Soul Strong Team

maddie yoga+teacher

Maddie

Studio Manager, Teacher

Not only is Maddie our Studio Manager, she is also an amazing yoga teacher! Maddie first started practicing yoga to deal with the stress of college, which is why she became so dedicated to bringing yoga to as many people as possible. She is a firm believer that everyone can do yoga, so her inclusive classes are designed to help students discover how yoga can benefit them. Maddie creates invigorating flows that also help students understand the poses better. So don’t be shy, come and see how everyone can do yoga!

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Amanda

Front Desk Coordinator

Amanda grew up taking classes in dance and competing in gymnastics and cheer, which eventually led to her love of yoga when she first stepped on a mat about 20 years ago. She also has a background in teaching a variety of fitness classes and all things administrative in a studio/gym environment. She has been helping with check-ins at Soul Strong for the last year and is thrilled to get started in her new role as a staff member!

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Meredith

Studio Coordinator, Teacher, Trainer

Meredith is a yoga teacher, postpartum corrective exercise specialist, and sound practitioner. She began practicing yoga as a college student over twenty years ago, and remains in awe of how yoga can be changed and adapted for any season of life. In addition to her 200-hour certification, Meredith has completed specialized training in adaptive yoga, including yoga for bigger bodies through Yoga For All, children’s yoga, and trauma-informed practices. She believes in peaceful parenting, active allyship, disability advocacy, that Black Lives Matter, and that all bodies are worthy. Meredith teaches through a lens of inclusivity and peaceful body acceptance, and she strives to meet students exactly where they are, every single day.

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Julie

Studio Co-Founder, Owner

Julie is a mother, yoga teacher, meditation teacher, entrepreneur, and passionate yogi. Yoga has been Julie’s life support and allowed her to regain mobility after years of dealing with a rare neuromuscular disease. Julie is super excited to support yogis of all ages and yoga teachers, alike. She teaches yoga and meditation, develops yoga teacher training, and offers free yoga classes in the local community. Julie leads a business mentorship program for yoga teachers and entrepreneurs and is a 500-hour yoga teacher and certified meditation and mindfulness teacher. She is also the co-author of meditation and sound healing book, Seasons of Sound.

Soul Strong Teaching Team

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Alyssa

Alyssa has studied yoga for over 15 years after first being introduced to the practice as a way to complement her love of long-distance running. She now teaches yogis of all ages and abilities. Incorporating mindful breathing and movement has transformed her teaching career, her parenting, and her everyday life. She enjoys teaching and practicing many styles of yoga, ranging from Power Vinyasa and Flow to Restorative and children’s classes. Alyssa’s teaching style is lighthearted and fun while remaining down to earth, with a focus on balancing effort, ease, and the breath.

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Asr

Asr started practicing yoga in 2018 to relieve chronic neck and back pain. But even more valuable than the physical benefits were the mental and emotional benefits. After taking mindfulness courses with Shira, Asr was hooked on learning more and more about mindfulness and meditation practices. Asr is certified by Soul Strong Yoga as a Mindfulness and Meditation teacher and is enthusiastic to guide as many people as possible toward a happy, healthy, powerful, and peaceful experience.

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Candice

Lead YTT Trainer

Candice is a firm believer that yoga can lead people through immense growth and transformation. She hopes to share with others the gifts of bringing mind, body, and spirit into union. Candice is trained in Vinyasa Flow, Yin Yoga, and both Buddhist and Kundalini meditation practices. Her passion for connection in community inspires her to deepen her own practices, knowledge, and teachings to share those gifts with the world.

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Cassie

For Cassie, practicing yoga has been a joyfully transformative experience, and she loves being a guide for other yogis on their journeys. She began practicing in 2014 and was blessed to learn from knowledgeable and compassionate teachers. Inspired by these mentors, Cassie completed her 200-hour yoga certification at Yoga Yoga in Austin so that she could share her knowledge and passion for yoga with others. She is drawn to powerful flow practices, but deeply values the balance of yin and yang. Cassie loves holding space for yogis of all experience levels to play, flow, and grow.

