A Hatha based flow practice with a focus on the art of feeling each posture through the breath and the center of our being - the hara. In yoga, the hara is the center of gravity, located in the lower abdomen, about two inches below the navel. In a spiritual sense, the hara represents your true self, the unification of your body, energy and mind. It's also known as the "Sea of Qi" and is considered the vital center of the body.

Melissa's yoga teaching style has been influenced and developed through a myriad of teachers and life experiences. She strives to keep her teaching both real and fun. As she ages, she finds herself increasingly drawn to the world of Neuroscience & Yoga and has completed a Yoga Medicine 30 Hour Training with some exquisite teachers. Her next planned voyage is into Katonah Yoga.

Her intention for each practice is to create opportunities for students to develop strength, flexibility, and trust to start where they are. Yoga reunites practitioners with the present, offering a view of where they were, where they are, and who they are becoming (or unbecoming). When yoga is practiced with wonder, openness, and vulnerability, it opens a portal back to the Self. This is what keeps Melissa returning to the mat – a chance to catch a glimpse of herself and hope to stay a little longer each time.

Some may also know her as YogiStoned – her clothing brand that gives back to those in need. Like her teaching, her intention for YogiStoned is to offer yet another supportive way back to that fearless, original self.