Yoga Teacher Training Graduates

Stephanie Frailey

Stephanie has a Bachelor of Science Degree from Indiana University in Business Management and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from Notre Dame University. Stephanie sought out yoga during her pregnancy about five years ago to foster a calm mind and healthy body during a time of development and change. It worked! Since then, yoga has become a lifestyle choice, on and off the mat. Stephanie wants to share her passion for yoga with her students and cultivate the seed or “bija” in each of them through self expression.

She received her 200 hour certification through Yoga Alliance from Laurel Hodory in 2011. The training program focuses on both Ashtanga and Hatha styles coupled with alignment techniques through hands on assists and adjustments. Stephanie has traveled extensively and practiced/learned from a myriad of teachers in the US and abroad. She also participated in an intensive workshop led by Rodney Yee in Columbus this past year.

Stephanie Linkous

Stephanie’s love affair with yoga began in 2005 in a beginner’s series at Its Yoga. The connection was immediate, though the depth of the connection was yet unknown. Without ever really giving much thought to yoga outside of the physical practice, she went on about her daily life, making time to get on her mat only during the once-a-week beginner’s class. After about a year, she would attend class only when time permitted. After several months of neglecting her practice the feelings of stress, tension, uneasiness and discontentment started to flood in and Stephanie realized the work yoga had started to do on her. By now it was 2007 and major changes had started happening in her life. She had developed deeply caring friendship, a change in careers had allowed her to climb out of debt and to live a less stressful life, relationships with family members were beginning to heal, her diet transformed as her body began to crave healthier foods allowing her to shed a few extra pounds and most of all she started to realize what it felt like to be at ease and comfortable in her own skin. The positive impact yoga was having on her life became apparent. At that point yoga became a tool for transformation, the most accessible way to grow and develop, to heal her body, to ease her mind and to achieve the great joys in life that everyone deserves: Health, Happiness, Love, and Peace…all in great Abundance! For the next 2 years, Stephanie began to embrace all aspects of yoga; pranyama, mediation, asanas. However, she was still finding it difficult to live the practice off of her mat and outside of classes.

With the goal to develop her own practice at home and to bring the benefits of yoga to her friends and family, Stephanie enrolled in the 2010 200-hour YTT program with Laurel. She believes yoga to be a powerful tool, accessible to anyone that is open to the transformation. She hopes to be seen as a resource for knowledge and guidance for others, while also continuing her journey toward health and wellness on a physical, mental and spiritual level.

Susan Melsop

Susan Melsop was first introduced to yoga as a young child, watching her mother do head stands (sirshasana) in the middle of the living room. Her own yoga practice stems from her studies of Eastern philosophy, specifically the teachings of Buddhism. “To be interested in the way the mind works, is to be interested in Buddhism”. For her, yoga is a practice of synchronizing the thoughts of the mind, with the actions of the body to nourish and enlighten the spirit. The yoga studio is a place to practice this synchronicity in order to take this wisdom onto the streets and into the everyday.

In the fall of 2009, Susan completed the 200-Hour Yoga Alliance Certification under the tutelage of Laurel Hodory. Susan has participated in yoga workshops with Shiva Rea, Seane Corn and Larry Schultz. Her practice involves both Hatha and Ashtanga traditions. She aspires to teach with compassion, humility and humor, and to promote the psychological and physical benefits of yoga.

Tammie Gortner

Tammie Gortner began practicing yoga three years ago when she moved to an apartment one block away from It’s Yoga. Yoga transformed her physically and had profound affects in other areas of her life. In the fall of 2008, Tammie left her job as a science editor to travel for a four months in Nepal and India. While in India, she spent time at Sivananda and Vivekananda yoga ashrams, where she was immersed in a daily schedule of yoga practice and philosophy. Though she thoroughly enjoyed her experiences abroad, she was craving more in-depth instruction and a more flexible approach to yoga. From an Internet Cafe in India, Tammie applied to a 200 hour yoga teacher training program with Laurel Hodory and completed her training in the fall of 2009 upon returning from her travels. She is looking forward to introducing new students to yoga and showing them that yoga can be accessible to everyone.

Terri Rosen

Terri Rosen has been practicing yoga since 1999. As a lifelong ballet dancer, yoga was a natural continuation of her movement studies, especially with relation to flexibility and balance. Terri’s passion for physical fitness eventually led her to pursue certifications in teaching self defense and fitness. In 2008, Terri received her level 1 certification as a CrossFit instructor as well as becoming certified to teach Krav Maga by the United States Krav Maga Association. In 2009, Terri completed her 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification in hatha and vinyasa yoga with Laurel Hodory. Terri now strives to use yoga as a tool to introduce balance, harmony and physical health into the lives of her fitness and self defense students.

