Faculty

Melinda Atkins, MEd, MSc, E-RYT®500, YACEP®, C-IAYT, is the founding director of AUM hOMe Shala, offering 200- and 500-hour Yoga Alliance–registered yoga teacher trainings and a clinical yoga therapist certification program accredited by the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She completed her 500-hour certification at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health and received her yoga therapy certification at Loyola Marymount University. Melinda holds a master’s degree in education from the University of Florida, became certified in the MELT Method® in 2012, and graduated summa cum laude in May 2021 from the Master of Science program in Medical Cannabis Science and Therapeutics at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, where she was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi honor society. A professional-level yoga teacher (E-RYT 500) with more than 20,000 hours of documented yoga teaching experience, Melinda completed 200 hours of preliminary work in Astanga Yoga before receiving a 500-hour yoga teacher training certification from Kripalu. She was one of the first in Florida to be certified as a yoga therapist by the International Association of Yoga Therapists through their grandfathering process, documenting 2,100 hours of yoga therapy experience. In 2021, she drew on her expertise to contribute a chapter to Yoga Therapy Foundations, Tools, and Practice: A Comprehensive Textbook. Melinda calls on her background in education, yoga, and yoga therapy to create programs for hospitals, universities, and schools (K–12), and conducts and supervises free community yoga programs for Parkinson's, dementia, and other conditions.

Amba Greene, CAP, FNLP, E-RYT-500, LMT, has been exploring and teaching holistic health and nutrition for more than 40 years. A Yoga Alliance-certified teacher, she is a senior Kali Natha Yoga instructor and was a longtime student of yoga master Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati before her passing in 2012. Amba is also certified as an Ayurvedic teacher and consultant through the Kripalu School of Ayurveda, where she trained with the foremost Ayurvedic doctors teaching in the West today, including Vasant Lad, Robert Svoboda, John Douillard, and Sunil Joshi. In 2011, she became certified in The MELT Method and continued her training as an Advanced Instructor. In 2014 she became certified as a Functional Medicine Nutritionist, enabling her to offer a unique fusion of ancient and modern perspectives. Amba is also a kirtan singer who executive-produced and performed on the Kashi Ashram CD "Songs of the River.”

Anthony Connell, E- RYT® 500, C-IAYT, is a graduate of Florida International University with a degree in psychology and is the Clinical Director of AUM hOMe Shala's Yoga Therapy Program, as well as the Assistant Director of the 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program. Tony teaches the tremor and psychological impacts of the Neuro-motor Degenerative Disorder module, as well as the adrenal glands portion of the Endocrine Module in Aum hOMe Shala's Yoga Therapy Program. Tony began his practice in 2002 after being ill as a teenager, and loves to share the benefits of yoga for maintaining balance, alleviating stress, and increasing self-esteem.

Christian Atkins PA-C, MPAS, served as a combat medic in the airborne infantry unit in Iraq. After finding his calling in medicine in the service, he became a board certified Physician Assistant and works in Family Medicine at Fox Medical Centers in Miami, FL. He holds a Masters Degree and is certified as an EMT, ACLS, BLS, ABLS, and PA. He is currently a clinical faculty member at Miami Dade College Medical Campus, and in his limited free time enjoys ice hockey, fishing, and spending time with his family.

Ghada Osman, PhD, LMFT, PYT, E-RYT® 500, is a yoga teacher, yoga therapist, psychotherapist, and AFAA-certified aerobics instructor, and the author of Mental and Emotional Healing Through Yoga: A Guiding Framework for Therapists and their Clients. She has worked with a wide range of populations, from college students to hospice patients. In her private practice, her specialties include helping clients cope with physical illness, heart conditions in particular, using yoga as a healing modality. Ghada earned her 500-hour yoga teacher certification at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, and is also trained in Street Yoga (designed for underserved populations) and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy. A former faculty member for San Diego State University, she holds a doctorate degree in philosophy from Harvard University and a master’s in psychology from Chapman University.

Grisell B. Gonzalez, BA, E-RYT®500, C-IAYT, is a yoga therapist with a degree in art history from the University of Washington. She received her 1,000-Hour Clinical Yoga Therapy Certification and her 500-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Certification from AUM hOMe Shala, and earned her 200-hour yoga teaching certification at Ananda Washington. Grisell specializes in working with Parkinson's and neuro-motor degenerative disorders. She is the founder of Inner Joy Yoga & Meditation, where she shares her knowledge of yoga therapy, meditation, tai chi for health, and Pilates. Yoga has been a part of her life for more than 20 years, and inspires her to live each moment more mindfully.

