I started taking Lava Yoga classes in March 2013. I was looking for a yoga class that would keep my interest, challenge me and increase my flexibility. I was having back pain because of tight back, glute and hamstring muscles and I felt I was heading down the path of hurting myself if I didn't do something to increase my flexibility. I am very active with teaching group fitness classes, training and mountain biking but I lacked action when it came to flexibility. I absolutely fell in love with Lava Yoga, both the yoga classes and the instructors. After a year, I inquired about leading classes and being part of the staff I so admired. In the summer of 2014 I lead my first Lava Yoga class and knew I was starting yet another chapter of my life - a chapter that would be full of rewards and health benefits.

My training includes certifications through American Council on Exercise (ACE) as Group Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer and Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist. I have had pilates mat and reformer training through Polestar Education, Yoga for a New Day training through an ACE continuing education course and Yoga/Fusion training through Safax. I also have a master's degree through Kansas State University in elementary education.

In July of 2015, I completed and was RYT certified.

Whether you are new to yoga or an experienced "yogi", I encourage you to try Lava Yoga. Not only will you discover a yoga practice you'll love but you will also become part of a yoga community who cares about you personally.

For the majority of my life I have been athletic, mostly enjoying running. My first yoga class was in 2004 during a workplace health event. I hated it. I felt out of place and there was definitely nothing positive about the class. I vowed to never to do yoga again.

Ten years later, in the summer of 2014, my daughter took a class at Lava Yoga and she absolutely loved it. She asked if I wanted to go with her. I hesitated, but my other daughters and my husband thought I should give yoga another chance, so I did. That first class I took was amazing! Difficult and challenging, but amazing! I have never felt so welcomed, accomplished, and connected to a community as I did after that first class. That time I vowed to go back, many times, and I did.

I began to transition from running to weight lifting and found that yoga, especially in a heated room, was the key to reducing muscle soreness, increasing flexibility, and keeping me from sustaining serious injuries. I also found the mental and emotional release of yoga was imperative to staying sane with the everyday stresses that affect us all.

As I grew to love yoga, I began to look at training courses. As I sought out courses, I found there were yoga training paths to learn how to teach children the beautiful art of yoga. That was the moment I knew I wanted to teach yoga! I thought if I could get just one child to appreciate (and maybe even love) yoga, that would be a success!

In 2018 I completed my personal training certification and I am currently working on completing my 200 hour RYT certification training to teach yoga, with additional classes to focus on teaching children. Lava Yoga has given me the opportunity to work with children and be a part of a yoga community. I can’t think of anything more wonderful than that!

I first met Leigh and Beth in 2006 while we were in a triathlon club lead by Beth, that is where my on and off relationship with intense exercise began. Jumping forward a few years to 2015, I came to Lava after a therapist suggested that yoga would be a great way to work through some of the aspects of the trauma of losing my husband. The poses, the heat, the music, the entire experience was so powerful it brought me to tears. Then came 2020 after some major changes in my life and my health journey I found myself at Lava. I was hooked once again and knew this time was different. Yoga has helped me manage the stress and anxieties life throws at us all. The family atmosphere of the studio is so welcoming. I decided to take the next step and take a teacher training course and earned my 200-hour RYT certificate. I am so excited to share my love of yoga and Lava with everyone.

In 2012 I had a personal trainer suggest incorporating yoga to my workout routine.  I was running and cross training 5-6 days a week. Yoga was a great complement to all the other work.

I have been practicing ever since. But it was a year ago in May 2021 when I found Hot Yoga and fell in love.  It has helped me with confidence, patience with myself, and processing grief.  I was honored to have the opportunity to deepen my practice through teacher training in Fall 2021.  I am grateful for all the loving fabulous people I have met through yoga and what yoga has done for me.  I want to share with everyone how awesome yoga is for physical, mental and spiritual health.

Teaching is icing on the cake.

So grateful and blessed,
Diedre Lemon 200 Hour RYT

I began with Lava in 2017, looking for a lower impact workout that would help maintain my flexibility, balance and core strength.  I found that I really enjoyed the classes along with the music.  I love the community at the studio and have met many wonderful students and instructors.  After practicing for several years, yoga has become more than workout.  The classes leave me refreshed and relaxed.

I completed the 200 hour RYT certification from Lava Yoga Teacher Training.  I look forward to sharing my passion for yoga.

I’m so excited to join the Lava Yoga family. I have been an athlete my entire life, playing all sports but found my love of soccer very quickly. After playing in high school and college, I went on to coaching youth boys for many years which is where I first met Leigh (Co-Owner). I continue to play on a men’s league still today. I did cross fit for several years but found that to be hard on my body and joints. Then my wife brought me to yoga. My very first class was a spiritual awakening. I found healing in more ways than one. Lava Yoga engages all your senses through the warmth of the room, the music, the scented towels, and the overall positive vibes you feel just walking through the door.

I’ve been coming religiously since February 2021. I find a steady practice helps me maintain focus throughout the day and I feel lighter and at peace. I encourage everyone to come try it for yourself. Who doesn’t need a good savasana?

Be awesome!

I have never been athletic. I like to joke that my siblings got all the athletic genes, so when a friend of mine asked if I would want to try out Lava Yoga, I assumed I would not be a fan. As it turns out, I fell in love at first sweat and never turned back.

I wound up in Topeka entirely by accident. My Peace Corps journey was cut short from Covid-19, and Topeka was where I landed out of that hectic moment in my life. Yoga has brought so much joy, peace, and steadiness to my life in many ways, but I think beyond that, Lava has given me a community to call home here in Topeka.

I hope to see you in the studio soon, and hey... stay warm out there.

Like everyone else living this life, I’ve been through things that should have broken me. As a child, I found strength somehow and kept on keepin’ on. In 2017, I endured something that, in that moment, I thought would be the thing that succeeded in breaking me.

I knew I had to find a way out, and remembered my childhood friend and sweetest boy I’ve ever known, David-Leigh’s son. I knew from David that his mom owned her own Yoga studio, and I pleaded for her to let me clean the studio in exchange for yoga classes. This was the beginning.

As time went on, I understood why I had all of this anger and weakness, and it was my own mind telling me things should be one way, even though they never would be, which helped me to realize that I am the only one suffering from wanting things to be other than exactly what they are.

Not only did yoga help my body heal from years of trauma, yoga helped heal my mind from a lifetime of emptiness I didn’t know could be so easily filled with self-love. Yoga saved me. I have never stopped insisting to anybody who will listen, that yoga will solve any and all problems. Lava yoga can save you too. Try it out and see what you’ve been needing to release!