YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Lara Heimann

Creator and founder of LYT Yoga, Lara Heimann is an international yoga pioneer and Physical Therapist focused on evolving the practice of yoga to empower movement and balance amidst a modern lifestyle of technology and sedentariness. With an advanced degree in physical therapy and more than 25 years of yoga practice and education, Lara is redefining the modern practice through her comprehensive LYT Yoga methodology, emphasizing smart alignment, functional movement, and spiritual wellness. Sustainable, freeing, and efficient, LYT champions smarter, safer, and more conscious movement patterns and is practiced worldwide through daily online classes and a network of LYT Yoga certified teachers and LYT Yoga studios.

Kristin Williams

Kristin Williams is the Director of Operations and a Senior LYT Yoga Instructor with over 20 years experience as an Orthopedic Physical Therapist. She received her Masters of Science in Physical Therapy from the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University in 2000 and her Doctor of Physical Therapy from Regis University in 2010. She is a Board Certified Orthopedic Specialist who focuses in manual therapy in an outpatient setting. She went through her first yoga training with LYT Yoga in 2014 and has been a Senior Teacher at Lara’s home studio and featured on the LYT Daily website since its inception. Kristin uses her passion for anatomy, biomechanics, and functional movement to inspire her classes and her love of all genres of music to motivate her students! She became a disciple of the LYT method due to its intelligent sequencing and neuromuscular re-education of the body. She uses the LYT method both in the rehab setting and as a post-rehabilitation treatment strategy. She is passionate about creating the best LYT Yoga instructors through her simple sequencing methodology and framework.

Rhonna Griffin

Rhonna Griffin is a Senior LYT Yoga Instructor and the LYT Director of Education and Programming. An educator through and through, Rhonna Griffin loves to teach. Whether its music in her elementary school classroom or smart sequencing on the yoga mat, her commitment to a thoughtful plan never waivers. Rhonna’s back ground as a public educator shines through with scaffolded sequencing that allows all participants to be successful. Furthermore, every class offers an opportunity to grow stronger physically but also to transfer that growth off the mat.

Teagan Schweitzer

Teagan has been dedicated to teaching yoga in Philadelphia for over 15 years and has taken seven yoga teaching trainings (totaling 1,500 hours) in a variety of styles, including most recently, the 500-hour LYT Yoga training. She combines her knowledge from these studies to offer unique, challenging, and expertly taught yoga classes, workshops and teacher trainings.
Aside from pursuing yoga studies, Teagan has a Ph.D. in Anthropology and researches food in Philadelphia from the 19th and 20th centuries as an archaeologist. Additionally, she graduated top of her class in culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Her passion for movement and form traces back through a long history in dance, both amateur and professional, and extends to all modalities of fitness and physical practice.

Michelle Onion

Michelle Onion has been a physical therapist for over 20 years. She has had the pleasure of working with a variety of patients in varying types of clinics. Her love is assessing movement patterns and helping people to learn and embrace more optimal patterns. She believes that neurology and orthopedics are not separate entities, but depend on each other to function more effectively and efficiently.

This is what drew her to LYT yoga and Lara. Her yoga practice had been on and off for years, but she always loved the movement and the peace of it. She decided to do a YTT to further her understanding and improve her own practice. She didn’t realize that she would fall in love with it the way she did. She finished her LYT 200h in Spring 2021. It is through this training that she experienced strength and mobility and confidence in ways she never felt before.

She is empowered in her body and in her life. And she wants this for her clients. LYT has made her a better PT and a better instructor. It has given her the strength and confidence to climb trees, do cartwheels and go rollerblading, things she hasn’t done in years. This body reconnection is what she strives for through her classes, helping people find strength, mobility and confidence on their mats. She continues her yoga studies toward her 300h LYT training. LYT has transformed her life.

Ashley Newton

Ashley Newton is a LYT yoga instructor and pelvic health physical therapist. She received her Doctorate of Physical Therapy from Rutgers University. She is a certified pelvic health physical therapist and manages an outpatient pelvic health physical therapy practice in Princeton, NJ.
She underwent LYT yoga training in 2012 and has taught pelvic health anatomy as part of the LYT Level 2 Training. Ashley is featured on the LYT Daily website with flows focused on the integration of pelvic health concepts into the LYT yoga structure.

