Check out Dana and Eric’s 2-part Series right here: Part I and Part 2
Dana A. Smith, ERYT-500, CLC Dana A. Smith is the founder and owner of Spiritual Essence Yoga and the creative visionary behind the international YES! Yoga Has Curves movement. She is a wife, mother, certified yoga instructor, author, yoga teacher trainer, master life coach and holistic health practitioner. For almost 20 years, she has been a pioneer for inclusive yoga in the West with a simple, yet profound, message: “Yoga is for EVERYbody!”. As the creator of Jiivana (L.I.F.E.) Yoga®, a National Yoga Alliance approved and registered yoga style, Dana guides students and teachers-in-training in a dynamic experience of yoga as a powerful tool for total life transformation. Even though she has trained nearly 300 yoga teachers since 2008, she considers herself a lifelong student and continues to seek inspiration through workshops and advanced studies. Dana’s style of teaching draws on Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Vinyasa roots with the aim to usher practitioners to live inspired, fearless and empowered every day—on and off the mat. Her work has been featured on NBC4, FOX5, The Examiner, Essence Magazine, WHUR, NPR, and Black Enterprise. Dana loves to travel and enjoys sharing her love of yoga and the healing arts all over the world!
Eric M. Brewington Eric employs his creative juices daily in his work as a web developer. He is a lover of jazz music and conveys this passion through playing the trumpet. Always looking for ways to improve his musical journey, Eric sought yoga instruction at Spiritual Essence initially to help improve his breathing. He immediately learned, though, that yoga could enrich other areas of his life and had several eye opening experiences after incorporating regular yoga practice into his life. He noticed a decrease in stress, increased flexibility and an awareness and appreciation of his overall health. Eric was able to see that yoga was positively influencing him at work as well as at home: the creativity necessary in both areas began to flow forth. Inspired to share this wonderful gift Eric completed the 200-hour Jiivana (L.I.F.E.) Yoga® teacher training at SEY. In addition to yoga Eric is also a Reiki Level 2 and Thai Yoga Massage practitioner.
