I found my yoga practice 10 years ago after an extremely difficult battle with drugs and alcohol which almost ended my life. My mother Pat encouraged me to try my first yoga class with her at Real Hot Yoga where I first began practicing with Philip Clift. From the first moment I stepped on my mat I was hooked. I began practicing daily, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day! The owner of Real Hot, Cindy Coats, asked if I would be interested in taking a 200 RYTT to become a yoga teacher and I took a leap of faith and completed it. I’m not going to lie, I wanted to quit a few times, but I stuck with it and received my first yoga teacher certification. Philip & Cindy whom I met at RHY were so kind to take a chance and allow me to create a donation-based Sober Yoga class every Friday night for those in recovery and I’m pleased to share that it has helped our community immensely. I completed Philip’s Path and Facilitator Programs at RYC. I journeyed to Nexus Institute in Nosara, Costa Rica where I completed 200 & 300 hour RYTT programs and I now hold E-RYTT 500 certification. I now have accumulated over 1,000 hours of yoga teacher trainings. I hold certification as a space holder with Y12SR; Yoga of the 12 Steps / Recovery & Trauma Informed, and completed Inner Engineering with Sadhguru. In 2021 I facilitated my first RYT 200 and am so proud to see my students now teaching their own classes. As the co-owner of Stardust Yoga Adventure Retreats & Workshops with my partner Zak, it thrills me to share all that I’ve learned with others in the magical locations we come across in our wilderness explorations. Anything Yoga and I am in! It sets my soul on fire & I want to shout it from the rooftops because it truly saved me and continues to enlighten me. I am honored and blessed to have found my Dharma, my true life’s purpose, which is to help other addicts and alcoholics find their light again through the power of yoga and recovery. I love teaching all types of yoga from Yin to Power and everything in between. I’d be honored for you to come try a class with me at Renegade Yoga , Real Hot Yoga (Knox & Farragut) & Yoga Six all in my beloved home city of Knoxville, TN
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti ~ Heather