Meet your teachers

Knowledgeable, caring, and endlessly patient — the people who make Palm Yoga feel like home.

17 years teaching
Alignment-first instruction
Carrollwood, Tampa

A student easing into a standing backbend at Palm Yoga in Tampa

Meet the team

The people on the mat with you

All of our teachers are professionals trained to offer the highest-quality instruction. Every one is approachable, caring, and possesses a true love for teaching. After just a few lessons, you’ll see why Palm Yoga is Tampa’s choice for yoga.

Rebecca Wood practicing a supported triangle pose at Palm Yoga

Founder

Owner & Studio Director

Rebecca Wood

Rebecca has been drawn to yoga since childhood — long before she had a word for it — using breathing techniques to steady herself through asthma and allergies, and loving to stretch as a young gymnast.

She moved to Los Angeles in 1997 and took her first class at Gold’s Gym. She was hooked. “I remember leaving that class feeling so open and clear. I loved it.” She trained at Planet Yoga with Leeann Carey and first met Kofi Busia, who became one of her main teachers.

Over the next eight years she studied with Donna Farhi, Rodney Yee, Erich Schiffman, Richard Miller, Kofi Busia and Judith Lasater — taking Judith’s first-ever Restorative Yoga Teacher Training at the Iyengar Institute of San Francisco in 2000. After moving to Tampa she developed her successful Yoga for Beginners DVD series, and continues to deepen her practice through personal study and workshops with senior Iyengar teachers — between running two businesses and raising two children.

On video: Yoga for Beginners, Vol. 1 · Yoga at the Zoo (Kids Yoga) · Yoga for Kids · Restorative Yoga

Book a private session Watch her videos

Instructor

Donna McClellan

“I was drawn to yoga the moment I realized how easily and completely it grounded me. My sleep, my health, my work and my relationships all improved. Without effort I became awake, energized and joyous.”

Donna has taught prenatal, children’s, Nidra, meditation and restorative classes. She’s taught blind and handicapped students, recovering addicts, and the homeless — in workplaces and on Florida beaches, from the very young to the very old.

Her philosophy echoes her daily mantra: “Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu” — may all beings everywhere be happy and free.

Instructor

Bhavi Nirav

Bhavi is a certified Intro II Iyengar teacher and a lifelong student of yoga. Her formal training began under a senior teacher from the esteemed Kaivalyadham institute in Lonavala, India, and continued at the Sivananda ashram in hatha yoga, pranayama and Reiki.

She has taught for over eight years. Falling in love with the precision of the Iyengar method inspired her to pursue certification; her mentors include Rebecca Lerner, Dean Lerner and Pom Cayeiro. Bhavi teaches with precise alignment and thoughtful sequencing, always bringing a sense of fun.

Bhavi is also a registered dietitian pursuing a PhD in biotechnology, and a mother of two.

Instructor

Lauren Handy

Lauren fell in love with yoga in high school, when her cross-country coaches taught weekly classes to build agility and prevent injury. For her, yoga brought an overwhelming sense of serenity, love, and community.

She earned her 200-hour certification through CorePower Yoga in Encinitas, California. As a teacher, her purpose is to inspire her students and create a space of serenity, love, and community. Born and raised in San Diego, she now studies marketing at the University of Tampa.

A row of students in downward-facing dog during a class at Palm Yoga in Tampa

Your first class is free

Come practice with us.

New students take a class on the house. Come feel why North Tampa has trusted Palm Yoga for 17 years — no experience required, every body welcome.

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17Years in Carrollwood

5Ways to practice

1stClass is on us