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 [at] mail.com, 614-746-7985

Tina Crosa

Tina Crosa, RYT200, has been practicing yoga for 11 years and teaching since 2003. She has studied with Seane Corn, Todd Norian, and recently received her certification in hatha and Ashtanga yoga with Laurel Hodory. Tina’s yoga teaching philosophy is one that goes deeper than the physical realm. She believes that the yoga practice and postures are tools that take the yogi to a deeper state to find the true self within. Yet the journey that Tina takes her students on in the classroom is one that is light and fun. Each yoga posture is an instrument forflexibility, strength, and and building of heat in the body, as well as an opportunity for self-discovery and awareness for that given moment. Students leave Tina’s class with a mixture of physcial and emotional well-being. Tina lives with her husband and two children in Dublin, Ohio where she enjoys gardening, reading, and cheering her boys on at soccer.

Travis Riemer

Travis Riemer is very fascinated by the physical and energetic workings of the body. Travis has been practicing yoga for over seven years and has been teaching for the last three years. He is a licensed massage therapist since 2001 and was certified in traditional Thai massage and reflexology at the Thai Institute of Healing Arts in 2007. Travis believes it is important to be proactive about ones own well being. Yoga can be a great guide to facilitate this by teaching you greater self awareness of the physical and energetic workings of the body.

Tricia Miranda

Tricia Miranda went to her first yoga class on a whim in 1998. She remembers how everything about that experience was entirely new to her—from the postures to the emphasis on the breath, from the Sanskrit names to the chant of om. But she found herself returning the next week and the next, and from there, exploring over the years different styles of yoga. Eventually, the joy and centered-ness she felt after every class nudged her in the direction of wanting to teach yoga and promote its benefits. In 2008, she enrolled in the 200-hour certification program with Laurel Hodory at It’s Yoga in Columbus, Ohio and will earn her certification in November. In her classes, Tricia hopes to help her students embark on a similar journey from whim to well-being. Off the mat, she teaches English and history at the high school level, and she lives with her artist husband, her two young daughters, and an atypically friendly Scottish terrier in Clintonville.

Tulla Zambetis

Tulla Zambetis works full-time and enjoys yoga for the physical practice. In 2011, she participated in the 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training with Laurel Hodory and plans to complete her certification in the near future. Through the training, she realized how much more there was to learn and found personal growth while deepening her own practice. Tulla’s goal is to teach and to help others realize the many benefits of yoga. She enjoys travelling, spending time with family, friends and her cats.

Vibeke Jamtoy

Vibeke Jamtoy is a full-time mother and skin therapist who is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Gender studies. In July 2013 she became certified to teach Hatha and Ashtanga yoga through the Yoga Teacher Training Program with Laurel Hodory and Faculty. As a yoga teacher, Vibeke brings a natural ability to provide hands-on assists that helps students safely achieve optimal alignment in their postures. She maintains balance in her life by limiting her teaching to one class per week, which allows her time for her work, studies, and of course, her beautiful daughter!

Wendi Bergdoll

Wendi began practicing yoga in 1999 when she was pregnant with her 3rd child. She was looking for a gentle physical practice that helped to maintain fitness and create a connection to her pregnancy. What she found was a mind-body/baby connection that she had never experienced before. Ever since, she has been a yogi at heart. She has continued to practice ashtanga and other forms of vinyasa-style yoga and developed an interest in deepening her practice which led her to the teacher training program. She remains interested in using yoga as a path to both physical fitness and personal growth and hopes to share that with others.

Wendi completed her Masters in Health Care Administration at the Ohio State University in 1993. She received her Yoga Teacher Training Certification (200HR) from Laurel Hodory’s program in June, 2011 and plans to continue exploring all that yoga has to offer. She has experience teaching yoga to teen athletes and introducing them to a potentially lifelong practice which benefits their strength, flexibility, and focus. She is especially interested in providing supportive, yet challenging yoga experiences that allow students to trust their foundations, find their strengths, and explore their possibilities.

Yu Xiao

Yu Xiao hails from China and holds a BA in the Department of Choreography at Beijing Dance Academy, and MFA degree in choreography in the Department of Dance at the Ohio State University. Yu began to practice yoga in 2005 with different yoga teachers both in China and the United States. She developed her passion for yoga when she turned to the practice as an alternative health treatment to heal her hip injury, and a physical practice to keep her strength, flexibility and balance other than dance classes. Yu is received her 200-hour teacher with Laurel Hodory in the fall of 2009. With her knowledge and background from various dance techniques, Tai Chi, Chinese dance, improvisation and choreography, Yu is delighted that yoga introduced her to another movement arts and living style—a balance of body, mind, and soul. She is hoping to share her experiences of movement arts, her love of yoga, her benefit from yoga and her thought about yoga with others. She hopes her classes will bring students strength and flexibility, joy and challenge, peace and enthusiast. Yu lives in Columbus with her husband, and is expecting her first child.