OUR TEAM
Dr. Raelynn Deaton Haynes
Owner and Manager, Yoga (Ashtanga, Hot Yoga, Vinyasa, Rocket, Yin) & Pilates Teacher (Mat levels I, II, III)
Raelynn is a certified Yoga and Pilates instructor. She is trained to teach Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga, Hot Yoga, Rocket Yoga (progressive ashtanga) & mat Pilates Levels I, II and III. In addition, she has training in Yoga Assisting and Adjusting, and Yoga Massage. She holds both a masters and PhD (Biology and Zoology) and has taught in academia for over 12 years. Before purchasing Willow Gardens Yoga Studio, she left her full time academic position to pursue her yoga and nutrition career, to explore her entrepreneurial spirit and start a juice company (Willow Gardens Juicery). She is a lecturer at Texas State University in San Marcos, does yoga therapy with memory care patients and teens, and is a holistic health consultant.
Kerrie Kelsey
Yoga Teacher (Hatha, Rocket, Power, Vinyasa), Pilates Teacher, Barre Teacher, Studio Manager
Kerrie has always enjoyed an active lifestyle; running, soccer, boxing, and hiking. She found Hot Yoga in 2013 and loved the benefits it provided, both physically and mentally. Finding Pilates however, has been the biggest game changer to her life. For several years she had been dealing with constant back pain. As an active person this was frustrating and discouraging. Pilates helped her find not only the relief she needed, but taught her how to really take care of her spine health, balance her body to prevent further injury, and build the strength she need so she can continue doing the things she loves.
Karlee Kaltz
Yoga Teacher, Assistant Manager, Marketing Manager
Karlee began practicing yoga in 2016 as a way to connect with her body after she stopped dancing. She quickly realized that it was not only a physical practice, but a spiritual, mental, and emotional practice as well. In the summer of 2018, she completed her RYT200 at an immersion at Heartwood Yoga Institute in Florida. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect deeper with her own yoga practice. In 2022 she wanted to redo her training and focus more on helping others connect deeper with their yoga practices so she participated in the RYT200 at Willow Gardens.
Laura Gale
Laura has found yoga multiple times throughout her adult life but became serious about it in 2014. Practicing yoga has helped her work through past trauma and with personal health challenges. Laura is a mom of two amazing girls and a zany husband. She has fallen in love with Yin and has devoted much of her continuing education toward Yin and Meditation. Yin Yoga has truly taught her to slow down, be present in the moment, and stay calm during times of stress. She infuses humor into her classes, as she believes laughter is the best medicine. Laura loves sharing what she has learned to help others surrender and find peace within themselves.
Stacy Clayton
Yoga (Hot-26) & Pilates Teacher (Mat Level I, II, III)
Yoga changed Stacy’s life and she believes it can change yours too! In 2016, after several knee surgeries rendered her stiff, inflexible and in chronic pain, she began searching for a new way to challenge her mind and body. At the age of 52, she took her first hot yoga class and she hasn’t looked back. In 2018, she took another leap of faith and traveled to Boulder to earn a Bikram styled hot yoga certificate with Esak Garcia. She enjoyed teaching and sharing her passion for yoga so much, she embarked on another journey under Jeanette Lewis. She completed an additional 200-hour hot yoga certification in December 2019 with Jeanette. To round out her repertoire, she is also now a certified Pilates instructor.
Jeanette Lewis
I have been teaching yoga since 2007! My first true yoga love has been teaching alignment and form in the Hot 26 series. I owned 2 studios in Albuquerque, New Mexico for almost a decade. My teaching style is always evolving with a focus on honoring the healing benefits of the Bikram sequence while also allowing space for change and spontaneity. I have been a part of a number of teacher trainings and I also run my own Teacher Training and workshops. After spine surgery in November of 2020, I am back in the room to heal and help others heal while learning patience through the exploration of our own limits each day.
Ellie Boswick
Yoga Teacher and Musician
Ellie started practicing yoga at the age of 15 in South Carolina and after moving to nyc for art school in 2010 she discovered Bikram yoga. Along with teaching yoga Ellie is a musician and began sound healing in 2019. By 2021 she started her own sound healing project (crystal voyager vibes sound healing) and regularly facilitates sound baths and yin sound baths. She has trained with Candee Edwards, Danielle Golfarb , and Margie Sanders for sound healing. She also does private sessions and reiki.
