Amanda recently came to Knoxville from Harlan, Kentucky.  She is a 200-RYT through Asheville Yoga Center. Amanda owned and operated Harlan Yoga Studio for 8 years.  Amanda  truly believes yoga is for everyone and can be especially helpful to people who want to be active but are experiencing the impact of past or current injuries. Her own yoga practice began as the result of an injury. She was searching for a gentle form of exercise that could both stretch and strengthen her body.  She specializes in alignment based yoga to bring a practice safe for all bodies. She gives personalized attention during class to ensure comfort and challenge when desired.  Her favorite part of yoga is the sense of community felt in a class setting. Amanda's upbeat style of teaching takes you deeper into postures, while cultivating a practice unique to your body. She loves teaching flow style yoga, but she also teaches Yin, Power, Restorative, Kids Yoga and Chair Yoga. You can find Amanda's other classes on Facebook at Yoga with Amanda Wolfe.

Abhaya Darpana (Rev. Dustin Davis) has worked over 25 years in the hospital critical care setting. He brings his intimacy with the illness, death, and dying processes to bear in Dharma sharing. He is also passionate about Dharma as a central support for dealing with addictions of all kinds.​ Abhaya's spiritual journey includes being raised Catholic and attending elementary parochial school with Nuns as teachers, then diving deeply into Full Gospel Protestant teachings, and later involvement with Unitarian Universalism. He committed to the path of Dharma in 2010 subsequently spending several months of cumulative time in silent meditation retreats and thousands of hours in personal practice and study. Abhaya is ordained as a Dharmacharya (Buddhist Lay Minister) in the Embracing Simplicity Contemplative Order under Venerable Pannavati and the late Venerable Pannadipa and he is an affiliated teacher at Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center. His primary practices of Samadhi, Satipaṭṭhāna (4 Establishings of Mindfulness) in the style offered by Bhikkhu Anālayo, Ānāpānasati (Breath Based Mindfulness), and the Brahma Vihāras (Heavenly Abidings) spring from an affinity for the approaches offered in Early Buddhism. He also has an appreciation for the later traditions, having undertaken Vajrayāna and Zen retreats including formally receiving the 5 Mindfulness Trainings from Thích Nhất Hạnh in 2013. He has two lovely grown daughters, and an amazing canine companion named Bodhi who has served as a therapy dog in hospitals, nursing homes & addiction treatment facilities through the University of Tennessee's Human Animal Bond in Tennessee (HABIT) program.​  Abhaya is also an affiliated teacher with Lotus Light Contemplative Community Center in Knoxville, TN and serves on their Board of Directors.

Alex Iman, RYT 200. Alex is a passionate yoga teacher who discovered yoga while earning a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese, Spanish, and Government from Wofford College. After several months of training, he became a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher. During the day, Alex works as a Cultural Analyst at Oak Ridge National Laboratory where he enjoys offering classes for his colleagues. He strongly believes that yoga is a powerful tool for maintaining one’s mental and physical wellbeing. His approach to yoga is centered around helping his students to recognize and regulate their emotions through their personal practice. He spends a lot of his time teaching to individuals working in high-stress environments and to those who are new to yoga. Alex strongly believes that each class he teaches contributes to building a healthier and more empathetic world.

Angela Howard has her bachelor's degree in Psychology and a masters in International Business and Finance. She has worked as an executive at Coca-Cola, certified Financial Planner, professional choreographer and dancer, including the aerial arts, and is now a practicing Somatic Movement Therapist and educator who developed her confidence training on the go. She has learned the importance of body language and expression throughout her career. As the Executive Director for a river protection and preservation organization, she discovered that her conviction for a cause fortified every word that she said without rehearsal. Raising money and environmentally advocating statewide cultivated her confidence to shift awareness and achieve action. Becoming a Somatic Movement Therapist was a perfect marriage of her psychology and dance training and has provided the platform for her heart’s desire to give her clients the tools and skills to cultivate their own confidence and share their gifts. She founded WildHeart Expressive Movement and created the Somatic Expressive Therapy to release stuck traumas, facilitate change in habits and beliefs, and to bring joy and passion to everyday living. She loves working with aspiring and seasoned messengers using her expressive method to edify and amplify their unique brand voice. Angela is also a motivational speaker, published writer, and has led a diversity of transformational workshops. She holds the following certifications: Registered Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator, Pilates, Certified Executive Coach (CCF), and studied yoga, meditation and spiritual philosophy under Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. To learn more, visit WildHeartExpressive.com and join her IG community @wildheartexpressive.com

After many years of toying with the idea of practicing yoga, Audra found Yin Yoga in December of 2019. From her first class, she felt yin yoga was an excellent way for to release stresses from work and life. That class acted as "gateway yoga" opening her up to everything that this incredible practice has to offer. After a year of consistent practice, Audra pursed yoga teacher certification through Renegade Yoga Center. The entire experience proved to be quite transformative and created a pathway for her to share the same peace she experiences through yoga with others.

Cady has extensive experience with instructing group classes, one-on-one coaching clients on proper form in weight training, running, and mobility exercises, and has simultaneously worked as management and head of operations for fitness studios. Cady’s fitness passion began at an early age while competing in cross country, tennis, and basketball throughout childhood. Her formal coaching and training career began in high school, when she helped coach the kids’ tennis camp at Gainesville Community College. Cady is fluent in French and holds her undergraduate degree in Psychology and French from Georgia State. After graduation, she began obstacle course racing, which led to her first triathlon in June 2016.   Also, in 2016 she began teaching Pilates and HIIT classes, including boxing, strength conditioning, and cardiovascular training. Shortly after, she became an ACE certified personal trainer. For the past 7 years teaching and coaching fitness have been her career focus.  She competes in trail races on the weekends for personal enjoyment.  Her love is strength conditioning because of its focus on core strength, which has helped her tackle difficult obstacles while racing while also strengthening her running abilities.  

