Yovana Yoga In Downtown Calhoun!
Sarah DeFoor is Yovana's Founder
Sarah DeFoor MBA, E-RYT 500, & YACEP
Sarah decided to deepen her knowledge of yoga and become an instructor once she experienced how yoga helped her recover from a knee injury. She had already seen the transforming effects of yoga on her back pain. Before starting yoga, Sarah experienced back pain almost all the time. Several months into her yoga practice she realized the pain was lessened and at some point, it went away entirely. She has taken more than 200 hours of yoga for back care. Sarah completed her 500-hour teacher training with Susan Hopkins E-RYT 500 and I-AYT at Etowah Valley Yoga in Cartersville, GA. She is certified by Judith Hansen Lasater E-RYT- 500, PT, and PHD as a Relax and Renew Restorative Trainer. She is certified in Yoga for Osteoporosis by Dr. Loren Fishman MD who continues to do clinical trials on yoga as medicine and wrote the book "Yoga for Osteoporosis". Sarah enhanced her knowledge of Yoga for back care by training with Lillah Schwartz E-RYT 500 and I-AYT who authored the book, “Healing Our Backs with Yoga”. Sarah has trained with many yoga teachers at the tops of their specialties like Marlysa Sullivan with yoga for chronic pain, Holle Black for Trauma Sensitive Yoga, Amy Haysman & Sedef Dion for Grounded Kids Yoga. Sarah brings this knowledge and experience to help her community in Calhoun and the surrounding area.
Sarah teaches alignment based yoga, yoga for back care, yin yoga, supported chair yoga, active chair yoga and restorative yoga. Sarah’s goal is to have her students walk away from class feeling better than when they came in the door. She is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) and a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP). Sarah is also the training director for the Yovana Yoga Teacher training program.
Sarah is originally from Calhoun, but hasn't lived in Calhoun for many years. Chasing her career around the world she lived overseas for nine years in Australia, Italy and England. Sarah has a BS from the University of Tennessee and an MBA in Global Management that she received while living in Australia. She is now settled back in Gordon County. She lives in a 118 year old house in Ranger.
Kate Johnson RYT-200
Kate's Yoga Journey
Kate’s yoga journey began when she discovered her mom’s Rodney Yee VHS tapes as a teen. As a college student at UGA, Kate took a few yoga classes but began seriously practicing yoga when she was pregnant with her daughter. Yoga helped her to prepare for childbirth and recover in the months after. Kate continued to practice yoga independently while pregnant with her second daughter.
Yoga became a bigger part of her life when a family friend encouraged her to get certified to teach Yoga. Kate trained under Sue Hopkins, E-RYT 500 and C-IAYT at Etowah Valley yoga. At Etowah Valley she found a deeper connection to yoga and a desire to share that connection with others. She completed her restorative teacher training at Yovana Yoga in 2020 under Sarah DeFoor E-RYT 500 and Certified Rest and Renew Restorative Trainer.
Kate is a Calhoun native and lives close to downtown with her husband, Tim, her daughters, Maggie and Susanna and her two dogs. She is also an art teacher at CMS & CHS.
Melody Parker RYT- 200
Melody's Yoga Journey
In 2008 Melody began experiencing lower back pain, after visiting a chiropractor she found that she had two slipped discs, a pinched nerve & scoliosis. After many adjustments she began to heal & with the nudging of her big sister, decided to give Yoga a try. After just a few classes she fell in love and wanted to learn more and completed her 200 hour certification with Aura Wellness Center, along with mentoring coach Rhonda Shannon of Stretch & Breathe Yoga.
Recently, Melody completed her second 200 hour certification at Yovana Yoga under the direction of Sarah DeFoor E-RYT 500 & Grace Stephen E-RYT 500 & PYT. This allowed her to register with Yoga Alliance as an RYT-200. Melody has done advanced teacher training in Yoga for Back Care with Sue Hopkins E-RYT 500 & C-IAYT. Melody teaches alignment based Hatha Yoga and Slow flow with focus on proper breathing.
Melody has been teaching a Monday night donation class benefiting the hot meals program at the VAC for a decade. First at her church then she moved this class to Yovana when we moved into our larger studio. Melody is a long time resident of Calhoun and has been married to husband Randy for 27 years, has two beautiful children, Tucker & Natalie, a lovely daughter-in law, Rachel and an adorable GRAND child, Caroline, two cats, one dog and 15 chickens.
Anastasia Phalen RYT- 200
Anastasia's Yoga Journey
Anastasia grew up watching her father do yoga every morning, some of her earliest memories are playing on the yoga mat as a child. Although she did not start practicing yoga until she had a child of her own. As they learned together she watched her three year old practicing mindfulness, and calming techniques in other areas of his life, and it became clear that this was something she wanted more of.
Anastasia completed her 200 hour Yoga Teacher certification through Etowah Valley Yoga in Cartersville in 2019 under Lisa Siniard. She has completed the first step of her 95 hour Grounded Kids Yoga Training with Amy Haysman & Sedef Dion. Anastasia teaches Hatha Flow, and hopes to continue her education to teach children about mindfulness and yoga. Anastasia lives with her son in Ranger Ga, she is building a tiny house, and also is a Art student at Georgia Highlands College.
Amy Quarles RYT-200
Amy's Yoga journey
Just before turning 50, Amy decided to make some changes in her life. She saw the Yovana Yoga sign at our first location and decided to give yoga a try. Although she had tried some yoga on her own, she had never taken a studio class. Once she took a class, she fell in love with the way it made her body feel. She became a regular student at Yovana, and then became interested in developing her practice further.
Amy completed her 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training in June 2021 At Yovana Yoga under Sarah DeFoor, E-RYT 500 and Grace Stephen E-RYT 500 & Professional Yoga Therapist. She has completed the first step of her 95 hour Grounded Kids Yoga Training with Amy Haysman & Sedef Dion. She also plans on becoming a yoga therapist to incorporate yoga into her counseling practice.
Amy is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a private practice working with children, adolescents and adults. She has lived in Calhoun for 22 years with her husband, Patrick, and 2 sons, Brian and Connor. In addition to yoga, she enjoys gardening, reading, and hiking.
Ray Robertson
Ray's Qigong journey
Ray Robertson has been practicing qigong for several years, primarily working with his local teacher, Grace Stephen. Since 2015 he has been studying with internationally known Qigong Grand Master Kenneth Cohen, author of The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing.
When Ray first started started practicing Qigong He referred to it as “Meditation with Movement.” At that time, he could never sit still for meditation. Focusing on the movements helped greatly to calm and clear his mind.
Ray has long worked in the field of programming as both a consultant and trainer. He uses qigong daily for overall fitness and relief from the stress-laden world of computers. He also practices meditation and other energy modalities. Ray and his wife, Marina, have been married for 37 years and live in Cartersville, Georgia. When he is not on the schedule he and Marina are traveling around the country in their solar camper van.
Ray teaches qigong as well as qigong meditation. He is also a student of yoga.