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Cindy

Cindy began practicing yoga as a way to escape, however quickly realized the transformative experience of being in the present. Cindy is drawn to the fluidity of a Vinyasa Flow and also cherishes the sweetness of Yin. In her classes, she often incorporates a well-intentioned playlist as a backdrop to breath and movement. Cindy proudly completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Soul Strong Yoga. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Cindy and her family are planting roots in Texas. Welcoming all levels, she is excited and honored to serve the community on the mat.

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Diana

Diana initially embraced yoga during her pregnancy more than two decades ago and has remained a dedicated participant in yoga classes since. In the past year, she made the choice to enhance her understanding of yoga by enrolling in Soul Strong Yoga’s 200-hour teacher training program, achieving certification as a yoga instructor. Diana has served as a long time volunteer at Hope Alliance, offering trauma-informed yoga sessions to shelter residents. In addition to her yoga journey, Diana is a passionate vegan and an avid runner. Her goal is to spread positivity and promote well-being to everyone she meets.

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Dora

Dora is a 200-hour registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance. She also has certifications in Restorative Yoga, Yoga for the Pelvic Floor, and Accessible Yoga. Dora’s yoga journey began about 15 years ago, when she began suffering from chronic hip pain. She began practicing yoga to help relieve her hip pain without the need for medications. Yoga has transformed her outlook on life and provided a deep sense of pain-free calmness and well-being. Her classes are calming, thoughtful, gently challenging, and deeply nourishing. She loves teaching classes that are accessible to all levels by giving alignment-based instruction and offering many modifications.

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Jackie

Jackie Cawthon is a 500-hour registered yoga teacher with a BA in Communication Studies. She found yoga as a way to de-stress and reconnect to her inner peace, love, and joy. Jackie is known for her compassion, calming presence, and clear instruction. She encourages self-growth and love while offering a variety of modifications and challenging variations in her classes. Through the practice of yoga and meditation, Jackie feels more peaceful, confident, and content, and she hopes to help others enjoy the same benefits and more.

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Jessica C.

Jessica Cross, ERYT 500, is a sound practitioner and creator of Sound for Stress, a heart-centered business that helps stressed souls come home to themselves through the power of sound, yoga, and mediation. She is also the co-author of Seasons of a Sound.

Jessica first stumbled into her first yoga class in 2008 as a young professional seeking stress relief from her corporate job. Jessica has since practiced, taught and trained for thousands of hours in Hatha, Vinyasa, Restorative, Meditation, and Sound Therapy. She is also the sound practitioner trainer for the Sound Certification Training Retreats and in other Soul Strong Yoga Teacher Trainings.

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Karina

Karina completed her 200 hour yoga certification right here at Soul Strong Yoga in June 2022. As a licensed therapist, Karina loves to incorporate trauma-conscious perspectives and tools into her classes to support your mental health. Her classes are nurturing, empowering, and light-hearted. She will guide you to tune into your body and explore its wisdom, while grounding you in the present moment.

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Liasa

Liasa fell in love with yoga 13 years ago during her first pregnancy. Prenatal yoga and postnatal yoga with infants quickly became staples in her life. She continued to practice yoga throughout the years and decided to begin yoga teacher training in 2019 so that she could share her love of yoga with others. Liasa is now a 200-hour registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance. Her classes focus on mindfulness and intention to increase mind-body connection.

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Lindsay

Lindsay completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training with Rippy Yoga out of Taos, New Mexico. She’s a seasoned practitioner who is excited to experience the practice in a deeper way. As a working mom, the endurance and balance gained through regular practice has proved essential. Her classes focus on fluidity, rootedness, and discovering the secrets of applying what is learned on the mat to daily life off the mat.

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Lyrica

Lyrica completed her 200 hour yoga certification at YogaWorks in Santa Monica, CA in 2017. Since then she has received her B.S. in Kinesiology with a dance minor as well as her yoga sculpt and barre certifications. Her classes focus on the mind body connection and finding peace of mind by intentionally flowing with breath. She can’t wait to flow with you!

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Maura

Lead YTT Trainer

With her positive outlook, calming voice, and encouraging nature, Maura strives to create a classroom environment that is a breath of fresh air. Her classes are joyful, safe, and energizing, so her students can get in touch with their bodies, connect to their heart and soul, and live with happiness and freedom. Maura has been practicing yoga for over 20 years, since she first took a class to complement her college rugby career. She was immediately hooked. The physical, mental, and spiritual benefits supported her through 15 years of a bustling advertising career in New York City.

