Welcome To Tifton Yoga!

This slow-paced, gentle and therapeutic class calms and restores the nervous system. You will use props to support your body in deep stretches, allowing the muscles to soften. This class helps to relieve chronic pain and reduce stress. You will depart feeling deeply relaxed and at peace. 

In this yoga class you will restore your spine through dynamic movements, breathing techniques, and meditation. If you experience migraines, chronic pain, sciatica, want to improve posture and flexibility of the spine, then this class is for you. Come with an open mind and expect results. Upon leaving class, you’ll feel energized with a sense of youthfulness and peace. Strength and flexibility is not required to enjoy Kundalini. 

In this slow paced, alignment-oriented practice, yoga poses will be broken down to focus on awareness of the body. Attention is given to the correct alignment of the body to maximize benefits and minimize the risk of injury. Props and modifications are used to make the physical practice of yoga safe and effective. Great for beginners and experienced yogis to explore the foundation of each pose. 

Come move through vinyasa at a moderate pace in this non-heated class. You will be guided by breath as you go through postures that balance the body and mind. The beauty of this class is in how it serves every body – allowing you the choice to go deeper into postures and to slow down and back off when needed. 

This upbeat class will have you sweating as you increase your heart rate and get a great workout. You will use breath-driven flow to move in and out of poses while challenging your strength, flexibility, endurance, and balance. If you're brand new to yoga, this may be a more challenging class and some basic yoga experience is helpful. 

Sarah is the proud owner and founder of the Tifton Yoga community. She completed her initial 200-hour yoga teacher training at Asheville Yoga Center 2017 and immediately started teaching in Tifton. She has since completed a variety of workshops in yin yoga, meditation and neuroscience, trauma-informed yoga, chakras, yoga and psychology, vinyasa sequencing, and 220-hour Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training. In 2021, she completed a second 200-hour teacher training as she was seeking clarity to her calling in the opening of Tifton Yoga Center. 

The practice of yoga gave Sarah the space to safely explore her thinking patterns while taking care of body and mind. She found personal responsibility in being the guide in her own healing. It has transformed her life and continues to with every practice on her mat.

Sarah is a graduate of Georgia College & State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a Master of Science degree in Health & Human Performance with a focus in Health Promotion and Education. She is a Certified Health Coach and Health Education Specialist. 

“I am honored to share this beautiful, transformative practice of yoga with the Tifton community. With love and light.” -Sarah

Hope has over 2,000 hours of experience teaching Kundalini and Restorative Yoga. She has taught at the YMCA and Cornerstone Health and Wellness Fitness Center in Clanton, Alabama. Hope received her Mindful Meditation Certification with E-RYT Beth Shaw. Hope’s class is sure to leave you feeling relaxed and at peace. 

After years of inconsistent practice, Rachel re-discovered yoga in January 2019 as part of her annual wellness journey when she began taking power yoga classes at her local YMCA. Later that year, she realized that a consistent daily practice helped ease the symptoms of her auto-immune disorder, and she began to branch out into other class offerings. The benefit of daily practice was so profound that Rachel began organizing a lunchtime practice session for her coworkers several times a week, which led to the realization that many of her coworkers could benefit from the tools and techniques of yoga to help with stress and anxiety.

Rachel enrolled in Yoga Teacher Training with the intention of building sequences and leading practices for her coworkers. During the training, however, she realized that she wanted to share the anxiety and stress reduction techniques that she had learned with a larger community.

Rachel’s approach to yoga focuses on breathwork and yoga asana to increase flexibility, and reduce stress and anxiety. Her classes use Yin and restorative yoga techniques, to achieve maximum relaxation and improved mobility.

Paul, also known as "PD", has been practicing yoga for over 5 years. He is passionate about sharing the power of a consistent yoga practice with others, and he loves teaching the Lunch Break class. PD uses direct cues to provide safe ways to move your body through the postures. His classes are great for new and experienced yogis.  

Maribel began her yoga practice in 2022 after signing up for a class on a whim. She fell in love with the mindful and steady flow of yoga. Yoga strengthened Maribel’s mind, body, and spirit. It taught her how to ease an often anxious mind. A year later, Maribel received her 200 hour yoga teacher training certificate. Said certificate has enhanced her appreciation for yoga even more and prepared her to serve a community she treasures. When not practicing yoga, she is cuddling with her fur babies (Georgia and Cali), embracing her Hispanic and Southern roots, or taking on a new recipe with her husband, Miguel. Maribel is looking forward to guiding our Tifton Yoga Center yogis in their practice! 

