A Yoga Retreat in Italy To Fill Your Senses - The Travel Yogi (2024)

Jackie Rosenheim

Jackie is a San Francisco Bay Area-based Yoga Teacher. Her two biggest loves in life are yoga and travel. She has experienced the power of yoga and sees it not as exercise but as a journey to create inner harmony. She is so excited to embark on a yoga travel adventure with you!

Jackie is an E-RYT 500 and a Certified Yoga Therapist and has a Master in Pranayama (breath work) Certification. She has over 1,200 hours of combined training and feels that learning is one of life’s greatest gifts. Jackie’s classes are rooted in the ancient practices of yoga and are a balance of movement, pranayama, and meditation woven with the spiritual and energetic philosophies of the practice.

Jackie and her family share a deep love for travel. Together, they took a life-changing seven-month journey around the world. In her free time, she can be found hiking Pacifica’s many ocean-side trails and cherishing the time she spends with her husband and two crazy-awesome boys. Jackie is an appreciator of good food and great wine and has recently embarked on a wine education path, learning about viticulture, grape varieties and the wine regions of world. While some may say that wine and yoga don’t blend, Jackie finds they are similar as they both awaken and heighten our senses!

Amy Satterfield

Amy Satterfield, Owner of Explore Yoga Studio in Troy, Michigan, is an anatomy inspired Yoga Therapist and E-RYT 500 Yoga Teacher. Amy’s inspiration for teaching is infused with a blend of traditional yoga, a thorough understanding of anatomy and movement principles, myofascial release and traditional Chinese medicine concepts.

Through her years of experience in working with hundreds of veterans, children, special needs adults, athletes and people with various injuries, Amy has come to know and teach yoga in a very unique way. Her trainings in multiple styles of yoga, certification as a Fitness and Exercise Trainer as well as being a Certified Yoga Therapist, lend to Amy’s classes being packed with information about muscles, movement and overall physical well being.

Debbi Murphy

Exploring the mind-body connection is Debbi’s life work. After years in academia researching and teaching subjects that elevated one or the other half of that equation (doctorate in exercise science, master’s degree in counseling psychology), she turned her attention to the study of yoga – a perfect nexus of both.

Throughout her years in academia, Debbi studied with leading yoga masters to deepen her knowledge and hone her practice. Her alignment based, mindful flow style evolved from early work with Rodney Yee, Annie Carpenter and Shiva Rea. But the heart of her teaching comes from Erich Schiffmann, whose message of self-trust and the transformative power of yoga really resonated with her background.

Through more than 40 years of study and experience, including a dozen as creator and director of Shanti Yoga Teacher Training, Debbi found that the best approach to mind-body vitality is informed by both western science and the spirit of eastern yogic philosophy. Whether you’re attending her popular local classes (which won her the title of Boise’s Best), national conferences, or international retreats you can expect an artful blend of sound science, ancient wisdom, and mind-body-spirit integration woven together in the beautiful, juicy flow of the vinyasa tradition.

Debbi also shares her message online in various blogs and trainings. You’ll also find her informative and inspirational posts on herwebsite, andherFacebook,TwitterandInstagramfeeds.

Maura Manzo

Maura Manzo is a sought after yoga & meditation teacher in the Philadelphia area, specializing in trauma-informed practices, community engagement and mind-body integration. She is a catalyst for change encouraging reflection, responsibility and action in our individual lives and in our deeper connection to each other and the world. She believes in the power of community and collective care. Maura has helped raise over $500,000 for local and international organizations, building 5 schools in developing countries and organizing various fundraising groups for direct service and cultural immersions. She is also a retreat leader known for curating unique experiences for her students that land them back into the center of themselves.

Maura has trained extensively with Off the Mat into the World founders and faculty, specifically Seane Corn, Hala Khouri and Nikki Myers, around trauma informed practices and the intersection of social justice and yoga. She has studied trauma-informed care with Lakeside Global institute.

In 2013, Maura co-founded Yoga Home which she co-owned with Kerri Hanlon through 2020. The studio was awarded many ‘best of’ awards throughout the years and she was also the personal recipient of Philadelphia Magazine’s Best of Awards 2014 –Best Yoga Podcast.

