Celebrate Yoga Month: Recognizing Our Local Teachers and Centers Committed to the Wellbeing of our Community
Sunder Luber, Owner, KRI Lead Trainer, E-RYT 500, YACEP
Yoga Village
As you open the door and step into Yoga Village, you naturally take a long, deep breath and begin to feel the stress of the day fall away with your very next exhale. You’ve stepped into a modern day ashram where yoga and the many healing aspects of a village, including community and belonging, create a safe and sacred space to be yourself.
Owner Sunder Luber’s mission for Yoga Village is to provide a place for spirit to grow through the practice of yoga, meditation, community and more. As a matter of fact, her teacher, Yogi Bhajan, puts it very simply: “Just be YOU”, but sometimes that’s much easier said than done. A big part of all yoga is to raise awareness and consciousness, sometimes referred to as Kundalini Rising. This is a gradual process that happens over time with a regular practice. This new awareness helps you live more from your natural essence which continues to unfold and grow when being part of a conscious community or group.
Yoga Village offers over 300 yoga classes a month in many different disciplines along with extensive trainings in their Teacher Training and Beyond Addiction programs. Come check out this welcoming community. Learn about the ancient science of yoga and meditation. Gain new insights about yourself along the way. One of the most powerful human needs is connection and Yoga Village welcomes you to their community!
Location: 2760 Daniel St., Clearwater. For more information and appointments, call 727-712-1475 and/or visit AYogaVillage.com. See ad pages 8 and 33.
Chris Acosta, E-RYT 500
St. Petersburg Yoga
Chris Acosta founded St. Petersburg Yoga and Meditation Center. Over the past 27 years, he has lead a team of the Bay area’s most accomplished yogis. Overseeing hundreds of yoga/meditation classes a month, Acosta works in partnership with his faculty, leveraging his decades of experience across daily group and private classes, weekly wellness workshops and corporate yoga/meditation/lectures. He also steers and oversees transformational Yogi Teacher Training courses and teacher continuing education credits.
Acosta and the center create the widest assortment of body, mind and life yoga styles/practices in the area. Throughout his career, he has gained recognition in the industry for the ability to evaluate and design both physical and mental yoga (meditation) tailored for optimal health, growth and healing from injury, as well as transformation for every individual—from specific therapeutic issues such as spine, hip, knee and shoulder injuries—to more broad-based disorders including dispositions of the mind and life.
Holding an E-RYT 500 educator level certification, Acosta is part of the distinguished faculty at the Omega Institute, New York, and has taught tens of thousands of students. He has become one of Tampa Bay’s most respected and highly recommended instructors and has been showcased in the DuPont Registries for “Best Yoga Instructor of Tampa Bay”.
Location: 2842 Dr. MLK Jr. St. N., St. Petersburg. For more information, call 727-894-9642, email [email protected] and/or visit StPeteYoga.com. See ad page 32.
Stacy Renz, OTR, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, YACEP (OT8447)
Barry Cooper, E-RYT 200, LMT, AHC (MA 42548)
Living Room Yoga
Stacy Renz founded Living Room Yoga in 2000 with the mission of putting the tools of healing and wellness into the hands of the individual, bridging eastern and western medicine, making each student feel seen, heard and cared for. Today, Renz fulfills this mission through private and group yoga therapy sessions, educating yoga and rehab professionals, and using yoga techniques with patients experiencing pain and anxiety in the hospital setting. Renz’s specialties include working with stress, anxiety, scoliosis, chronic pain, neurological conditions, and reversing the effects of everyday habits. She is known for her passion and expertise in teaching people with scoliosis how to reduce pain and reverse their curves using scoliosis-specific yoga therapy. She is currently addressing the opioid crisis by teaching patients self-regulation skills and educating healthcare practitioners about pain science. In Renz’s classes you can expect to work at your own level, learn, laugh and let go into complete relaxation.
Partner Barry Cooper supports Renz’s mission with his work as an Ayurvedic Health Counselor offering Ayurvedic counseling and treatments as well as traditional massage, Thai Yoga Bodywork, continuing education, and Himalayan Institute-inspired yoga emphasizing breathing and meditation. Ayurvedic students find Cooper’s enthusiasm and knowledge inspiring and thrive under his tutelage. Massage clients often proclaim that massage with Barry is “the best they’ve ever had” as they melt out the door. In addition, his yoga students praise how his voice is “like butter” helping to ease them toward bliss with Yoga Nidra.
