Meet Our Yoga Teacher Tribe!

Our teachers bring years of training and experience in teaching yoga classes. They lead with unwavering compassion and authenticity, providing guidance as each student moves along their individual yoga journey.

They will always show up to hold space for you! You just have to show up for yourself.

Come move, breathe, heal, and grow with us!

  • Crystal is the proud owner of The Haven of Ellijay. She has enjoyed living in beautiful Ellijay, Georgia for over 15 years. The magic in the mountains of north Georgia brought her back to her roots, to a relationship with nature, deeper into her intuition, and left her immersed in a passion for yoga and holistic healing. Wishing to be a loving influence both as a teacher and healer, she empowers others to heal and reach their highest potential.

    Crystal’s yoga journey began in 2009 while studying to become a Registered Nurse. As her practice evolved through the years, her desire to share the gift of yoga resulted in earning a 200 hour RYT certification in December of 2019 at Yoga and Wellness of Blue Ridge in Blue Ridge, GA. Something sparked inside of Crystal as she dove deeper into the study of yoga at Yoga Teacher Training. She found her voice and her calling as she started to teach and share the gift of yoga. She found herself spending more time teaching yoga classes, workshops, and events and less time working and advancing her career as a nurse, eventually leading to her leaving that career to pursue the path of yoga and wellness full time. In April of 2022 she attended Zen Den Yoga School in Boca Raton, FL to earn a 500 hour RYT certification. She has since obtained enough experience to earn E-RYT 200, and become a YACEP (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider).

    In addition to teaching yoga, Crystal is a Usui Reiki Master and Thai Bodywork Practitioner. She received her first Reiki Level 1 & 2 attunements in June of 2019, and subsequent in July 2020 and April 2022. She became a Usui Reiki Master in September 2020. Since her first attunements, she has offered private Reiki sessions. They have grown to now include Crystal Healing, Aromatherapy, Thai Bodywork, Reflexology, and more!

    Crystal has always been fascinated with the human body and its divine design. As her yoga practice advanced so did her spiritual study and practice, which led her to deeper knowledge, understanding, and increased sensitivity to our subtle energy systems and how they work with our physical body. The health of our physical body reflects the state of our energy field, thoughts, and emotions. She’s learned to work with these subtle energy systems in order to support clients to achieve balance and improvement of health and wellbeing.

    Crystal believes yoga is for everybody and every BODY! She is passionate about healing on all levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. She seeks to empower others to tap into their own powerful innate self-healing abilities. Whether you are in a class or a private healing session, she guides and serves with compassion, honesty, humor and a nurturing tenderness.

    When not teaching yoga classes, leading workshops, events, retreats, or tending to The Haven, you can find Crystal spending time with her husband, Jason, family, and pets. They’re often hiking, kayaking, gardening, or exploring the north Georgia mountains.

  • Hello there, my name is Gabi and I have been teaching yoga for a little over 4 years now. Originally from South Florida, I started taking yoga classes in high school as a form of fitness but in college my yoga practice became much more than that for me. Yoga became a space to become present in my body and unwind to manage the stress that comes with being a college student. I truly found myself in my practice which is why in 2017 I got my 200 hour certification at CorePower Yoga in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I took an additional 50 hour training at the same studio that emphasized creating dynamic and intentional classes for students. I began teaching at several studios across the Twin Cities until life brought me down to the South. I moved to Blue Ridge after college where I continue working in healthcare and I truly love the whole body benefits of a regular yoga practice. My goal is to create classes that are fun and sometimes challenging by incorporating mindful movements and breath-work. My hope is that students have a space to try new things, become present in their minds and bodies and leave with a mental clarity that they can bring to their lives outside the studio.

  • SunRaven has been on the yogic path for over two decades to help quiet the mind, strengthen her body and dig deeper into her spirituality and healing practices. It became a transformative process both mentally, physically and spiritually. She quickly realized this is a tool that can be used by anyone; which prompted her to become certified herself as a YTT200 Instructor. She also holds an MSN Degree as a Family Nurse Practitioner and served in rural communities.

    SunRaven’s approach to yoga and all areas of healing has always been holistic; meeting people where they are at.

    She is currently working on her YTT300 Spiritual Warrior Instructor training, based on a trauma informed approach to Kundalini Yoga and Ayurveda and how it relates to Yoga & Wellbeing; also the female archetypes as they relate to the lunar cycles and how that may affect us. In 2024 she will complete advanced certifications in Yin Yoga and Yoga Nidra.

    Through yoga, breath work, meditation and mantra, as well as physical asanas, her mission is to share this experience and help to bring into balance all who would join her on their mat.