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Ruta

Ruta has been practicing yoga for over 15 years and began teaching after completing her 200-hour certification at Practice Yoga Austin. She is thrilled to return to teaching after a “toddler hiatus.” Ruta’s background in dance and art influence her practice and her teaching style. She loves helping students express artfulness, strength, and grace in their yoga practice.

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Sabrina

Sabrina started practicing yoga 4 years ago as part of their mental health and healing journey. Yoga taught them that we are all stronger and capable of things we may not think possible. Deciding she wanted to share this with others she signed up for teacher training, and received her 200hr YTT from Soul Strong Yoga. One of Sabrina’s favorite parts of yoga is that, like life, it is a journey. Everyday is different and can hold opportunities to learn. They apply this to their classes by offering building blocks towards goal poses, props and variations Sabrina’s classes offer a safe space to move, breathe and be as you are.

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Sonya

After several years of practicing yoga, Sonya decided to deepen her practice and understanding of yoga by completing her 200-hour yoga certification at Soul Strong Yoga. As an Artist, Sonya has taken what she has learned on the mat into her paintings. Her classes focus on moving with intention, allowing the breath to guide you through every transition. She emphasizes on finding compassion, gratitude, and grace as you flow through your practice. She also teaches painting for the Poses and Paint Workshops at Soul Strong Yoga

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Stacy

Stacy Wooster has maintained a holistic wellness practice since 2002. She is a certified yoga therapist and offers trauma informed teaching. She continuously deepens her studies in massage and yoga therapy, personal training, apothecary and astrology. She’s served as a K-12 educator, created the first registered prenatal yoga school in Texas, and utilizes her knowledge as a national teacher and speaker. Stacy loves to see her students’ eyes light up in self-realization. She believes in the power of yoga to support us through life’s ups and downs and to help us integrate who we really are

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Winnie

Winnie Alexander is an Austinite; a rare unicorn. ERYT500 in both Hatha and Kundalini Yogas; Certified in Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga, Buti Yoga, Face Yoga, Sacred Centers with Anodea Judith, Acupressure for Brain Health, Trauma Yoga with Veterans Yoga Project, Mudra Therapy, Gong Yoga, Sound Therapy Level 1 & 2, and is a Vibrational Sound Practitioner. She is the co-creator of the 200 hour Heart Centered Yoga Teacher Training, and most recently developed a Sound Therapy Level One training with Energetics and Ritual. Winnie is comfortable and confident leading wide arrays of students and teachers, from exploring basic Asana to aspiring teachers investigating the Yoga Sutras. She radiates equal parts Yogic philosophy, humor, and whole hearted living. Winnie encourages students to “make Yoga for you.”
“It’s your birthright to feel safe and well in your mind and body.”

Soul Strong Specialty Teachers & Contributors

shira

Shira

Shira completed her Meditation instructor certification from Chopra Global in May 2019. She is a regular meditator and an experienced teacher. She has a deep desire to promote wholeness, well-being, and expanded awareness among all of us who are ready to tune in. Her classes honor each student, respect the true being each of us represents, and help to bring about a union of the mind, body, and spirit multi-dimensionality within us. As you embark on this journey, you will carry with you a sense of harmony, peace, balance, and joy of being.

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Kelly

Lead Anatomy Trainer

Kelly has a background in dance and came to her yoga practice in her late twenties as part of her quest to find relief from chronic pain and anxiety. Kelly became a yoga teacher in hopes to provide the same healing space for others. She attended Vinyasa and Meditation Teacher Training at Sukha Yoga Austin, and she is also a Licensed Massage Therapist and Massage Therapy Instructor. She is especially passionate about working with the recovery and trauma populations, and owns her own business, Regulate Yoga and Bodywork.

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Clara

Mindfulness Trainer + Content Developer

Clara came to the practice of mindfulness through her undergraduate work studying theater, where mindfulness was incorporated in everyday curriculum. She is now a yoga and mindfulness teacher, currently working towards her Master’s in Counseling at St. Edward’s University. In the clinical therapy setting, Clara works through the lenses of Emotionally Focused Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Clara is passionate about integrating mindfulness practices, both in the therapy room and on the yoga mat, to help clients access presence in everyday life.