Live Oak Yoga

Rebecca teaches both adult and kid yoga. Her primary focus is vinyasa flow, with an emphasis on breath work and injury prevention. Rebecca guides her students through their practice with clear instructions, intelligent sequencing, and hands-on adjustments. She encourages her students to enjoy the physical challenges of yoga, play with personal limits, and find a quiet mind. Rebecca was born and raised in Berkeley, California. She discovered yoga while studying medicine in Manhattan, and has now been practicing for 20 years. In her travels she has been able to study Aryuvedic medicine, as well as yoga at Kasturba Medical College in Manipal, India. Although Rebecca practices traditional western medicine, she believes that adding alternative therapies can be quite beneficial for some of her patients. She completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training with Annie Carpenter's SmartFLOW school, is a certified Kidding Around Yoga Instructor, and is currently working on completing her 500-hours advanced teacher training with Shanti Teacher Training school. Off the mat, Rebecca is a wife, the mother of two lively children, a dog lover, runner, and an Emergency Medicine physician.

Erica has been a teacher in the New Orleans charter schools since 2012, and a yoga teacher since 2015. She completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training in the summer of 2015 to deepen her personal practice, but quickly realized she loved teaching as well. She has been teaching all around New Orleans since 2015: at studios, for free, and even at offices around town to get everyone up and moving. She is currently in a 300-hour yoga teacher training to continue to deepen her knowledge. Erica is certified to teach kids’ yoga through the GroovyKids™ program, and is certified as a mindful educator through Mindful Schools.  Erica believes in incorporating yoga and mindfulness into the education of her students throughout the school day.

Jimena is originally from Argentina and has lived most of her life in Chile, where she fell in love with yoga in 2001. Her practice helped calm her mind and find discipline for her studies in school. Since then, she has deepened her practice in Ashtanga and Vinyasa Flow yoga through various trainings and workshops. Although she has a degree in Economics and worked as an entrepreneur, Jimena began moving towards becoming a yoga teacher in 2007. Teaching allows her to feel whole with the experience, and she is grateful for the opportunity and the energy she shares with her students. Jimena recently moved to New Orleans, where she loves to live. She just finished her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Shanti Yoga Shala. Join her classes to connect deep breathing with movement and find a clear and a calming mind. Off of the mat, Jimena enjoys being a mother of two children, two dogs, and a cat.

Maureen is an Occupational Therapist and teacher, with many years experience working with adults undergoing rehabilitation for a variety of conditions, including movement disorders caused by Parkinson’s Disease and brain injury. In her career as a therapist, she found that she had a passion for teaching and has been able to incorporate this into her clinical practice . Her interest in the relationship between the mind and body and healing led her to begin practicing yoga. Seeing the benefits of yoga for rehabilitation, injury prevention, and overall healing, she began instructor training at Shanti Yoga Shala under the direction of Nathalie Croix, completing training in May 2018. When not working or teaching yoga, Maureen enjoys singing with Symphony Chorus of New Orleans, zydeco and swing dancing, and performing with the Disco Amigos.

Zoe discovered yoga in the late 90’s at Jivamutki Yoga Center in New York City. She appreciates the discipline of the Ashtanga method as much as the flow and acceptance of Vinyasa. She is a certified RYT 200 hours Vinyasa instructor. She is trained in Restorative Yoga, through the lineage of Judith Lasater in the Kripalu School. Zoe is also a certified GroovyKids™ Yoga instructor and trained as a Mindfulness Educator; she has her own business teaching mindfulness in New Orleans public schools. She is passionate about helping to better the lives of New Orleans youth in whatever way she can, and wholeheartedly believes that mindfulness and yoga can lend to a happier, healthier life for all.

Tara is also a second degree reiki practitioner, which she offers in her spare time. Both reiki and yoga have become integral parts of her daily life. The more she learns and grows as a practitioner, the stronger she feels physically, mentally, and emotionally. These spiritual practices have transformed her life, her self-esteem, and her mental health. She is grateful for the opportunity to share her knowledge and experience with others, so that they too may cultivate more self-love, acceptance, and peace in their own lives.
Tara currently co-owns Reese Realtors in and a yoga retreat center in Mexico (saludretreats.com), which will open in June 2020. She is the momma of a sweet Dominican street dog, a mutt who she rescued during her time there in the Peace Corps, and who loves to join her for her classes.