Kathleen Ross-Allee, E-RYT®500, C-IAYT, is a certified yoga therapist and ACE-Certified fitness trainer and Cancer Exercise Specialist (CES) with more than 25 years of experience as a health and wellness expert. Kathleen is a Health Educator and Yoga Therapist for Kaiser Permanente Woodland Hills for the Center for Healthy Living. She is the managing director and instructor for the Loyola Marymount University Yoga Therapy Rx program, where she earned her credentials as a yoga therapist (YTRx-500C), as well as the lead instructor of the LMU Yoga Therapy Rx Level IV Practicum Prep Course. Kathleen has developed yoga therapy programs to support cancer treatment at Cedars-Sinai/Tower Hematology, USC/Norris Cancer Hospital, Vantage Oncology, and Tower Cancer Research Foundation, where she continues to teach ongoing classes. She also teaches a weekly gentle yoga therapy class for people with Parkinson’s disease, which she offers free to patients and caregivers at Liberation Yoga in Los Angeles.

Laurel Tyler, E-RYT® 500, C-IAYT, completed her 300-hour yoga teacher training at AUM and trained as a certified Essential Low Back Program teacher with Robin Rothenberg of Essential Yoga Therapy. A certified yoga therapist, Laurel specializes in therapeutic yoga for healing lower-back pain, as well as yoga for mental health. She is also developing a program called Yoga for Resilience, focusing on fostering resilience in mind and body. Laurel’s approach integrates evidence-informed health practices with gentle movement, mindful breathing, techniques for working with the fascia, and relaxation exercises from the Viniyoga tradition. She is passionate about helping people move better, live better, and improve quality of life, self-esteem, and body-image issues.

Lucia Walker, RYT® 500, C-IAYT, is a certified yoga therapist trained at AUM. She began practicing yoga as a way to find balance in her life when she was a triathlete, and has been teaching since 2013. In addition to her formal certifications, Lucia has studied with Loren Fishman, Judith Hanson Lasater, Tom Meyers, and Robin Rothenburg, among others, and her areas of experience include yoga therapy for osteoporosis, back pain, hip issues, Tourette’s syndrome, and stress management. She has worked with everyone from teenagers looking to improve their focus in academics and sports, to the elderly, to those with specific ailments and injuries. Lucia incorporates the healing properties of essential oils into her clients’ yoga-based protocols.

Osvaldo ‘Ozzie’ Perez, PT, DPT received his Doctorate of Physical Therapy degree from the prestigious Boston University Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Dr. Perez began his career in 1991 at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida where he developed his skills while working in the Neuro-Rehabilitation, Spinal Cord, Ortho-Trauma, Burns, and Amputee units. He currently is the owner and clinic director at Active Sports Medicine center where he treats patients who have a variety of orthopedic related injuries from the neck, hand, shoulder, back and lower extremities. His emphasis on foot care has filled a void in South Florida area. Dr. Perez’s interests go beyond the clinic setting extending into the academia. Currently, he is an Adjunct Professor at Florida International University where he teaches the orthopedic foot and ankle courses to Doctor of Physical Therapy candidates. Additionally he serves in the advisory committee for the school of Physical Therapy Assistants at Miami Dade College.

Evelyns Gaiti, E-RYT®500, YACEP®, RCYT, C-IAYT, is an AUM-grown certified Clinical Yoga Therapist with over 1200 hours of specialized training utilizing the therapeutic benefits of yoga in working with a multitude of pediatric conditions. Evelyns is a special needs educator who has been working with children and teenagers for more than 25 years. She was inspired to pursue yoga teacher training when she began offering breathing and postures to kids while working as a developmental therapist, and saw how much they benefited. In addition to her 1200-hour Yoga Therapy certification at AUM Home Shala, Evelyns studied Restorative Yoga with Cindy Lee, Yoga Therapy for Children with Loraine Rushton, Children’s Yoga Teacher Training at Karma Kid Yoga, and Yoga Education for Autism Spectrum with Vanessa Khalon, and received a 95-Hour Yoga Alliance Children’s Yoga Teacher Specialist certification at AUM. Evelyns is also trained in Sensory Impairment and Applied Behavior Analysis, and certified in Sound Bowl Healing and Reiki Master Natural Healing Method.

Bea Maldonado, E-RYT®500, is a graduate of AUM’s Professional Yoga Teacher Training and has participated in several Clinical Yoga Therapy programs. She has experience in different Yoga styles and mind-body healing modalities including Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, Taoist Yoga & Qigong, Children's Yoga, Thai Bodywork and Therapeutics. Her passion lies in bringing Yoga to the Community and to schools. She has led outreach programs for different local organizations in Miami including the Museum of Science, Westcare Foundation, Coral Gables Adult Activity Center, Equilibrium Therapeutic Center, Easter Seals, Miami-Dade After-school programs, amongst others. Bea is also an engineer, a tutor and interpreter for AUM’s non-English speaking students, and a mother of two.

