Teacher Bios
Meet the teachers:
Debi Lewis
Debi began studying yoga in 1985 with Janie Stickland and began to teach under her guidance at the Yoga Center of Jackson in 1992. She initially found yoga to be the solution to her back pain and depression, later realizing the total lifestyle benefit it offers. In the following years, she has studied many forms of yoga and has synthesized them into what she has named Joyflow. She is the owner and director Joyflow Yoga Studio and Joyflow Yoga Teacher Training.
In 1998 Debi became certified in Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, an emotional-release body-work therapy. She currently studies regularly with master instructor Rod Stryker and is completing his certification in ParaYoga. The focus of this method is in customizing the practice for our individual needs, including transformational breathwork and meditation, grounded in a strong acknowledgment of Divine Presence in all of life.
For many years, Debi has been a student of the Enneagram, a fascinating model of personality patterns and how we can recognize, move through them and experience our true self - the Bliss beyond the Ego. Learning how these patterns work in our lives is very clarifying, helping us to understand each other and ourselves. Debi recently became certified through Riso and Hudson's Enneagram Institute and her specialty is in recommending a yoga practice for each type. She leads workshops and retreats around the world and offers private consultations on this. To learn more about this go to yoganineways.com.
Debi has recently been certified in Yoga Meets Dance (TM), which is an outrageously fun and simple healing synergy of yoga, free and guided dance, community building and stillness meditation. Her workshops frequently begin with this fun way to connect. She has also recently earned her certification in Laughter Yoga, in which you discover that laughing for no reason is a very reasonable thing to do!
Debi's life experiences, being the eldest daughter of a Methodist minister, being part of a Sufi spiritual family, and her lifelong interest and study (B.A. in Liberal Arts) in mysticism, psychology, art and music have enriched her ability to share Joyflow with you.
Ana Bruton
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Ana began her yoga journey 12 years ago in attempt to complement her lifestyle as a young, competitive swimmer. Originally, Ana practiced yoga to strengthen over-used joints, to gain attention and focus more precisely, however, it quickly became so much more. This journey with yoga took Ana all the way through college, as a Division-I, national swimmer, allowing her to compete at the highest levels of athletics while remaining focused and calm. After college, Ana's yoga practice kept her driven and balanced during the rigors of graduate school. After years of practicing different styles of yoga, Ana began to see all of the beautiful things that manifested in her life, in large part due to yoga, and recognized that she wanted to be able to share the benefits of practicing yoga with others. For years, Ana practiced at CorePower Yoga in San Diego, so it felt natural to complete the yoga teaching training programs there. Ana's teaching style focuses on a strong flow, moving with the breath, balance, strength and intention...ohhh, and amazing music! Ana's main goal as an instructor is to guide individuals in their own graceful journey, while encouraging love, light and awareness. Ana teaches different levels of yoga, everything from fun beginner classes to energetic/challenging advanced classes. Each time Ana has the opportunity to watch her students practice yoga and transform their life’s journey, it serves as unending inspiration. Come flow, sweat, breathe, and balance with Ana!
Asher Beam
Asher Beam began practicing yoga in 2005 when faced with a great personal adversity. Yoga helped bring mental focus and relaxation to her life in a time of turbulence. In the years following, she began to realize the true joy of practicing and desired to share this joy with others. Asher enrolled in the Joyflow teacher training program in September 2010 and has just completed it this April 2011. She is an enthusiastic teacher and gets pleasure from teaching all varieties of students by using the spirit of encouragement to further her student’s individual yoga journeys. She is employed as a registered MRI technologist and is fluent in human anatomy and physiology. In her spare time, Asher is fond of spending time with family and friends, practicing classical piano, and working for her family’s Christmas ornament business.
Christy Wheeler
Christy started practicing yoga in Chicago in 2005 while in school for Massage Therapy, and has been hooked ever since. Her interests in healing, helping people, and living a healthy lifestyle mesh very well with yoga, its practices and philosophies. She knew she wanted to teach even after her very first class, motivated because of the amazing affect it had on her own body, mind, and soul.
