Staff and Instructors

Moira Anderson

Founder/Director

“I encourage students to make peace with their bodies, and to recognize their innate wisdom, and wholeness in class, and in their lives.”

LCSW, Certified 500 hour Yoga Teacher, E-RYT 500, Certified Pilates Teacher, Director, Yoga Teacher Training Instructor

Moira is a Certified, Professional Level Kripalu Yoga Teacher & Teacher Trainer, registered with Yoga Alliance at the E-500 hour Level, as well as YACEP (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider). She has been teaching yoga full-time since 2002.

Sharing her love of yoga with students, and directing programs and workshops at River Rock Yoga and Pilates is her joy and her passion. Moira’s classes offer students compassionate self-observation, gentle alignment cues and empowering vinyasa flow. Breath awareness and exploratory, joint freeing movement are also emphasized. The nurturing environment she creates in her sessions, as well as her understanding of anatomy and physiology, inspire a healthy, open body and a focused, relaxed mind.

Moira is continually inspired by the healing power, and peace generated by yoga practice. She sees the connection of mind, body and breath as means to be present in each moment. Awareness of the present moment calms the mind and inspires ease.

Moira is honored to have taken over 200 hours of alignment based yoga & philosophy workshops with Doug Keller. She has also studied with Erich Schiffman, and finds his freedom based yoga inspirational. Moira completed Shiva Rea’s Vinyasa Flow Teacher training in 2004. She has studied Jivamukti yoga with Sharon Gannon and David Life, and Para Yoga with Rod Stryker. Moira teaches the energetic, body balancing core work of Pilates, and is a Certified Pilates Instructor in the style of Balance Point Pilates.

An English literature graduate of The Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO, she minored in Performing Arts/Dance, as well as Elementary Education, receiving an Elementary Teaching Certification. Moira is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker/Therapist, with a Master’s Degree from the University of Southern Mississippi. She is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, and has been working in clinical mental health settings since 2010. 

Moira is a Certified Children’s Yoga Teacher through The Asheville Yoga Center in Asheville, North Carolina. She is co-director of the 200 hr Teacher Training Program at River Rock Yoga with Laura Tyree of Dragonfly Yoga, Fort Walton Beach, Fl., where she also teaches Advanced 500 hour Yoga Teacher Training Programs. Private instruction is available with Moira in Yoga, Yoga Therapy, Yoga Philosophy, Meditation and Pilates. 228-365-3191. 

Kim Jackson

Kim Jackson

Studio Manager

CYT, RYT 200, Instructor, Studio Manager

Kim has spent most of her life in her favorite town of Ocean Springs. She graduated from Ocean Springs High School in 1996 and went on to attend Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. There Kim studied Business with an emphasis on Entrepreneurship. She graduated with an Associate of Arts in December 2004. Kim discovered the joys of Yoga and Pilates while attending classes with Moira at River Rock Yoga Studio. Kim is certified at the 200-hour level through the Dragonfly Yoga Studies program at River Rock Yoga. She is also certified in Piyo (Pilates/Yoga Fusion), and Children’s Yoga through the Asheville Yoga Center in North Carolina. 
 
Kim has a deep passion for helping people discover the overall health benefits of Yoga and Pilates which makes being Studio Manager of River Rock Yoga and Pilates a dream come true for her. She is also a long-time Bellydancer and loves spreading the positive aspects that dancing has to offer. Kim also hosts retreats and workshops through her business named SoulReset. Each event offers a safe, healing space to disconnect from the world and reconnect to one’s truest self. 
 
Kim brings enthusiasm and creativity to her classes, workshops, and retreats. She creates a lighthearted, secure environment that enhances learning, body awareness, and self-esteem. Her ultimate goal is to always be learning and growing in her personal life, so she can continue to share her knowledge and help others become stronger and healthier in all aspects of their own life.

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose”.

