We Teach True Yoga
We recognize the seat of the teacher as sacred and we are here to guide our students back to themselves. We know posture practice is just the tip of the iceberg and we incorporate elements of all the limbs of yoga when we teach. We reflect our evolving “mastery” of the yoga ethics by leading the example for others to see and hear.

We Are Mindful
With our ‘leave life at the door’ policy, Thrive Yoga & Fitness is always our happy place where we are able to focus on our students, their experience, and creating a warm and inviting atmosphere conducive to the yoga/healing journey. We treat everyone at Thrive with respect and kindness because we know that positivity creates more positivity. While at the studio our actions and words are always in the best interest of the community and studio.

We Are Compassionate
Have an open heart, be open-minded, listen genuinely, and be sensitive to what others are feeling with a true intention to understand their needs and where they are coming from. We do this with each other and our students.

We Are Committed to the Practice
We are committed to our yoga journey and we know that if we are not doing yoga practice ourselves, we are not teaching from a place of true wisdom. We leave it on the mat so we can show up fully in our lives, for our students, and for each other.

We Have Integrity
Earn the trust of others by communicating honestly, respectfully and with transparency. Give honest feedback and communicate efficiently. Have the ability to examine yourself objectively and use any constructive criticism to grow. If a situation arises – as they do – we communicate directly with the person involved kindly, respectfully, and clearly to avoid miscommunication. We are not into drama.

We Cultivate Positivity
We believe in the healing power of love, compassion, and positivity. We believe that having a positive and motivating culture is of the utmost importance. We understand the power of a strong culture and the impact it has on every aspect of each other, students, and community.

ERIN GERAGHTY:  Studio Owner & Lead Instructor

Erin Colleen Geraghty is a dynamic teacher who leads with heart, strength, and shows how to transmute pain and suffering into love and compassion.

She believes that those who have suffered and started to take the step through their own darkness can be great alchemists. “I teach emotional alchemy. Anyone can do this work, but those who have compounded sorrow have the strongest reasons to go inward. Those are my people.”

Erin is an E-RYT 500, a Certified Life Coach and established Podcaster, Author, Yoga studio owner, and has led retreats, certifications, trainings, and workshops nationally and internationally for more than a decade.  She is a sought after presenter as her passion, charisma, humor, and ability to really see people as well as navigate deep subconscious patterns gives her a unique and incredibly valuable skill set rarely found in one package.

You can find her at:

ANGELA SIMONE

E-RYT 500, YACEP, Angela Simone has been practicing, studying, and teaching yoga for 25+ years. She has a passion for teaching and is influenced by Anusara, Iyengar and Ashtanga lineage. 

Her classes reflect a fusion of these alignment-based practices, and her attention to detail in every pose gives the practitioner the self-awareness to tap into and hone their own strength, power, inner guidance, and balance, physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

Angela is loved by her students for her kindness and love of teaching this self-healing practice which provides health benefits on many levels and a path to inner peace and joy. 

“I am humbled by the master teachers I continue to study and learn from, and by my students who keep me on my toes. ~ Always a student, with gratitude and blessings, Angela” 

 

DERRICK HAWKINS

“Joy is human nature’s default state. Along the way in life, that state can get clouded.  It is within our power to clear that debris and allow our Joy to shine fully.”

Derrick has been a wellness practitioner since 2004 when he started in Massage School. He first discovered yoga through that experience and although his practice was inconsistent, the love he felt for Asana and its philosophies were very present.  After adding Physical Therapist Assistant to his knowledge base, he decided to commit to a more consistent yoga practice which eventually led him to Thrive’s Yoga Teacher Training in 2021.

Derrick draws on his life experiences, on and off the mat, cultivating a unique yogic practice. By combining the intellectual knowledge of Anatomy and Kinesiology, combined with the intuitive Asana blending in a nest of yogic philosophies, his class will leave you feeling balanced and restored.

NYTZA HAYES

Nytza came to yoga in 2010 because it kept lingering back pain and migraines at bay.  Then, yoga took a backseat when life “got in the way”, but she found herself drawn to it again in mid-2020 after multiple personal challenges.  The second time around, she embraced yoga beyond the physical practice, and dove into the mind/body connection and discipline.  She enrolled in Thrive’s 200hr Yoga Teacher Training in 2021 to deepen her knowledge, and never looked back. 

