Melissa Spencer - Founder/Owner of PWY Owner/Founder and Eight Limbs of Yoga Educator E-RYT 500, Certified Meditation Teacher, RCYT, YACEP, Certified Mindfulness Educator, Reiki Master, Ayurveda Coach Melissa's lifelong passion has been teaching and guiding others to discover their true Self through Self-Transformation and looking through the lens of Yoga and Mindfulness to help heal the mind and body. Melissa's passions led her to become an elementary school teacher and after working for many years in the public school system she retired and decided to make a life-changing shift to become a certified Yoga educator. Melissa's interests in trauma led her to create a Mindful-Based program called, Peaceful Minds Curriculum for Educators that is easily implemented into the school curriculum. Melissa took a leap of faith and decided to be formally trained in Yoga in 2013, after practicing yoga and meditation since childhood. Melissa found a Yoga Home through the Himalayan Institute.when she discovered Yoga was more than poses. During a three-week intensive training, Melissa found her next niche and decided to go out into the world of Yoga and began teaching classes in yoga studios and fitness centers. From there, Melissa took another leap and decided to build a home yoga space and create Peaceful World Yoga. Melissa is currently a 500-Hour Yoga Certified Educator, Mindfulness Coach certified through Mindful Schools and UMASS and through Peaceful World Yoga, offers a variety of adult and children-friendly classes and workshops. Melissa has three Registered Schools; 200-Hour Self Transformation Program (also known as 200 YTT), and 300-Hour Advanced Self-Transformation Program (300 YTT) and a Registered Children's Yoga Teacher Training. Melissa also holds private classes where she works through Healing Modalities such a Natural Healing through Energy and is a Reiki Master in the Mikao Usui Tradition. Other areas of passion: Camping, gardening, photography, her dog Morrison, biking and just being outdoors as much as possible.
Amanda Oberbroeckling Amanda will be teaching hands-on Anatomy and Ayurveda 500 RYT, 95 Hour RCYT, YACEP Even before birth, Amanda was introduced to yoga as her mother, Melissa, Peaceful World Yoga founder, practiced asana throughout her entire pregnancy. As a child, Amanda was drawn to dance as a form of expression and exercise, and she trained as a dancer until she was eighteen. It was during this time that Amanda developed her interest in anatomy and physiology, and she began to learn how to tune into her own body, using this information to strengthen her dancing and avoid injury. Amanda’s yoga practice began to grow deeper, moving beyond physical practice, as she pursued her college degree. Learning to manage and overcome the stresses of a very challenging engineering program allowed her to realize the power of a well-rounded Yoga practice, and she has been integrating Yoga into her everyday life ever since!
Amanda has been involved with Peaceful World Yoga from the beginning, helping in any way she could to promote and support her mother’s vision of building an inclusive Yoga community.
Irene Landers Irene will be teaching a portion of the philosophy for this training. Irene will also be teaching the senior chair yoga adaptations portion of the training. 500 RYT, RCYT, YACEP, Senior Chair Yoga Trained Irene’s classes are fun, motivating, have great energy and will leave you awakened to your own body and mind connection. She invokes practical wisdom with her deep understanding of the wisdom of Yoga. She is a Yoga Alliance registered Yoga instructor with a conscious study of Senior Yoga, Silver Sneaker Yoga and Gentle Yoga and Meditation.
Meditation was her doorway into yoga. She began her formal study of meditation in the modality of Transcendental Meditation in 1976. She continues studying all manners of meditation and offers those numerous modalities in her meditation courses. Foremost is her dedication to serve students in a way that supports the experience of gentle transformation from stress held within the body and mind to deep sense of well-being and insight. Her vast experience of life and teaching make her methods potently effective to people of all backgrounds.