-Dolly Parton
Shawn Chappell

Shawn Chappell

Instructor

Certified 500-hour Yoga Teacher, E-RYT 500, Certified Yoga of Recovery Yoga Instructor/Counselor

Shawn lives in Ocean Springs and is a 1985 graduate of Ocean Springs High School. While raising two children she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Paralegal Studies from the University of MS in 1995.

In May of 2001, seeking relief from depression and severe back pain associated with Scoliosis, she walked in to her first yoga class and became a devoted student of yoga and from the teachings of an eclectic mix of teachers and traditions, Shawn is a certified yoga instructor at the 300hr level and was registered with Yoga Alliance at the 200hr level in 2004.

In 2010, in her desire to continue her education and study of yoga, she attended Surya Chandra Healing Yoga School under the direction of JJ Gormley, E-RYT-500.

In June 2016, while attending Integral Yoga Academy, Satchidananda Ashram, Shawn became a certified Yoga of Recovery Yoga Instructor/Counselor under the direction of Durga Leela/C. O’Neill which integrates the wisdom of Yoga, Meditation, Ayurveda and traditional recovery tools such as 12-Step programs to overcome addictive and self-destructive behavior. Also, that same year, she completed the full course in Naturopathy, a course in natural health, nutrition, herbalism, and safe health practices under the direction of Betty Sue O’Brien, ND at the Southern Institute of Natural Health. Shawn is also a Reiki Usui Shiki Ryoho: Level Two Practitioner and a “Connected Warriors” Yoga Instructor which provides yoga for our veterans.

Shawn’s classes are especially beneficial for students just beginning the path of yoga and for those that enjoy a more therapeutic, gentler and restorative experience. Shawn teaches gentle, gentle vinyasa flow, chair yoga, yin yoga, restorative, yoga nidra (yogic sleep) and private lessons by appointment.

With 20 years of personal practice and teaching experience along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Shawn’s classes bring a quiet and natural presence to support your practice both emotionally and physically. 

“One Truth, Many Paths” ~ Swami Satchidananda

Laura Tyree

Instructor

Certified 500-hour Yoga Teacher, E-RYT 500,  Yoga Teacher Training Instructor

Laura Tyree, E-RYT 500, brings her light to Mississippi several times each year to co-teach our Yoga Teacher Training here at River Rock Yoga. She encourages her students to utilize their yoga practice in a multitude of ways. Many deepen their awareness of self and open fully to their unique beauty and strength, both inner and outer. Her teachings grow and blossom as her life transforms. Blend these cherished traits with her unique approach to the eight-limb path, mantra meditation, anatomy, and psychology, and then one can grasp the full, organic richness of her yogic style.

On this journey, she combines hand mudras with asana, linking the breath, mantra, energetic clarity, and spiritual concepts to flow richly into a timeless experience of yoga and the self. Laura Tyree first trained with Jan Campbell and the rigorous Iyengar Yoga Method in 1986, while recovering from a sports-related injury from college. She began teaching in 1990 after meeting teachers Erich Schiffmann and Rodney Yee. Internal awareness, breath, and compassionate purpose lead her to deepen her practice and her studies.

After many years of practice and study with Rodney, Erich, and other dedicated and renowned teachers, she continues to hone her teaching skills and explore her personal growth. Laura opened the Florida doors of Dragonfly Yoga Studies in 2001 and, later, Hot Yoga Om, both in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. 

Lyn Harper Cheney

Instructor

CYT, RYT-200, Instructor

Lyn Harper Cheney (CYT, RYT-200) has been teaching at River Rock since 2009.  Her gentle classes support and nurture each student’s deep connection with self.  Her teaching emphasizes breathing and moving mindfully and practicing kindness toward oneself.  She is grateful for her teachers, students, and all beings who inspire her in yoga and in life.

“It only takes a reminder to breathe, a moment to be still, and just like that something in me settles, softens, and makes space for imperfection.”  ~ Danna Faulds, Walking Slowly

Alex Ali

Instructor

Certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher

Alex Ali has been a full-time yoga teacher for the past 15 years. A graduate of the Kripalu School of Yoga in Massachusetts, he has had the pleasure of teaching and studying yoga in Boston, Asheville, Seattle, Washington, D.C. & New York City. Alex discovered yoga in high school as a way to cope with chronic health issues and support mental well-being, and soon realized he’d devote his life to the practice. A lover of movement, Alex has studied a variety of yoga traditions in addition to martial arts, qi-gong, classical ballet, and modern dance. 
 
