Meet our amazing teachers

Teaches in Carrboro

Alex is a curious explorer, deepening their relationship with yoga, their body, and their spirit, after integrating lessons from several years within the field of social work. Alex is excited about the opportunity yoga offers us to connect with the subtle, the spacious, and the mystical. They are also deeply inspired by the natural world and love infusing nature’s wisdom into their teachings. They hope to share creative sequencing that invites students to feel all of their dimensions, and to experiment and play with their embodied self-expression. Alex is passionate about cultivating space where students feel rooted, held, and accepted, so they feel more able to imagine and dream beyond the edges of what they thought was possible. When they are not practicing yoga, you might find them reading tarot, immersing themself in the art of mediumship, walking in the woods, or connecting with their loved ones. 

Teaches in Durham 

Anna has been practicing yoga regularly for the past 15 years and has found immense benefit in not only the physical

aspects of the practice, but also the mental. She primarily appreciates yoga as an avenue towards mindfulness,

encouraging herself and her students to find pleasure and balance in the present moment through yoga’s physical

asanas. She completed her first 200-hour teacher training at the Andean School of Yoga in Peru, and her second right here in

Durham at Yoga Off East. When she’s not practicing yoga you can find her working at a residential design studio or

spending time with her family and friends — ideally outside or over a lovingly prepared home-cooked meal.

Teaches in Carrboro

Anna-Julia (she/her) is a former college swimmer turned coach. She has been practicing yoga and Pilates for 10+ years and is a certified Lagree Level 1 instructor with teaching experience in her hometown of Birmingham, AL. In her classes, you can expect a blend of breath, strength, awareness, and a little play, all designed to help you feel grounded, empowered, and supported. Her teaching style is gentle, encouraging, and body-honoring, inviting students to move at their own pace and tune into what they need each day. When she's not at Recess, Anna-Julia is a graduate student at UNC Gillings School of Public Health. You'll likely find her walking her dog, reading, baking, or knitting. 

Teaches in Durham 

Hi! I'm Audrey, RYT 200hr, Level 1 Reiki, and founder of L4 Yoga and Retreats. I am a lifelong learner leading with empathy and gratitude. I've been practicing yoga for over a decade and teaching for two years in both

community classes and at the downtown Raleigh Poyner YMCA. I've been doing "the work" for years and like to incorporate lessons that resonate with

me to the larger community.

Global healing starts with you, whether that's physically, emotionally, mentally or some beautiful combination of the three. I believe my purpose, my dharma is to help others feel calm, and I share this through the practice of yoga. No 

matter where you are in your journey, you've come to the right place to press pause.

Teaches in Carrboro + Durham 

Brigid (she/they) is a former personal trainer and fitness instructor who found a more loving and healing connection to her body and mind through yoga, and never looked back. She completed her 200 hr RYT yoga training at Kala Yoga in Brooklyn, NY, and has received specialty restorative yoga training from Abhaya Yoga in Brooklyn, NY. She is also an accredited Thai Bodywork practitioner. Brigid aims to create a class space where each student can feel safe to explore how their body feels and what sort of challenge, play, relaxation, or release it may be craving in that moment. Brigid believes that all people and bodies are wonderfully unique, and aims to make her yoga classes an inclusive, trauma-informed, non-judgemental space where everyone can honor and celebrate their needs, hopefully while having fun, finding some peace, and maybe meeting a neighbor! Her class style focuses on building a connection between breath and movement, allowing students to lose themselves in a rhythmic flow while tuning into their body's alignment in each posture. Expect most of her classes to start with meditation and breathwork, include a warm up focused on strength and alignment, ramping up to a breath-to-movement sequence, and ending with some cozy restorative postures that will guide the mind and body towards deep relaxation and healing. Brigid offers hands-on assists to support sustainable alignment in standing postures, and to provide comforting touch that invites gentle release in more restorative poses. 

