Meet Our Yoga Instructors
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Maria Reyes
Puma began teaching yoga in 2004 and became a Certified Yoga teacher through Forrest Yoga in 2006. She also carries certifications in Relax and Renew (Restorative Yoga), Prenatal Yoga and Postnatal Yoga. Maria’s teaching background also includes Workshop Assistant to Ana Forrest and Prenatal Workshop Assistant to Janice Clarfield, Urban Yoga.
Puma weaves her enthusiasm, humor, straight forwardness and compassion into a teaching style that encompasses the strength and intensity of Forrest, the flow and creativity of Vinyasa, the alignment of Iyengar and the relaxing, healing benefits of Restorative yoga. Maria’s teachings are rooted in her life experiences and intuition.
Maria has had the pleasure of studying with many master teachers including Judith Hanson Lasater, Rolf Gates, Simon Park, Manju Jois, Elise Miller, Angela Farmer & Victor van Kooten, Micheline Berry and many others.
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Tammy Astor-Jack
Tammy is certified in OM Yoga at the 200 hour level and has completed OM Yoga’s 500 hour certification. Originating from London, England, she takes classes wherever she finds herself, integrating her experiences from her education (Ph.D in psychology), from her travels and from parenting three young children. Her vinyasa classes are set to music and are flowing in style, focusing on alignment, fun sequencing, dharma and humor.
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Virginia Bocchicchio
My interest in the study and practice of yoga began 12 years ago and coincided with a new career as a licensed massage therapist and a decisive shift away from years of dance training. My yoga practice and massage profession have been dedicated to the health and well being of myself and to all of those that I have had the opportunity to work with. I have focused my attention on the development of my yoga practice through continued education, self study, and discipline and have had the opportunity to study the different styles of yoga with teachers of Iyengar, Ashtanga, Anusara, and Vinyasa.
Clearly I had embarked on this journey of transformation, however it was not until 2005, after the death of my son, that I became truly aware of the power of yoga. I felt as though my yoga practice, along with my life, had collapsed. It took some time, but I realized that yoga had only lay dormant waiting for me to receive it. And I did. Its gifts of compassion, strength, and love were strongly revealed to me and my healing process began. I later went on to complete a 200 hr. teaching certification with Try4Life Yoga. It is my belief that yoga has a profound effect on one’s spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental self and it is my intention to share what has been given to me.
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Elizabeth Edelman
Elizabeth found yoga while in college in 2001. After practicing Bikram yoga for several years in Denver, she moved back to Ohio and found herself hooked on Power Vinyasa. She received her 200 hour certification from Tami Schneider at Cleveland Yoga in 2011 and is currently working towards her 500 hour certification through the Live Love Teach program with Philip Urso, Deborah Williamson, and Stacy Dockins.
After her diagnosis with type 1 diabetes in 2005, Elizabeth has made it her passion to empower people to live better lives. She co-founded one of the largest online diabetes communities with her husband and hopes to encourage people everywhere to embrace yoga and a healthy lifestyle. Elizabeth’s classes are fun, challenging, uplifting, and exciting. She offers a joyful approach to the most challenging poses and really believes that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.
Elizabeth is grateful to her teachers (including her baby girl, Leah) for showing her that reaching for the stars is just the beginning!
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Susan Livingston
Having danced since the age of three, Susan was classically trained at the School of the Cleveland Ballet and has studied with jazz, tap and modern teachers of note. She danced with a modern company in NYC until an injury left her looking in a new direction for her creative talents.
Over the years Susan maintained a mild exercise routine to balance the stresses of work and world. She found that yoga, as a lifestyle, has the values, discipline and wisdom, offering a familiar place to grow and to be challenged-physically, emotionally and spiritually-a place of love.
Susan uses her experience, training and intuition in sharing her passion of Hatha yoga (an emphasis on alignment and healing) with a belief that the practice of yoga is for everyone.
Susan is a registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance and a graduate of the T.R.Y. 4 Life Training program with Jan Hauenstein. She also is a certified yoga assistant and continues her ongoing yoga education by attending classes, workshops and training. “I am blessed to be able to breathe in and out daily with the universe and find joy in sharing my love of yoga with others.”
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Rachele Massey
Rachele began practicing yoga in 2003 at Cleveland Yoga. She wanted to improve her physical well-being and quickly found that her whole being had drastically changed. She was hooked! Rachele studied Power Vinyasa Yoga with her teacher Baron Baptiste, and has completed his Level I & II teacher trainings. She has also completed an assisting intensive with Master Baptiste Teacher, Gregor Singleton, as well as workshops with Sri Dharma Mittra, Judith Hanson Lasater, and many amazing local instructors. Rachele holds a Bachelor of Arts in photography; she feels both yoga and art have given her the tools to look fearlessly at herself, and push her to grow.
Rachele’s classes are infused with creativity, humor, and groundedness. She loves the challenge and heart of a Vinyasa class, and equally adores the healing nature of a Restorative class. She believes the best way to come to your mat is just as you are. We are already perfect and whole beings; yoga teaches us to remember this fact. Rachele continues to practice because each time she does she finds a greater connection to herself, and, more importantly, she finds a better connection with others. She has learned the best thing to bring to a yoga class and into her life is an open mind. Rachele thanks the many teachers in her life including those listed above, her husband, family, Montana, friends of Bill W., and last but not least, herself!
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Caressa Mathews
Caressa Mathews, a yogini since 1996, is honored to bring her years of study and the wisdom passed down from her teachers to all those around her. She received her 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training from Brahmrishi Yoga in 2006 and completed her 500 hour Yoga Teacher and Therapist Training through Purusha Yoga in 2010. She is a certified practitioner in many healing modalities including traditional Thai Yoga massage, Reiki, and Jin Shin—forms of energy work that calm the mind while relaxing the body.
