Our Teachers
Heather Serna, Authorized Ashtanga Teacher
Heather received her Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology from the University of South Florida. Her first yoga class was introduced to her in 2004, but it was not until 2007, her senior year of college, that she became a dedicated yogi. Yoga helped calm her mind and relieve stress that developed during her college years. She found her passion in Ashtanga yoga in 2008, and now is a devoted practitioner. Heather travels to Mysore, India each year to deepen her practice and knowledge from the direct Ashtanga lineage of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Heather’s Ashtanga practice and teaching has developed through the study with Pattabhi Jois’ grandson, Sharath Rangaswami, and his daughter Saraswathi Rangaswami. Here in the United States Heather studies with Kino MacGregor, Tim Feldmann, and Greg Nardi. She has also worked with Melanie Fawer and Zoe Slatoff.
Sharon Denton, E-RYT500 ~ Head Teacher
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Ally Ford, ERYT
Ally began practicing Hatha and Bikram yoga in 1997 to improve her breath control for triathlons, marathons and to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. Soon, the “breath practice” would change her life completely. After discovering Ashtanga Yoga in San Francisco, Ally began a dedicated practice under the guidance of John Berlinsky and Lea Watkins, completed her first Ashtanga-based teacher training with Its Yoga, and began teaching in 2001. She traveled to Mysore, India in 2003 to study with the beloved Guru, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and has studied with both Guruji and his grandson, Sharath Rangaswamy on many of their U.S. workshop tours. In 2004, Ally moved to Clearwater, Florida and maintains a daily, self-practice.
Ally believes strongly in the healing ability of yoga and is passionate about studying and teaching the yoga philosophy. She believes to be a teacher means to be an eternal student and continues to study with her teachers annually. Some of her trainings include Advanced Teacher Trainings with John Berlinsky, Ana Forrest, and Richard Freeman. Ally is an ERYT (Experienced Yoga Teacher) with the Yoga Alliance®, and currently leads 200-hour Yoga Alliance®Registered Teacher Training programs in Tampa Bay, and special workshops, retreats, and classes. For more information, visit www.analayoga.com.
Watch Ally teaching, click here
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Jessica Lynne
After Jessica’s first Yoga class, she knew she had found a practice for her life. Jessica recieved her 200 RYT at Anala Yoga under the loving instruction of Ally Ford. Since then, Jessica has traveled to India to study with Sharath Rangaswami in Mysore, India and continues to travel and study the traditions of yoga with many advanced teachers. Ashtanga’s tradition continues to challenge Jessica to cultivate peace, inspiration, dedication and self surrender on and off the yoga mat. The daily practice of Ashtanga yoga provides Jessica with the healing, uplifting, and insightful benefits of yoga practice. Teaching at White Orchid, Jessica uses gentle encouragement to guide students along a path of healing self-discovery through yoga.
Calley Masson
Calley has been a competitive runner for most of her life, so was very open to trying anything new that might help her running and her times. Which was how she wound up in a yoga class, looking for a way to improve her breathing, and to stretch her body a bit. What she wasn’t expecting was how much of an impact yoga was going to have on her life! She expected her body to start to open up, and to become physically stronger, but found that over time she was also mentally, emotionally, spiritually opening up, growing, finding greater awareness, finding some sense of calm & peace.
Over the years Calley has tried many different styles and types of yoga. In 2008 she was introduced to Ashtanga Yoga which she has made a part of her daily life, and is amazed by how much she learns about herself through her practice. After doing Anala Yoga’s Teacher Training Certification Course, to deepen her own practice, she felt she needed to share this beautiful practice with others so she decided to teach. Calley continues to learn and explore, and is a perpetual student of yoga, and of the world. She feels so lucky to have trained with Ally Ford, and to have studied and practiced with Greg Nardi, Kino MacGregor, and Tim Feldmann.
Calley strives to create a soothing, supportive, and uplifting atmosphere & energy, where students feel free, comfortable, & encouraged to learn, grow, and open!