Teaches in Durham 

Daria is an artist, mystic and somatic and embodiment facilitator who has loved the trees since she took her first breath. She is fueled by her remembrance of her true nature as nature, and seeks to connect other humans to themselves in this way.

Her passion is working with the subconscious mind through the body, to transform trauma into loving, fierce action, and to support collective liberation and breaking away from oppressive systems and patterns. She is here to get and be FREE!

Her somatic offerings are an opportunity for nervous system co/regulation, emotional education
and resiliency, trauma healing, physical healing, energy renewal and community connection. She is a certified Body Temple Dance facilitator and Womb Healer by her teacher Adriana Rizzolo, a certified MindBody Centering Yoga teacher by her teacher Nina Be, and also trained in the Life.Centering Wisdom Circle method and Transforming Trauma with Nina as well. She brings a depth of wisdom from her own life’s experiences of traversing the underworld to serve her community, students and clients. You can find her online @lion.heart.somatics on Instagram.

Teaches in Carrboro

Jill (she/her) took her first yoga class while pregnant, and hasn’t stepped off of her mat since. After practicing for over ten years, she decided that she needed more yoga in her life.  One yoga training led to another and just like that, she is a RYT-500 with Yoga Alliance.  She is continually learning about the body, mind, and spirit.  A deep interest of hers is the intersection between science and yoga. Ideas written in ancient texts come full circle as their tools are supported by modern research.  Expect classes to sprinkle in many variations and options, with the focus always returning to your own self as the expert.  Jill holds space for you to explore your body, feel into your personal appropriate alignment, and to pause from your daily life to become aware of your thoughts. She believes that being aware of yourself is imperative in order to be aware of others and the world around you.  “If we want yoga, we can not run from what it truly means to practice yoga. If we can breathe, we can do yoga.  If we can feel, we can represent liberation. And when we breathe together, we get a little more free.” Susanna Barkataki. 

Teaches in Carrboro

While living in Los Angeles in 2007, I hiked past a free yoga class in the park every day for months. Finally, my curiosity led me to try it out, and after a few classes, I was hooked for life. During this time, I was going through some difficult life changes, and yoga taught me how to connect to my authentic self. I came through with a profound appreciation for the power of the practice. Inspired by this power and the desire to facilitate this process for others, I began my 200-hour teacher training in 2009 at Yogaworks and completed an apprenticeship through Yogaworks to reach my 500-hour certification in 2013. I taught classes in the Los Angeles area until March 2019, when I moved to North Carolina with my husband and 3-year-old son. My classes offer a safe, balanced asana practice that emphasizes proper alignment. I encourage my students to find that they can exceed their own expectations by connecting to their breath. I lead classes with compassion, guiding students toward self-awareness. I believe that through linking movement with breath the mind is cleared, and we are open to connect to our true nature.

Teaches in Carrboro

Kate is a classically trained ballet dancer and a certified barre and mat pilates instructor with fifteen years of teaching experience in dance and exercise. After graduating from the pre professional dance program at San Francisco’s City Ballet School in 2007, Kate moved on to dance professionally in contemporary dance troupes, touring musical theater productions, and as an independent artist all over California. Alongside her career as a performer Kate worked to develop dance programs for several prestigious performing arts schools in the Bay Area introducing the students to classical technique in ballet and barre. When she moved to Brooklyn, NY in 2016 she continued her teaching career as a barre instructor and in 2020 her class was rated the #6 "Best Barre Class" to take in NYC by ClassPass.com. In 2021 Kate received her certification in mat pilates from “Lila Core” and spent the last three years teaching mat pilates and strength & conditioning classes at various yoga and pilates studios all over New York City. Kate’s long standing passion for movement runs deep. Her goal in each class is to help guide her students towards finding that magical connection you feel when breath, technique, and strength join forces to build a full and satisfying physical practice. She is thrilled to be a part of the Recess Yoga community and can’t wait to see you on the mat! 