She was inspired to become a physical therapist after practicing LYT yoga and experiencing the integration of mind and body that results from functional movement. She utilizes the LYT method in developing both rehabilitation and wellness programs. Ashley is passionate about creating more holistic yoga by addressing pelvic health topics to ultimately educate and empower our global community.

Paola Ricardo

Fascinated with everything that encapsulates being human – anatomy, mind, body, spirit, and interconnection – Paola [Pah-oh-lah] is a lifelong student of practices that foster connection to self, others, and the environment. She shares LYT Yoga with an infusion of mindfulness, self-compassion, and acceptance-based practices, in both English and Spanish. Paola is a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology focusing on clinical practice in health psychology and acceptance-based approaches. Her goal is to help students connect the dots to their own wellbeing by fostering attention and awareness of how they move on and off the mat, while ensuring that this movement is in line with their CORE values and why’s.

Megan Spears

Megan Spears has more than six years experience helping students build a consistent practice that is balanced and joyful. She completed her first 500 hours of power yoga training in 2014 before discovering Lara’s LYT Yoga method in 2017. She trained with Lara in 2018 and again in 2020, receiving her 200 hour training LYT Level 1 in certificate April 2020. She is in her final year as an undergraduate student and on her way towards a B.S. in Health Education and Exercise Science at Oklahoma State University. When she’s not teaching a personalized yoga session, you can find her sipping on a Topo Chico, doing homework, training for a race, or being a bonafide homebody with her husband and cat.

Maria Webb

I have always loved health and fitness, and was drawn to yoga in 2010 for a full body approach to exercise. I soon discovered that a strong asana practice opens the heart and mind. I love all kinds of yoga but, for my own practice, I am mostly drawn to classes that are physically challenging with an emphasis on functional movement, alignment, arm balances, inversions, and pratryhara. I completed my RYT 200h in 2011 at PCYH (Princeton NJ), then continued my Yoga Teaching Training (again in Princeton NJ) with a 2nd 200h in 2013-2015 with Lara Heimann in the LYT method.. I completed my 500h with Lara and the LYT Team in 2022. Over the years, my teaching focuses on 2 populations: an athletic population that practices with lots of “sweat equity” and those who have modest to significant movement restrictions for various reasons. I have a PhD from Penn State in Physiology, and am a certified Health and Fitness Specialist from ACSM focusing on exercise physiology to assist in various disease interventions.

Brendan Plunkett

Brendan believes in the ability to open our hearts, strengthen our bodies, and free our minds through movement. His journey with yoga started when he took a college class while attending Pennsylvania State University, which eventually led him to pursue his first yoga teaching certification in 2015. His practice began to change two years later when he was introduced to the LYT Yoga Method by his teachers at Yoga Lab in State College, PA. Since then, Brendan has been LYT-up, and he completed the LYT Level 1 program in Spring 2020. He loves the freedom, strength, and creativity that the LYT Yoga Method embodies and is passionate about bringing it to others. He enjoys teaching classes that are high-energy and light-hearted. When he isn’t teaching yoga classes, you can find him out on walks with his wife and their two dogs.

Campbell Will

Campbell Will is a physiotherapist and the founder of BreathBody Therapy. He’s had a lifelong fascination with how the human body works. As he began to understand the functions of it, he came to realize that a large part of what makes the body work well is our breathing.

Shefali Shah

At the age of 17, when Shefali came to the United States from India, she found herself getting drawn towards the very things she had left behind. Yoga soon became a part of her daily life, the one that grounded her to her roots. Of course, her focus continued to be on her Engineering / Business degrees and then rising through the corporate ranks in various positions. It was not until much later in life that she realized how much yoga had helped herself, her family, and her career.
Shefali’s meditation journey started as she seeking to strengthen her mind over chronic physical pain and gain greater presence in an increasingly multi-tasking world. She was seeking the same caliber of scientific rigor and practical application for her meditation practice as her yoga practice. She is training with Healthy Minds Innovation which has been tested by neuroscientists in collaboration with the Dalai Lama. Shefali is currently completing her LYT 300-hr training. She is excited to integrate her training in LYT and meditation to the community at LYT!