Jade Skinner
Jade experienced yoga in 1999, at the age of 23 when she was finishing up a semester at Junior College in North Carolina. From the first time she started practicing, she noticed something different about herself. A sense of calmness, clarity, and freedom came over her. From that day on she knew that yoga would be a part of her life forever. Jade moved to Saint Petersburg , Florida in 2002. When she met her teacher, Di Tysseen, she told her that “Yoga will change your life forever”. Those words sparked an interest deeper than just practicing a few days a week. Soon after that, Jade went on to receive her Yoga Teacher Training Certification at the 200-hr level in 2007 with Di Tysseen. She continue her education of yoga through self-study and workshops with world renowned teachers. Jade believes that a good teacher must first be a good student. Jade is nationally certified with Yoga Alliance as an E-RYT 200 (Experienced 200-hr level Registered Yoga Teacher). Jade dedicates her life to teaching Yoga and continues to learn through her experiences and teachings while helping others along the way. You may find her classes to be challenging, yet healing at the same time. “When we let go of focusing only on external strength in the poses by turning into the breath and the flow of movement is when we discover our true strength which is in your spirit.” – James Higgins
Corinne Clynes, RN
Corinne has practiced many forms of yoga over the past seven years which include; Ashtanga, Kundalini, Birkram, Vinyasa Flow and Hatha. She has always had a passion for complement and alternative ways of healing the body. After taking the 200-hr Teacher Training with Ally Ford, Corinne developed a love for Ashtanga Yoga. The Ashtanga yoga practice has helped Corinne to see the deeper connection of the underlying healing process that takes place in a yoga practice through the breath and movement on an internal level. Corinne is a Registered Nurse who is pursuing her masters as an Oncology Nurse Practitioner. Corinne also teaches yoga to cancer patients in conjunction with White Orchid for the BayCare Health System. She aspires to develop a program for cancer patients before, during and after treatment to aid patients in connecting with their own internal strength and innate healing abilities in conjunction with her love for yoga and alternative methods to complement the bodies healing process. Corinne thanks the Ashtanga yoga practice and White Orchid for bringing more balance into her life and an over increased sense of well-being and happiness. She is also certified in Reiki 1 & 2. Corinne loves doing yoga as well as teaching. She finds in yoga there is much to be learned as a student and as teacher as well.
Maria Kontoudakis
Maria entered her very first yoga class over 10 years ago at YogaWorks studio in Santa Monica, CA primarily as a means to gain physical strength, but what she immediately discovered was also the gain of mental and emotional strength. She was drawn to the importance of the mind body connection and she often turned to yoga as way to cope with her fast paced, stressful job in the fashion industry. While in California, Maria had the opportunity to practice with both former and current YogaWorks teachers such as Natasha Rizopoulos, Sarah Powers, Sarah Bell, and Birgitte Kristen.
After recently moving to Florida, she was fortunate to meet Ally Ford who re-sparked her connection to yoga, gave her a deeper understanding of the Ashtanga tradition and introduced her to White Orchid Yoga. Through practicing with each of the teachers at White Orchid, Maria’s practice and life were enhanced and transformed. Wanting to further her practice, Maria attended the 200 hour YogaWorks Teacher Training through in New York City with Chrissy Carter. Never imagining it would be part of her career path, Maria began teaching yoga soon after completion of the program. Her desire to work with children led her to complete a Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher Training for Children at the Omega Institute. Maria will be continuing her education at Rollins College and she plans to specialize in Child Psychology, bringing together her passion for yoga and love of children. Maria is grateful to the teachers at White Orchid and honored to be part of the studio.
Lisa Haag
Lisa feels that somehow, someway, someday she would have found herself in a yoga class. Whether it was her life long journey with a restless creative mind, her 10 years as a fitness instructor, or her health related educational background of a Bachelors degree in Nutrition Science.
However, it was after the birth of her daughter that she started experiencing neck and shoulder pain, muscle spasms, numbness, and chronic headaches as a result that drove her to a yoga class. Working out had always fixed any “kinks,” but in this case it only exasperated her pain. She tried several types of yoga and started experiencing some relief. Eventually it became her primary source of physical activity as well as a way to deal with the frustration that chronic physical pain can bring.
The first time she took an Ashtanga class was a “lightbulb moment”. It brought her the perfect balance of over all stretching, strengthening and peace of mind that she needed. She was drawn to the methodical sequence of the postures, the breathing, and the ability to gauge the progress of her practice. She practiced Ashtanga whenever she could, but options were limited in her area so she purchased some books and videos to learn more.
When her daughter enter school she started making the 50 minute drive to White Orchid to add a class to whatever other Ashtanga classes she could find closer to home. As she committed to making Ashtanga her practice, she was amazed the strength and flexibility and pain relief it brought to her. There were and will be bumps in the road of her practice, but through paying close attention to her body, and the mindful instruction of her teachers, she was able to experience the benefits of each posture.