Teaches in Durham 

Kyle believes that living life is about filling the time and space between stillness and movement. The movement choices you make can create freedom, release, expression and magic! Let’s find that together on the mat. 

Kyle found his way to leading others in movement by way of the stage. Involved in professional theater and performing in musicals since the age of 6, Kyle found a lifelong zeal for expressing himself through voice and movement. Upon entering the High School Theater Department at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Kyle discovered his passion for fitness through a daily practice of T'ai Chi Ch'uan, pilates, yoga and dance which he continued for 5 years during his further training at the California Institute of the Arts. 

Kyle’s full-time work is in the wellness space and you can find him leading science-driven, music-fueled, high-intensity pilates, strength, cardio and yoga classes in every corner of the triangle.  It’s his goal to fill every moment of his class experience with fun, panache and sass. You show up and we’ll show out! 

Teaches In Durham 

Lee has been a student of yoga since 1999. Along the way he’s gained insights from leading Bhakti, Yin, Kundalini and YogaWorks teachers. From 2019-2022, he participated in over 200 hours of yoga training with Nina Be, the founder of MindBody Centering, a trauma informed approach to mindfullness and movement. In 2025, he completed his 200 hour training with Asheville Yoga Center’s “Teaching from the Heart” program.
Lee’s classes focuses on the soul work that yoga can provide, with grounding in breathwork, alignment-
based movement, and embodied awareness. His teaching blends physical presence with emotional
insight, supporting students in reconnecting to their own beauty, power, and stillness.
Lee is a lifelong learner and is currently continuing his studies with a focus on polyvagal theory and authentic relating. He draws on a rich background in environmental education and sustainable leadership, holding an MBA from UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Alabama. Whether in group classes or private sessions, Lee invites students into practices that are honest, grounding, and transformative.

Teaches in Carrboro

Yoga has been a constant for Leigh throughout many life transitions – into adulthood, motherhood and discovering herself time and time again. 

In 2025, the stars aligned to pursue her 200-hour yoga teacher certification through Recess Yoga and an 85-hour perinatal training through Whole Mama Yoga. In Leigh's class you'll be guided to move in a way that feels kind, stretch, breathe and find ease. She thrives on creating community, and hopes students can connect with themselves and others in her classes. Leigh dedicates ample time for meditation and release in an all-levels, judgement-free space. Originally from Atlanta, Leigh has put down roots in Chapel Hill with her husband, son, three cats and dog. 

Teaches in Carrboro

Lindsey (she/her) believes yoga, at its core, is a practice of self-care that prepares us for community care. Being able to hold a pose is one way to mark progress, but if yoga can help us treat each other with greater compassion and respect—well, now we’re really getting somewhere. Students in Lindsey’s music-driven classes can look forward to an uplifting balance of centering meditation and invigorating asana. Her sequencing draws inspiration from Ashtanga, Jivamukti, and Power Yoga, with an emphasis on helping students feel strong and steady. She received her 200-hour certification from Carolina Yoga Company, and her 300-hour Advanced Studies certification at the Asheville Yoga Center. Off the mat, Lindsey edits books and teaches creative writing. 

Teaches in Carrboro + Durham 

Matt (E-RYT 200) began his path in yoga by way of group fitness. He completed his Yoga Teacher Training with LifeTime Fitness in 2013 where he also taught several strength and Vinyasa Flow classes each week. During his career as a middle school teacher, he introduced his students to yoga and cultivated that into teaching three daily yoga classes as electives during the school day. Matt’s philosophy centers around the idea that yoga is for everyone, regardless of body type, age, fitness level, or any other perceived barrier. He is excited to bring his unique twist on Vinyasa based classes to Recess and invites all to come breathe, move, and play.

