We have a wonderful new Curvy Yoga teacher this month! I am excited to share them with you! To see a full list of our Curvy Yoga Certified teachers, please click here.

Jackie MacKay

Location: Manassas, VA

Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. My yoga journey began in 2009 when I was looking for an holistic alternative to help with severe arthritis in her hips. My journey led her to desire more from her practice than just the poses-it helped fuel a passion to show others the benefits of developing a yoga practice. As I expanded her own practice with teacher training, I was fortunate to also be able to receive my certification in Curvy Yoga. This will help me to bring yoga to others and empower them within a body positive supportive atmosphere.

Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? Offering a safe and supportive atmosphere, encouraging healthy and positive environment, making yoga accessible to every body.

What can folks expect when they take a class from you? A body positive practice that allows students to embrace their practice regardless of size, shape, level of experience or ability. We encourage an atmosphere of acceptance and growth. The focus of this class is learning the needs of your own body and how to use available props to ensure a comfortable, relaxing practice. No experience necessary.

What has been your favorite part of the certification process? Being with like-minded people with a common purpose and goal: making yoga accessible to every body

How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on Facebook!

Heather Tarman

Location: Austin, TX

Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I started learning about yoga when I was a teenager, and absolutely fell in love with linking breath to the movements. Yoga really helped me stay in touch with my body and my emotions. As a teacher, I love to bring yoga to people of all different ages, shapes, sizes, and ability levels. Plus, no matter the class, I love to weave a sense of play and fun into any class I teach or take.

Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? When I started my career in yoga, I heard over and over again that my friends were happy for me, but that they could never do yoga because of shape, size, age, or ability level. It has been a joy to bring yoga to these very same people and to watch them grow a love for their own practices. More than any other resource, Curvy Yoga embodies my personal belief that yoga is an individual practice that should serve the yogi and that there is no “right way” to “do” a pose. It is not about the pose – it’s about what you learn in the process.

What can folks expect when they take a class from you? In my classes, one can expect a body-affirming practice, with the tools needed to modify or adjust the yoga to fit individual needs. There is always much laughter, fun, and a healthy dose of play weaved through any class I teach. And you can probably expect me to either fall out of the pose or “mess up” at least once, because we are all still learning!

What has been your favorite part of the certification process? My favorite part of Curvy Yoga Certification has been learning the language and techniques to address all of those fun parts of our bodies that can get the most curvy!! Having the space to not only get comfortable with these places in my own practice and learning a kind and professional way to have a dialogue about our bodies has been a priceless experience which I will always treasure!

How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website and on Facebook!

Rebekah Frank

Location: Huntsville, AL

Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I first started yoga in college, because I needed a physical education credit and I had always been curious about yoga. The teacher was so sweet and caring and open, and I loved her classes dearly. Once the semester was over, I started to increase my own practice, both at home and through local classes. Yoga always helped me return to my body and help me recognize and experience whatever was going on at the time – even those times where I had a mountain of negative feelings to work through.

Eventually, as my practice deepened, I started to really cherish my body for all the things I could do, instead of dwelling on what I couldn’t. Practicing yoga in a larger body can be challenging both physically and mentally – sometimes the anxiety of walking into a classroom seemed overwhelming! As I stuck with my practice, however, some of those concerns started to fade and appreciation and gratitude set in. I felt the urge to share this sensation with others – loving your body doesn’t have to mean that it’s perfect!

As my personal yoga journey has progressed, I have realized that the benefits of yoga can be accessed through a variety of ways – no pretzel-y flexibility needed! I want my students to be able to feel a deeper connection with their own body and facilitate creating the love and gratitude their body deserves.

Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? Practicing in a bigger body myself, I realized that the yoga community in my area was not very accessible – few variations were given for asana poses, and not all poses worked with a bigger body. I started to do some research on my own for modifications for curvy students – I knew I couldn’t be the only person looking for alternatives! When I found the Curvy Yoga community, I knew I had found what I was looking for. I also knew that I couldn’t keep all this information to myself – I wanted to share with others! My hope is to reach those who felt like yoga was beyond their reach and show them that yoga can be experienced by anyone.