Jeremy Engel

Jeremy David Engels, Ph.D., is an award-winning scholar and teacher committed to building wiser and more mindful communities that can thrive in a world on fire. He is currently a Professor of Communication and Ethics at Penn State University. His students know him as the “bed-headed professor” and “yoga prof.” Formally trained as a scholar of American politics, culture, and rhetoric, he has been studying and practicing yoga and meditation for 25 years, and he brings the insights of his spiritual practice to bear on his scholarship and his scholarship to bear on his spiritual practice. He has authored four books, including The Art of Gratitude (2018) and The Ethics of Oneness: Emerson, Whitman, and the Bhagavad Gita (2021). He is a LYT teacher, and also the co-founder of Yoga Lab Studio in the small college town of State College, PA, where he lives with his brilliant wife Anna Sunderland Engels and two cuddly cats.

Jessica Westberg

Jessica is a scientist at heart, a movement enthusiast and passionate about education, because she believes that sharing knowledge means empowering others. Over the past years she has taken several yoga and meditation teacher trainings (a total of 1,050 hours so far) and is currently pursuing her LYT Level 2 certification. Jess aims at making movement joyful, fun and encouraging in order to help shape our confidence in and appreciation for ourselves and our bodies.
Before focusing on human well-being through movement full-time, Jess has been a veterinarian and studied public health. Today she uses this knowledge and passion both on the mat – anatomically we are not that different from other mammals, after all – and by being an animal welfare advocate and rescue dog mum.

Katrina Latimer

I am on a mission to help people feel better and move better in whatever they do! I love to share my passion and enthusiasm for yoga, mobility and movement with others, including my husband and two young boys (when they let me).I TEACH YOGA AND MOBILITY BECAUSE I BELIEVE MOVEMENT IS KEY TO A HEALTHY, HAPPY AND LONG LASTING LIFE. It is through the specific styles I teach that we can be taught more than just movement–we experience a greater mind-body-spirit connection and learn about our bodies along the way.

During my teaching journey I have always enjoyed learning about movement modalities, different ways to approach a move or yoga pose, and the functionality of the human body. These things, among others, have fueled my desire for additional education and training. I completed my first 200 hr vinyasa training in 2014 with Kim Zegil and my 300 hr advanced vinyasa training in 2018 with Rolf Gates. Since then I have expanded my knowledge of the body every chance I can, including an additional 200 hr training in LYT Yoga Method with Lara Heimann, a Functional Range Conditioning Mobility Specialist Certification with Functional Range Systems, a Functional Range Assessment Certification with FRS and a Kinstretch Certification with FRS. Lastly, I am certified to teach Prenatal Yoga and have additional training with Leslie Howard in the Pelvic Floor.

When you move with me, you will see that I like to keep my classes interesting. They are filled with detailed instruction and creative sequencing that integrate the science of physical therapy, biomechanics and mobility training influenced by yoga philosophy and traditional yoga practice. In essence, it unifies the traditional teachings of yoga with the modern understanding of the body from scientific principles and the science of biomechanics.

In the style I teach, we utilize brain mapping to re-wire poor movement habits resulting in a sustainable practice that helps you move better not only in the time you spend on your mat, but more importantly, in your life. You can expect a light-hearted attitude to accompany what can seem like an overwhelming task to accomplish and I would love nothing more than to guide you on your mat!

Jana Broeckx

I found yoga a few years ago during a stressful period. I ran out of energy for my usual workouts. With a background in dance, I thought yoga would help me regain flexibility and counteract my sedentary lifestyle. Yoga, which I thought of as stretching back then, would almost immediately change my life. I quickly noticed the mental benefits that I was so sceptical and in disbelief of. I discovered that yoga can be as intense or restorative as I wanted it to be and soon I was rolling out my mat every day.