Alex strives to give students “the glow.” His playful approach and disarming sense of humor set an inclusive tone for both beginning and advanced students. Classes are truly eclectic, focusing on dynamic sequencing, rich breathwork, and formal postures for longevity and insight. Whether teaching vinyasa flow or restorative yoga, Alex emphasizes the essential connection between your physiology and your neurology. The body is an instrument to potentiate the self for optimal health, compassionate relationships, and mindful living.
 
Off the mat, Alex studies native plant communities and offers garden design solutions based on biodiversity, resilience, and ecological restoration. He’s a strong advocate for pollinators, habitat preservation, edible landscaping, and a plant-based lifestyle. 
Diane Martin

Diane Martin

Instructor

Certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher, Certified 12-Step Recovery Instructor

Diane has been practicing yoga since 2009.  The practice was inspired by the possibility of regaining physical flexibility and strength that was lost as a result of her right hip replacement.  Physical limitations in mind, along with permission from her surgeon, she joined River Rock Yoga & Pilates Studio and learned to modify asana on the mat to safely suit her capabilities.

In 2020, Diane graduated from the 200-hr. teacher training course offered by Yoga School, LLC in Covington, La., with Becky Gelatt.  The true meaning of all yoga has to offer the earnest student began to come to light during her training there.  As her practice began to heal her heart, mind, soul and body, she was inspired to transmit the possibilities with others. 

Thirsty for more learning, Diane took the Yoga of 12 Step Recovery certification and recently graduated from the 2022 200-hr. teacher training program at River Rock Yoga with Moira Anderson and Laura Tyree.  Diane’s passion to teach yoga to beginners has been led by awareness that there are modifications for every pose and yoga offers healing practices for all beings regardless of the matters of the heart.  She seeks to share what has been transformational in her own life.

Anita Brooks

Anita Brooks

Instructor

Certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher

Anita Brooks is originally from Washington, DC and has lived on the coast since 1991. She is the president of her own company ASB Marketing, LLC. She began her yoga practice in January 2001 to help build strength and cope with back problems. Although she enjoyed the amazing physical benefits of her practice, she fell in love with yoga for the soulful peace she experienced from the merging of mind, body and spirit. Through her personal practice, classes and workshops with several national yoga teachers including Doug Keller, Raye Lynn Rath, Cora Wen and Baxter Bell, Anita has refined and improved her yoga skills. Her focus is primarily in the Anusara yoga tradition. She is passionate about living her yoga and enjoys sharing this passion with new beginner students.

Meg

Meg Henderson

Instructor

Certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher

Meg began practicing yoga in 2006, when a friend suggested it might help her with recurring injuries from running and cycling. Since that time, yoga has been an effective tool for managing sports-related pain, and throughout the years, Meg has come to treasure its powerful mental benefits, too. In 2022, she went through the teacher training program at River Rock Yoga and earned her 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification. This experience opened up the full spectrum of yoga traditions and practices, and it deepened her personal practice tremendously. Meg’s classes emphasize the mind-body-breath connection, and they focus on both the strengthening and healing aspects of yoga.

Logan

Logan Leake

Instructor

Certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher

Logan practiced yoga asana off and on as a teenager, always feeling a certain pull to the art, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she found her way back to the mat, or rather, found her way back home as she lovingly considers it. 

The weight and uncertainty that came with the pandemic led her to take refuge in rediscovering her practice. It was the time and space she needed to fully devote nothing else but herself to herself when the world was in unknown chaos. She remembers how hard it felt to start from square one again but the mystical feeling that lingered after practicing, during savasana, kept her coming back. She found peace on her mat, strength and courage, resilience and patience, confidence and a confidant and felt inspired to share with others the practice that so deeply enriched her life.

