Jay is a Yoga Alliance E-RYT (Experienced registered yoga teacher) and a YACEP (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider) and has been teaching yoga classes for over 12 years. She started practicing yoga over 30 years ago after a back injury in her college days and has never stopped because yoga has kept her healthy and sane!

Jay is also a certified Barre Above instructor, a certified Fusion instructor and A Matter of Balance coach. She is the Owner of WYC and teaches a variety of classes.

Jay believes that all of us stay healthier and happier by staying mobile and active as much as we can in whatever form that takes! Come visit her in one of her classes anytime!!

Leigh-Ann has been practicing yoga since 1997 and teaching since 2005. She attended the Asheville School of Massage and Yoga in 2008 and has been practicing massage + bodywork since 2009.

As a yoga teacher, Leigh-Ann prefers to teach flow, basics - and classes that access the connective tissue, such as yin or ball rolling. As a bodyworker, she incorporates a variety of modalities (such as Swedish, deep tissue, Thai, reflexology, craniosacral, polarity + energy work, myofascial techniques, and more) into an intuitive, customized session for each client.

Having previously been the manager of both Asheville Yoga Center and Black Mountain Yoga, Leigh-Ann is honored to now manage Waynesville Yoga Center and facilitate wellness services to her local community. When not working, she can be found in the woods - or by the ocean - with her family.

Sara has practiced yoga for over 15 years and has been teaching yoga since 2014. After a 25-year career in international public health, Sara began a second career as a Certified Holistic Health Coach. Her passion for food led her to yoga when she began studying the connection between mindfulness and stress eating. Sara emphasizes alignment and posture in all her classes. 

Her flow classes, which are fun and energetic, focus on lengthening the spine and improving balance and strength. Sara’s yin classes focus on pranayama (breath work) and deep relaxation. When she’s not on the mat, Sara can be found in the kitchen creating new recipes from locally sourced ingredients, or out exploring the hills of Western NC on a bicycle. 

Kendall took her first yoga class while in college at UNC Chapel Hill. She was immediately hooked by the way yoga calmed her mind and allowed her to surrender to the present moment. This began a daily practice that she continues to love six years later. Trained in vinyasa yoga, Kendall's classes are playful and accessible to all, linking movement with breath. Kendall embraces the lightheartedness in yoga, so laughter and self-acceptance are always present even in challenging flows and holds. She is a firm believer that each time we come to our mat we are nurturing our souls. Kendall is excited to be teaching in the mountains that she loves, and looks forward to leading you through a slow, fun, powerful class.

Candra Smith has been teaching yoga since 2006 and practicing massage since 2007. She has over 500 hours of yoga study and blends classical yoga with a vinyasa flow. Candra's classes are fun, creative and slightly challenging with a focus on a deep inner journey to Self discovery. Candra is inspired to teach yoga for so many reasons but simply put, yoga helps people become better people. Candra currently owns the Maggie Valley Wellness Center.

Michael was born and raised in Asheville, NC and has a deep love for our beautiful mountains. Michael discovered yoga in 1995 and developed an immediate affinity with it. He got his first teaching certification in 1997 with a Kripalu style teacher. Extended holds and detailed attention to alignment. His last two certifications were in 2011 and 2014 at the Asheville Yoga Center which added an element of lightness and fun. He would like to honor all of his teachers by teaching yoga as a way of life rather than as a form of exercise. His yoga philosophy is “Every yoga pose, and by extension every second of our lives, deserves our full attention, our full awareness, and our full effort. I do yoga to remind myself to live life like that.”

Ann has a nursing background, which has really helped her in the fitness world as a instructor of Yoga, Pilates, water aerobics, land aerobics, strength, step, stretch, Yogalates and other classes since 1999. She has been practicing yoga since 2000 and teaching since 2002.

Her expertise is in osteoporosis fitness, and she's been teaching Pilates since 2003. Having been with her husband during his 30 years of navy service, she's grateful to settle down in our community and excited to help students overcome challenges and reach goals, especially those with osteoporosis.

Aja has been working as a massage therapist since 2004. Her massage certifications include Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi, Swedish, Deep tissue and Reflexology. Aja incorporates each of these into her unique flow to encourage relaxation of the body, mind and spirit. Through massage therapy she hopes to help people find peace within themselves. 

Maura began her journey with yoga long before she knew what it was called. As a collegiate athlete, she was aware of the body-mind connection and used breath and visualization to aid her in her sport. After years of experimenting with other modalities, she came to her asana practice in 2007. It was the medicine that helped her heal on many levels. She trained in Hatha yoga, with emphasis on children’s yoga and teen yoga through Integral Yoga, and has her 200 HR training through School Yoga. She loves bringing people home to their breath and their bodies through yoga. She looks forward to guiding you along your personal journey of connecting with your true Self.

Bill has been practicing and studying Qigong (ancient Chinese practice combining breathing and movement for health and healing) along with Tai Chi since the 80’s as well as the Yoga breathing tradition of Pranayama. In addition, he studies the present day breathing programs of Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. G. Hendricks and the recent Harvard Medical studies. 

Bill's recent teaching venues include UNCA Asheville, Haywood Regional Fitness Center, Lance Armstrong’s Live Strong at Asheville YMCA, Casting for Recovery- Breast Cancer Survivors, Asheville Family Fitness, Town and Mountain’s Asheville Training Center - and he's excited to join the Waynesville Yoga Center team!