René first began practicing yoga in 2006 at ABAC as a sophomore. After years of inconsistent practice, she began showing up on the mat daily after recovering from a microdiscectomy in 2020. While the initial surgery was only successful for a couple of years, she was able to deepen her practice and obtain her 200-hour yoga teacher certification shortly before undergoing a second, more extensive spinal fusion in 2022. While recovering, she relied on the non-physical components of yoga to heal: breathwork, nervous-system regulation, and meditation. 

"Yoga has been a practice that has enriched my life physically, mentally, and spiritually," she says. "I'm most excited to bring such a transformative practice to others; yoga is for everyone and every body. It is a practice that has helped me to both honor my limitations and nourish my strengths."

Her favorite yoga pose is cat-cow. When she is not her mat, she is spending time with her daughter, age 7, and painting. 

Alexia’s journey with yoga and meditation began in 2004 through classes offered by her grad program. She connected to the principles of the practice and immediately believed in the power of healing yoga brings to the mind, body and spirit. Her practice became very consistent in 2021 at Tifton Yoga Center after struggling for years with chronic illness, inflammation and anxiety. She was seeking more from the busy day to day life and knew that it was time to pour into herself by going deeper on her journey with yoga. She started by showing up for herself with 1 class a week, added classes, trying new things (hello Kundalini, Heated Yoga and Yoga Nidra) and now tries to meet herself on the mat (when body and time allows) 3-4 times a week. Alexia came to learn that her mind and body had been at war for so many years but through the practice of yoga, she is working to heal and create a space that is beautiful for both mind and body. Yoga has allowed her to show up for self in the present and heal from her past. It has showed her how to live more in the moment and to truly embrace this beautiful life she lives by practicing yoga on and off the mat! 

In 2022, Alexia embraced her inward desire to become a Yoga instructor and is so excited to continue sharing her Journey of Yoga with anyone who will listen. Her desire is for everyone to experience yoga at its true authentic form and to help people overcome the stigma that yoga is just about certain poses. She loves finding alternative poses so that every Body type can connect to this practice. Her favorite saying is meet your body where it is today! 

Alexia lives this beautiful life with her husband, three beautiful teenage girls/two dogs and a cat. She loves waterfalls, the mountains, long drives and the beach. Yoga has truly become her passion. She struggles with Crow pose and her favorite pose is child’s pose. She believes that yoga is for every Body and everybody needs yoga in their life! Join her on this beautiful journey of Yoga.

Charlotte Klesman began practicing yoga as a graduate student because she realized she needed an effective way to take care of her mental and physical health. Encouraged by a friend, she began attending yoga classes at the university gym. She was hesitant at first, but this middle aged

mom found a welcoming retreat in a yoga studio populated with young yogis. 

Charlotte continued to practice yoga after graduation, finding mental and physical balance in her practice as she settled into her career as a communication instructor at ABAC. She found her needs changing, and as they did, her practice changed too. Once a big fan of hot yoga and hard- charging strength practices, she found her interests shifting toward inner peace and physical maintenance. Now her focus is on Kundalini Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Yoga for Strength, and Beginner Yoga. These practices allow her to thoughtfully adapt her poses to fit her current needs. 

Since finishing her 200 hour teaching certification in July 2023, Charlotte found her interest in yoga has broadened to include the Yoga Nidra and other lifestyle aspects of yoga practice. She looks forward to growing her practice for many years.

Originally from Australia, Selina started a consistent yoga practice after many years of self-neglect and choosing to focus on caring for others.  Committing to practice was a large part of Selina’s journey to accepting self-care as a necessity for her own well-being and ability to care for others. 

“Like a lot of women for a long time I viewed taking time for things like as exercise and meditation as selfish and indulgent.  Things to add to the bottom of the to-do list AFTER all the parent, spouse, work “stuff”. Others were my priority. I realized that I was modeling unhealthy behavior for my children and had compromised my ability to be present for my children. Even Wonder Woman has to recharge sometimes. Yoga has been essential in restoring balance, and allowing me to have more to offer those close to me”.

Selina recently completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training, trauma informed yoga training, and Yoga Nidra training as a means of deepening her own practice, as well as sharing the benefits of yoga with others.

Selina’s favorite pose is Mermaid. She’d like to say it’s for a very zen sounding reason, such as it’s a pose that leads with an open heart; a beautiful metaphor for how she chooses to move through life. However, that would be a half truth. The real reason she loves Mermaid is because it makes her inner 6 year old smile. “Yoga is about strength, flexibility, acceptance and serenity, yes, but it’s also about Joy”.