Our Instructors
Meghan Donnelly, owner/instructor 
Meghan Donnelly, E-RYT 200, is a Registered Yoga Teacher with yoga alliance (www.yogaalliance.org). The majority of Meghan’s formal Yoga training has been from Yoga Center Madrid, Spain, National and International Workshops, and the Living Yoga Teacher Certification Program, Austin, Texas. Since 1997, Meghan has studied and practiced a variety of Hatha Yoga styles including Ashtanga Vinyasa, Sivinanda, Iyengar, Therapeutic and Restorative yoga, and continues to blend this eclectic mix into her own personal practice and teachings. Meghan believes eternal students make the best teachers and continues to seek training and attend workshops from some of the most well known teachers in the country. Meghan has also completed the First Degree in The Method of Usui Shiki Ryoho (ReikiI).
Meghan teaches thousands of private and group yoga classes each year and in all of her beginner, intermediate and advanced classes she focuses on blending the body, mind and spirit and believes without the union of all three in conjunction with the breath, there is no yoga, just physical movement. Her teaching style consists of a blend of these schools integrated with balance, meditation, pranayama (breath), mindfulness, presence, and personal revolutions. In her classes Meghan focuses on anatomical principals of alignment, injury prevention and rehabilitation and combining strength building and flexibility. Students are encouraged to listen to their body, adapt the postures to their body and play with their limits without exceeding them. Yoga is Meghan’s passion and she believes it is critical to maintain balance in all aspects of life. Her hope is to facilitate students to improve their life by make permanent changes in their body, mind and spirit, as they incorporate the principals of yoga into everyday living.
Namaste
“Be the change you wish to see in the world today” -Ghandi
Jon Hart
For Jon Hart (RYT-200) yoga has been a merging of three of the major paths of his life, i.e. spirituality, eastern energy systems and meditation. Over many years of religious study in the Christian tradition he came to the contemplative practice through reading Thomas Merton and eventually to Zen practice. Jon continues to bring the merging of Zen and Christianity to the mat.
The second major path, eastern energy systems converged with yoga approximately five years ago. Jon studied in a Tae Kwon-do and Kempo Ju-Jitsu martial arts system for over 15 years the last five of those years were spent teaching and continuing to study. The healing component of those systems led Jon to the study of Tai Chi and subsequently to yoga, the “Ultimate Healing System” 5 years ago.
Jon has practiced as an RN in the critical care setting for over 13 years. He currently manages the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Saint Francis Hospital. His graduate work and nursing practice has highlighted the strengths and limitations of western medicine ultimately cultivating his interest in eastern healing practices. This is where the third path converged with Yoga. That is to blend eastern and western healing practices.
Jon, like Meghan, graduated from the Living Yoga Teacher Certification Program in Austin, Texas and is registered with Yoga Alliance. Jon comes from a primarily Iyengar based approach, but maintains a fairly eclectic style incorporating aspects of power, Ashtanga, Yin and vinyasa disciplines of yoga. Utilizing the strengths of various styles Jon brings meditation, healing and energy to his classes.
Jon’s Mantra: Om Gum Shrm Maha Lakshmiyei Swaha
Let all obstacles to my abundance be eliminated and the flow of the Shakti of abundance released within me.
Namaste
Keri Edwardes
Keri discovered yoga a few years ago after moving with her 2 daughters and husband from Los Angeles back to Tulsa, to be close to family. As a loyal advocate of Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo, she was encouraged by Billy to consider teaching Tae Bo upon moving to Tulsa. This prompted her to explore other disciplines, leading her to yoga. Yoga brought so much more than Keri expected & she fell in love with it after the first class. After a few months of practicing, she knew this was what she was meant to do. The decision to teach came very easily.
“The way I felt in my heart, as well as my body, brought me joy like nothing else ever has. I am honored to share my teaching style with students at Inner Peace as I truly enjoy the hearts and minds of other yogis. I believe that if everyone practiced yoga, the world would be a much better place”. Keri has been teaching a focused high energy class at Gold’s Gym, the YMCA and Bai Lan’s.
Candice Weed
Candice Weed began taking yoga classes as a New Year’s resolution in 2002 and has never stopped. Even in the awkward beginning, she knew that yoga was something that would bring health and peace to her life. In 2004, she received yoga teacher training from Victor Dubin of OM Room School of Yoga in Santa Cruz.
She is always learning and has attended workshops in the past with Beryl Bender Birch, Yoga Fit, Clayton Horton, and Mary Beth Markus. Her main teaching influences are Cindy Lee, Baron Baptiste and Shiva Rea, as well as all of the wonderful local Tulsa teachers from whom she has learned.
Candice is a school library media specialist in Jenks and can’t remember a time in her life she wasn’t teaching somebody how to do something. She hopes students in her yoga classes feel safe, challenge themselves, have fun and find new ways yoga can permeate their lives.
