Mary June Thompson, RYT-500
Mary June is a dedicated long-time practitioner who believes in the ability of yoga to align body, mind, and spirit; relieve stress; and improve overall health and quality of life at any age. She loves teaching yoga to help others receive these benefits. Mary June has completed both 200-hour and 300-hour Advanced yoga trainings, as well as additional certifications in multiple yoga disciplines. Off the mat, she is also a chef, herbalist, avid gardener, and holistic health expert who enjoys spending time with her husband and fur babies and soaking up the sun on a beach whenever possible.
Connect with Mary June via email: maryjunethompson@hotmail.com
Jill Bartine, M.M., RYT
Jill Bartine has been a teacher for more than half of her life. As a classically trained flutist who performs with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, her first outlet for her teaching passion was music, and yoga was a natural addition to her teaching repertoire with the completion of her training in 2011. Professional musical performance employs controlled breath, body awareness, energy, creativity, rhythmic flow, and harmony — all qualities of a successful yoga practice. Jill draws upon these elements in her classes, helping her students to feel in tune with their bodies and spirit, and those around them.
Contact Jill: flutistyogini.com
Charity Edwards, RYT-200
Maybe you’ve seen Charity around town hooping or perhaps you’ve attended one of her Ecstatic Dances in Knoxville or Maryville.
If not, let us introduce you, she is the owner of Knox Holistic, a local community of individuals looking to get healthier in mind, body & spirit. She is also a Registered Yoga Teacher having completed her 200hr training in the beautiful country of Costa Rica. She teaches Slow Flow Yoga Series that are theme based & her sequencing is taught in a “state of flow” meaning she tailors each class to the students that attend.
To find out when her next class is, follow her on social media @ Knox Holistic. She offers hoop classes, flow jams, community hikes, holistic health coaching, officiates weddings (for ANY 2 consenting adults) & teaches private lessons as well.
Connect with Charity: (1) Knox Holistic | Facebook
Ron Felix, RYT, E-RYT
Ron Felix opened Knoxville’s first commercial yoga studio, the Knoxville Yoga Center in 1991. Initially, Ron taught Bikram’s (hot yoga) which he learned while living in Key West, Florida. In 1992 Ron was introduced to the Iyengar method of yoga which is known for its attention paid to precision and alignment.
After 25 years of studying and teaching the Iyengar method, participating in over 50 workshops and/or teachers’ trainings, Ron’s classes are a reflection of the love and appreciation he has for the myriad of effects yoga can have on the total “self”.
Ron is registered as an RYT and an E-RYT with Yoga Alliance at the 500 hour level and has thousands of hours teaching experience having regularly taught 15-16 classes a week.
Connect with Ron via email: ron_felix@bellsouth.net
Rachel Golden, RYT
Rachel (RYT 200) has been a dedicated student of yoga since 2019, including practicing in Ashtanga, Hatha, Power, Sivananda, and Vinyasa styles. In summer 2022, she completed her yoga teaching certification at the Sivananda Yoga Ranch in New York’s Catskill mountains. She values yoga’s unique ability to enrich physical, emotional, and intellectual aspects of life in interconnected ways, and found these benefits especially meaningful in navigating challenges brought by the pandemic.
Rachel looks forward to sharing her love for yoga with others as part of the Breezeway community. She is also an enthusiastic writer, educator, musician, reader, dog lover, and student of the Sanskrit language and classical yogic texts.
Connect with Rachel at luxrefulget@gmail.com
Claire Hyrka, RYT-200
Claire is a native Knoxvillian, mother of four grown children and one precious grandchild. She works as a realtor and office manager/bookkeeper for a local general contractor. She has recently rehabbed two houses, and may have found her next passion in addition to yoga!
Claire started practicing yoga during 20+ years in Memphis, but really began her yoga journey in earnest upon return to hometown in 2008.
She completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training with Cindy Dollar through The Glowing Body in May 2015 and has been teaching regularly since then at The GB as well as the Y and a Friday 6:00 am class at Provision Wellness.
Connect with Claire via email: clairehyrka@gmail.com
Emily Lovejoy
Emily is passionate about serving her community in meaningful ways and found her calling through social services work. Serving as an advocate, mentor, and counselor at multiple organizations, her life’s purpose was revealed. Intuitive and empathetic, she feels led to share her heart with others in the areas of mental health awareness, foster care, and addiction recovery.
Emily’s personal Yoga practice helped showcase a need to improve upon stress management, holistic wellness and mindfulness — both personally and collectively. Emily believes Yoga Teacher Training was a natural step in her Life Path and has helped encourage her Faith.
In her free time, Emily prioritizes green therapy enjoying outdoor activities. Emily is a creative dog mom who loves to travel, spend time with family and friends, live music, writing, and landscape photography.
Instagram: ladylovesflow / Facebook: LadyLove’s Flow
Karen Rodgers
Karen started on her fitness journey more than 30 years ago: Body Building, Aerobics, Tennis, Personal Training, Spin, Pilates and finally YOGA. Encouraged by her instructors, she began training and became a certified teacher in group fitness, including most of the disciplines noted above.
She has completed three 200 hour RYT sessions to date, with an emphasis in Hatha, Karma, Jnana and Bhakti Yoga. Karen is motivated to continue teaching and learning in order to help her clients live their lives with confidence and self empowerment.
Connect with Karen via email: rodgerskm@aol.com
Wayne Stagg, RYT-200
Wayne is retired from UT after 32 years in communications. He discovered Yoga through Hari Bhajan Kaur (HBK), a certified Kundalini instructor, and student of Yogi Bhajan and a founding member of his ashram in Espanola, NM.He has been teaching Yoga at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church for 12 years. He and his wife, Heather, enjoy music and share their home with two remarkable cats.
Connect with Wayne via email: yogaway249@gmail.com
Russell Sauls
Russell has practiced Qigong & Tai Chi for 38 years. He has taught hundreds of Knoxvillians these arts, & he is delighted to now be a part of the “Breezeway experience”. Russell’s Tai Chi classes are excellent therapies for those individuals who in high-stress life situations and are likely to enhance athletic performance in other day-to-day activities & sports. Russell is a past United States Chinese Martial Arts Council national champion for Tai Chi & Ba Gua Zhang (an sister art of Tai Chi)