Instructing has become a wonderful growing experience for her, as she continues to learn every day from her peers and mentors.  She loves sharing the same mind-body connection and spirituality that helped her, with a side of light-hearted fun, to the practice.  

CHRISSY MCCRACKEN

Chrissy came to yoga many years ago as a physical workout but started noticing a difference mentally after classes.  She decided to dive deeper into the practice and enrolled in Yoga Teacher Training to explore the combined effect of yoga physically, mentally, and spiritually.  She is always eager to continue learning and feels blessed to share the path with fellow students.   

VALERIE SCHNEIDERMAN

Valerie Schneiderman (ERYT – 500) has studied and practiced ashtanga yoga for over 25 years. Under the guidance of many exceptional teachers, including Tim Miller, Beryl Bender Birch, members of the Jois family and many others, her individual teaching style has been nourished and developed over time. Valerie believes that yoga practice is open to all, and she actively seeks to dispel the misconception that a student needs be physically flexible to practice yoga. The traditional yogic teaching of mindful movement, breathing technique and meditation are of benefit to all interested practitioners, regardless of age, technical ability and/or level of experience. At its heart, Yoga is about getting to know one’s true nature…a place of joy, stillness, abundance, and well-being. Valerie’s goal as a teacher is to share with others the traditional teachings that have been transformational in her own life…those practices which enhance and support mental, physical, and spiritual growth and well-being. It is with a deep sense of gratitude and commitment to the teachings that she shares this practice with interested students.

MATT REIS

Matt found Yoga later in life.  Shortly after retiring from the power industry, he came across Yoga while looking for a way to get in shape.  It quickly ignited a flame that keeps getting brighter, and he never looked back!  Matt wanted to deepen his Yoga practice, so he enrolled in 200hr Thrive YTT 2023.  As a certified Yoga instructor, he’s grateful for the opportunity to assist others in their own journey.  He loves to attend yoga and meditation workshops as he continues to evolve and grow.  In his free time, he enjoys riding his bike, going to the beach, and handyman work for friends, and friends of friends.  

DIANA HUGHES

Diana Hughes started taking hot power yoga in 2009 to keep her hamstrings lose for running.  A few years later, when she GOT yoga, she decided she wanted to know more; the ways of postures and the deeper meaning of Yoga.  She interviewed with Erin Geraghty and was able to enroll in the spring of 2019 YTT at Thrive Yoga & Fitness with the mindset of just going deeper into her practice and herself while gaining more knowledge of Yoga.  About halfway through training, she discovered the need to bring herself forward and use her training, life experiences and love of helping people to step into the role of a Yoga Instructor.  Since graduating from YTT, Diana has found that helping those that come to their mat with her heal from past traumas through Yin is where her passion is and has added certifications in Yin Yoga and Trauma Informed Yoga, to better her teachings.  Her goal for every class is to create a safe place for her students to be present in the moment and have at least an hour of peace from all of life’s stresses and leave with a feeling of being grounded, centered and a little lighter.

KAT FETZER

Kat Fetzer, RYT 500, is eager to share her love of Yoga with her students. She helps them find balance mentally, physically, and spiritually by providing a practice students can embody in their daily lives, on and off the mat. With training in ashtanga and anusara inspired practices by her mentors, she integrates the different styles in her classes. She includes detailed alignment cues, positivity, body awareness, breath work and mindfulness, incorporated in a way as unique as she is.

Kat also uses the tools she has learned through Yoga and numerous ongoing trainings to create a unique coaching practice. Her methods of clarity and body integration have helped many find balance and compassion again after facing various degrees of life altering traumas.

