Rhonda discovered yoga in 2005 as part of a typical gym membership but quickly realized yoga was so much more than just another exercise class. She recognized that while practicing yoga is a great way to achieve physical fitness, even more importantly it results in health and wellness of the total self. Her life literally changed through yoga, she was inspired to leave a successful but stressful executive corporate career to complete certification through the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Program in 2013 and then received RYT 200 Yoga Alliance Certification. She has completed additional certified trainings in Accessible Chair Yoga and The Art of Assisting and Adjusting.

Rhonda has increased her Yoga Alliance Certification to E-RYT200 with her extensive number of studio teaching hours and experience which includes a variety of classes: Beginners/Basic, Gentle, Mindful Vinyasa Flow, Heated, Accessible Chair, Pre-Natal, Restorative and Yin. She feels blessed guiding yogis – new and experienced – in their practice and is honored to share classic yoga poses, philosophies,...

Yoga began transforming Julia’s life 20 years ago. Like many, she became sick in college (no doubt from our burn-out American lifestyle) and discovered yoga made her feel better in every way. What doctors couldn’t help her with, yoga did. She completed her 200-hr training through the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta school of yoga following the traditional gurukula ashram method in 2006. She’s humbled and enlightened daily by her practice and the practices she’s blessed to bear witness to through fellow students and teachers. Each breath, each asana, each act of service, each mantra reawakens her awareness that we are at once the ocean and a single wave. Julia has taught and practiced yoga throughout the Americas and studied with teachers from many lineages. Mother Nature and silence continue to be her greatest teachers. Outside of studios, she led a retreat to Costa Rica, taught at sea on a catamaran and shared yoga and meditation with students in public schools. Prenatal, postpartum and baby and mama yoga are her latest passions. In her practice and classes Julia is devoted to both...

Julia Haines discovered yoga in 2013 when her youngest son was about to go away to college and told her “Mom you need a new hobby besides me now.” After moving to the area in 1986 she had taught fitness classes and was the Fitness Director at a local fitness center before deciding to stay at home to raise her three children. Realizing that she did in fact need something to do as an empty nester and having been away from fitness classes for a while, she decided to try one of their yoga classes to “stretch” before jumping back into an exercise routine. It did not take long for her to understand there was so much more to yoga than just stretching!

After a few months of practicing yoga, she noticed the back pain that she had been seeing a chiropractor for every two weeks no longer bothered her. Seeing the physical and emotional benefits yoga brought into her life Julia also fell in love with the history and traditions of yoga.

In May of 2019 Julia enrolled in yoga teacher training with Kristine Mast and is a RYT 200 level yoga instructor. She believes introducing yoga,...

Jeanette began her yoga practice in 2010 while living in Chicago. A lifelong athlete and collegiate runner, yoga was something that had always intrigued her. After adapting to bodily injuries and searching for something different, she gave her first yoga class a try. The physical practice drew her in immediately. It brought benefits to the body she had never experienced through other sports or activities. But it was the other, unexpected, benefits of what yoga did to the mind and spirit which hooked her.

Jeanette moved to Michigan in 2015 with her family. Having already practiced at the studio while visiting over the years from the city, it was no question Muskegon Yoga would become her studio to practice in. It became more than just a place to practice yoga. It turned into a place of comfort, peace, and sense of belonging. This studio, its instructors, and the community have been a part of significant moments in Jeanette’s life: the birth of children, the passing of a mother, the training to become a certified yoga instructor.

Jeanette went through yoga teacher...

Kristine Mast is the former owner of Muskegon Yoga Center and current owner of MasterPeace Yoga & Travel. She spent 25 years as an elementary school educator before deciding to follow her passion and buy a yoga studio. In those 8.5 years she has introduced yoga to the local high school curriculum, teamed with area athletes to include yoga in their training regimes, ran 5 sold out international yoga retreats in Costa Rica and Mexico, and has taught yoga asana and philosophy at Muskegon Community College. As a lifelong teacher and learner, Kristine has studied through 200 and 500 level teacher training, Holy Fire Reiki Training, and maintains a regular self study and dedicated daily practice of all eight limbs of yoga. Her understanding of the power of the practice has significantly evolved and continues to evolve. She has studied with Hilaire Lockwood receiving both 200 and 500 RYT Training. She has also participated in workshops and intensives with Maty Ezraty, Kino MacGregor, Taylor Hunt, Seane Corn and Bryan Kest.