She credits this instruction as well as her passion for the practice for leading her to abandon the vow after 9 years that “teaching was a thing of the past”. To Lisa, when you maintain your own practice and see yourself as a student first and a teacher second, there will never be a shortage of knowledge to pass on to others.
Her desire to get off of her own mat to help others led her to take Ally Ford’s RYT 200 hour yoga teacher training. She continues to learn under authorized teachers, by maintaining a daily practice, attending workshops, and learning from her students in every class she teaches.
She is committed to bringing her passion for Ashtanga Yoga,”Yoga Chikitsa..which means yoga therapy,” to those who seek the physical and mental benefits that it has brought to her. She feel blessed to be surrounded by fellow teachers and students that are also so passionate about the practice of Ashtanga Yoga.
Most of all, she credits her husband and daughter for their unfailing love and support during her journey.
Eric Wheeler
Eric began his yoga practice coming from the world of painting and teaching art. Yoga was a means to open up his stiff body and help calm a distracted mind. Discovering his natural connection to the rhythmic nature of yogic breathing, a natural flexibility emerged and began to heal old injuries. Early on, Eric was attracted to the Ashtanga practice and its dedication and challenges. Although, he studied a few times in the states with the late Pattabhi Jois and R. Sharath, most of his teachers are direct students of Pattabhi Jois including, David Swenson, David Keil, Manju Jois, Kino McGregor, and Tim Feldmann. In addition, he completed his 200 hr training with Micheline Berry from Los Angeles, California. She is authorized to teach Shiva Rea’s wonderful gift of Prana Flow that includes body, rhythmic and pulsation vinyasas within the asanas. He has also embodied this practice and is using it to open and challenge student’s physical and emotional boundaries that occur throughout their practice. What his teachers have offered, he tries to exemplify. He teaches the Ashtanga Primary Sequence (Yoga Chikitsa) in a way that serves the body, honors the breath and calms the mind. He believes that by working the key actions early in the sequence you will develop a healthy progression of asanas that prepares the body for the next kramas (stages). Using the rhythmic meditative flow of vinyasa yoga is therapeutic and becomes an extension of our own natural flow and grace.
John Allen Gibel
John Allen was first introduced to the marvelous feats of Indian Yogis by reading about them in the Time Life Mysteries of the Unknown book series when he was 10 years old. Fascinated by the stories of mystical Yogi Saints, ascetics, and Fakirs possessed of the power of flight, he initially sought out to learn meditation and yoga as a way to attain such mystical powers for himself. Since that time he has formally studied traditional styles of Hatha and Classical Yoga in several lineages, focusing primarily on the Ashtanga Vinyasa tradition. John Allen views Yoga as a living and evolving tradition and not as a set of stiff guidelines. While his method of teaching is based on the basic principles of Yoga philosophy, it is adapted to the various needs and dispositions of practitioners. John Allen is a certified Baptiste Power Yoga instructor and is also a Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of FL. He has also studied diverse schools of Yoga practice as well as Buddhist meditation techniques during retreat in the Himalayas with the renown meditation master Yogi Acharya Lama Gursam. He continues to incorporate these practices into his classes. John Allen is presently continuing his study of the various Trul khor systems of Tibetan Yoga, to contribute to the modern understanding of these lesser known traditions.
It is through the kindness of his teachers Lamchen Gyalpo Rinpoche, Chenga Rinpoche, Ani K.D. Palmo, Drupon Thinley Ningpo, Manju Jois, Greg Nardi, Kino MacGregor and Sean and Karen Conley that he has had the honor to share these traditions. Following the direct inspiration of his teachers he also leads small group yoga retreats and contemplative meditation workshops in wilderness based settings, for it is under these conditions that deeply transformative dispositional change is most likely to occur. It is ongoing training and commitment to regular practice thereafter that allows us to stabilize our realizations of ourselves and reality. John Allen strives to remind practitioners, as his teachers have often reminded him, that if we can master and subdue the inner elements, we simultaneously transform the outer world. While it is no longer the motivation for his practice, he still believes that we may someday achieve the power of flight.