Teaches in Durham

Meera (she/they) is a 200-hour certified yoga instructor, somatic educator, and licensed mental health counselor in the Triangle. Meera was introduced to yoga as a facet of Hindu traditional practice when she was a child, which sparked her lifelong fascination with movement as both medicine and a vehicle for change. She sees yoga practice and teaching as a tool for collective liberation, a way to safely experience pleasure and tolerate discomfort in an ever-uncertain world. Meera is passionate about bringing both asanas (postures) and subtle aspects of yoga practice (breath work, ethics, and more) to yoga classes that they teach. In Meera’s classes, expect an emphasis on the mind-body connection, a playful invitation toward embodied self-expression, and alignment cues that allow students to explore the edges of each pose. She works to cultivate a space where students feel seen and accepted enough to turn inward and observe themselves without judgement.

Teaches in Durham

Michael found yoga in midlife and fell in love with the practice and how it felt in body and mind. His classes center on mindful awareness and the gentle balancing of the body and regulation of the nervous system, woven with threads of yogic wisdom. Expect a well-rounded practice with gradual, systematic opening of the body — often including longer-held postures to build strength and stamina, core work, and alignment explored from the inside (how a pose feels rather than how it looks).Beyond the mat, Michael’s loves include family, gardening, music, hiking, and his work as a hospice nurse.  

Teaches in Durham 

Patty Adams (she/her) has more than 20 years of experience sharing the practice of yoga to support individual healing and collective liberation. Her offerings weave together heart-centered teachings, social justice themes, and thoughtful sequencing to support inner and outer transformation. She has been helping catalyze community-centered yoga in Durham since 2010, drawing on her experience in trauma-informed yoga, somatics and therapy, along with decades of committed activism and organizing. She is known for her vigorous and artful teaching, her full-bodied laugh, and her wholehearted hugs.

When she’s not teaching yoga, you can find Patty offering somatic therapy and community based healing justice spaces, baking, gardening, playing trains with her kiddo, or organizing for collective liberation.

Teaches in Carrboro

Sarah completed her 200-hour certification under Claudia Chambers-Conty at Y Respira Yoga in Raleigh, North Carolina. Sarah specializes in Yin Yoga as a practice for physical, emotional, and energetic release, and nervous system regulation, with an emphasis on breathwork and learning to listen to the body. Her personal journey with yoga began as a tool for trauma recovery, and through it she found healing, community, and a profound connection to the practice and philosophy of yoga. Beyond the individual experience, Sarah believes deeply in the importance of healing within community spaces. A shared space of stillness and compassion can help nurture connection, belonging, and resilience. As a teacher, Sarah embraces her role not as directing or fixing, but as holding space. Her classes are a safe and non-judgmental environment where individuals have the opportunity to experience deep relaxation while exploring the mind-body connection, and the subtle shifts in our inner sensory world. Her classes offer the opportunity to slow down, turn inward, and connect to the body and breath. Yin invites stillness and introspection, and her intention is always to guide with gentleness, allowing each person to move at their own pace and find what feels safe in their body.

Teaches in Durham

Sarah (she/her) found yoga thanks to her mother over a decade ago and has been embarking on a personal journey towards finding mental stillness, calm and balance ever since. She followed this passion to Bali to complete a 500hour certified yoga teacher training through Zuna Yoga and a 30-hour pranayama training through Aham Yoga. Through her trainings she learned how to blend traditional yogic philosophy with modern science—integrating key yoga concepts, such as the pranic vayus, nadis, and pranayama techniques into her sequences while also understanding its impact on your physical anatomy and nervous system. Sarah’s focus is on empowering students of all levels to deepen their practice, cultivate calm, and carry the benefits of yoga beyond the mat. Sarah’s teaching is a blend of hatha and restorative asanas, meditation, and, on occasion, yoga nidra.