After a seemingly divine nudge from the universe, she unexpectedly found her way to River Rock Yoga and Pilates and into their 200-hour teacher training program, falling ever more in love with the beautiful practice and philosophy that is yoga. As a recent graduate from their 2022 program, Logan feels all the more inspired to continue expanding her knowledge on this lifelong path of yoga and hopes to transmute her gratitude for the practice into her classes.

Manda Salinas

Manda Salinas

Instructor

Certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher

Manda embarked upon her yoga journey in 2014, as part of an effort to get in better shape and to lose weight.  Right away, she realized the connection she felt in yoga was of much more importance than numbers on a scale and calories burned.  She treasured this reconnection with her innermost self and began visiting the mat more and more frequently – eager to learn more about herself and this beautiful practice.  She really began to lean into her practice, taking comfort in the reconnection and finding compassion and gratitude for herself.  The simple act of connection to and moving with your breath can be so therapeutic and powerful, Manda felt the pull to share yoga with others, to make sure others know this abundant inner joy is attainable!

Manda began Dragonfly Yoga Teacher Training at River Rock Yoga in February of 2022, committing to learning and understanding the philosophies of yoga, the importance of a stable meditation practice, and the ability to practice yoga throughout life, on a daily basis, on and off the mat, and to show others how to do the same.   Manda practices an invigorating yet steady flow, creating heat with challenging transitions, settling in with deep stretches and connecting deeply throughout with plenty of pranayama. She has found that, along with yoga, she really resonates with its “sister science”, Ayurveda and values it’s connection to the flow of nature, consuming natural, whole foods and listening to your body and soul’s individual needs.  While still on the very onset of her yoga journey, Manda is excited to grow and learn more about yoga and how to effectively share with others.

Christy

Christy Sharp

Instructor

Certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher

Christy Sharp discovered the healing power of yoga when she was 19-years-old.  Her sometime love affair with yoga became a devoted practice in 2019 after completing her 200 hour RYT training in 2019 with Moira Anderson at River Rock Yoga and Pilates and Laura Tyree from Dragonfly Yoga.  She is also certified as a children’s yoga teacher through Kidding Around Yoga.  Christy loves the peace and positivity yoga brings to everyone open to delving into the practice.

By day, Christy serves as an assistant principal at a 5th and 6th grade elementary school.  She holds a BS degree in Human Services Counseling, with a MS degree in Education.  She loves sharing her yoga practice with students and teachers at school, and especially enjoys teaching at River Rock where she is ever growing and expanding her practice.

Hannah

Hannah Seymour

Instructor

Certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher

Hannah started practicing yoga in 2009, in hopes of building strength and managing her scoliosis. She quickly began to feel the peace it gave her mind and spirit. Since then, she has practiced yoga intermittently. During the last few years, Hannah has deepened her practice through learning the mechanics of the body. She received her yoga teacher certification through Dragonfly Yoga Studies and River Rock Yoga. She implements mind to muscle connection, breath work, and sound healing in her core and yin classes. In every class,

Hannah aspires to teach students to be proud of where they are, while growing in their own practice. She believes yoga is for everyone and we are here to help each other. Hannah is inspired to quote the great Ram Dass in saying, “We are all just walking each other home.”

“We are all just walking each other home” ~ Ram Dass

Sherrie

Sherrie Sekul

Instructor

Certified RYT 500-hour Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master Instructor, Studio Art Teacher

Sherie is a certified 500-hour yoga teacher whose passion for yoga has cultivated personal healing and growth in her life. She began to share her love of yoga with others when she received her 200-hour yoga teacher certification with Laura Tyree at Dragonfly Yoga in 2019. In 2020 she became a Reiki master instructor under Tonya Morris of Pensacola, FL. Then, in 2021 she completed her 300-hour yoga teacher certification at Dragonfly Yoga in Fort Walton Beach, FL, and was honored to have had Doug Keller, Laura Tyree, Moira Anderson, and Melissa Shalongo as her teachers. She previously taught at Dragonfly Yoga and Hot Yoga Om in Fort Walton Beach, FL.

