Scotta Brady, E-RYT 500 is a Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher and Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher at the 500-hour level with the Yoga Alliance.  She began her yoga studies in 1996 after graduating from Auburn University with a B.A. in philosophy.  Blessed with the opportunity to study with many inspiring teachers around the world, she is full of immense gratitude for and admiration of each one.  She is especially grateful to Anusara Yoga founder John Friend, who has been the greatest influence on her personal transformation and transition from law school student to full-time yoga student. Upon meeting John in 1999, Scotta dedicated herself to studying yoga and has been teaching yoga as service to the Jackson , Mississippi community and beyond since 2000. Scotta’s second greatest influence has been her students because they continually teach her how to be a better teacher. Many thanks to you all.

Scotta teaches classes, workshops, immersions and teacher trainings and strives to give others what her teachers have given her:  a greater awareness of her body, a more intuitive mind, and a taste of the sweetness of life. Scotta is not only the owner and director of Butterfly Yoga, an Anusara-based yoga studio in Jackson , MS , but also the director of its Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher Training Program (RYS 200).

Kristina Kelly, RYT, loves what she does.  Her life changed several years ago 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." Kristina not only teaches yoga classes at Butterfly Yoga, but is also the meditation instructor and the  bellydancing instructor. 

The meditation class theme is "Be the Indiana Jones of Meditation: explorers of our consciousness." She gives each student individual attention and instruction according to their needs.

Bellydancing, however, is the love of her life. Kristina has been dancing for over 15 years. "I teach the class as if every student will eventually perform, whether that is true or not. Although other classes are fitness oriented, this class is about moving with grace, empowering the female spirit and flowing from the heart." The class focuses on American Tribal and Cabaret styles.

Edy McConnell, RYT, started practicing yoga just so she could learn to stand on her head – a feat she had attempted since childhood. Through headstand and all the other yoga poses, she awakened to a new perspective on life and success. 

Edy teaches in the vinyasa style and focuses on connecting each asana, the transitional movements, and the breath. A runner and triathlete with a few hapkido moves in the mix, she enjoys helping athletes develop balance in their minds and bodies through yoga. 

When not standing on her head, Edy uses her noodle in a variety of professional pursuits. She manages an investment partnership, teaches business writing, burns up the NYT crossword puzzle, and figures out new ways every day to please her cat, Frankie. Great ice breakers: Eric Clapton, tap dancing, All My Children.

Tara Blumenthal, RYT, says that going upside down for the first time in yoga was like "traveling to Narnia and back. Time stood still and I can't recall what exactly went through my head, but it certainly gave me a new perspective."  

Tara has come a long way since her initial introduction to yoga three years ago. Working through a number of physical limitations has been at times very challenging -- but also very rewarding. "I had no idea that I had scoliosis until I came to yoga...and the joints in my body were hyper-flexible, but the muscles themselves were extremely tight and very weak.  Recipe for disaster? Nah, just an added challenge." 

Experiencing amazing changes in her body, mind, and spirit, Tara wanted to help others the way her teachers had helped her, so she offers the gift of yoga. Tara contributes the positive change and amazing progress to the system of Anusara, as well as her wonderful teachers.  She considers it a blessing to have studied under Anusara Yoga founder John Friend and is currently working towards her certification in Anusara. She has also had the privilege of studying under other great Anusara instructors, Desiree Rumbaugh and Martin Kirk, as well as Butterfly Yoga owner Scotta Brady (thank you Scotta!).

Besides her love for yoga, Tara loves music. She plays drums in a band with her husband Dave, who plays bass.  Consequently, the other man in her life is also a bass player: her favorite musician, Sting. The disc she's wearing out: The Raconteurs.  When she flies, Coldplay, Peter Gabriel, and Sade are a must have. When asked what she listens to while practicing yoga, however, anything goes.  Some days call for "Love and Peace,” others call for a "Seven Nation Army"!

"While we all come to the yoga mat at different ages and different stages of our lives, we all must begin as Beginners. This humbling aspect of yoga is essential if one is to learn to open up the mind and the body -- a process that requires patience, trust, dedication, and of course, proper alignment. In time these qualities, as well as many others, begin to manifest in our lives and we truly experience the all-encompassing power of yoga for positive change."

Kate McNeel is a Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance.  She has been teaching at Butterfly Yoga since 2004, after completing the Teacher Training program under Scotta’s direction.  She has been practicing yoga steadily since 2002, along with raising two children and starting a new business. 

“Anusara Yoga has improved my overall health dramatically.  My body no longer aches on a daily basis, and I have much greater freedom of movement.  As an added bonus, my spine and neck have stretched and opened, so I’ve grown a full inch!  I’m living proof that you’re never too stiff to start Yoga.”  

Her focus is on helping beginning students start to re-align, open, and strengthen their bodies, while developinging a deep appreciation for their natural gifts.  Kate has completed workshops with Doug Keller, Desiree Rumbaugh and John Friend, including a week-long Teacher Training Workshop in 2005.

Christal Jenkins is a paralegal at a large law firm in the Jackson area.  She loves what she does but found that sitting at a computer for a long time each day has created "computer hunch" - not helped by the fact that her favorite hobbies are quilting, gardening, reading and playing Sudoku puzzles. 

"The gym bored me to tears, I'm not crazy about most sports, and I felt like I was getting too old to be thrown around in martial arts anymore -- it was getting too hard to get back up! The restorative combination of mindwork, breathwork, and asanas that are taught and practiced at Butterfly Yoga seemed like the perfect answer." 

Since Christal started in the fall of 2005, she became increasingly interested and began a 200-hour Anusara Yoga Teacher Training Course this year with Scotta Brady, founder of Butterfly Yoga. "When I taught a class for the first time, substituting for Scotta while she was out of town, I found the act of teaching yoga took the way I learned it to a higher level.  I may never look back."