Heather Hanchuk, TIY-T

Heather graduated from Baldwin Wallace College with a B.A. in Sports Medicine & Athletic Training. She is also a Physical Therapist Assistant and Integrative Health Practitioner, and is certified in Sound Healing. Heather has worked with people of all ages, and brings years of experience into teaching yoga. As a college basketball player, Heather has always loved being active and is now a marathon runner. Heather completed her 500 hour yoga teacher training through the pandemic, it was her stress relief. Heather believes yoga is for everyone, no matter the age, size, shape, flexibility, or fitness level. “Yoga is a dance between control and surrender - between pushing and letting go. When to push and when to let go becomes part of the creative process, part of the open-ended exploration of your being.”

Chelsey Cox

Chelsey started gymnastics before she could walk and continued throughout high school. By the time she got to college and stopped moving daily, she realized something didn’t feel right in her body! She was craving movement and stretching so she picked up an elective yoga class and never looked back. 14 years later she earned her 200 hour yoga teacher training at Circle of Life Yoga. 

Chelsey lives in Strongsville with her husband Jeremy, son Theo, and their two dogs Kingsley and Kora.  To Chelsey, yoga is a safe escape to feel aliveness in your body and allow yourself to make a conscious decision to relax and be present.

Gabby Scalese

Gabby started her yoga journey after she had her second son. She loves the way yoga can move the body into various poses while improving breathing, strength, and flexibility. Gabby completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Circle of Life Yoga, and was the "best decision" she would say. Gabby had some great opportunities spreading the practice of yoga to others from young kids all the way to groups of families. Outside of yoga, Gabby enjoys spending time with her husband and two sons playing in the pool, camping in the woods, or keeping it simple with having movie nights. Gabby loves being a boy mom!

Sarah Germano

Sarah began her yoga journey after the birth of her twins. Using yoga not only to recover, she used it as a powerful tool in her fight with PPD to find a sense of herself again. This experience then repeated itself following her subsequent births. Driven by a desire to help others facing a similar struggle, she became a 200 hour certified yoga teacher and wants to help people who feel the same things she did whether it be isolation, inadequacy, or self-doubt.

Regardless of gender or background, Sarah recognizes we all face moments of vulnerability like this and sometimes a moment or reflection can lead us back to our inner strengths and worthiness. As a wife and mom of 4, Sarah loves a good vinyasa flow with lots of movement to keep her focus on her practice. Her mission is to create an inclusive space with a great vibe and serenity in the studio.

Julie Ritchie

Julie has been teaching high school health and physical education and coaching many sports at Berea City Schools since earning her bachelor’s of Arts degree from Baldwin Wallace College in and her masters from Ashland University. Five years into her teaching career, the district wanted to offer different elective gym classes instead of mainly team sports. This gave Julie and a colleague the opportunity to design a Fitness and Stress Management class, that included circuit training, mindfulness, yoga, pilates, etc.

This was Julie’s first experience with many of these exercises due to her involvement with so many team sports like soccer, volleyball, softball, etc.and was fearful to start teaching an area that she was not as knowledgeable about. Julie spent the next few years going to yoga classes and learning how to teach yoga to her students and immediately noticed the physical, mental and emotional benefits of yoga in herself and her students. Julie completed the 200 and 300 hour yoga instructors course at Circle Of Life Yoga to become a better teacher to her students and to continue to teach the benefits during her retirement. When Julie is not teaching or on her mat she enjoys spending time with her husband and two siberian huskies. She also enjoys being outside, going for walks, and playing sand volleyball.

Lisa Ackim

A 200 hour level Certified Yoga Instructor since July, 2014, Lisa has been practicing yoga for over 15 years. Yin, Ashtanga, Sivananda, and Vinyasa are some of her favorite styles of yoga to practice. She’s also a Licensed Massage Therapist and has been practicing massage since 2004. She’s certified in Thai Massage and a Master Reiki Practitioner. She feels being a Yoga Instructor and Massage Therapist is the “BEST” job in the world because she gets to help people feel good all day long. When she is not practicing yoga and massage, she enjoys fitness, reading, gardening and music.

Lysette Roman

Lysette is a 200HR yoga teacher, lawyer, social work student, and community advocate based in Olmsted Falls. She approaches yoga as both a grounding personal practice and a collective healing tool—one that has carried her through the demands of high-level athletics, legal practice, and mental health challenges in her 20s. Lysette creates trauma-aware, inclusive spaces that invite students to rest, reconnect, and move with intention. Lysette’s teaching is informed by her lived experience, her passion for social justice, and a deep belief in yoga as a practice of inspiration, liberation, and resilience. Whether you’re new to the mat or returning to your body, Lysette welcomes you just as you are. 

Outside of yoga, Lysette is pursuing her Master’s in Social Work at Case Western Reserve University, focusing on Community Practice for Social Change, and currently serves as Vice President of the Board for the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence. Lysette enjoys oatmeal raisin cookies, girly sleepovers, and playing with her two guinea pigs, George & Wiggles. 

Rachel Metz

Rachel’s journey into her yoga practice began in 2002, when she stepped into an Iyengar class, and soon after that discovered both Ashtanga and Vinyasa as well. Feeling right at home after many years of dance, she connected immediately with both the physical alignment as well as the fluid movement of a flow class. Quickly discovering the value beyond the physical, she began to feel shifts in her mental and emotional well-being; deeply called to one day share this with others by becoming an instructor.

In 2019, the dream was put into motion, and Rachel graduated from her 200-hour training. In 2024, she continued on to study further and received a 300-hour certification. Rachel teaches Vinyasa flow, Yin, and Restorative, and enjoys weaving all the styles she’s learned over the years creatively together into her sessions. Her classes are infused with yoga wisdom, poetry, music thoughtfully curated to her themes, and optional assisting blended with her essential oil products and Thai yoga stretches. In addition to her 500 hour training, she continues her education every year and has certifications in Thai yoga massage, trauma-informed yoga, aromatherapy, and Ayurveda. Her favorite pose is Balancing Half Moon, which she views as, "the ultimate feeling of remaining rooted and true to your authenticity, while remaining open, playful, and free to explore life."

Jordan Bekelja, TIY-T

Jordan is a trauma-informed mental health therapist, reiki certified, and a 200 RYT.

"I believe yoga is an amazing way to find connection to yourself through grounded movement and intentional breath. My classes vary from power vinyasas that allow you to trust in yourself to push your body while focusing on softening through effort, to gentle flows that allow for expansion and regulation. No matter the class, trauma informed care can be expected, as well as comforting and energetic instruction."

Outside of yoga you can find her walking her dog Pickles, drinking coffee and reading tarot on the front porch with my two cats: Pepper and Poppy. Or, just dilly dallying in her garden.