Location: 8424 4th St. N., Ste. G, St. Petersburg. For more information and appointments, call 727-826-4754 and/or visit LivingRoomYoga.biz. See ad page 34.
Marty Maddox, E-RYT 500, LMT, BCTMB
Yoga4All
Marty Maddox, a yoga instructor for more than 25 years, is also a therapeutic massage practitioner and the owner of Yoga4All & Serene Body Massage, the premier wellness studio in Seminole. Her studio was one of the first in Pinellas County and has been in its same location for more than 19 years.
Maddox brings her 40-plus years of alternative healthcare work and experience to blend together exceptional professionals in her studio, each using their years of practice and advanced training to provide clients a truly individualized experience. These professionals provide wellness services to clients and students looking for a holistic approach to health and a sense of community all in one location. Maddox and her team believe that while it is important for students to practice in a studio to learn from experienced teachers and build a supportive community, it is also vital to build a personal yoga practice that students can bring with them into their world and daily lives.
Yoga4All offerings include yoga classes for all student levels, seven days a week. Also offered are small group and individualized private sessions in yoga and personal training, meditation, tai chi, therapeutic and relaxation massage, craniosacral therapy, reiki, acupuncture and Oriental medicine. Maddox states, “Yoga4All’s mission is to provide a high quality, clean studio with caring teachers and practitioners who create a welcoming community to support the practice and well-being of every individual. It is a place where you can find your peace... find your sanctuary… find your Self.”
Location: 8836 Seminole Blvd., Seminole. For information and appointments, call 727-392-9642 and/or visit Yoga4All.com. See ad page 34.
Lindy Romez, E-RYT 200,
Certified Sound Therapy, Meditation and Reiki Master
Awakening Wellness Center
Lindy Romez, a professional musician, found yoga after experiencing a car accident in 2000 that left her with a neck injury and paralysis down both arms. Shortly after the accident, she began practicing meditation with sound to assist in her own recovery, yet it was several years until she was able to begin an asana practice or even play an instrument.
In 2011 she completed her first yoga teacher training to better understand what she needed to do to stay healthy within mind and body. Taking it further, Romez studied in India where she dove deeper into the healing properties of sound, vibration and harmony and became certified in sound healing using Tibetan bowls and other meditation practices that she found to be keys to healing the mind and body.
Passionate in sharing what she has learned about the healing benefits that a yoga practice can offer, her relaxed approach and lighthearted personality make it fun for students to explore the possibilities that practicing yoga and meditation can offer.
Romez has been providing Sound Bath healing sessions every week at Awakening Wellness Center since her return from India in March 2017. She is passionate about assisting anyone suffering from stress, anxiety and drug addiction and, as a military veteran herself who served as a musician attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, also works with military veterans suffering from PTS(D). She was recently featured on Channel 13 News, Fox13News.com/news/348770082-video.
Location: 6161 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. St. N, Ste. 102, St. Petersburg. For more information, call 203-980-7532 and/or visit AwakeningWellness.org. See ad page 35.
James Horne, E-RYT 200
Namaste Yoga
In July 2018, James Horne assumed ownership of Namaste Yoga, in Tarpon Springs. Darcy Psihos, who had been leading the business for the past five years, is now focusing her energy on instructing the eight limbs of yoga, remaining as a core teacher at Namaste.
Horne completed his yoga teacher training at Shanti Heart Yoga, in Odessa. Horne and Psihos are committed to maintaining the principal yogic values that make Namaste special and unique, therefore much will remain the same. Current class card agreements will be upheld. In the coming months, there will be a variety of new classes, new and returning teachers and special offerings.
Horne has a history of successful business ventures and a sincere interest in bringing yoga and its teachings to a broader audience. As a lifelong student of meditation and spiritual practices, he brings a rich and diverse understanding of spirituality. Starting as a student at Namaste a few years ago after a major accident, he made a genuine commitment to the practice. Introduced to yoga and meditation in the early 1970s, Horne has been involved in spiritual pursuits ever since.
In the 1990s, a personal trainer included yoga as an essential part of Horne’s workout therapy. The trainer understood yoga’s ability to help strengthen connective tissue and increase flexibility, without which there could be injuries to ligaments and tendons. Where other treatments failed, the regular practice of hatha yoga improved Horne’s condition. The experience raised his commitment to helping others improve their quality of life through yoga. Horne hopes to introduce more men to its myriad benefits.
Location: 1810 S. Pinellas Ave., Tarpon Springs. For more information, call 855-450-9042 and for class schedule, visit NamasteTarpon.com. See ad page 32.
