Bloggers

Jamie Davies O’Leary fell in love with yoga six years ago and has been training with Laurel Hodory since January 2011 to receive her 200-hour certification to teach yoga. She’s a former elementary school teacher and works in education policy for her day job. Jamie also has experience working with domestic violence victims, kids in various tutoring/mentoring settings, teaching sexual assault/violence prevention curriculum in schools, and organizing a variety of mental health awareness concerts and events. Her experience working with trauma survivors and her love for yoga compelled her to combine the two. Jamie will be teaching a class to domestic violence victims and a class to women  working with trauma victims at The Family Violence Coalition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Her goal is to bring the benefits of yoga to trauma victims, especially, to help facilitate healing, self-awareness, and empowerment.

Hannah Siegle began to do yoga four years ago initially for the physical practice, however she quickly discovered that the yoga began to do her in ways she never anticipated.  The mind, body, and spiritual connection that yoga cultivates has helped Hannah through the ups and downs of life, both large and small. She is currently training with Laurel Hodory for her 200-hour certification and has also attended a YogaFit training and workshops at a Yoga Journal Conference.  Hannah is a former high school science teacher and Americorps alum where she completed her service with the non-profit Children’s Hunger Alliance.  These experiences ignited a desire work with children and teens and yogaServe is the embodiment of this combined with her passion for yoga!

In addition to yoga Hannah is also passionate about nutrition, environmental sustainability, hiking, fitness, and of course her two pugs!  She also blogs at her own site on a variety of issues as Balancing on Two Feet.

Julia Purdywas first introduced to yoga in 2005 when she signed up for a beginner’s series at a local studio, but it wasn’t until 2 years later that she was called back to yoga as a means of dealing with severe anxiety and panic disorder.  Through her practice she felt a great weight lifted and was able to breathe again.  After experiencing the vast physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of yoga she was determined to share it with others and completed her 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training certification in 2011 with Laurel Hodory.  Julia learned the value of service and strengthening one’s community early on and has continued her committment to social responsibility through her involvement with several charitable organizations including Habitat for Humanity, the Capital Area Humane Society and Big Brothers Big Sisters.  yogaServe is the perfect union of her lifelong passion for community service and responsible citizenship and her love of yoga!  She is looking forward to helping others overcome the limitations of their minds in order to live a full, authentic life.  Her classes are light-hearted and playful and allow space for each student to step into their own light, both on and off the mat.

Theresa Colson Drawing on her experience as an artist, studies of nature, and pursuit of a karma-neutral lifestyle, Theresa encourages her students to find their own expression through the practice of yoga, constructing new habits of thought and movement that will extend beyond the yoga mat. Like many, Theresa’ s path to yoga came from a desire to become healthier in body, mind, and spirit after a challenging life experience. In addition to her yogic studies, Theresa is a jewelry designer (specializing in gemstone therapy) and holds a B.S. in Environmental Sciences from The Ohio State University. She loves to experiment and draw from many of the yoga schools and philosophies to explore new ways of seeing, whether in her artistic endeavors, the kitchen cooking up a storm, or in asana practice. She brings a sense of adventure, innovation, and humor to her teaching. Having experienced yoga as a powerful healing modality in her own life, Theresa is grateful to have the opportunity as a yoga teacher to not only guide her students, but also learn from them as they explore their own yoga path. She is eager to help light the way as students open to and deepen their connection with the wisdom and beauty of their own consciousness.

Theresa teaches for the Yoga Circle and Conscious Columbus, student
organizations at The Ohio State University.
Contact: tlcdesigns33@mail.com, 614-746-7985

Tyler Reed grew up on a small farm in northwest Ohio. As a teen he wrestled and practiced martial arts but as he neared the end of his teens, his attention turned to cigarettes, drugs and alcohol. He spent much of the late 80′s backpacking throughout Europe and the United States, playing his guitar for pocket money. In the late 90′s he was able to kick his habits for 6 months when, on the advice of his doctor he began meditating and practicing Hatha yoga and Qigong. He relapsed back into his old addictions, coming up briefly for air once again in 2005 when he spent several months practicing Ashtanga Yoga. It wasn’t until April 2006 that he made the decision to turn his life around forever. He stopped drinking, quit a 2-pack-a-day cigarette addiction and substituted meditation, Qigong and walking in their place. As his health improved, he started jogging, lifting weights and practicing Ashtanga yoga again. In February of 2007, Laurel Hodory invited Tyler to participate in a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program under her direction. Tyler accepted the invitation and found himself on a great journey of learning and practice. He completed his training in November 2007, registered with the Yoga Alliance as a certified Hatha and Ashtanga Yoga teacher and immediately began teaching.

Presently, Tyler teaches yoga at a fitness center in Hilliard and at Grow Yoga in Grandview. He often weaves Qigong exercises into his classes, using them to help students warm-up, tune-in and center their energy. Tyler has designed and presented workshops on breathwork, meditation, Yin Yoga and Tibetan Heart Yoga. He has practiced with several Qigong masters. Most recently, Tyler became a certified Personal Trainer through the American Council on Exercise (ACE), one of the most rigorous exams in the fitness industry.

With a B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics and 15 years of experience in technology and business management, Tyler remains employed full-time in the software engineering field. In one of his own businesses, Tyler designed and presented multi-day training programs on novel supercomputing technologies to scientists, engineers and professors from NASA, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Battelle Memorial Institute and numerous top universities. Tyler lives in southwest Columbus with his 2 children and Stacy, his wife of 15 years. They haven’t had television since 1998. In the tiny shreds of free-time that come his way, Tyler likes to carve wood, play guitar and go fishing.