James Ratliff
Yoga Teacher and Meditation Facilitator
James is 700HR RYT specializing in Hatha Yoga. He is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Interfaith Divinity studying the many truths of the world and how they are related. James believes that all spiritual paths spring forth from the same well of divine being and brings the essence of many traditions to his classes and workshops.
James has served and studied in various parts of the world having finished his yoga studies in Nepal, being a member of Performers Without borders in Africa, and leading various retreats throughout Central America. His main teachings focus on how to cultivate a healthy body, a peaceful mind, and a joyful heart.
Kristin Ratliff
Yoga Teacher
Kristin is a full time teacher of Integrative Holistic Health practices. She stepped away from the corporate world in 2020 & spent the next two years studying immersive experiences of culture, religion, and spirituality around the world. During this time she grew to leading workshops, programs, and retreats on mind body medicine practices in domestic and international settings. Kristin is passionate about sharing practices with others to help alleviate suffering of the physical, mental, & emotional bodies.
Belle Stewart
Yoga Teacher
Belle is a wife to the most amazing man and a mother to 2 beautiful little yogis in training. Her yoga journey began at Willow Gardens after a back injury incurred while weight lifting. She has experience with Vinyasa, Hatha, Hot, Yin, Power, Restorative, Ashtanga, and Iyengar Yoga. Belle enjoys incorporating her Christian faith in her classes and pushing her students to be their best on and off the mat.
Erica Llewellyn
Pilates Instructor and Yoga Teacher
Erica started in the fitness and wellness industry as a Certified Personal Trainer in 2008. She made personal training her full time career in 2010. In this role, she took a Pilates class, and couldn’t believe how challenging it felt. She kept taking classes and began to understand muscle activation and compensation in a way she hadn’t before. She learned this within herself, but it allowed her to access a new way of teaching as well. She obtained a Comprehensive Certification through Peak Pilates in 2012, and has loved sharing Pilates with many people over the years.
Katie Gates
Barre Instructor
Katie has loved moving for as long as she can remember. Starting dance classes at age 3, she began teaching fitness as a personal trainer and group exercise instructor while pursuing her BFA in Dance in St. Louis. As a dancer, Katie's first Pilates classes showed her how much the use of the breath can aid deep muscle work, as well as the importance of muscle specificity, as opposed to just throwing yourself around to get an exercise done. Katie was introduced to the Hot 26 postures in 2002 and has been stretching in hot studios ever since!
Karrie Sheehan
Musician & Stretch with Sound Instructor
Born in Winston Salem, North Carolina, Karrie had an interest in music from a young age. One holiday she got a keyboard and started out playing around with different sounds and rhythms. She never had formal training, so would attempt to figure songs out “by ear.” Her biggest breakthrough came after college when she started playing drums so she could jam with her brother. She was hooked and wanted to learn all she could! She began taking lessons and continued doing that for several years. During this time she was asked to join several bands and she even taught drums one summer at the Salvation Army’s Music Conservatory. She also completed her 200HR Yoga Training and Yin Training.
Lizzie Newland
Yoga Teacher
Movement has always been a central part of Lizzie’s life, but her relationship to it has changed drastically over the years. After struggling with overexercising, body dysmorphia, and an eating disorder, Lizzie healed and wanted to feel like she was treating her body with love and kindness. She slowly gained my power and ownership back over this beautiful vessel of mine. Yoga was a MASSIVE part of that shift. This practice showed me how to love my body for all that it has to offer.
Greg King
Yoga Teacher
Greg has 300 hours of yoga teacher training and he especially enjoys teaching gentle flows. Greg started his yoga journey around 2011 after a major car accident that cause damage to his lower back and shoulders. Not a native Texan, but he has fully converted and married a true Texan. Along with his partner and kids, they are a family of yogis that have seen the personal benefits both physically and mentally this practice and bring. As a former musician he enjoys incorporating music and creating playlist that set the mood for the yoga class. After years of progressing his personal practice he loves to share this energy, knowledge and sense of community with others.
Mayan Watson
Yoga Teacher
Growing up a competitive gymnast, pole vaulter, and runner, Mayan has always been very active and found her love for Yoga her sophomore year of high school. Since then yoga has been a regular part of Mayans lifestyle and she received her 200 HR Yoga Alliance Certification from the Willow Gardens Yoga School in 2022.
Outside of yoga, Mayan is a full time student at the University of Texas studying Exercise Science and Kinesiology. In her free time, she enjoys trying new coffee shops, hanging out at Barton Springs, going on trail walks, and exploring Austin with family and friends. To stay regularly updated with Mayan, check out her lifestyle and wellness instagram @mindfulmayan.
