Ellen is the owner and lead teacher of Downtown Yoga in Ocean Springs and has been sharing the practice of yoga and meditation with students for over a decade. She is a graduate of Wild Lotus Soul School in New Orleans (CYT-200) and Yoga Teachers Lab with Mitchel Bleier in Chicago (CYT-300). Ellen is also a certified teacher of the Instinctive Meditation® technique (CMT-200), trained under Lorin Roche and Camille Maurine.

For Ellen, yoga became a way of discovering her authentic voice and living from a deeper, truer place. That personal transformation continues to inspire the way she teaches and mentors others through her classes and the Heart of Yoga Teacher Training.

Drawing inspiration from Ashtanga, Jivamukti, and Iyengar traditions, Ellen's teaching blends intelligent alignment with creativity, encouraging students to explore both classical yoga postures and intuitive, free-form movement. Her classes range from energetic Vinyasa Flow to deeply nourishing Gentle and Restorative Yoga, all thoughtfully paired with music that supports the practice.

Students can expect a well-rounded experience that weaves together the many paths of yoga, including Hatha (posture and breath), Bhakti (devotion), Raja (meditation), Karma (selfless service), Jnana (wisdom), and Tantra (the recognition of our interconnectedness).

In addition to teaching yoga, Ellen is a visual artist and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University in New Orleans.

She remains deeply grateful to her teachers and is honored to share the practices of yoga and meditation with every student who walks through the studio doors.

Like many of her students, Ellen first came to yoga in search of healing. That journey continues to inspire her practice and teaching today. Her classes are heartfelt, playful, and welcoming, creating space for students to cultivate compassion for themselves, connect authentically with others, and carry those lessons into everyday life.  

Elizabeth has been an integral part of the Downtown Yoga community for many years, bringing her experience, dedication, and steady presence to our studio. As our longest-standing team member, she holds a special place in the heart of Downtown Yoga.

The principles of yoga have been instilled within her since a young age, as a tendency towards the healing arts runs in her family.  She began her yogic journey deep inside the costal mountains of the Redwood Forest in Northern California, lead daily by family elders in asana, meditation, lifestyle, spiritual, dietary, and farming practices. She continued her journey through college where she studied both Yoga and Pilates earning a degree with honors in Sociology as well as in the Interdisciplinary Social Sciences with an emphasis on Philosophy. She established herself as a successful Landscape, Nature, and Portrait Photographer in Washington state, where she has relocated from. Elizabeth earned her 200 Hour RYT at Seven Springs of the Tennessee Great Smoky Mountains through the Kula Collective, as well as her Reiki II level certification. She is a wife, a mother of three, an artist, a musician, and an eternal optimist. She believes in the power of positivity, devotion, and intention.  Her classes offer an accessible challenge coupled with the opportunity to cultivate growth and to develop strength within a nurturing and tranquil atmosphere.

Rebecca Hall started practicing yoga in 2018 when she moved with her family back to the Gulf Coast after fifteen years in Texas, where she’d studied and taught literature.  She got a membership at Downtown Yoga for the physical benefits, but she fell in love with yoga because of the mental and emotional benefits of meditative movement and intentional breathing.  The philosophy of yoga appeals to her scholarly background and her personal values, and she loves to share her study of the human experience.  

Rebecca’s favorite classes offer an all-levels vinyasa flow that moves with the breath, strengthening and stretching the whole body, with lots of suggestions for everybody to do what feels good for them according to their own mobility and energy.  

She’s very grateful to share yoga with beginners of all ages, and also keeps the practice interesting for experienced yogis with surprising transitions and  interesting variations of familiar poses.  

Her approach to yoga balances a deep respect for the tradition with a playful exploration of what it means to operate a human body.  She holds space for all the profound thoughts and deep feelings that surface during a flow class and its deeply relaxing conclusion, celebrating the connection between the body and the mind.  She hopes you’ll join her soon.

Yoga, Energy, and Plant Medicine Healer | Herbalist | Oracle Reader

Koreen has studied yoga, plant medicine ceremonies, herbalism, reiki, and other spiritual modalities since 2009. She was certified by Dragonfly Yoga (RYT200) at River Rock Yoga & Pilates in 2019, and she has spent a decade studying with various reiki and ceremony healers and shamans around the US and Mexico. She has developed her own form of magical craft, as she’s heavily studied and participated in various world religions. She believes all walks of life are true, valid, and interwoven; and that the development of one's own personal practice - which will ebb and flow through life's seasons - is key to a blissful, fulfilling life.