Grace, Peace, Love, Aloha.
Family, Friends, and Students thank you for visiting our website. It is our intention to inspire, encourage, and uplift one another by passing on the teachings, practices and products that helped us transform our lives.
About Us
(The long story about how it all got started, If you’re into all the details)
Jana and Ryan met in October of 2016 at a yoga studio/cafe (Madison Improvement Club) in Phoenix, Arizona. Ryan and his Mom practiced yoga at Madison Improvement Club, taught by one of Jana’s best friends Nicole Ballentine. What Ryan didn’t know is after that class Nicole took it upon herself to send Ryan’s Facebook profile to Jana with a message professing something along the lines of, “omg this guy just took my class, you’re going to love him!” Jana, unamused, kindly asked Nicole to refrain from trying to set her up with anyone.
The next day, while on their way to take class, Jana and Nicole ran into Ryan, his mom Colleen, and step dad Wally in the yoga studio cafe. “That’s Ryan!” Exclaimed Nicole, “Go say hi!” Jana with a yoga mat, backpack, and dharma wheel in her arms, went over to give Ryan what they refer to now as the awkward hug that started it all.
The day after they met, Nicole invited both Ryan and Jana to a 6am yoga class that she was teaching at another studio in Scottsdale, AZ. They practiced right next to each other, and Jana felt a magnetic and warm energy from Ryan that she had never felt before, immediately softening her initial resistance to being “set up”.
After class, they began to talk about yoga and Acro, and Ryan offered to “fly” Jana in acro. After that, they followed each other on Instagram as most millennials do, and went on about their days. Later that week, Ryan traveled to Santa Monica, CA (his previous home before Phoenix, AZ) and posted a clip on his Instagram story doing flips at a trampoline park. Jana replied “fun!” To his story. Ryan replied quickly and made sure to lock in an acro session for when he returned to Phoenix a few days later.
Jana and Ryan were both very “busy” at this time. Jana with massage therapy school, and Ryan with starting a new career from the ground up. So time was limited. They decided to start meeting up at 5 or 5:30am most mornings for about 2 weeks.
Each early morning Jana would take them through a 30 min yoga flow, then Ryan would teach her about 30 minutes of acro. After their morning yoga and acro dates Ryan would make Jana a smoothie. Jana went off to school and Ryan went off to work. This went on for about two weeks platonically. Then one night, Nicole invited Jana and Ryan on a double date with her and her partner at the time. 15 minutes before the date, Nicole called Jana to bail claiming she was having some tummy troubles. At the time Jana was upset, but now she is thrilled by the turn of events! Sorry Nicole!
They had the best date! First they went to a Thai restaurant but before sitting down inside the restaurant they agreed “the vibe felt off” and they got out of there. Unable to decide where they should go eat conversation drifted to learning more about one another and they spoke for an hour or so in the car before hunger struck. They had to make a quick meal decision and went to Houston’s. After dinner, although completely full, they didn’t want the date to end. Jana suggested they go to the Valley Ho (a resort) for desert as she used to live right door to it and knew they had yummy Deserts. When they arrived, Ryan gave Jana a thorough lesson on how to parallel park (one of many valuable life lessons he would teach her). They were both honestly too full to even think about eating more, but stuck around the lobby to sit by the fire and people watch the high school reunion that was going down, making up funny little stories for the obvious archetypes and clicks that were being played out in front of them. They were cuddling by the fire, Ryan massaging Jana’s legs, then Jana went in for the first kiss!
After that night, their morning meet ups continued to get earlier and earlier so that they could have time to snuggle in the cold fall mornings before getting to their yoga practice together. Jana knew she was head over heals for Ryan and that one day he would be her husband. There was only one thing… Ryan was planned to move to Maui, HI at the beginning of the next month, and Jana was still about 7-8 months away from finishing her Massage Therapy license. After Ryan left, they continued their relationship Face-timing every day, and planned Janas first trip to visit him in Maui for the beginning of February. The universe continually worked in their favor in a sequence of magical events that allowed Jana to visit Maui 5 times that year, softening the blow of the long distance relationship. They grew threw many challenges and obstacles during that time, being mirrors for each other and growth partners. When Ryans 6 month living arrangement in Maui ended, he decided to head to Bali for the first time. He invited Jana with him, but she still had two months of school to complete. Jana was heartbroken she wouldn’t be able to see Ryan for two months, but their bond continued to grow. After Ryans first trip to Bali, he promised to come home to Jana in Arizona. He arrived and spent time together traveling a bit of the south west, and then taking her home to Pittsburgh, PA to spend time with his family. Jana fell in love with his family too, having a kindred sense of connection to them, like they had always been her family.
After spending the holidays in Pittsburgh, PA, Jana and Ryan prepared to take their first trip to Bali together! What was supposed to be a 2 month trip for Jana, ended up turning into 6 months in Bali (and a little bit of Thailand, but thats a story for another time) that year. They started practicing Yoga at “The Practice” in Canggu, Bali, Indonesia where they found their teacher Octavio Salvado. As their Yoga journey progressed, some very wild and other worldly things started to transpire for the couple. They could see their patterns of Karma being accelerated as they continued to practice this lineage of yoga with an embodied teacher. The proof was in the pudding for them, life was changing, challenges were presenting themselves, but they were getting stronger and more resilient, life was getting better. The deep love and gratitude Ryan and Jana have for their yoga practice, the lineage, and their teacher is profound. Their lives have been so enriched by the practices of yoga and meditation that they feel a soul calling to share it with anyone seeking.