Dipo Obadina
Functional Strength
Dipo is a strength and conditioning personal trainer. He had a successful strength series at Willow Gardens in November of 2022. He will be teaching his strength series class soon at our new Lockhart location. If you are looking to build strength and learn what muscles to engage while practicing, you don’t want to miss his class!
SUBSTITUTES AND ASSOCIATES
Ana McIntosh
Yoga Teacher (RYT 500hr, KAY, Thetahealing, Bhakti)
Hi, I am Ana McIntosh, currently based in Texas, USA, but I was born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
I got Reiki 1 and 2 certified in 2001. In 2016, I got my 200 hours RYT and KAY (Kidding Around Yoga) Certification to be able to work with children from 3-12 years old, besides other trainings such as Yin Yoga and Chair Yoga to also be able to offer classes to people with disabilities, special needs and elders.
Sarah Ragsdale
Yoga Teacher
Sarah received her 200 HR Yoga Alliance Certification + 50 Hour Yin Yoga Certification from Willow Gardens Teacher Training. She is currently taking a break from teaching but hopes to be back soon!
Tania Dymkowski
Yoga Teacher
Tania is a 200 RYT, certified in kidding around yoga and is a kids yoga teacher. She is an educator & administrator. She loves to creative vinyasa flows and hybrid poses are her favorites, just blending poses with dance and creativity. She believes yoga is where you take your breath and body to your own unique space and interpretation. She started practicing yoga over 15 years ago in Hatha and Bikram yoga. Being an avid trail runner, yoga helps balance out and contribute to the long distance running that she does. It has proven to help with recovery time, and the joints and muscles involved in running.
Ann
Ann is our Thai Stretching Massage Specialist.
Gil Perez
Yoga Teacher (Ashtanga, Rocket, Vinyasa)
Gil started practicing Power Yoga in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico in 2009 at the age of 37. Even though he found it quite challenging, he continued to practice, which began an extensive journey of Yoga. In 2010, Gil took his first Hatha Yoga teacher training at the Rishikesh Yoga Peeth School in India the summer of 2010 for seven weeks. He was looking to more deeply understand the roots of Yoga. After returning to Puerto Rico he started teaching around the island, including various maximum security prisons where he lead the yoga program for about two years. Teaching yoga there helped inmates reduce anxieties, the use of medications, as well as enhanced other aspects of life. He is now certified to train yoga teachers in Rocket Yoga (progressive ashtanga) and teaches ashtanga primary and secondary series.
Alina Jaffer
Yoga Teacher
Alina is a 200 RYT with Yoga Alliance. She completed her training at Willow Gardens Yoga School in May of 2022. In December of 2021, she earned her Masters in Accounting from Texas State University.
A note from Alina: Hi y’all. My name is Alina. I have never loved doing anything the way I love doing yoga. I am grateful for my practice and I’m even more grateful that I get to share it with other people. I would love to meet y’all in a class!
Nina Pipes
Ashtanga Yoga & Pilates
Nina began her yoga journey when she was 15 years old in Fort Worth, TX. She moved to San Marcos, TX to attend Texas State University and received a Bachelor's degree in International Studies and Japanese. She practiced hot yoga for years and soon discovered new passions for Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and Pilates. Nina completed her 200 hour YTT in May 2021 and shortly after she completed two 50 hour immersions (Ashtanga and Hot 26). In March 2022 she completed a comprehensive 450 hour Pilates program. She is very dedicated to her students and learning new things!
Michele Shalin
Michele Schalin is an international speaker, author, mental fitness coach, breathwork facilitator, and meditation guide — the trailblazer in Mindful Metamorphosis. For over thirty years, she has been an unstoppable force that educates, guides, and supports people on their journey to personal development, spiritual growth, and inner transformation. As an expert in mental fitness training methods, she provides strategies on controlling your thoughts, changing subconscious beliefs, regulating emotions better, managing stress healthily, manifesting greatness into reality, the possibilities are endless.
Michele is an intrepid adventurer, always looking to explore the unknown and share her journey with others. Her unstoppable spirit ignites genuine connection wherever she goes, from meaningful conversations to spontaneous singing and dancing. She lives life fully, embracing nature hikes and yoga and always seeking opportunities to elevate the collective consciousness. To know Michele is to be touched by her contagious smile and infectious laughter.