Meet Your Teachers Traci Ayers - RYT 200 - Program Director

Traci found yoga as a busy mom of four kids, taking a 15 min youtube yoga class “by accident”. She didn’t realize she was practicing yoga until the end when the teacher mentioned it.  One 15 min class and she was hooked! She later attended yoga classes in Germany where she was living at the time, but couldn’t understand much of what was being said and just followed the other students.

Wanting to take her practice deeper, She attended an immersive training program in

Rishikesh India to receive her teacher certification because as she says, she wanted to learn yoga from the source.

Traci uses several styles of yoga in her classes to include Hatha, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and more, She enjoys bringing students to an understanding of how their yoga practice is working for them, that yoga is so much more than just asana, and how to use this valuable resource to equip themselves to affect a balanced, harmonious lifestyle.

Melissa Cantrell - RYT 200, Barre Certified

Melissa has been teaching Barre classes since 2015. A former dancer, Melissa loves teaching Barre, helping clients tone and strengthen. Melissa also completed her RYT-200 training in September of 2016 and is registered with Yoga Alliance as a certified yoga teacher. Melissa has been teaching yoga, specifically Yin Yoga, since September of 2016, and thoroughly enjoys it

Paul Crapol, CYT Paul enjoys creating calm, stress-free classes for students to safely explore their personal practices. His classes can help students feel centered, relaxed, and refreshed.

At The WISC, Paul currently leads Restorative Yoga on Sundays and Yoga for You on Wednesdays. Paul also has a great interest in meditation and leads classes in mindfulness, seated meditation, concentration meditation,

walking meditation, and guided meditation. He is also a trained and certified practitioner of Thai bodywork, a relaxing yoga-related massage technique. Nastassia Morgan RYT 200

Nastassia is a Williamsburg native and currently resides in the Toano area with her husband and their two sons. Nastassia found yoga shortly after giving birth to her second son. After experiencing the healing powers of yoga herself she quickly knew she wanted to be able to share the magic of yoga with others. She completed 200 hour yoga teacher training at Zenya Yoga in Newport News. In her classes she likes to focus on strengthening the core providing her students a strong foundation to build upon for balance and strengthening poses. She also enjoys incorporating progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery meditation in her classes. She finds inspiration in her students and loves to witness the progress in their self confidence week to week. For Nastassia, yoga is a precious gift and she is thrilled to be able share it with others. An interesting fact about her is that she is half Peruvian and speaks Spanish fluently.

Emily Pick - RYT 200 Yoga flows through everything in Emily’s life, from her roles as wife and mother, to her work as a voice actor and singer, to her word and action choices in easy times and, most especially, in difficult times. She has experienced, first hand, the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of the practice of yoga, which is why she is so passionate about guiding other seekers along their way. Emily creates a safe space for each student to learn about and explore the poses, offering guidance to connect them to their own inner teacher. Emily loves to plan dynamic sequencing and epic playlists, and will often sing students into or out of Savasana. She is an RYT200 graduate of Driftwood Yoga and Aerial.”

Irene Sarantakos - RYT 200

Yoga to Irene was one of the ways that she knew she could still her mind, find the balance needed between her SNS and PNS, along with toning, stretching, and break a darn good sweat while doing it. With almost 20 years of practicing, Irene became a certified yoga instructor to guide students on their journey to find their mental, emotional, and physical benefits from the practice of yoga.

Irene is also a former Division 1 soccer player, soccer coach, business owner, baker, and obtains a clinical background including training at Duke University's Integrative Medicine Program receiving extensive knowledge of nutrition, mindfulness, and healthy lifestyle modalities. In her spare time, Irene enjoys spending time with her four very active children, exercising, traveling and reading.