Welcome!

I’m Hannah, founder of Aura Yoga. I’m a 200-hr registered yoga teacher trained in trauma-sensitive, accessible beginner, ashtanga, vinyasa, viriya, yin and restorative yoga.

Whether you’ve known me for a short or long time, you know I’m ~into yoga.~ Like, would have NEVER been invited to escape for pina coladas, INTO yoga.

But if you’ve known me for a long time, you also know that I’ve never felt very confident. I remember being in 7th grade gym & not being able to lift the bar weight.

Now, I can hold my own weight.

As I began practicing yoga in 2020, my energy started to change. My being changed completely. My disassociation was replaced with presence. I could hold space for myself and others and challenge myself to be accountable to my authenticity, to face my fears, and to show up and teach even when it scared me immensely.

It’s for this reason that I have coined my yoga company, Aura. Aura means energy. Radiance. Light. That’s what it feels like every time I step into the mat. And after practicing for over five years, that’s what life feels like, too.

I may not be as strong as I’d like or do a headstand everyday, but that’s definitely not why I practice or why I teach. Asana (postures - still hooked me from day one & built my confidence up, practice after practice. And if I’m ever asked, “Why yoga?” I’d say: I love my therapist so much and I recommend it if you have the means 110%. But I’ve personally grown, healed & radiated so much more with yoga.

I’m so excited to grow as a student and teacher as I launch Aura Yoga with you.

Based in the Arkansas River Valley, I offer group classes and private lessons primarily in Clarksville and Russellville, Arkansas, with more group classes and online offerings coming soon.

If you’ve made it this far, then here’s a little snippet more about me and my background:

I was raised in southern Arkansas and tried every single sport — soccer, basketball, softball, gymnastics, cheer — dance was the only thing that stuck. I performed in tap, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop and ballet for over 10 years.

I’ve also always been a reader and writer. I used to get in trouble at night for staying up too late to finish books. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree; my mom is a schoolteacher and librarian.

In high school, I developed an even bigger passion for writing, but I didn’t know what to do with it. I didn’t feel the call to write books and I wanted a steady job. I chose journalism and graduated with a degree at Arkansas Tech University in 2021. I became enamored with learning peoples’ journeys. Everyday was a new chance to learn something different.

I am nothing if not a seeker. Of knowledge, of joy, of creativity; I love dabbling in anything and everything. I know how to crochet (kind of) and enjoy spending time in nature with my partner and the best dog in the whole world, JB. (I may be just a little biased).

I stayed in the Russellville area for my partner and it was around this same time I became not just a yoga student, but a seeker. I yearned for the spiritual discipline and authenticity that my teachers have, and inspired me to be the same.

I can only hope that each class and session — whether it’s with me, or throughout your personal movement journey — radiates your inner aura; the one you may not always see. The one you may doubt, question, or struggle with.

If you resonate with that last sentence, then I have an unsatisfactory response, but well-meaning truth: we’re all human, friend. We’re all trying to figure out this life thing together. And it is hard. But it doesn’t have to be as hard as we make it out to be. “The Body Keeps the Score” — a well-renowned book by psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk — suggests that the greatest source of harm and suffering are the stories we tell ourselves. More on that later. But for now….

The light in the student, teacher, and seeker in me, sees and honors the light in the student, teacher, and seeker in you. (Namaste).