In 2014 I began my study of yoga at Muskegon Yoga Center. It immediately resonated with me and in 2015 I completed my RYT 200 level yoga teacher training with Hilaire Lockwood. I am currently perusing my 300 RYT with an expected completion in 2017. I continue to practice yoga regularly, and some might say obsessively. As my day job I am an elementary school educator for Mona Shores Public Schools. My interests include yoga, traveling, yoga, reading, yoga, beaching, and yoga.

200 Hour Yoga Teacher

Jonquil Norman (JQ) found yoga through the loss of her mom. Yoga offered her the therapy she needed in order to heal her broken heart. She started at the studio with many physical ailments and was able to heal her cervical herniation through her yoga practice.

Her passion has always been to make others feel good about who they are and know they are loved. She pursued a career in Massage Therapy in 2001 and continued for 17 years. She was trained in many modalities including Swedish, Deep tissue, Sports, Trigger point, Reflexology, Myofascial release and Prenatal massage.

She signed up for yoga teacher training in 2017 from Hilaire Lockwood, to become a 200 hour yoga teacher and is currently working on her 300. She is also a USUI Shiki Ryoho/Holy Fire Reiki III practitioner.

Emily Rogers committed to her yoga practice in 2018 after attending a Gentle Yoga class at Muskegon Yoga. After dabbling in the physical part of the practice throughout high school and college, once she became the mother of two young children, it was truly the meditation piece that had her hooked!

Movement and meditation quickly developed into a necessary part of her everyday life. She found that it made her days calmer and she was kinder on her body and her mind. As time progressed so did her practice, it became much more than movement for her when the yogic philosophies came to light. Fascinated with Pantajali’s Yoga Sutras, Yamas, and Niyamas, Emily decided to take the next step in her yoga journey and in January 2020 she enrolled in Muskegon Yoga’s Teacher Training program under Kristine Mast.

Yoga Teacher Training can be intense, but completing it during 2020 presented all sorts of new challenges. The Yoga Studio had to be closed while the world figured out what the new “normal” would look like. Emily and her classmates had to meet outdoors to complete their...

Andrea started her yoga journey at Muskegon Yoga in 2014 and quickly fell in love with the practice and community. Although taking some leave of absences to finish college, get married, and start a career as a Registered Dietitian, coming back to Muskegon Yoga has always felt like home. In 2019, Andrea completed the 200-hour yoga teacher training with Kristine Mast at Muskegon Yoga. Since completion of teacher training, Andrea has embraced the love and passion of teaching others and helping them connect to mind, body, and spirit. She hopes to one day be able to integrate her nutrition background with the practice of yoga to help others achieve overall health and wellness.

Kelly discovered yoga while living in Colorado in 1996 through a combination of in-person classes and VHS tapes (remember those?!). She found Muskegon Yoga Center in 2008 and has been there ever since. After experiencing how yoga transformed her life both on and off the mat, she pursued her RYT 200 Yoga Alliance Certification through Third Coast Yoga Studio in 2010. She seeks to empower her students to connect with their breath and body and seek balance and change in their own lives.

Drawing from his traditional Ashtanga Yoga (the eightfold path) teaching lineage, along with his experience as a group breathwork healing facilitator, international retreat leader and knowledge of the chakra/energy system. Ross intuitively weaves asana (postures), pranayama (breath control), chanting, meditation and yoga philosophy to help students create a safe and sacred space on their mat; a space for students to feel empowered and where all of life's ups and downs can be processed by deepening the connection of body, mind and spirit.

Ross studied and continues to train with renowned teacher, Hilaire Lockwood, owner and founder of Hilltop Yoga Lansing and Chicago. He has gone through both her 200hr and 500hr advanced yoga teacher training programs.