Anisha is a thriving Acupuncturist, Qi Gong energy healer, Yoga teacher, and co-founder of Pangu Yoga. Anisha received a Masters of Acupuncture from the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture in 2006, a Certification in Medical Qi Gong in 2007 and completed her Yoga Teacher Training from the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in 2008.

Her passion for offering healing through many avenues, with her deep love and experience of both Yoga and Qi Gong, lead Anisha to co-create what is now known as Pangu Yoga. She has since authored a portion of a web-based alternative textbook for Yoga I and II classes for NC State University, and has produced her own Pangu Yoga instructional DVD.

With a nurturing heart and soulful warmth, Anisha hopes to guide students toward a renewed quality of life through education, awareness and spiritual integration.

Anisha was born in Melbourne, Australia to Indian parents and moved to Raleigh, NC at age 10. Since graduating from Appalachian State University, she felt a magnetic pull toward the Blue Ridge Mountains and made them her home with her husband, Paul, and dog, Jade. Her favorite pastimes are writing, photography, singing, and jewelry making. She loves to explore the mountain dulcimer, hike and play outdoors. Anisha is an avid world traveler and adventure seeker.

She is delighted to teach at Waynesville Yoga Center, offering this vibrant mountain town her contribution and commitment to quality, beauty and substance. Learn more about Anisha and what she offers at sunandmoonhealing.org.

Katie...aka, Holistic HOPE Doula, is here to bring healing, open-ness, purpose, and embodiment for women.  She is the founder/creator of The Scared Space Retreats & Workshops (online & in-person), The Sacred Space Podcast, and The Sacred Self...an individual healing experience.  She is HERE to help women "return home" and find that sacred space within.

Katie's mission is for each and every woman to live and breathe from a connected, peace-filled, WHOLE-heart space.  She knows that when women begin to show up for themselves, in a real way...choosing to WAKE UP, they heal, the people around them find healing, and the world begins to change.    

Katie is also a certified wellness coach, chef, CF Level 1 coach, photographer, and yoga instructor.  She believes in a holistic approach to your personal healing & wholeness, and when needed, pulls from these aspects of her experience as well.

As an Ortho-Bionomy® practitioner and therapeutic yoga instructor, Alex Moody is passionate about providing these tools to help foster comfort, ease and self-awareness for her clients. She specializes in acute + chronic pain management, meeting her clients with empathy and intuition. In her Ortho-Bionomy sessions, she provides self-care exercises that integrate therapeutic yoga and Ortho-Bionomy techniques; this allows clients to see longer-term results - as well as empowers them to understand and be in relationship with their pain.

Alex has lived in North Carolina for 14+ years and completed her 500 hr yoga therapeutics training at Asheville Yoga Center. In her previous life, she majored in creative writing at Appalachian Sate University, achieved her master's in higher education administration from the University of Virginia, and was a career counselor for over 5 years.

Hanna is a native and local of Western North Carolina. She received a Bachelor's in Spanish at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. After graduation, her passion for yoga began to flourish and became a lifestyle. In 2017, her love for yoga, the Spanish language and travel brought her to the Mystical Yoga Farm on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala where she spent 22 blissful days becoming a Registered Yoga Teacher. Her time spent in this magical place brought an indescribable change to her life and to her yoga.

Hanna's training brings a unique style to the studio. A mixture of vinyasa flow and indigenous shamanic practices, her classes focus on the meaningful union of mind and body, bringing yoga to a personal level.

Tara joins Waynesville Yoga Center as a recent transplant from Cincinnati. She has been studying yoga for over 20 years and has been influenced by Iyengar, Anusara, and Ashtanga lineages. She completed her 200 hour RYT training at Anahata Yoga Center in Mason, Ohio in June of 2016. Her style includes warm up time followed by vinyasa flows with attention given to alignment details and some fun mixed in along the way.  

Tara strongly believes in yoga's transformative power for body, mind, and spirit and that it should be accessible for all. She is an avid outdoor enthusiast enjoying hiking, whitewater kayaking, and mountain biking. Tara is also a registered nurse having worked in pediatric ICU, and now in pre and post operative care.

Jillian Pagan is a massage therapist that specializes in neuromuscular therapy, which is a combination of acupressure points and deep tissue massage specifically designed for chronic long-term pain. She is also a yoga teacher and her practice focuses on slow and strong therapeutic asana. If you haven't had neuromuscular work before and are in chronic pain please come and see her.

Joe Taft believes in the power of Yoga to transform oneself physically, mentally and spiritually. Joe has been teaching in Asheville, North Carolina since 2001. He offers weekly classes, workshops and is a member of the Asheville Yoga Center’s teacher’s training faculty. His teaching style is a synthesis of dedicated hard work, deep study and a unique fusion of various schools of yoga, which culminates in a powerful system of yoga that is easy to grasp and practice.

As a Registered Nurse (WCU ‘01- Go Cats!) and mother of three active children, Abbie values the importance of physical, as well as emotional and mental health. Abbie’s yoga journey began 12 years ago as a way to get back in shape after the birth of her oldest child, but she quickly realized the overall wellness benefits of yoga. In taking some time away from her nursing career to raise children, she was able to realize one of her long-term goals and receive her 200-hour yoga teacher certification from Asheville Yoga Center earlier this year. Abbie hopes to share her love of yoga and wellness to ALL people and she firmly believes that in taking care of ourselves, we are able to better nurture others.