Dawn A. Loftin, M.A., E-RYT®500, C-IAYT,
Ayurveda Yoga Specialist, Relax & Renew® Trainer, completed her 500-Hour RYT Training and clinical yoga therapy practicum with AUM hOMe Shala in 2017. As a faculty member, Dawn facilitates the Shala’s on-line Yoga Nidra class. Additionally, Dawn teaches a gentle yoga class for Parkinson’s and other neuro-motor diseases on-site at Lake Norman Muay Thai/Rock Steady Boxing in Mooresville, NC.
Dawn is a certified Ayurveda Yoga Specialist through the teachings of Kathryn Templeton and continuously draws from this knowledge to share foundational aspects of this sister science of yoga with her students. Dawn received her certification as a Relax & Renew® trainer from Judith Lasater where she learned to encourage students to let go and be comfortable with stillness.
Forever a student, Dawn has the desire to continuously learn and deepen her personal practice to be the best version of her Self. Dawn’s intention is to cultivate self-reliance and resilience in others so that when uninvited change is experienced, they too can draw from their reservoir of time-tested practices and remember the part of them that is unchanging, always peaceful, and always at rest.

Dawn’s message to others is Stay in Self; always aware, curious, and compassionate!

Adam Flores, Licensed CCPA , E-RYT®500, YACEP®, C-IAYT, has advanced training in Yoga Therapy for Mental Health and is the CEO and Director of Yoga Therapy at Healing Choice, a chiropractic healthcare practice specializing in addiction recovery. He is a Certified Personal Trainer, Corrective Exercise Specialist, and Holistic Health Practitioner in Integrative Nutrition, Western Herbalism and Ayurveda. He is currently a developing partner for BE SERENE, an addiction recovery toolkit app based in yogic principles, and a new faculty member at AUM Home Shala.

Martha Victoria, Certified Yoga Therapist and yoga mentor
C-IAYT, E-RYT® 500, YACEP® Martha walked into a yoga studio for the first time in July 2014 and ever since has faithfully practiced some type of yoga almost every day. She likes to describe that encounter as “love at first sight”. As a student of mysticism and spiritual teachings for decades, Martha found yoga to be a comprehensive philosophy and practical way to help her live in the present moment and revel in the presence of the divine within. She understands yoga as the string that connects all the dots in her life: mental and physical health, her career, and her relationships with all sentient beings, Mother Earth, and the Divine.
Her yoga journey took her from the first 200 hours training, with the unending support from her husband Luis, friends, and family, all the way to becoming a Certified Yoga Therapist with over 2000 hours of combined training.
Practicing and teaching yoga as an integrated healing modality made her realize that yoga, indeed, is for every-body but not all yoga is for everybody; that there is a huge difference between a yoga class and a yoga session. “Yoga as union is about honoring our bodies, centering our minds and understanding our emotions” is how Martha explains yoga to her clients.
Her 20+ years studying mysticism under the Rosicrucian Order have been her platform to dive deeper into yoga philosophy and psychology. Her training as an Electronic Engineer has facilitated her passion for learning and teaching movement and the human body; and her 40+ years in video production helps make her yoga workshops and training an engaging and practical experience for her mentees.
Movement, breathing, mantras, and meditation. Yoga beyond the surface is her mantra!

Alisha Pacheco, B.A, MBA, LMT, RYT® 500, YACEP®, C-IAYT, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Master’s Degree in Business from the University of Miami. She received her 200-Hour Certification in Sampoorna Yoga during a residential program at Yogi Hari’s Ashram in 2014. After getting certified, she spent several years teaching Hatha Yoga, Flow Yoga, and Gentle Yoga as well as chair yoga and corporate yoga. Teaching led her to pursue the healing arts, and she enrolled in the Massage Therapy Program at Broward College. After working on professional athletes in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB, Alisha became interested in pursuing a medical understanding of how massage could support medical patients, and she became certified as a Medical Massage Practitioner. This allowed her to do massage and teach yoga on a therapeutic level to patients being treated at Sylvester Cancer Center and Memorial Hospital. To further her understanding of how yoga can be used to treat medical conditions, Alisha pursued a certification in Yoga Therapy and is a graduate of AUM Home Shala's Yoga Therapy Program and the Shala's Yoga Therapy for Mental Health 100-Hour Certification.