Caressa has taught as a guest teacher for Yoga Teacher Trainings in both California and Ohio, and also enjoys leading yoga workshops. This life-long student earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in 2004. Her artistic interests, along with a loving connection to Mother Earth inspire both her life and practice. She brings joy and compassion to her yoga classes, aspiring to impart the same thirst for knowledge of the higher self to her students, as she invites them to relax into their bodies, breath, and the present moment. She is currently in training for her 700 hr yoga teacher training certification, and is enrolled at the Harmony Path School of Massage.
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Alysia McKean
Alysia McKean, RYT, EMP found herself on the path to a dedicated yoga journey 5 years ago. She discovered the practice while working as an exercise specialist for local employee wellness centers, and was immediately drawn to the energy yoga brought out in herself and others.
Her intentions while teaching a yoga class are to always assist in a way which encourages “effortless effort” in each individuals practice. Alysia’s training of vinyasa yoga continues to grow with ongoing various teacher trainings both locally and nationally. She is a member of the yoga alliance and has completed her 200 hour teacher training certification.
Alysia is also a massage practitioner, and enjoys complimenting her yoga classes with hands on relaxation and rejuvenation!
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Rosie Miller
Rosie has been a yoga practitioner for the past ten years and a yoga instructor since 2007. She believes in an approach which is safe, compassionate, nonjudgmental, and which honors the Self. Rosie feels blessed that she is able to share her journey of yoga with others and believes yoga to be life changing. She has seen the many ways it can enhance a person’s daily life.
Ms. Miller holds a B.A. in social work and finds yoga to be a direct way of “helping others help themselves”… a way to cultivate a deeper sense of self-awareness and inner peace, which leads to a greater sense of awareness and peace in the world. As a resident of Lakewood, Rosie is very excited to be part of the goodness that Puma Yoga brings to the community. She is grateful to all of her instructors for their kindness in sharing knowledge, her students for teaching her more, and her husband and three children who lovingly remind her to live in the moment.
Rosie is a Certified Yoga Instructor through TRY For Life with Judi Bar and Jan Hauenstein and a Registered Yoga Teacher through Yoga Alliance. She also studied and earned her Prenatal certification through Janice Clarfield, owner and director of Urban Yoga.
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Annette Morgan
Annette has been practicing yoga for over 20 years and teaching since 2002. She is certified through Alan Finger and ISHTA Yoga, NYC. Annette believes that her experience as an emergency room R.N. for the past 15 years has helped her develop a strong understanding of anatomy and vulnerabilities of the human body. Her yoga practice has included studies in Kundalini yoga with Gurtege in Los Angeles and Sat Jivan Singh in Manhattan. Annette’s experience is in corporate health yoga with C.H.I. in New York City as an effort to improve employee health and well being. Her classes are truly joy-filled, robust and filled with a sense of humor and compassion. Annette’s classes weave many styles of yoga with a strong emphasis on meditation, breathing, and relaxation. Her classes are geared to all levels.
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Amy Runnels
Amy and her husband settled in Cleveland after five years in New York City. Originally moving from Missouri to New York in order to further her work in environmental research, she gravitated toward yoga - a practice that, prior to her move, had been quite sporadic - as a means of helping her adjust to the fast pace of life in the city. This practice had such a positive impact on her life that she decided to become a yoga instructor and share the benefits of yoga and holistic living with others.
Amy completed her Advanced Training with YogaWorks and is registered with Yoga Alliance as on E-RYT 500-hr. She is also certified in prenatal, postpartum and parent/child yoga. In addition to her mentors, Jenny Aurthur, Jodie Rufty and Rama Nina Patella, Amy has been blessed to explore numerous facets of her practice with teachers like Alan Finger, Desiree Rumbaugh, Genny Kapuler, Glen Black, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and Srivatsa Ramaswami. Her classes blend precise alignment and fluid breath to create a strong, spacious body and a peaceful mind.
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Melissa Russo
Melissa began practicing yoga on and off about six years ago. After nine months of living in France without practicing any yoga, Melissa was struck by how much she missed the practice and she realized what yoga truly meant to her. She returned to Cleveland and immediately sought out studios to practice at. She was lucky enough to find out about a Karma Yogi shift at Evolution Yoga Studios in Beachwood where she helped around the studio in trade for yoga classes soaking up all the knowledge she could. From this point on, the yoga journey began.
Melissa is a graduate of OM yoga 200 hour Teacher Training and completed OM yoga 500 hour Teacher Training in June 2011. She is passionate about the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of yoga and encompasses all three of these things in her yoga classes while inspiring her students to honor their bodies and have patience with the practice…the rest will follow. Melissa’s philosophy is that even teacher’s are students and she thanks her many amazing teacher’s and mentors for their guidance and support.
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Brian Young
Brian has been practicing yoga since 2000, and teaching since 2004. He completed OM Yoga’s 200 hour teacher training program, and is currently working on his 300 hour certification in Prana Flow Yoga with Shiva Rea. He started teaching as a way to give back to a universe that has given him so much - from the most incredible friends and teachers to the ability to laugh hysterically even after falling over from a handstand. Many years later, the lessons he learns as both teacher and student are never-ending.
He believes that the practice of yoga is about many things, but primarily about acceptance. It is about accepting the world for what it was, what it is, and what it will be. It is about accepting that there are many more questions than answers. It is about accepting your fear. It is about accepting that you will fall down, and that you will get back up again. It is about accepting that the journey can never end, because there is no destination. But first and foremost, it is about accepting yourself and taking pride in who you are and what you do.