ANNIQUE LESAGE

Annique was a classically trained ballet dancer in her youth.  As she got older she realized that most of the warm ups in her ballet instruction were pilates/ yoga based, and she felt more and more at home in the practice.  She continued throughout the years, going deeper and learning more and more about the body.  In November of 2021, she completed Erin’s Life Coaching Course, and she began the YTT 200 program with Erin Geraghty at Thrive in February 2022, graduating in August.  Annique works to integrate the knowledge of the body with the needs of the spirit through her practice, and instill that union in her students, with the aim of one feeling the most at home and safe, in their own mind and body.  She loves helping you discover just how further and deeper you can go!

EMILY RIGGAN

Emily can recall as a young girl that she was on a different path than what was expected of her. Curiosity led her down the path to Yoga; but she wasn’t ready to accept everything it had to offer, so she shelved it for a while.  It wasn’t until 2016 that she started practicing regularly and attending the studio in her neighborhood. While in a hip-opening Asana during class, she broke into tears and understood she needed to heal from within, and Yoga was the light that entered that wound. 

She wanted to dig deeper into her practice, so in 2022 she received her 200hr YTT certification at Thrive Yoga & Fitness.  She loves working with children and has worked in the child welfare field for over 20 years, so when the chance for her to teach Yoga at the SafePlace2B children’s shelter in downtown Bradenton, she jumped on the opportunity.  She loves sharing the gift of yoga and providing connection and wholehearted love to those most vulnerable.   

Matt Murphy, RYT-200 at Thrive Yoga & FitnessMATT MURPHY

Matt Murphy RYT-200 has done at least bite-sized yoga routines suited for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (like his hero Rickson Gracie) since his teenage years.  However, he has recently expanded his practice to include a great deal of emphasis on yoga as an end unto itself rather than simply as a means for other athletic or restorative ends.  He has also been a lifelong seeker of sorts within Eastern modes of sacred literature, spirituality and philosophy; especially those of the Indian subcontinent.  His recent foray into yoga-instruction is rooted therefore in both the subtle dimensions of practice, as well as the pragmatic physiological aspects.

Matt draws from his experience as a double black-belt in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, as well as his own ongoing practice of the fundamentals of MMA, Western Kickboxing (particularly for self-defense ends) and Folk-style Wrestling.  He takes an analytical and scientific approach to the study of mixed martial arts and self-defense, hand in hand with competitive sport application.

Matt spends a lot of his time reminding both his yoga students and his martial artist athletes to be both strong and to flow… and also to always remember to breathe.

LAURA KITCHING, Studio Manager 

Laura, a native Kentuckian and UK Alumni, initially turned to yoga after being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in 2010.  Her awareness began to shift toward self-care and healing her body naturally, which continues to be a primary focus in her life.  By the end of 2018, she took a leap of faith, left a stressful career in Real Estate, and enrolled in Yoga Teacher Training at Thrive Yoga & Fitness on a journey of self-discovery.  She embodies the mind of a student and is continuously expanding her knowledge.  After completing YTT in 2019, she gladly accepted her role as Thrive’s Studio Manager.  She frequently attends classes with her fellow students, and is happy to support the Thrive Community in any way she can!

PAMELA LASKO, Private Practitioner 

Pamela holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and is a Certified Dementia Practitioner.  She relocated to Florida from Cincinnati, OH in 2011 to continue her work as a clinician/social worker, with experience in anxiety, depression, caregiving, dementia/memory loss, grief and loss. Pamela has always been extremely physically active and athletic but lacked flexibility which brought her to yoga in 2011.  While she enjoyed hot yoga and the ability to stay calm in an extreme environment, she quickly realized yoga was an avenue that could help her dive deeper, for self-discovery and self-healing from past traumas.

Pamela fell in love with yoga and the impact it was making on her, so she enrolled in Yoga Teacher Training at Thrive Yoga & Fitness in 2019.  She’s completed RYT-200 and RYT-300, and now an RYT 500/Yoga Therapist.  She understands the mind-body connection, and how trauma and life experiences impact people, physically and emotionally.  She continued to seek tools to help people release stuck emotional energy in the physical body, and now specializes in a technique called Tension Pattern Release.  Pamela is a kind and intuitive healer, passionate about helping others. Services included: Private Yoga, Pranayama (breath work), Tension Pattern Release, Body Rolling, Sound Bowl Therapy, Reiki, Aromatherapy, and Psycho-Therapy.