was initially drawn to yoga as an alternative to gymnastics and dance, but quickly fell in love with its philosophies and holistic, spiritual nature. She is further trained in the movement arts of partner acrobatics, aerials, dance, and performance art and has a combined three decades of movement-based practice. Joanna holds a master’s degree in education, is a Reiki Level-1 practitioner, and is grateful for the daily opportunity to fuse her passion for teaching with her love of yoga. Joanna has continued to study beyond her 500-hours of yoga teacher training, focusing extensively on yin yoga and hatha flow. She is currently completing a second master's degree in clinical mental health counseling and is looking forward to merging yoga's wisdom in mindfulness and emotional well-being.
Joanna believes yoga is for everybody, regardless of their stage in life or personal yoga practice. She teaches from the heart, and her multi-level classes focus on grace, play, and moving meditation. Joanna is a skilled teacher in yin yoga, hot yoga, alignment-focused vinyasa flow yoga, hatha flow yoga, hatha yoga, restorative yoga, restorative yin yoga, acro yoga, meditation, and yoga nidra. A natural and mindful leader, she is also passionate about leading workshops, retreats, and teacher trainings.
Since early 2007, yoga has helped me find a way to recalibrate my mind and body after stressful/busy days. As time goes on it has become a very important part of my life, helping me to recognize my purpose from the inside out.
For me, Yoga extends far beyond the studio and into every aspect of our beings allowing us to be less reactive in any situation. The most noticeable impact for me has been in the relationship with my family, friends, and acquaintances. Everything feels more balanced and at ease.
This is my mission as an instructor and practitioner. As a 200RYT teacher, I tend to be pretty lighthearted and playful. I enjoy getting to know and learn from every student that walks through the door.
A major change in life led Sean to discovering his yoga path and a calling to guide others. As a longtime outdoor athlete, Sean discovered the symbiotic relationship between yoga and these pursuits. As an instructor, Sean’s blend of challenging and nurturing through creative movement has helped him develop a connection with those he seeks to help.
Sean is 200 and 300 hour yoga certified (E-RYT-500, YACEP), and has certifications for Hot Yoga, Vinyasa, and Yin, plus over 150 extra hours trained on functional anatomy. In addition, he has led RYA Teacher trainings and graduated over 50 yoga teachers. He has led the Mass Yoga Class for Idaho Yoga Week and has been affiliated with over 12 studios during his 6 years of teaching.
In addition to yoga, Sean enjoys rock climbing, mountaineering, and exploration of wild places. Seanwas a single Dad for many years and raised his son.
Crystal’s love of movement has taken her through disciplines of dance, acrobatics, martial arts, and all the obstacle courses and adventures that come with an 11-year Army service. Her love of yoga began in a heated room in which she was asked to move as slowly as she had ever recalled moving.
To her surprise, moving slowly was the most challenging thing she had ever experienced, bringing up thoughts, emotions, and a new perspective on the human experience. She knew this movement was special!
Crystal completed the 200-hour Sumits Yoga Teacher Training in 2012 in Chandler, Arizona and acquired an additional 200-hour Yoga Alliance Certificate in 2016 from Buddhi Yoga in La Jolla, California. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from the University of New Mexico and can be found in Capoeira circles or running after her two small kids that remind her that inner calm can be found in the breath.
My yoga practice started in 2015 when my sister brought me to my first class. I was immediately hooked. I could not get enough of how the practice made me feel on and off the mat.
I took my 200 and 300 hour trainings with Karen Miscall-Bannon through Embodyoga West and have now been teaching for a little over 5 years.
For me, yoga has created a mind body connection and I strive to cultivate and share this in my classes through mindful movement.
I started my yoga journey back in college and have been floating in and out of my practice ever since. I did not get serious about my practice until injuries from years of marathon running started to take their toll on my body. Knowing I would have to give up my distance running, my hope was that yoga would fill the void. While practicing more often was an amazing outlet, I realized it was not enough so when the opportunity to go through teacher training showed up in 2015 I knew I had to take it.
While 2020 and 2021 threw a wrench in my yoga journey, as it did for so many yogis, I’m excited tocontinue my journey with all of you. That’s why we yoga, right? To learn to deal with the ups and downs, to learn to laugh at the mistakes and to just give ourselves a little grace (and if we can nail an arm balance every once in a while, well, that’s just icing on the cake). Namaste Yogis!
My name is Leah Baldo-Murphy. I took my first hot yoga class when I was 19, then at 22 started practicing the Hot 26&2 regularly out of college. I loved how I felt after class, physically and mentally. Over time, not only did my body change, but my mind started to shift, and the real healing began.
In 2017 my husband and I moved to Tucson for the military. Then, in 2019, I got my 200hr RYT certification through Sumits Yoga Tucson. I enjoyed deepening my practice and learning the history of yoga, anatomy, breath, and the benefits of postures. What I love most is that your journey with yoga is never ending, and no matter where you are in life, it’ll always fit. I mainly teach the Hot 60, and over the years, I’ve also taught Vinyasa, Nidra, and Yoga and Meditation to teenagers. I aim to make any class I teach an experience, with or without the heat and music, that’ll move your soul.
When I am not teaching or practicing yoga, I love spending time with my husband, daughter and our dog. I also enjoy baking, listening to music, hiking, and watching my favorite movies and shows over and over again.
My name is Ezra Masse-Mahar, born and raised in Schenectady, N.Y., I was lucky enough to have an extremely active childhood ranging from baton twirling, acrobatics, ballet and spring/platform diving. I had the opportunity to travel and perform as a dancer and acrobat all over the world, leading to experiences such as Olympic Stadium Ceremonies and America's Got Talent Season 12 top 10 finalist.
Sara’s journey with yoga started when she was in the 7 th grade and she and her father took an after-school yoga class together! Fast-forward to 20 years ago when Sara and her husband were involved in different types of athletic activities and decided yoga would be a good addition to do together. Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga became a favorite and Sara completed Level 1 teacher training with Baron Baptiste. Her love of yoga expanded to both Bikram and Sumits.
During Covid when studios were shut down, Yin in the living room was a welcome alternative. Sara is a frequent rock climber and occasional runner and discovered the many body benefits of Yin, such as eliminating her lower back pain and enhancing flexibility. She decided to pursue Yin teacher training with Joanna Lynne Smith, M.Ed., E-RYT 500, so Sara could share this style of long, deep holds with others. Yin is a great complement to any other type of yoga or physical activity and is also wonderful on its own for yogis at all levels.
Sara and Jim are parents to Alyssa (finishing grad school) and Zachary (in college). She has a doctorate in Industrial and Organizational Psychologist and has spent over 30 years in the corporate world focusing on employee engagement and wellness.