Jeanne Hawkins

Jeannie is a licensed RN, and works in outpatient surgery at St. John Westshore Hospital. Jeannie completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training at Circle of Life Yoga. Jeannie began her yoga journey in 2011,after surviving brain tumor surgery. Prior to the surgery, Jeannie was an avid runner and had completed three marathons.

Jeannie was initially fearful of yoga because of her residual balance, memory, strength, and endurance issues from the surgery. She attended her first class at Circle of Life Yoga with her husband; and noticed immediate emotional and spiritual benefits. Jeannie is inspired by others’ stories of physical and emotional growth; overcoming illness, pain, and trauma.

Heather Hanchuk, TIY-T

Heather graduated from Baldwin Wallace College with a B.A. in Sports Medicine & Athletic Training. She is also a Physical Therapist Assistant and Integrative Health Practitioner, and is certified in Sound Healing. Heather has worked with people of all ages, and brings years of experience into teaching yoga. As a college basketball player, Heather has always loved being active and is now a marathon runner. Heather completed her 500 hour yoga teacher training through the pandemic, it was her stress relief. Heather believes yoga is for everyone, no matter the age, size, shape, flexibility, or fitness level. “Yoga is a dance between control and surrender - between pushing and letting go. When to push and when to let go becomes part of the creative process, part of the open-ended exploration of your being.”

Chelsey Cox

Chelsey started gymnastics before she could walk and continued throughout high school. By the time she got to college and stopped moving daily, she realized something didn’t feel right in her body! She was craving movement and stretching so she picked up an elective yoga class and never looked back. 14 years later she earned her 200 hour yoga teacher training at Circle of Life Yoga. 

Chelsey lives in Strongsville with her husband Jeremy, son Theo, and their two dogs Kingsley and Kora.  To Chelsey, yoga is a safe escape to feel aliveness in your body and allow yourself to make a conscious decision to relax and be present.

Gabby Scalese

Gabby started her yoga journey after she had her second son. She loves the way yoga can move the body into various poses while improving breathing, strength, and flexibility. Gabby completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Circle of Life Yoga, and was the "best decision" she would say. Gabby had some great opportunities spreading the practice of yoga to others from young kids all the way to groups of families. Outside of yoga, Gabby enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons playing in the pool, camping in the woods, or keeping it simple with having movie nights. Gabby loves being a boy mom!

Kelly Atkinson

Kelly was first drawn to yoga for the workout and to gain flexibility. Right away she became aware of the mindfulness that she was getting, and she knew that yoga was always going to be a part of her life. She wanted to share her passion with others, so she became an instructor. Now she can give others the opportunity to breathe and find peace while gaining strength and balance on and off their mats.

Sarah Germano

Sarah began her yoga journey after the birth of her twins. Using yoga not only to recover, she used it as a powerful tool in her fight with PPD to find a sense of herself again. This experience then repeated itself following her subsequent births. Driven by a desire to help others facing a similar struggle, she became a 200 hour certified yoga teacher and wants to help people who feel the same things she did whether it be isolation, inadequacy, or self-doubt.

Regardless of gender or background, Sarah recognizes we all face moments of vulnerability like this and sometimes a moment or reflection can lead us back to our inner strengths and worthiness. As a wife and mom of 4, Sarah loves a good vinyasa flow with lots of movement to keep her focus on her practice. Her mission is to create an inclusive space with a great vibe and serenity in the studio.

Julie Ritchie

Julie has been teaching high school health and physical education and coaching many sports at Berea City Schools since earning her bachelor’s of Arts degree from Baldwin Wallace College in and her masters from Ashland University. Five years into her teaching career, the district wanted to offer different elective gym classes instead of mainly team sports. This gave Julie and a colleague the opportunity to design a Fitness and Stress Management class, that included circuit training, mindfulness, yoga, pilates, etc.

This was Julie’s first experience with many of these exercises due to her involvement with so many team sports like soccer, volleyball, softball, etc.and was fearful to start teaching an area that she was not as knowledgeable about. Julie spent the next few years going to yoga classes and learning how to teach yoga to her students and immediately noticed the physical, mental and emotional benefits of yoga in herself and her students. Julie completed the 200 and 300 hour yoga instructors course at Circle Of Life Yoga to become a better teacher to her students and to continue to teach the benefits during her retirement. When Julie is not teaching or on her mat she enjoys spending time with her husband and two siberian huskies. She also enjoys being outside, going for walks, and playing sand volleyball.

Lisa Ackim

A 200 hour level Certified Yoga Instructor since July, 2014, Lisa has been practicing yoga for over 15 years. Yin, Ashtanga, Sivananda, and Vinyasa are some of her favorite styles of yoga to practice. She’s also a Licensed Massage Therapist and has been practicing massage since 2004. She’s certified in Thai Massage and a Master Reiki Practitioner. She feels being a Yoga Instructor and Massage Therapist is the “BEST” job in the world because she gets to help people feel good all day long. When she is not practicing yoga and massage, she enjoys fitness, reading, gardening and music.

Katie Evans, TIY-T

Katie spent eight years teaching in Alaska before she became a 4-8 grade ELA teacher in Ohio. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alaska in English and Music, her Master of Arts from Tiffin University in Communications, and her Master of Education and Curriculum from Bowling Green State University. Her passion for Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) grew out of her own healing journey. Katie recently published her first book, From Me To You.

Katie recognizes and understands how the practice of yoga has helped in her healing, and decided to become a 500 hour trauma-informed yoga teacher. Katie thinks one of the most important things that she can do as a teacher is to let her students know that what they have to say and who they are matters. Katie wholeheartedly believes that every human, regardless of their circumstances, deserves the opportunity to learn to express themselves, communicate their thoughts and feelings, and take up space!