  • Rising discovered yoga and meditation whilst living in London, after stumbling across a small local yoga studio near Battersea Park. She began her journey with meditation to help with work and life stress, then quickly ventured into the studio's yoga classes and fell in love with the practice. Through the studio, she discovered a community of people that she came to know and love dearly and who have inspired her path through life. After moving back to the States, Rising completed her first yoga teacher training program in 2018 as a way to deepen her personal practice. Ironically, her life changed drastically after graduation and she fell out of touch with her yoga practice. Years later, after working a corporate desk job from home, Rising started to notice the pain and tightness in her body and knew she needed to make a change - and this time, she felt inspired to share the practice with others. She completed a second yoga teacher training program in 2023 and is honored to be teaching at The Haven of Ellijay. Similar to her experience in London, she has found The Haven (and its previous incarnation as Yoga Over Blue Ridge Ellijay) as a source of community that she cherishes deeply. Rising loves to create classes that are approachable yet challenging to encourage her fellow practitioners to strengthen their bodies and focus through asana. After years of dealing with pain in her own body, she places emphasis on listening to your body and tending to your own needs during your practice.

    Never one to sit still, Rising still balances her corporate job with teaching yoga, creating intuitive art, doing Thai body work, travelling with her partner, and being the best mom she can be to her fur babies and step-daughter. She is incredibly grateful for her life and for each and every person that shares their practice with her.

  • Brooke's first introduction to yoga was as a young mother 23 years ago, taking an introductory class via the local Parks and Rec department. One of the first times Brooke was able to have focused time to herself, allowed her to gain a sense of the benefits of yoga, and the way it felt like the facilitator for coming back home to her body.

    In 2014, Brooke began a more dedicated practice and fell deeply in love! Yoga was (and is) so powerfully impactful to her own emotional and spiritual growth and development, Brooke found a desire and passion to help others discover and leverage this practice in order to find peace not just within themselves but to reintegrate the mind and body. As she always says... come to the mat for the physical, you WILL leave with the spiritual... come to the mat for the spiritual, you WILL leave with the physical.

    Brooke completed her 200-hour training in 2021 at Giving Tree Yoga. After being introduced to Ashtanga by a fellow teacher (and now close friend), Brooke briefly entered into study under Todd Roderick, (direct student of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois), founder of Ashtanga Atlanta. The experience of practicing traditional lineage yoga within the Shala greatly influenced Brooke's perspectives on yoga, emphasizing once again the importance of alignment and sequencing in order to open the body and prepare for deeper work.

    Brooke's classes blend creative asana sequences, mindfulness, meditation, and breathwork. With a priority on ensuring students will be cued in and out of asanas safely, she keeps classes fun, light and engaged, to help everyone in every body feel at ease, safe and respected.

    When not at the studio or working her fancy corporate job, you'll likely find Brooke in her garden, tending to her vegetables, fruits and flowers she lovingly grows! Brooke is an amateur herbalist, big time lover of the outdoors, and loves to hike, camp, find epic swimming holes, and whatever other adventures Mother Nature serves up! She also loves to cook delicious meals and spend time with friends.

  • Coming from a classical ballet background with the Atlanta Ballet, Danielle found yoga in high school while recovering from Plantar Fasciitis. She instantly fell in love with the physical and healing benefits yoga had to offer. After some college, soul searching and sobriety, Danielle was reintroduced to yoga through the 26+2 Bikram Marietta and Ashtanga series. With emphasis on discipline, alignment, and breath work, Danielle learned yoga is not just a physical practice, it’s a way of living…mentally, spiritually, soulfully. Training under Essud Fungcap and Heart Center Therapy Alpharetta, she received her 200 hour certification in 2013. Danielle began teaching hot power, yin and beginner’s yoga at Be Yoga in Marietta Square (2013-2021). In 2020, Danielle moved to Ellijay, Ga to be closer to nature and build a more holistic lifestyle for her and her family and continued her teaching journey at Yoga Over Blue Ridge (2020-2023), then The Haven of Ellijay (2023-current).

    In addition to completing over 1800 hours teaching in her first 10 years, she has obtained additional certifications in Yin yoga through MahaPatha Yoga, Prenatal, Reiki Master level 2, and DoTerra AromaTouch. Danielle has a deep passion for physical movement, continued self improvement and connection and believes these are fundamentally important for optimal physical performance, healing and overall health and wellness. With over a decade of experience teaching in studios, gyms, homes, schools, vineyards, and parks Danielle has had the opportunity to teach all levels, bodies and ages from young to old and beginners to competitive athletes. Coming from a rigid training background, Danielle strives to create the opposite. She believes in providing a fun, safe, empowering and freeing experience in all her classes. With a knack for making you laugh, you’ll feel comfortable and empowered and maybe even try something new!

