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 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!

On April 1, 2023, I set off on a personal quest to use Lava Yoga’s $30 two weeks of unlimited yoga to do 14 classes in 14 days in an effort to purge heartbreak pain that I could feel lingering in my body and soul. I set the intention to dig deep inside with every inhale to find the tension, hurt and then with my exhale let it all go. Word on the street is that crying is a weakness, but I maintain that it takes strength to feel your feelings and it’s super helpful to the process of letting go. By day 11, I felt cured, but I was on a 14 day quest and stayed the course. While rolling up my mat after my 14th class in as many days I was smiling feeling accomplished and then our song, mine with the Dudifornian I loved for six years, violated the airspace. Naturally, I rolled my mat back out, stretched out on my tummy and wailed! It was a magical, transformative experience. I left it all on the mat that day and I’ve been hooked on Lava ever since.

The warm, open hearted owners of Lava Yoga, Leigh and Beth have created a truly unique, special place on this Earth. I feel taller every single time I walk out of the studio having enjoyed my practice in the cleansing heat while sharing safe space with other like minded peeps. United we stand sweating it out. It’s my honor and truly a pleasure to guide classes at Lava Yoga. I hope you will come shine your light with us soon. Namaste

Yoga practice is one of my favorite parts of my day.  I began practicing yoga in 2021 at LavaYoga because it was recommended to me to help with anxiety.  I was very nervous to walk in and give it a try, but everyone welcomed me even though I couldn’t make it through an entire class.  The encouragement I received helped me come back each time. I continued to stick with it and slowly I began to feel healthier and even lost 80 pounds in a year!  The weight loss, although wonderful, wasn’t the most important part, it was a newfound health for my body.  I feel better, and that is why I love to be a yoga guide too. I enjoy being a part of helping others with whatever they are trying to accomplish in their yoga practice and encouraging them along the way

I began my yoga journey 20+ years ago at the Bikram studio in Lawrence. I had never tried any type of yoga before my first hot Bikram class. But that was it - I was hooked!! The heat and humidity was perfect for me, as well as community with the amazing instructors and fellow students. Over the years, I’ve added other types of yoga to my practice, finding joy in each of them.

I completed Yoga Teacher Training in the Fall of 2021 and started teaching in the Spring of 2022. The connection experienced in practicing and teaching yoga is like no other. It’s wonderful to interact with yogis of all shapes, sizes, experience level, motivation, etc. Whether practicing or teaching, the delightful coming together of breath, movement, and spirit is profound and has been incredibly impactful on my life. My favorite aspect of teaching is providing some insight into the poses and how to breathe through the movements to achieve the tranquility that yoga offers. I love watching and listening to my students and guiding them through a thoughtful yoga experience.

Yoga is truly an extension of my life. I recently “mostly” retired from a hectic consulting career, and teaching yoga has provided the ability for me to interact with others in the most positive way. When I’m not in the studio, I love spending time with my sweet husband, Zach, our cranky dog, Trooper, and our boys. I volunteer at a farm sanctuary weekly and serve on a local board for a community healthcare clinic, and I am a huge Prince fan. Life is definitely good.

Peace, and be wild.

I’m very excited to join the lava family. I’ve always been an athletic person as I play basketball throughout the years. I was never the one to really work on stretching or really  work on my mobility and flexibility. As the years went on of strength training, I was dealing with a lot of chronic pain, sore muscles, developing stiff hips and hamstrings and I knew I had to make a change.

I actually thought about doing yoga but never really went through with it until one day I was in the sauna at the gym and I saw something on social media about hot yoga and the benefits of it. So I googled to see if Topeka has a hot yoga studio and sure enough I found out about lava yoga. I’ve been obsessed with it and fell in love with it ever since. My flexibility and mobility has improved so much and the start of this journey has been amazing. I feel at peace and my body feels very good afterwards. I encourage you to come to lava yoga for yourself and see the amazing benefits it can have for you. It really has saved me and my body. Hope to see you on the mat soon!

Greg's classes focus on the natural curves of the spine and movements which incorporate body weight training, yoga postures and meditation.  He trains in the BowSpring method with creators Desi Springer and John Friend (founder of Anusara Yoga).  The Predominant focus of these classes follow the BowSpring postural template while incorporating it into traditional yoga postures.  This alignment brings a buoyant, powerful and fluid strength.

As a wife and mother of four children, I struggled to know who I was. Then one day in 2019, I was asked by a friend to come to a yoga class with her. I knew nothing about yoga or what to expect. After my first class I was hooked. I love the heat, the meditation, the practice of challenging myself, but also practicing being kind to myself when things don’t go as I want it to or think it should. It’s one place where I can go and truly be myself, and it continues to help me find acceptance within myself. In addition, it is a place full of people who are kind, accepting and loving of one another.

I have never been an athlete, but I’ve always enjoy being active. I participated in running sports in high school but only because I was never focused, coordinated, or athletic enough to do other activities competitively. Being a person with ADHD, anxiety, and a lot of childhood trauma, I struggled to focus or attend to anything for very long. For me, Lava Yoga was what I needed. It has allowed me to be active, as the yoga flows are challenging, but also mindful in slowing down. It has helped me find myself- the person I want to be and strive to be - a more loving, kind, coordinated and confident me. My hope for all that come to one of my classes, is that you will find peace and begin to see all the beautiful things about yourself, through your yoga practice.

I have always known I wanted to be a healer. I was born and raised in Laramie, WY and came here to Topeka in 1997 to attend the Kansas Massage Institute. I graduated in 1998 and went back to Wyoming and practiced massage for 12 years. In 2009, I relocated back to Topeka. I spent 11 years working with the elderly population and in the mental health field. During the pandemic I found myself looking at other opportunities, and enrolled in The Institute of Healing Arts and gained my certificate as an Integrated Process Technique Facilitator. I opened Life's Healing Journey in 2020. In November of 2023 I had the pleasure of graduating with my Usui/Holy Fire lll World Peace Reiki Shoden First Degree and graduated in June 2024 Okuden Level ll under Angelica Roth. In December, I completed the Sound Healing Course and found an absolute passion for Sound.

I am a firm believer in the connection of mind, body and spirit and look forward to sharing these passions and gifts with the community.