For those walking through life with pain or limitations, Brian can totally relate. In a devastating fall off a forty-foot cliff, Brian sustained massive injuries, including crushed facial bones, torn rotator cuff, a broken wrist and twenty breaks in his forearm. Two years after his accident in 1997, Brian went to his first yoga class. He found after just a few classes that yoga relieved his pain and increased the range of motion in the injured parts of his body. With a dedicated practice, Yoga brought him back to life - and today, he is pain free. Knowing yoga's transformative power firsthand, Brian has a way of encouraging his students to integrate yoga into their daily lives in a balanced, sustainable way. Brian's approachable nature allows him to share his honest take on the world,... Read the profile >>
Small-town Missouri, where Velveeta and football is still the order of the day, was an unlikely origin for a fitness nut. But Holly Di Giovine developed an uncharacteristic love of the weight room and begged out “Buns of Steel” with the girls (it was the 90’s) to lift weights with the boys. She always had a good “feel”for proper movement techniques and a keen sense of body awareness. That love for movement, coupled with cravings for new challenges, has shaped her evolution to an inversion loving, plank-nut who regularly trains for triathlons up to the 140.6 distance and strives to share this passion with those around her. With a B.S. in Nutrition and Fitness and over a decade of personal training under her belt, Holly strives to instill a desire for life and... Read the profile >>
Southern Om and Zanti Power Yoga
Jac has always considered South Carolina home even if she herself was shocked, that she returned here to live again after years away living in New York City (working at Newsweek). Before that it was Seattle (working on rock and roll; like everyone else there, she was in a band!). Before that Charleston, SC where Jac went to college, and Greenville where she went to junior high and high school. Before that (whew) it was Pennsylvania where both of my parents (who met on a blind date!) were from. Jac lived there, moving South when she was 10. Jac loves it here, and has a renewed appreciation for it, especially as it was back here when she found her yoga practice, as well as her new path as an instructor. If Jac isn't at the studio practicing or teaching or at the computer on deadline, then... Read the profile >>
Before CrossFit, Jenn just ran for exercise…Not very fast or far and then she was introduced to CrossFit. Jenn remembers her first WOD – 4 Rounds 800m Run, burpees & box jumps. She couldn’t even finish the WOD, but came back for more and has been crossfitting for about 3 1/2 years now. CrossFit absolutely required of Jenn a total mental change that allowed for her to move not just outside of her comfort zone but WAY outside of it. CrossFit continues to push her to extremes that she never thought she’d be capable of. She loves breaking through the mental barriers with the support of an incredible community of people, all aiming for the same goals. Even more than this, Jenn loves watching as others break through their own mental barriers and achieve something that they never... Read the profile >>
Julie was born in a small central Illinois town and was educated at Eastern Illinois University. An ulterior motive drove her to her first studio experience – achieving a B by taking yoga from her yoga-teaching calculus professor. A hyper, frequently ill, classic Type-A, young woman-on-the-move, Jules was amazed to discover that she could actually relax, meditate – even fall asleep – by simply engaging mindful Yoga breathing techniques. Though instantly hooked, like many a head-strong twenty something, it took a few years and a few detours before Jules seriously returned to her mat in 2006. She completed the CorePower Yoga Teacher Training in the summer of 2009 in Minneapolis, MN. From that point on, she has happily experienced permanent transformation through Yoga - embracing... Read the profile >>
“It’s so easy for you!” “You make it look so easy!” “Oh, he’ll do great! He always does.” That’s what Ryan has heard his entire life. There were countless hours training with his father or alone, studying for test, preparing. Numerous missed family vacations, missed trips that friends wanted to take. Little did the people who spoke those words know that it wasn’t easy at all! “If people only knew how hard I work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.” – Michelangelo Living under that constant pressure to perform and live up to others expectations, Ryan learned to set his own standards high for himself and made hard work a way of life. Through the many opportunities that participating in competitive sports from the age of 5 through... Read the profile >>
Zanti Power Yoga and Southern Om
Shana was born and raised in Upstate SC and have always been driven by passion and exhilaration in sports and competition, participating in competitive athletics her entire life, including collegiate volleyball. She owned a yoga mat at the time, but rarely did yoga on it, as it sat in the corner collecting dust or laid out for the dog to lay on. :) Shana began power yoga in 2010 and immediately became hooked after her 1st class on the sweaty, old mat at Charleston Power Yoga in Charleston, SC. There was just something about power yoga- the exhilaration, inspiration, authenticity, the continuous discovery and transformation- that kept her coming back to her mat for more! Shana went on to become a certified power vinyasa instructor through Charleston Power Yoga in the style of Baron... Read the profile >>