Fascinated by the whole story, I quickly registered for my first (short) yoga teacher training locally in Belgium. I learned the basics of yoga and yoga philosophy. I started teaching soon after but had the urge to keep learning. Yoga helped me a lot with my mental health, but I kept pushing myself way beyond my limit. I worked full time as a software engineer, had my own company as a side occupation, was active as a vegan activist, gave yoga classes and my grandparents had been suffering from illness for years. Too many activities and worries combined with a bad environment in my job and the vegan organization I was associated with led to a diagnosis of burnout and depression in 2018. I decided to quit my job and the vegan organization, I knew I was leaving for my next yoga teacher training in a few months time, so I decided to take that time to heal. In October 2018 I embarked on an amazing journey: the Island Yoga RYT 200h Training in Aruba with Rachel Brathen (Yoga Girl) and Lara Heimann. The training was a perfect combination of self-care, anatomy and yoga philosophy.

After my return I decided to fully focus on my own company, Florissana: part vegan cosmetics web shop, part IT consultancy for ethical companies. Together with fellow LYT yoga teacher Noélie Lanckneus I started Ylva Yoga! We organize yoga retreats in and around Belgium, as well as workshops and both teach group & private classes. I have kept studying and learning and completed a second RYT 200h course with Lara Heimann; LYT Level 1!

My classes are physically challenging, but always with an intention. Whether we’re using a chakra as a theme, or a body part, we always look at it from a yogic point of view. So we can move with intention, alignment and ease in body, mind and spirit. All of my group and private classes take place in Belgium or online, often in Dutch, sometimes in English. Want to flow with me online or in-person? Contact me through my website, Instagram or e-mail! I look forward to meeting you.

Jessica Hensley

Jessica is a warrior on a mission. As a two-time cancer survivor, she’s seen firsthand the power that yoga has to transform our bodies, our minds, our ability to heal, and the limitless potential we have to thrive. She’s bringing LYT Yoga to fellow warriors of all walks of life – athletes, cancer warriors, and those with warrior spirits, driven to feel their best and move with intention – and tenacity – every single day. Jessica is an LYT 500 (September 2021), RYT 200, y4c (yoga4cancer) who has been studying with Lara since 2018. When she’s not on her mat, she’s outdoors at every available moment, on a run, bike, or hike with her two boys and her pup. She lives with the awareness of how precious this life is and how fortunate we are all to be here. That spirit fuels her each day (along with green tea and 80s rap) and she’s passionate about sharing that fire with everyone she meets!

Sharon Tyrrell

Yoga has been a part of Sharon’s daily routine for many years. This practice helped her maintain balance during her days of educating middle schoolers, raising children and caring for aging parents. When she was introduced to the LYT Yoga Method, she became instantly hooked. Sharon signed up for Lara’s first online teacher training purely to enhance her own knowledge. Her passion for LYT has only intensified with time; she continues to keep learning and delights in sharing her knowledge with others. Sharon loves teaching LYT Yoga. She enjoys creating fun challenging classes that are easy to follow so that everyone feels welcome and successful. Her mission is to encourage others to find their zest for life through functional movement both on and off the mat.

Poppy Zahn

I am a movement lover! I was a professional dancer, specializing in Indonesian traditional dance and also practiced Tae Kwon Do for years. I completed my first 200hr Teacher Training in 2019, and right away started to teach independently, so I could be more connected to my students. I enjoy sharing my knowledge with my students to help them move better & feel better in their own body, because I do believe that movement is medicine. I searched for trainings that focused on anatomy and when I found Lara / LYT Yoga Method, I knew it was a perfect match for me. I completed my 200hr LYT Yoga Method in Summer 2020 (best time to learn online during the pandemic), and just completed my Level 2. I have gained much more knowledge and enjoy continuously learning so that I can help others.(Proudly) I am now officially LYT Yoga level 2 teacher!”

Sheila Moore

Sheila Moore Hi I’m Sheila! I live in Wilmington NC. I’ve been teaching and practicing yoga since 2001. I have completed over 1,500 hours of training in a variety of styles, with LYT being my second 500 hour yoga teacher training. I am a LYT Ambassador, I teach LYT exclusively at a local studio and work with private clients in my home studio and online. Movement is my medicine and I am passionate about helping others to move well. I am committed to making yoga accessible, sustainable and inviting for ALL. In my free time, I enjoy boating, beach walks, family time and reading.