Sherie’s classes leave you feeling vibrant and peaceful as she uses breathwork, movement, and meditation to melt your stress away. She incorporates essential oils, heat, sound healing, and pranayama with asana to create a grounding experience throughout her yoga classes.

Sherie spent 10 years as a public school art teacher and teaches from her heart. Her yoga classes reflect her creative nature and her love for teaching others. She believes that sharing her passions of art and yoga is her calling in life. She offers private yoga, reiki, and art sessions. She is excited to teach at River Rock and is honored to guide you in your yoga practice.

Anita Brooks

Sharon Eller

Instructor

“I’ve lived with several Zen masters… all of them cats” ~ Eckart Tolle

Certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master/Teacher

Sharon is an RYT200 and a graduate of the Dragonfly Yoga Studio’s teacher training program at River Rock Yoga. She began her yoga journey in her twenties. Suffering from panic attacks since she was a teen, she used the breathing techniques (pranayama) she learned in yoga class to control her anxiety and calm her mind.

Her yoga teaching style always has an emphasis on healing the body and mind. Sharon believes that reducing stress is the first step to promoting healing, and she often incorporates restorative poses and pranayama into her classes. She uses gentle yoga and easy flows to gently nourish the body systems and strengthen the skeletal muscles.

Sharon worked as a massage therapist for many years and developed an understanding of anatomy and physiology. She earned her Reiki Master certification in 2010 and became fascinated with energy medicine. She currently teaches Reiki classes and hosts Reiki shares on a regular basis.

Sharon grew up in Jackson, Mississippi and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a BS in psychology. A web designer by trade, she lives with her husband and youngest son in Ocean Springs. When she’s not doing yoga or Reiki, she is belly dancing, taking nature walks, blogging, or playing the drums.

Anita Brooks

Danielle Schroeder

Instructor

“Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up” ~ Brené Brown

P-LPC, Certified 200-hour Yoga Teacher

Danielle’s journey into the practice of yoga began during her time in graduate school. While studying to be a licensed professional counselor, she found herself exploring the parallels between yoga and counseling modalities. She fell in love with the grounding and expansive healing benefits that yoga offered physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Yoga provided an avenue into a self-love practice that ultimately changed the trajectory of her life. Danielle felt called to further this passion by pursuing teacher training in hopes to be able to share the transformative healing she received through yoga with others.

Danielle has been teaching Yoga Basics at River Rock since 2019. She often regards this as “a full circle dream come true.”  She was once that uncertain, nervous new student attending this very class. In her teaching, she aims to invite an energy of ease and comfort for each student helping them to connect to their own inner teacher—trusting her, trusting this ancient practice, and most importantly, learning to trust that they already have everything they need within themselves.

It is her greatest hope to offer the same gift of healing that yoga has given her to each and every student that finds their way into her class.

Val

Val Hamby

Instructor

RYT-500 Yoga Teacher

Val completed her RYT 200 in 2007 from Balance Point Yoga school in Tampa with Dale Morphew and her RYT 500 in 2023 with SSV International. She has taught at studios in Florida, North Carolina and Mississippi. Val loves teaching pilates and all styles of yoga including Restorative, Flow, Hatha and Yin. Val loves the way yoga steps into the heart and soul of a person and weaves its way into how someone lives their life. She is also a licensed massage therapist, certified personal trainer and nutritionist.

In 2020 she moved back home to Mississippi. She realized her true calling was in the healing arts. Val loves the complementary relationship between yoga and massage. Both serve the body, mind and soul.

Val attended the University of Southern Mississippi and has an MS in Public Administration. Whether it’s teaching a class, giving a massage, or cooking for her loved ones -she is living her calling of caring for others. She has 4 children and 2 grandchildren. She loves spending time with her Dad and at night she can be found sitting on the deck with her husband watching their 3 dogs play by the pond. As her friend calls it, they do a lot of “front porch sitting” enjoying life.

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