Teaches in Durham 

Susannah Simpson started practicing yoga as a teenager with a yearning for physical exercise that included a spiritual element. She completed her 200-hour teacher training through the Sivananda Center in 2012, and since then has been facilitating yoga, improvisational movement, interdisciplinary creative workshops, and restorative circles and meditations. A multidisciplinary artist, performer and poet, she approaches facilitation from an anchor of fluidity, expansiveness, curiosity, and play. She is guided by the desire to support people tuning into their sensations more deeply, and exploring the messages therein as venues for healing, greater self-understanding, acceptance, and pleasure. With a deep belief in every body’s inherent sacredness, she seeks to re-activate a remembrance of our magic and vast potentialities. 

Teaches in Carrboro

Tessa Joseph-Nicholas has been practicing yoga and movement since 1998. She is RYT200 certified, has completed teacher training workshops with her longtime ashtanga inspirations David Swenson and Beryl Bender Birch, and has studied yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonic, and bodyweight fitness with too many wonderful teachers to count. Tessa now works to apply her training in more classical forms to an accessible, healthy, playful vinyasa practice. Her classes may take a variety of forms, but her goal is always to cultivate joy, build energetic balance, and encourage healthy exploration of the possibilities. She considers teaching an honor and a privilege, so when she's off the mat, she also professes at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Teaches in Carrboro + Durham 

Tom Sowders, PHD, is first a student of yoga and second a sharer of it. He took his first class in 1994 and has been sharing yoga as an instructor since 2018. Tom earned his YTT 200 with Claudia Chambers-Conty at Y Respira Yoga in Raleigh, NC. Tom's style of yoga is informed by hatha yoga, ashtanga, and meditation. A major goal for Tom is to train the mind to be fully present on and off the mat in order to experience the joy that comes flooding once you remove the old layers of familiarity from the way you see the world. Can you tap into the power of your inner child in order to see your practice (and the world) with fresh eyes? That's what he wants to find out. Tom brings a background in studying poetry and music to his practice and teaching.

Teaches in Carrboro

Zac is a 200-hour certified yoga teacher with a deep passion for the connection between movement, breath, and recovery. His yoga journey began as part of his own healing process—both physically and mentally—leading him to explore the profound impact of breathwork, meditation, and Yin yoga in cultivating strength, resilience, and balance.

After spending 15 years in the Bay Area, Zac recently returned to his hometown of Carrboro/Chapel Hill, bringing with him a love for movement in all forms. His classes are rooted in an understanding of physiology, emphasizing yoga as a tool for strength, recovery, and healing. He believes that Yin yoga, breathwork, and meditation don’t always get the attention they deserve, yet they are some of the most powerful practices for deep restoration, nervous system regulation, and overall well-being.

When he’s not on the mat, Zac loves spending time with family, skateboarding—whether for fun or teaching lessons—or getting creative in the kitchen, cooking whole-food, anti-inflammatory vegan meals. He’s always looking for new ways to move, connect, and stay present in the world around him.

Teaches in Carrboro

With over a decade of personal practice and five years immersed in hot yoga, Zoë brings a grounded, intentional approach to teaching that blends strength, presence, and mindful movement. For her, yoga is both a ritual and a reset — a way to reconnect with the body, quiet the mind, and cultivate balance on and off the mat. Zoë’s classes are designed to feel empowering, welcoming, and deeply energizing, creating space for students to move with awareness while building confidence and resilience. She is passionate about helping others experience the transformative physical and mental benefits of yoga, encouraging each student to explore their practice in a way that feels authentic and sustainable for them.

Lilli leads the social media team, and has been practicing yoga at Recess since December 2023 and an avid yogi since 2020. At Recess she enjoys everything from Yin to Pilates!

Lilli is a Wilmington native and an undergraduate grad and current graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill.  

 Samantha is a PhD student at UNC-Chapel Hill studying computational pathobiology.

Shortly after starting her program, and Recess opened, she began taking classes to move, relieve stress, and not look at a screen. Samantha has been a regular at Recess ever since. She is so thankful for the community here and loves how everyone lifts each other up and celebrates the small wins. 

When she's not at the studio or in the lab, Samantha enjoys visiting her local libraries and coffee shops.