Sharon Henderson

Sharon came to yoga 25 years ago to help balance her rigorous running and cycling regime. She fell in love with Lara’s LYT Method after exploring other yoga styles. She has never felt stronger and more empowered in her body. She loves sharing her skills and knowledge to others, especially fellow athletes! Sharon has over 1,050 yoga training hours and is a Level 2 LYT®Yoga teacher.

Brenda Lawer

Brenda is a level 2 LYT certified instructor. She received a masters degree in dance at the University of California, Irvine. She has completed over 1000 hours of yoga and mobility training.
Her mission is to help others feel more balanced in both mind and body through functional yoga and breath work. Brenda brings a lifetime of experience along with the smart and safe methodology of LYT to create a beneficial and uplifting experience for all her students. When she’s not practicing yoga, you can find her hiking, reading, and spending quality time with her family and dogs in sunny California.

Andrea Sauter

Andrea’s JOY and enthusiasm for the practice is infectious. She is a woman who wants nothing more than to pass this joy and freedom for movement on and off the mat. Certified as a vinyasa teacher in 2011 she taught this dance-based style until a severe accident in 2012 made it impossible to continue with it. She found a formal, pragmatic & highly aligned-based Hatha yoga style helping her to sustain a well-aligned and well-rounded practice. She kept on teaching group-classes, workshops and teacher trainings, always on the look-out for a deeper understanding of biomechanics and how it translates into a yoga practice.

With LYT Yoga® she found the brain-satisfying knowledge, the verbiage, and an intelligent way of sequencing to underpin the the magic of the yoga practice. Manipulating form for function, developing a sense of personal measure to override old movement patterns and the ability to explain the WHY. Drea combines her knowledge to a sustainable, freeing and smart experience. She offers you the tools and techniques to align your body & mind to get stronger and smarter to enable you to take the risk to use these tools off the mat.

Find Drea in Stuttgart, Germany, She also offers workshops and teacher trainings in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. You can expect Drea’s classes to be challenging, well-aligned with smart sequencing and cueing. Aside from teaching yoga Drea is a coffee lover, a cat person and has a passion for hand lettering. She loves nothing more than walking bare footed in nature. She also has a diploma as an engineer and works as a consultant for labor-law.

Georgi Anker

Georgiann had been practicing yoga for 5 years before completing her 200-hour certification with Lara in 2017 at her YogaStream studio in Princeton NJ. She was inspired to do so for the sole purpose of deepening her own practice, never actually intending to become a “yoga teacher”. A funny thing happened during teacher training…. The more Georgiann learned about the benefits of yoga (physically as well as mentally) and that teaching from a sustainable, anatomy and alignment based foundation just made sense, she found herself inspired to share that knowledge with others and to help yogi’s move safely. You’ll find her classes to be a balance between fun and playful, but deliberate in form and functionality. She’ll get you moving in ways that will help you gain both strength and mobility, and hopefully feel amazing! In her free time, you’ll find Georgiann hiking, running, gardening and tackling any number of home renovation projects!

Eunice Wong

As a professional actor, Eunice trained at the Juilliard School and has an extensive physical theatre background, including Alexander Technique and Suzuki, as well as circus aerials and Wu Mei Kung Fu. Eunice is the writer of “What The Health” and “The Sustainability Secret,” the official companion books to the acclaimed documentaries, “What The Health,” executive produced by Joaquin Phoenix, and “Cowspiracy,” executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. Both films are available on Netflix. Eunice is certified as a personal trainer and vegan chef, and narrates audiobooks for publishers such as Audible, Harper Audio, and Tantor Media, as well as narrating and producing audiobooks out of her home studio. For nine years she was Chief Editor of the Truthdig Book Review and Truthdig’s Countering Violence Against Women series (www.truthdig.com), and has taught English and poetry at New Jersey State Prison, a men’s super-max facility.