The beginning of the following year, they made another dream come true, and enrolled in Yoga Teacher Training together at ‘The Practice’. This was Janas second YTT and Ryans first certificate, although he trained 100 hours in Mexico City Under Marcos Jasson, one of Ryan’s first and most influential Yoga Teachers. This was another staple moment for them that brought them even closer together and empowered them to share what they believed in so much, with others.
After they completed YTT, Karina Guthrie (another one of their teachers at ‘The Practice’) reached out to Jana to ask if she would be interested in a 3 month contract teaching for them starting in a couple of months. ANOTHER DREAM COME TRUE! Bali was calling them back in a big way. They took a short trip back to America to tie up some ends before returning back for the contract. Jana left before Ryan and started her teaching job while he hung back in Arizona for a few weeks.
During that time, Jana was experiencing the fulfillment of teaching what she loves to people from all around the world, all at different levels of their yoga practice. Ryan was back in AZ working hard as well, teaching yoga, and looking for a special something to bring Jana when he arrived to meet her this time in Bali.
On September 7th 2019, Ryan planned a trip for them on Jana’s day off to go to another part of the island Amed, Bali, to go snorkeling (one of their absolute favorite things to do together). They spent the night in a beautiful little Villa that Ryan picked out, and the next morning, they woke up, went swimming, sunbathed, Jana braided Ryan’s hair, and right after that, on September 8th, Ryan asked Jana to be his wife!
They are currently living back in Phoenix, AZ planning their wedding for April 2020.
About Jana.
Jana started her yoga journey many years ago when a childhood friend’s mother took her to a yoga class at age 13. Jana grew up struggling with mental health and addiction fighting for her life on a daily basis, and this yoga class made a strong impression that stayed with her, as it was one of the first times she can remember feeling relaxed and happy. It took some more years of struggle before she found her way back to the mat. Jana has had what she can say has been a committed yoga practice for the last 7 years. Throughout this time she has spent any of her available time and resources deepening her studies and personal practice so that she can heal herself first, and then offer that out into the world to offer light and hope to others. She has such a passion and trust for the power of yoga and its ability to not only heal the physical body, but the mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies as well. Jana firmly believes that we must take responsibility of our own life, and once we do, the world becomes a much more inspired, exciting, and purposeful place.
2016 was a big year for Jana as she completed her first Yoga Teacher Training, lost her grandmother, started Massage Therapy School, and met her beloved Ryan. She felt challenged yet held and inspired in the work she was doing as life seemed to be becoming more in alignment.
For the next few years, always being a student first before a teacher, Jana would share what she has learned with others, teaching yoga and women’s health classes, and telling stories of hope.
Jana recently lost her little brother Jacob to his battle with Anxiety in November 2019. Jana’s hope is to help as many people out there struggling with mental health as she can with the tools that she has learned over the years. Her pain and grievance for her brother, has made it more clear the medicine she wishes to bring into this world.
About Ryan.
Ryan came to yoga 9yrs ago to help him heal an ankle he repeatedly injured playing basketball. After completing 30 classes in 30 days he began to fall asleep easily and sleep soundly through the night for the first time in his young adult life. He also started to read faster, comprehend information better and perform better at work.
Taking the results for granted Ryan reduced his yoga practice to 3 times per week instead of everyday. He quickly noticed the benefits he received start to fade away without his daily practice. That was all it took to convince Ryan that he wanted to live out the rest of his life as a yogi. That was 10 years ago. Since then Ryan has been following his nomadic heart living and working in Santa Monica California, Maui Hawaii, Bali Indonesia, Carefree Arizona and always making time to go back to spend time with his family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Everything changed for Ryan 3 years ago when he met the love of his life Jana in Phoenix, AZ. Life has taken some crazy turns for them since they met but they have stuck together through it all. Over the past 3 years they have lived part time in Bali Indonesia. When not in Bali they spend time with their families and work in Pennsylvania and Arizona.
What People Are Saying
“Jana and Ryan lead with love. Their fierce dedication to this practice and commitment to sharing their work is truly rooted in love. The deep love they have for each other extends out and wraps each of their students with warmth and compassion. Their teaching is easy to understand, comfortable, and a safe container to deepen your own practice. They will challenge you just enough for the next evolution of your soul. Spending time with them on a retreat would be nourishing and rewarding in all aspects. I could not recommend a practice, coffee, or retreat with both of them enough. Your soul will thank you.”
- Kendall Merritt (Soul Saturations)
“I have had the honor and privalege of working with Jana and Ryan over the last few years. Each of these individuals possess their own inner light and beauty which you feel when you are engaged in spending time with them. Together, they are amazing listeners and leaders of the traditional yogic practices. I have watched them learn, grow and become the essence of what I feel is the beauty and benefits of a well rounded centered life in God and yoga!
Anyone who has the blessed opportunity to study with them will experience the wonderful benefits of a true, loving and complete practice of life, love and yoga.”
- Leslie Kotlotski (Health Thru Yoga)
“Jana and Ryan are great instructors, they taught in a way that was easy to learn and also fun. They made me feel comfortable, and inspired to continue my practice. I definitely recommend these two.”
- Candice Carroll
Want to spend more time with Ryan & Jana? Of course you do! So why don’t you come to their next retreat!
Keep in touch.
No spam just love, support and encouragement from Ryan & Jana, including recipes, yoga techniques, live yoga class schedule and other resources.