Kris Allison
After taking her first yoga class, Kris immediately recognized the positive way in which yoga affected her body and mind. In order to be able to share the mentally and physically healing benefits of the practice of yoga she completed her teacher training at the school of Hot Yoga in Washington DC in the summer of 2006 and has been teaching ever since. Kris strives to make all of her classes a positive and welcoming environment for everyone in the class regardless of physical ability or skill level. She emphasizes the importance of making a students’ yoga practice and their mat a safe haven where they are allowed to challenge themselves mentally and physically without judgment. Connecting to the breath, listening to one’s own body and laughter are all encouraged in her classes. She has continued her training in vinyasa and yogic philosophy, with teachers : Shiva Rea, Dharma Mittra, Amy Weintraub, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Max Strom, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Alanna Kaivalya, Rod Stryker, and Leslie Kaminoff.
Kelli James
Kelli began practicing yoga on a regular basis in 2001 when she began training in Bushido-Kai Karate. She found yoga a perfect antithesis to both the physical and mental demands of karate training, but the further she advanced in her karate the more drawn she was to the peaceful, restorative qualities of yoga. So eventually, just one test away from her black belt, Kelli decided to leave Karate behind and focus all her energies on a yogic path.
A lover of books and learning who seeks to learn something new every single day, her desire is to always bring the same to class, to keep it interesting and fulfilling for her fellow yoginis and yogis. One of her favorite aspects of yoga was stated well by Jason Crandell, “Yoga is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are.” Yoga is much more than asana and Kelli likes to incorporate meditation and pranayama into her classes to provide a well-rounded yoga experience.
In addition to practicing and teaching yoga, Kelli homeschools two of her children, who are currently in High School. Her children practice yoga as part of their school curriculum, and are enjoying its many benefits, including improvement in their sports. Her goal in teaching her children has always been to raise children who love to learn and she desires the same for every yoga student she comes in contact with.
Kelli’s influences include Steve Ross, Jason Crandell, and local yoga teachers. Kelli has enjoyed the many benefits of yoga that go far beyond the body, and hopes to infect fellow yoga practitioners with that sense of “something more.”
Mary Nurrie Stearns
Mary (E-RYT 200 and RYT-500) is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the level of professional yoga teacher. She completed her 500 yoga teacher certification through the Institute of Interdisciplinary Yoga Studies. She has trained with nationally recognized yoga teachers and has over 100 hours of training in therapeutic yoga. She is trained in Iyengar, Ashtanga, Tantra and Anusara traditions and draws on them all in her teaching, depending on the needs of the students.
Mary has been practicing yoga since 1991. “I came to yoga seeking a fun form of exercise and soon got hooked by yoga. My practice quickly became a sacred time of renewal and exploration. Fifteen years later, I gratefully go to my mat daily because I know the tremendous healing, rejuvenating and transformative powers of yoga.”
She has been teaching yoga since March of 2000. Yoga was simply too wonderful to not share with others. She tell her students, “You give a little of your time to yoga and yoga will organically heal and guide you.”
Mary’s teaches to facilitate wholeness in others. She knows that real health and healing encompasses body, mind and spirit. She says, “Of all the healing modalities I have studied, none penetrate body, mind and spirit as completely as yoga. The yogic path is incredible. It weaves its way through the body, mind and spirit, leading its practitioners into the realization of who we are as spiritual beings. Along the way, we discover inner peace and acquire a healthy body.”
Mary is a psychotherapist with a private practice in counseling in Tulsa. Along with her husband, Mary teaches meditation classes in Tulsa. They also conduct retreats and workshops on the transformative practices of yoga and meditation.
For more information about Mary and to read about her spiritual awakening, visit her web page at personaltransformation.com/Mary.html
Jenny Earle-R.Y.T. 200
Jenny is first and foremost a mother, learning life lessons everyday from her two daughters Jayden 8 and Juliana 4. She is also a wife, married to her husband Jamie for over 10 years.
Jenny began her Yoga journey back in college and became serious about her practice with the pregnancy of her second child. She wanted to have a natural childbirth and all roads guided her to Yoga. Yoga’s emphasis on breathing, strengthening the pelvic floor, and just letting go and allowing things to be, led her to a successful and beautiful childbirth.
She has been a member of the Inner Peace family for over a year and is a graduate of Yoga Spirit Academy. Jenny classes are focused on providing a safe space for individuals to find their true potential. Balancing tradition and creativity she weaves alignment, breath awareness, and playful sequencing into her classes. She considers her style of teaching eclectic, integrating knowledge from all of her amazing teachers both on and off the mat. She believes the power of the practice comes from the unique experience that each student walks away with. Her goal in Yoga is to continue to educate herself and pass on the gift of Yoga.
Sunny Dawn Ray- Studio Manager
Sunny (Yoga Alliance RYT-200) has been with Inner Peace yoga since 2006. She discovered yoga when someone with great instincts gave her a gift certificate & has never looked back to her old ways of sitting, breathing or thinking. “Yoga has drastically changed my life physically, mentally & emotionally. One aspect can draw you in & in a surprisingly short amount of time you notice how your practice has soaked into your whole life.”
Her approach to yoga is best summed up by Pattabhi Jois, “99% practice, 1% theory” which is evident if you look at her attendance record. Besides hundreds of hours of practice, she has completed the teacher training program through Yoga Spirit Academy & has attended teacher training & master classes with Beryl Bender Birch, Robert Boustany & Ann Hyde. “I am so grateful to all of my teachers. Every one of them has helped shape my practice & in turn, shaped my life.”