The team

Starr is a Registered Yoga Alliance Yoga Teacher. She is a graduate of Thrive Yoga’s 200-hour yoga teacher training with a specialization in Vinyasa and Hatha yoga, and a current student of Yoga Ed.’s Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher Certificate with a Trauma Informed Focus.

Starr is a life-long learner, yoga teacher, and yoga student who loves to gain insight from her students.

Starr believes that yoga is for everyone and dreams of creating more inclusive yoga spaces.

Starr strives for her yoga practice, and yoga lessons to be yoga practice centered, not yoga perfect.

I started my fitness journey in 2005 to “get back into shape” after having my second baby. I fell I love with group fitness classes at my gym and made some lifelong friends. I decided to get my general certification in 2007, and I added a spinning certification in 2008 and Les Mills BodyCombat in 2009. In 2020, I decided to add a barre certification and Les Mills BodyFlow to round out my cardiovascular and strength work. I love the energy and support of teaching in a studio. I’ve always found that in the group setting, participants find success in reaching their goals through consistency and mutual support.

Shannon (RYT 200) began practicing yoga in 2004 and completed her first teacher training in 2009.  As a teacher, she is committed to helping students cultivate practices of self-inquiry, self-care and expansion via intentional movement, meditation, and mindfulness. She seeks to create a safe space for students to explore their own experiences with curiosity and compassion. Her public and private offerings include dynamic, intuitive vinyasa sequences, restoratives, and slowed-down meditative flows. 

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Shannon believes that yoga is not just something we do on the mat, but a system of living, breathing practices that help us to return again and again to foundations of steadiness, strength, and connection with deep inner knowing. These are practices that inform how we live in and experience the world, and enable us to better tune-in to what matters most, and to show up wherever we are with greater capacity for love and equanimity. 

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Shannon lives in Owings, MD with her husband, Justin, and two daughters. She loves travel, hiking, poetry, and fresh, natural, beautiful food. She has trained in advanced sequencing, therapeutic applications of yoga, pre-natal yoga, functional anatomy, and yoga for anxiety and depression, and under various traditions of Bhakti, Vinyasa, and Hatha yoga. She is currently working towards Yin yoga certification with Sarah Powers and 300hr teaching certification under the guidance of Jason Crandell. 

Wendy is a 2019 graduate of the Evolve Yoga and Wellness 200 hour Interdisciplinary Yoga Teacher Training. Her training also includes 100 hours of study and experiences of yoga philosophy, religion, and history, as well as training in teaching yoga for individuals with PTSD. She has had a career in public safety for over 20 years. She started her career as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. She worked as a 911 operator, police dispatcher, and has been a police officer for 20 years. She discovered yoga in 2009 as a way to manage chronic pain caused by injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident. The practice of yoga began to weave its way into other facets of her life as a means to focus the mind and manage stress. Wendy’s desire to become a yoga teacher was fueled by her passion to share the amazing things that yoga can do for the mind, body and spirit with others.

Josh’s health and wellness journey began in 2020 as he searched for alternatives to self-medicating as a way to treat his chronic back pain and profound emotional trauma. 

At the suggestion of his wife, he attended an aerial class at Flying Frog Fitness, and fell in love at first inversion. Over the next year, he kicked pain meds and alcohol, lost 40 pounds and found healing, happiness, and self-confidence inside the hammock. 

Josh obtained his Aerial Instructor’s Certification in 2022 through Flow & Fly at Flying Frog Fitness. He now enjoys “hanging out” and helping others discover what‘s possible when you learn to trust yourself and the fabric, laugh and let go, and sing along to great music.

Traci Grzywacz is a 2019 250RYT graduate of Yoga Teacher Training at Evolve Yoga and Wellness. She began her yoga journey about 6 years ago. An avid dancer, Traci is also a certified Barre instructor through Barrevolution. Movement has always been integral in her lifestyle. She is currently a first grade teacher of 26 years. Traci incorporates yoga into her classroom on a daily basis and strongly believes it is beneficial and life-changing for the future of our youth. She views yoga as a path to self-love and peace. Through gratitude and compassion, Traci hopes to share the seven chakras and connection to the Earth and healing with her practice.

I possess an endless fascination with how intricately our minds and bodies influence each other. My classes are specifically formatted to offer multiple modifications for poses and tailored to provide the maximum physical/mental benefit. I have safely and positively impacted thousands of students. My goal is to utilize my knowledge of yoga techniques to improve the strength, flexibility, cardiopulmonary fitness, and share JOY with as many people as possible!

I began taking yoga in 2011 as part of recommended therapy for PTSD. This was a far cry from the high-intensity, aggressive workouts I was accustomed to, but I quickly fell in love with the practice of yoga, not only for its physical benefits, but also for the peace and comfort yoga brought to my life. For me, the practice is a place to connect with myself and find stillness in the chaos. I will always be a student of yoga and I am thankful for the many amazing teachers who have shared with me. In my classes, my goal is to create a safe space where individuals of all levels can meet on the mat to move their bodies with purpose and turn inward to find stillness. Through tuning in to ourselves, we can find peace and equanimity in the world. If you can breathe, you can practice yoga.

Spencer grew up as a Navy brat and spent an impactful portion of his childhood living next to and exploring the Chesapeake Bay. He gravitates towards and takes pleasure in enhancing aspects of human life that bring greater aliveness and joy, and he attributes this inclination to his childhood connection with nature. He also enjoys cycling, paddling, and painting with watercolors.

Some of his training in embodied modalities include 200-hour Integral Yoga Teacher Training at Satchidananda Ashram in Yogaville (November 16, 2013), Purpose Guide Certification from the Purpose Guides Institute (Spring 2020), Trauma, Tension and Stress Releasing (Recovery) Exercises (TRE) - Certified Provider through TRE, LLC (September 2021) and Flexibility Coach Certification

Science of Stretching - YOGABODY (March 2023)

Cecilia has been teaching group ex and training clients for over 21 years. She teaches Yoga, Pilates, cardio, HIIT, Tabata, Cycling, Barre & Weight Lifting. In addition to teaching and training, she also counsels clients on their nutrition.