John Columbo
As a healthcare professional with many years of martial arts experience, John brings a wealth of knowledge to the asana practice. With a degree in pharmacy he has a solid understanding of modern disease states and the affects modern living and western medicine can have on the body. He began training in the martial arts at the age of 10. Through the years he has studied Uechi-ryu, Kempo and Isshin-ryu karate. As the years progressed and with the stress modern life brings, he sought a quieter path. This search lead him to the Ashtanga yoga practice. With many similarities to the martial arts, it was a natural transition. After practicing at home on his own, he took his first formal yoga class with Adrienne Reed. Soon after completing a power yoga certification with her. John went on to study with David Swenson, Greg Nardi and most recently completing the 200 hour teacher training with Ally Ford. He is also nationally certified with Yoga Alliance as an E-RYT 200 (Experienced 200-hr level Registered Yoga Teacher).
John believes yoga and more specifically the asana practice brings people to their mat for various reasons ; physical fitness, rehabilitation, or the search for spirituality but the yoga rarely turns out to be what we expect. Even with a 2 hour asana practice 6 days a week, the real yoga begins when we step off the mat. John will act as a guide through your practice with gentle reminders and a focus on proper technique and alignment. Ultimately this is a breath practice. Through his guidance you will begin to practice mindfully and with intention, experiencing the beauty of living in the present moment.
Ali Magnano
Ali is a passionate yoga instructor and practitioner. After hearing so much about the benefits of yoga, she was lovestruck after attending her first vinyasa-flow class and started practicing daily.
Originally from New York, she was drawn in to the sense of grounding and stability the practice offered amidst the busy city-life, and went on to completed her 200-hour teacher training certification through YogaWorks in New York City.
Her approach to teaching is focused on proper alignment throughout class as well as a playful take on exploring different poses that open up our body, mind and hearts.
Ali is deeply grateful to all of her teachers who have so graciously passed down the knowledge of this practice.
Dr. Rhonda McDowell, M.D.
Dr. Rhonda McDowell is currently a partner with Radiology Associates of Clearwater where she is responsible for providing diagnostic and interventional radiology services for the Morton Plant Mease Hospitals and Outpatient facilities. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Radiology Associates of Clearwater. She earned her medical degree at the University of Minnesota Medical School, completed her residency in Diagnostic Radiology at University Hospitals of Cleveland, Case Western Reserve Medical School, her fellowship in Interventional, Genitourinary and Gastrointestinal Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and has been a medical doctor in Pinellas county since 1996. She has been a dedicated yoga practitioner for 5 years and earned her RYT (Registered Yoga Teaching Certificate) at Anala Yoga Center in Clearwater, Florida in 2007. As both a medical professional and yoga practitioner, Dr. McDowell brings tremendous insight as an Anatomy expert to the Anala training program. She is able to help students better understand body mechanics on both a physical and subtle level, and shares her great knowledge of the medically proven benefits of yoga practice.
Laura Tillinghast Hine
Laura Tillinghast Hine began practicing yoga in Coronado, CA, in November 2001 upon return from her last sea deployment as an officer in U.S. Navy. Having competed in athletics, Laura was dabbling in triathlons and looking to further diversify her physical activities. She maintained a moderately consistent practice, really just supplementing her other activities until 2007 when she was working as a commercial general contractor in Boca Raton, FL, and started practicing with James Kigar at Yoga South. James’ truly gentle yet powerful nature coupled with his knowledge of and connection to the body and mind inspired Laura to take a leave of absence from her corporate job in 2008 to become a certified instructor in the vinyasa style of yoga. Laura founded Inspire yoga programs at the Tampa Museum of Art and the Salvador Dali Museum, has taught at many local studios in the Tampa Bay area, and teaches for the Exalted Warrior Foundation doing yoga with wounded veterans. Laura is also a certified prenatal for conscious birthing instructor and gave birth to her first child in January 2011. Laura’s vinyasa teaching style draws from her strength-building military experience and her heart-opening yoga experience flowing together ashtanga postures, linking movement with breath, inviting freedom from mental chatter, inviting a balance of strength and gentility, and inviting space…for calm, clarity and inspiration
Janie Borell
Janie has spent most of her adult life dedicating herself to health and wellness. Studying rehabilitation counseling in graduate school at USF has given Janie a keen understanding of many of the challenges that are encountered when dealing with addictive disorders.
Janie has studied at KPJAYI in Mysore, India under the guidance of Sharath Ramaswamy. Janie has studied with masters of Ashtanga Tim Feldmann, Kino MacGregor, Greg Nardi, and Zoe Slatoff, all who have been authorized or certified by Guruji himself.
Janie has seen the benefits of regular yoga, breathwork and meditation practices in her own life and has been led to develop an Outreach Program with White Orchid to bring yoga to those dealing with addictive disorders. Janie completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training with Ally Ford in 2010.
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