What can folks expect when they take a class from you? An accessible class that caters to all experience levels, body types, and ages! I like to approach a class with an attitude of curiosity and exploration, and I encourage my students to do the same. I want every person who takes my class to leave feeling as though they have gotten what they needed from their practice that day, and experience the sense of community that a yoga class provides.

What has been your favorite part of the certification process? Learning new materials and ideas that inspire me and hearing from all of my classmates about the different ways that they have implemented what they have learned!

How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website, Twitter and on Facebook!

Stacey Auch Corrales

Location: San Jose, Costa Rica

Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I have been practicing yoga for about eight years and I’ve had a very up and down experience with yoga physically. I’ve had really fit times doing cool tricks and I’ve had unfit times where I just wanted to lay down for an hour. It hasn’t been linear progress physically speaking. BUT for my mind and spirit it has been eight years of continued growth, major growth. How I approach my life, my relationships, and decision making all comes from an inside space now, a space of careful consideration. I am very able to separate my emotions from logic of a situation. It doesn’t mean I don’t misstep and lose my temper but after acting in a way out of line with my heart I can quickly take a step back and examine what is going on with me. This is very liberating because I become the owner of my life, I’m not the victim of other’s behaviors or actions towards me. And no time in my life is wasted worrying about or judging others. I feel a very strong internal compass that is ever honed with the practice of yoga in all its forms, not just physical.

Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I own a studio and after a few years saw that I was unable to retain students outside of the stereotyped yoga body. Having lived through weight/body changes most of my adult life I instantly knew it was a comfort and accesibility problem. I was thrilled to then learn about Curvy Yoga and train with a like-minded community of colleagues.

What can folks expect when they take a class from you? Students can expect a hug when they walk in the door, everyone is welcome in my yoga family. I’m here to help everyone feel better when he or she leaves so I’m going to listen, I’m going to adjust, and I’m even going to sing and laugh sometimes. I’m going to push students in a way that best challenges his or her body without making it cumbersome, uncomfortable or embarrassing.

What has been your favorite part of the certification process? I have enjoyed two parts of the Curvy Yoga Certification process. The first is instantly being connected to a group of others teachers interested in making yoga accesible to a curvier person. The second is the flexibility to do it on my schedule, this took pressure off and let me enjoy the experience.

How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on my website, Twitter and on Facebook!

Trish Little

Location: Denham Springs/Baton Rouge, LA

Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. Yoga and I found each other in 1998 at a college elective class I was persuaded to go to with my friend. I loved it, but only practiced sporadically for the next 10 or so years. I began to get serious about my practice in 2012 and because my job as a Licensed Massage Therapist showed me that one of the best ways to stay pain free ( or as close to as possible) was through mindful movement- which Yoga most certainly is.

I achieved my RYT training in 2014. and through teaching and building upon my personal practice, I have found that having a teacher who looks like me, who has a solid strong practice, would be very beneficial to those who may feel off put by the general idea of the “typical Yogi”.

Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? Because Yoga is for EVERY BODY. I speak with so many Yogis- or potential Yogis- who are so hesitant about not being able to “do” Yoga. They don’t look right, they don’t feel right, they have special circumstances that make them unable to do practice Yoga. Fooey I say! And so does Krishnamacharya. Krishnamacharya said” If you can breathe, you can do Yoga”. This is the one thing everyone can do, we just need to show them how.

What can folks expect when they take a class from you? I don’t take myself to seriously, so I am lighthearted- but serious about Yoga- but I do like to make it fun. I am open, honest and human. I see my students and I know they are human as well.

My class will be challenging- but accessible and you will find your breath, grounding and strength. You have more of those than you ever thought!

You can expect a fun playlist and a delicious Savasana.

You can also expect I will say Left when I mean Right. 😉

What has been your favorite part of the certification process? I have enjoyed the opportunity to talk with like minded teachers in a fun and supportive atmosphere. I liked that I was able to use information from the first class as soon as I taught- all of the info is so relevant to all Yogis and all Yoga classes. Anna has such a warm inviting and REAL way about her, it has just been such a joy from start to finish.

How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on Facebook!

Caroline Lee

Location: Nashville, TN

Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. My first yoga experience was about 6 or 7 years ago out Nashville’s local Jewish Community Center. It was a flow class where at the end in savasana the teacher put lavender on our foreheads and pressed down on our shoulders. It was dreamy. I was still in a competitive mindset at the time so I finished feeling like I mastered yoga.