    When not on her mat, you can find Danielle running around town to sports with her husband and four kids, hiking, reading, cooking and enjoying life. In addition to teaching yoga and being a mom to four, she also co-owns a local, successful residential contracting business with her husband. She always ends her classes with an Om shanti, meaning Peace… and that is exactly what you’ll find when you attend Danielle’s classes.

  • Krissy has always been somewhat of a mystic, longing to find a healthy life balance. She became enamored with yoga after spending some time in Thailand. Her practice really began to take form once she moved to the beautiful mountain community of Ellijay. Deciding to change gears from her corporate job and allow herself to spread the healing and transformative powers of yoga, she earned her RYT from Shri Yogi Hari, a Sampoorna Yoga Master of the Sivananda Hatha Yoga lineage. As well as additional hours in Restorative, Yin, Nada and Kundalini practices, she is also a Usui Reiki Master, graduate of the Yoga Nidra|Awake{end} Sleep system, Qi Gong instructor and Thai Bodywork Practitioner. Krissy's classes intend to embody fullness. Balancing the mind, body, emotions and spirit, using breath work combined with asanas for maximum relaxation.

    If she isn't in savasana, you will find her floating down the river, cooking up a storm, laying in a hammock in the woods somewhere or continuing her studies to become an Ayurvedic Yogic Counselor.

  • Melanie found yoga while searching for something to help manage corporate stress and improve athleticism for her competitive horseback riding career (and repair injuries). She became hooked when those things did improve, but she also noticed other positive changes popping up into her life. After decades of personal practice, she was drawn to learn more about yoga and finished her RYT 200 Hour in 2014 from Spirit of Yoga in Tempe Arizona.

    This program was intensely focused on anatomy and how to safely practice yoga. It was also focused on Bhakti yoga, and using yoga as a way to the spirt. When students come to her classes, they will usually be presented with a theme, quote, or reading to take with you through your practice and day.

    Extensive travel allowed her to teach and learn at retreats and studios across the country and abroad. She brings her exposure to these diverse lineages and styles into her classes. Her goal is to not make two classes the same and give each student a safe place to find whatever they need from their mat.

    Yoga allowed Melanie to find “home” all over the world by bringing her yoga practice with her. She hopes by being a teacher in her nontraditional looking yoga body, she will inspire others to find their own yoga practice. By showing up this way, she hopes that people won’t put off starting their practice today and not when they “lose an extra 10 lbs.” Her desire as a yoga teacher is to lead people to themselves, so they can show up better in their own life and those around them.

    She commits to leading her classes in a way that all people feel comfortable, and they have a safe place to come be themselves and get to know who they are better through their own personal practice.

    Her classes are pro props, pro modifications, pro going deeper inside, pro finding a way to practice with old injuries. She also tries to lead authentically by not ascribing to toxic positivity or prescribing any certain lifestyle choices.

    She moved to Ellijay August 2021 where she immediately in love with the landscape and the community. When she is not in the studio she can be found leading a cyber security team, hiking, at studio events, porch sitting with her husband, reading or plotting her next adventure.

  • Heather began practicing Sivananda yoga 15+ years ago, while living in Chilean Patagonia--on a winding journey to find herself.

    There she immersed herself in hiking, writing, yoga, and some study of Ayurveda. Shortly after attending a Vippassana retreat outside Santiago (10 days in silent meditation), her energy aligned, she met her husband--one of her greatest teachers of generosity and patience. Her practice deepened as she grew her firstborn, a traumatic c-section, miscarriages, and 2 HBACs (home births after cesarean).

    Every time she's surrendered into the unknown, she's found deep support & divine guidance. She was called to her first yoga teacher training in 2018. And then another, even after being laid off as the sole income provider for her family. Out of state moves later, after 500 hours of teacher training already, she traveled to India in 2019 to the base of the Himalayas to study directly with her teacher at the source. This was a life-altering experience that illuminated her entire journey up to that point.

    Yoga, the whole practice, including meditation, breathwork/pranayama, mantra, Himalayan kriya and kundalini now infuse her life. It’s a constant integration of wisdom gained. Studying Vedic astrology has magnified her insight & understanding of the human experience even further.

    Heather is a practicing yogi, Vedic astrologer, Reiki Master, nature lover, mama, partner, teacher and student. Her classes tend to be vinyasa-based, infused with breathwork, kriya, meditation, and healing. She also loves bringing meditative and expansive practices and experiences to kids.

    This path--its beautiful messes, tears, joys, and bliss--has led her to now, and she's deeply honored and grateful to be here.