Maura’s deep commitment to building community shows up in all that she offers. Over the last 10 years, she has raised nearly $500k for different organizations she has partnered with including OTM, (HIV/AIDS South Africa), buildOn (building schools in 5 different countries) and most recently, Hope for Haiti (sustainable development).

Melissa Barron

Melissa Barron is a huge fan of the transformative power of yoga, and she loves nothing more than showing her students how amazing this practice can be! Melissa’s warmth and encouragement (mixed with a healthy dose of southern charm) inspires students of all ages and abilities. Her popular classes are always uplifting, playful, challenging and thoughtfully designed with proper alignment and safety in mind. Melissa also believes that music can deeply affect the class mood and energy level, so she’s quite popular for curating the perfect playlist for each class!

Melissa began her yoga journey in 2005 with Bikram Yoga and used it to offset the physical strain from marathon and half-marathon running. After a knee osteotomy sidelined all running in 2011, Melissa immersed herself in Vinyasa-style yoga and never looked back. “I used to think I was fit when I could run 26 miles, but yoga transformed my body and mind in ways I could never imagine”, she says of her new-found commitment to the practice. “Seeing my body transform and doing things in my 30s and 40s that I could only dream of in my teens as a gymnast was so inspiring, and it continues to inspire me each day!”

Based in sunny Orlando, Florida, Melissa completed her RYT200 in 2017 and currently teaches at Orlando Power Yoga, the largest and most beloved studio in central Florida. Melissa has committed herself to practicing and studying with other wonderful teachers at workshops and retreats all over the world; she brings this knowledge to her studio classes, arm-balancing workshops, corporate yoga instruction and yoga retreats.

Get ready for adventure and prepare to smile, sweat and groove on an upcoming retreat with Melissa!

Leslie Sikes

Leslie Sikes is a Cincinnati yoga instructor with over 15 years of teaching in studio, institutional, and private settings. She recently participated in a Travel Yogi trip to the Galapagos Islands. It truly changed her life in many ways.

Leslie teaches yoga studies for The University of Cincinnati. This curriculum allows college students to access yoga and meditation through their college career. She was the driving force behind the creation of a yoga studies certificate that consists of coursework from yoga classes through the College of Education and Human Services, the College of Medicine, and the College of Arts & Sciences – a first of its kind at the University. She also teaches yoga for the UC men’s basketball and UC women’s volleyball teams.

Leslie’s yoga training consists of 200 YTT in Ashtanga Yoga, 300 YTT in Rocket Yoga and certifications in Yin Yoga, Prenatal Yoga and Mindfulness. She recently completed her 500 YTT at Modo Yoga Nicaragua and currently teaches hot yoga and workshops for Embra Yoga Cincinnati.

When it comes to teaching, Leslie’s goal is to help students use yoga to stay connected both spiritually and physically, on and off their mats. She loves music and is constantly creating new music playlists to match her teachings, which she subsequently shares with her students. Leslie currently lives in Clifton with her husband and two girls, Lila and Rose.

Leslie’s Galapagos Story

I found The Travel Yogi through the Yoga Journal as a sweepstakes to win a free yoga retreat to Iceland. While I didn’t win, I reached out to the company to see what they were all about. I’m a 42 year old yoga instructor who lives in Cincinnati with her husband and two kids, ages 14 and 11. The Galapagos Island trip had been on my bucket list since I was a little girl. I knew this was the right time in my life to travel again. I decided I should travel as a student first to see the experience from that side. I was completely blown away by my experience! The food, culture, hospitality, yoga practice, local guides of the island, and time to detach from everything at home was crucial for my mental health. I returned home recharged with a fresh outlook on life, and couldn’t wait for the next trip. I made a new group of friends as the Travel Yogi trips seem to attract open-minded, non-judgemental, diverse and friendly people! This is what inspired me to host my own yoga retreat in Panama, the beach lover’s vacation. If you’re looking for a way to detach and “replenish your soul”, come meet me in February 2024. You’ll feel recharged and full of life inside and out.