Tampa Bay's Women of Yoga: Part 1

Like a lot of things over the course of human existence, yoga didn't involve women in the beginning. Women were not permitted to practice yoga, let alone teach it. Now women make up most of the population of yoga teachers and practitioners globally, and we're taking yoga to a level of popularity never seen before in its existence.

These four great women guided me through some milestones on my journey into yoga:

• Laraine O’Neill, one of my first yoga instructors 
• Shelly Happel, the first teacher to help me “find” my body in a pose
• Adrienne Reed, who taught my first television Power Yoga class
• Sarasvati Devi, one of my first Ashtanga teachers

One way or another, each of these women played a major role in the first stages of my blossoming practice.

Keep these list close by and allow yourself to try new teachers, new styles of yoga and maybe, like myself, find some “first “experiences as you tread your path of yoga. 

Laraine O’Neill was one of my first yoga instructors, so it is fitting that she be the first mentioned in this first of a series of articles covering the awesome women of yoga in the Tampa Bay area. A graduate of Asheville Yoga School and the Anusara Immersion, O’Neill has been teaching for 10 years and currently teaches classes at Yogani and the Lotus Room. She is an E-RYT 500, which means an experienced registered yoga teacher at the 500-hour level.

O’Neill is one of the most loving and caring teachers I have ever had the pleasure of learning from. Many of her students will agree with me here, and I know once you take her class, you will feel the same. O’Neill facilitates around the Bay area, and the next one will be at Yogani at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 9. You can read all about right here on Patch.

“As a lifelong student, the study of yoga continues to enthrall and amaze," O'Neill says. "It’s such a vast topic that I continue to learn new things all the time. I love that about yoga: it’s physical, mental, spiritual, philosophical, scientific, community-oriented, service-related. And I know I’ll never get to the end of it."

Shelly Happel was brought to yoga by a car accident in 1995 (she was a passenger). She had a pretty severe neck and back injury and was told that she would have to be on painkillers and muscle relaxers for the rest of her life. Six months after that, Happel began taking yoga classes and completely stopped taking medication to feel better. Yoga did the trick for her. Four years later, in 1999, she started teaching yoga.

I entered into Happel's class completely unaware that we were kindred spirits. As all of her students will tell you, she makes everyone feel this way, connected and loved. Through her knowledge and humor, she helped me understand alignment is based on individual anatomy and to accept my limitations. I was postnatal, totally out of my body, and she gave me yogic tools I had never used before. Her genius knowledge of male and female anatomy brings a serenity to all her classes.

“I use the poses as a forum for people to learn more about their bodies and the world around them," Happel says. "I have a wicked sense of humor, so my classes are full of humor and levity. I also am passionate about music, so I bring my guitar to class and sing or chant for people at the end of class.”

Happel will be teaching on board the Yoga Cruise from Tampa to Cozumel, Mexico, from Dec. 1-5. “I would love to take the whole Tampa Bay yoga community on board," she says. "There’s room; it’s a big ship!”

Adrienne Reed owns Namasté Yoga Studio at 23606 State Road 54 in Lutz. Teaching and practicing for more than 12 years, Reed’s love of yoga began after she left a very successful corporate career to focus on her family.

In October 2003, Reed opened Namaste and has attracted a strong following of students. Reed hosts a nationally syndicated television show called Power Yoga; some of you out there may have seen and practiced with Reed on WUSF. That is where I first met her. I was home after having my son in 2006, and I stumbled upon her class on WUSF. It was the first time I had ever done a power class in 30 minutes, and it felt wonderful.

"Yoga is the glue that holds it all together for me," Reed says. "It makes me stronger, more flexible, more balanced and has increased my endurance – both physically and mentally. I am honored to have found yoga in my life, and to have the ability to watch people transform their lives day in and day out."

Namaste offers many monthly specials for new students, so if you have never been, it's the perfect reason to try a new studio and some new styles and teachers of yoga. Reed also offers inexpensive babysitting on site during most of the classes on the schedule; calling ahead to make a reservation is required. 

Sarasvati Devi discovered a book of yoga at the local library in 1964 and immediately took it home to begin practicing. Forty years later, Devi is the director of Stillpoint Yoga Studio and of the Prana Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Education Program, specializing in a strong Asana-based style and Yoga Therapeutics, making yoga accessible to everyone. She is an E-RYT 500 and a CYT 1000, a certified yoga therapist at the 1,000-hour level.

One of my first experiences practicing Ashtanga yoga was with Devi in the old Stillpoint studio on Fowler Avenue in Tampa. I remember her relaxed, encouraging instruction through the primary series, and that it reassured me continue to study Ashtanga.

Devi also works with special needs children and developmentally challenged adults. She developed, along with Vaz Rogbeck, a special “” program that has spread yoga to a community that needs yoga as much as anyone else.

“I love teaching yoga,” Devi says. “Yoga is my life; it has made me healthy and keeps me sane. When I teach, I just have an idea in mind, I look around the room, breathe, start talking to the students in the space. From that point on, it is just a cosmic dance, a divine playtime, breath and motion, prana vinyasa!" 

I hope you find these ladies along your yogic journey, as I did. I know that they will inspire some firsts for you, too!

Namaste!