Jenni has been teaching group exercise classes for over 20 years now and working as a personal trainer for 15 years, working with individual clients on weight lifting and mobility. Jenni often hears from her clients and students that they appreciate her energetic and encouraging personality. Jenni builds relationships with her students and is invested in their progress and achievements. Jenni truly enjoys helping others better themselves and wants them to feel good, both physically and mentally, while doing so. She likes for students to leave with a smile on their face. Jenni enjoys working with advanced clients, beginners, and those with specific needs. She is NASM and AFAA certified.  She also teaches Turn Up Dance Fitness.

Kendra graduated from the University of Tennessee with a double major; B.S in Education, Health, and Human Sciences: concentration of Kinesiology, and B.S in Psychology. Though her love for wellness and exercise began very young in her home life and developed into a love for sports.

Since 2018, Kendra has been ACSM C-EP and TPI certified to work with athletes, seniors, special populations, weight loss clients, cancer survivors, clients with disabilities, clients training for OCRs and rehab/prehab clients.  Kendra has 10+ years of training experience working for/partnering with several gyms and studios in the area. She has lead client sessions ranging from one-on-one, small groups, and sport teams. She has extensive exposure and experience to leading strength/power training, resistance training, cardiovascular conditioning (anaerobic/aerobic), spin and cycling classes, SAQ training, circuit/HITT, and stretching/breathing, all while incorporating a mind and body focus to each client's workout.  Her client ages have ranged from 9 to 86.

Kendra worked as a Certified Exercise Physiologist and Counselor at Parkwest Medical Center where she provided individual evaluation, coordination, exercise prescription, and educational planning of the Cardiac/Pulmonary/Vascular Rehab patient.

Throughout her years of training, Kendra has kept an emphasis on presence and the mind body connection. Having a passion for wellness herself, she finds it important to connect with her clients to understand their goals and needs and then help them understand movement patterns, posture, cardiovascular or muscular stresses and benefits. There is not one right path to success and usually not a quick fix to our problems.  Kendra helps each of her clients and groups connect deeper to their goals and reach for a lifestyle change that fits their need.

Since 2012, Mindy Wise has been teaching all aspects of the yoga lifestyle, including posture practice, breathing techniques, meditation, and yoga philosophy. She believes that yoga is for everyone, so her classes are tailored to accommodate any level of physical fitness and capability.  Mindy studied at World Peace Yoga in Cincinnati, Ohio, completing 300 hour Foundational Teacher Training in 2012 and 350 hour Advanced Training in 2017.  Mindy has also completed a “Yoga for All” Teacher Training specializing in yoga for bigger bodies and diverse communities.  Mindy is also fluent in Spanish.

The physical and mental practices of yoga help Mindy stay grounded, be more patient, and remain positive in times of stress. She loves sharing yoga with others so that they also can experience these benefits. In addition to leading classes at Mind Body Knox, Mindy leads weekly classes throughout the community, including at the University of Tennessee and Pellissippi State Community College.

Gem is certified in aerial yoga. She teaches our traditional aerial class as well as our restorative aerial class. For the majority of her life, movement has been a key aspect in maintaining a sense of wellbeing. Her positive, friendly demeanor shines through in her classes, making sure students feel welcomed and have fun while learning new skills. She loves trying new things, smiling at strangers, traveling, meeting people, and.. yoga!

Paige is the owner and founder of Mind Body Knox. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, 500 hr. Registered Yoga Teacher, and Certified Mental Health Integrative Medicine Provider. She has certification in breathwork, trauma-informed yoga, prenatal yoga, and aerial yoga. Paige received extensive training on the science of integrated health in graduate school and has been practicing meditation, breathwork, and yoga herself, as well as incorporating these practices into her work with individual clients for many years. She pursued yoga teacher training as a means to provide well-rounded group services focusing on a mind-body modality to help improve the emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing of all members of our community. Paige has been teaching yoga since 2017 in community settings, residential treatment facilities, and over livestream.

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 teaching certification at the Sivananda Yoga Ranch in the Catskill mountains. Rachel also has certification in breathwork and aerial yoga. 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. She is also an enthusiastic writer, educator, musician, reader, dog lover, and student of the Sanskrit language and classical yogic texts.

Susan started practicing intenSati as part of her journey to heal from an eating disorder. She showed up to class expecting a hard workout to burn calories and check off the exercise box for the day. Instead it was a beautiful practice using powerful, positive spoken affirmations taking the workout from purely physical to totally holistic. Immediately after class she started to notice a positive shift in her self talk. She continued practicing intenSati and experienced benefits in self confidence, self compassion, positive body image, core strength and flexibility. Susan is passionate about leading intenSati to meet each student where they are. She maintains a safe, loving and fun environment where all are welcome exactly as they are. Susan also serves as Mind Body Knox's studio manager.

Theresa is a certified yoga and mindfulness instructor. She has been practicing yoga for over 20 years and received her certification through Yoga Farm Ithaca in 2020. She started teaching on her own with the goal in mind to create a comfortable, safe space for anyone to practice yoga and meditation. She has been teaching private classes in client’s homes, over zoom, and holds group classes in a local park- check out her classes here @peacepassionyoga2 .  Theresa started doing yoga for the physical benefits of strength and balance that yoga provides all while being gentle on the body. Later in life when faced with the tough challenges that life can throw at you, she found meditation and yoga to be excellent tools. Theresa started teaching so that she can share how yoga and meditation can calm the storm of thoughts and emotions to create peace within you. We are so excited to have Theresa as part of our team!