Christy has experience in several different styles of yoga including Ashtanga, Hatha, Vinyasa, Mysore, and Iyengar. She particularly enjoys the strength and power of the Ashtanga style and the flow of the Vinyasa style. Christy made the decision to attend a teacher training program in Chicago in 2009 but things changed in life, as they often do, and she came to Jackson, MS instead. After finding Joyflow and sharing her story with Debi, she found her timing couldn't have been better, as the Joyflow program was about to start. Christy completed her 200 hour RYT with Debi at Joyflow in 2010. She plans to continue her training by obtaining her 500 hour RYT certificate and becoming a registered Yoga Therapist. Currently she is employed as a Massage Therapist in Ridgeland. Christy’s two passions, massage therapy and yoga, continue to help her to live a healthy lifestyle and to assist others in their journey of health and wellness. “I look forward to being able to share my love of Yoga with you all.”
Kate Nicodemus
Kate has been practicing yoga for the past 13 years. When she was a teenager she got diagnosed with scoliosis and doctors put her into a brace. For years she had tried to make her back problems better but nothing seemed to be successful. One day she went to a local studio, back then living in Prague, Czech Republic, for her first class and has been practicing since. For the past two years she has been trained, and recently certified at the advanced 500 RYT level, by a most influential B.K.S. Iyengar inspired teacher, Ruth White, who lives in England and runs the Karuna Yoga Centre. Her teaching is inspired by accuracy and detailed attention from Iyengar tradition in combination with her love and passion to teach people yoga and help them to gain not only flexibility, better posture and strength, but also to find inner calm and balance. She also has three little girls who love to practice yoga with her and who became her biggest fans and supporters.
Kristina Kelly
Kristina Kelly recieved her RYT certification from Joyflow, with an interest in Kundalini yoga, many years ago. Her life changed when she began to practice yoga regularly and realized that the direction of her life was not as it should be. "I honestly believe it was yoga that helped me see my job was killing me (literally) and my family life. So I made big changes and I am so much happier for it." However, Kristina's real love is bellydancing, which she has studied, taught and performed avidly for many years. She teaches both Cabaret and Tribal styles, and delights in learning dance styles and costuming from all over the world. Her dance troupe The Missihippi's can be found performing frequently in the Metro-Jackson area.
Laura McCarthy
Laura began practicing yoga with Rodney Yee videos about 15 years ago and her love for yoga instantly blossomed. During college in Berkeley, CA, she was opened to a new world of yoga-- more styles and studios than she could imagine. Having been a competitive cross-country runner, Laura was drawn to the challenging nature of the Bikram style of yoga, while dabbling in other styles. While traveling after graduation, she had the opportunity to take classes in different countries (often taught in different languages) and different styles -- everything from Iyengar to Kundalini to Yin Yoga. When Laura moved to London, she was fortunate enough to live near the Sivananda Vedanta Centre, which ran a wonderful pre-certification training program for teachers (three levels to complete before even applying for teacher training). She worked her way through each of the levels, attended beautiful kirtans, and did volunteer work in the co-op's vegan restaurant. Next Laura played in the mountains of Colorado for a year, studying law and doing yoga in Boulder and at retreat centers in the Rockies. Then she moved to Australia with her husband in 2006. While pregnant with her second child, Laura completed her RYT-200 at My Health Yoga in Brisbane, Australia and taught classes up until 2 days before she gave birth. Her client base grew over the next 2 years as she taught in gyms and community centers, and in 2009 she started Serenity Yoga, offering group classes, private workshops, yoga therapy, and Ayurveda wellness workshops. She has additional training in children's yoga and pregnancy yoga through Radiant Child Yoga, and has experience working with Multiple Sclerosis patients. Laura also does yoga therapy with adults and adolescents at a local partial-hospitalization psychiatric facility. She likes to constantly explore new ways to move and get in touch with our bodies and minds through yoga, and loves a good detox sequence or fun flow to inspire you to keep exploring all that yoga has to offer.
Deirdre Danahar
Deirdre M. Danahar, MSW, MPH, LICSW is a personal coach, consultant, and facilitator 
working with individuals, States and organizations across the United States. She is known for her insight, humor, compassion and common sense, which she uses to help busy professionals focus on priorities, realize goals, and create invigorating, fulfilling lives. Deirdre teaches frequent workshops at Joyflow Yoga.