Teaching yoga has given me countless opportunities to share what yoga has done for me. But also show them how yoga can be for everyone.

Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I want yoga to be available for all and for all to feel that yoga is available.

What can folks expect when they take a class from you? They can expect some Lionel Richie but also some traditional yoga music. They might here anecdotes about my kids. Most importantly, they will feel at ease and be able to speak without fear or shame.

What has been your favorite part of the certification process? My favorite part has being a part of so many amazing women’s lives.

How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on Facebook!

Natalie Dunbar

Location: Pasadena, CA

Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I started practicing yoga regularly in 2011, ironically just BEFORE being diagnosed with a restrictive lung disorder that I contracted after having Swine Flu a few years prior. In my mind I had no idea how much I needed yoga – but somehow, in the midst of marathoning (racing and coaching), taking dance classes and other activities, my body knew exactly what it needed.

I practice the physical expression of yoga 2-3 times/week, but I find that more and more, I am living yoga on a daily basis. As for teaching, I’m still looking for a place to teach classes, but have been offering one-on-one instruction in my home yoga “studio.”

I love that a dear friend of mine who has actually been practicing longer than I have was able to learn new things from my teaching – all of which I learned from Anna’s “curvy curriculum.” How I cued things, and the modifications I suggested were new to her – and she’s not necessarily what we consider “curvy” in the classic, Rubinesque sense. Yet, I was able to contribute something new to her practice that helped her find deeper expression overall.

In the meantime while looking for a space to teach, I am building my online presence, merging my passion for body positivity and yoga with my marathon pursuits, and becoming a Yoga and Body Image Coalition Community Ally. As a freelance writer, I have a platform and skill that I can lend to advocacy, and I’m excited to do so.

Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? A few years ago I purchased a Groupon for something called “Yoga Hop.” Basically this is “power yoga” done to a blistering hip hop and popular music soundtrack. It’s fast, fierce and unfortunately, fat-shaming.

It wasn’t that I was “called out” as a “don’t” in class. It was that patronizing, pitying look that counts me out before ever giving me a chance, which always makes itself evident in the cloying tone of voice of an instructor who asks, “Have you ever done yoga before?” After two classes and two different instructors who were dismissive and inattentive for the entirety of the 45-60 minute sweaty sessions (both of which I completed, thank you!), I refused to go back.

As a survivor of abuse, yoga allowed me to reconnect with my body in a way that only dancing comes close to. I want to teach yoga to survivors of abuse – emotional, physical & sexual. I know first hand the disconnect that happens when you suffer harm in this way.

I also want to contribute to ending the struggle between weight loss and body acceptance. I embrace a healthy lifestyle. In fact, but for the dreaded BMI, all of the numbers associated with being “healthy” – blood pressure, cholesterol (good and bad), blood sugar, etc. – are all right where they are supposed to be. I want to help people embrace what their own “healthy” looks like – not what the media says it should look like – and stop spending so much time working against the beauty of nature and how they are wonderfully made.

And because I have come through so much trauma in my own life, I want to give back. I want to help others see what is possible, to feel healing and wholeness – perhaps for the first time.

What can folks expect when they take a class from you? I am body positive and all-inclusive, and welcome students of all ages, genders, sizes and abilities. And I approach teaching yoga the same way I coach marathoners: I meet them wherever they are and help them see – with there own eyes, and through their own practice – what is possible.

Then I get out of the way and watch them flourish!

What has been your favorite part of the certification process? This may sound geeky and a bit OCD, but I truly appreciated the attention given to the structure of the process, which allowed me to absorb more knowledge than I thought possible at this stage of my life. And the knowledge wasn’t just about yoga – I also learned a lot about myself, which we were told might happen.

As well, though this process I have met an amazing group of women who continue to very much be a part of my journey as I take slow but deliberate steps to craft what my future as a yoga teacher looks like, carefully defining what it will take to create an immersive experience for those I’m entrusted to lead. I am encouraged by them all, and can’t wait to see where this shared journey takes us.

How can people get in touch with you? People can find me on Facebook or Twitter!

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