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About Us

At Padma Yoga, we are enthusiastic about what yoga can do for our clients in the Palm Coast, FL area. We have witnessed the benefits of yoga firsthand and seen how it works to improve the mind, body, and spirit.

Our Teachers

Micki “Padma” Higgins

E-RYT 500, Professional Master Level, YACEP

Certified Discovery/Kripalu Yoga Lead Teacher for RYS 200 program

Certified Yin Yoga Teacher

Micki "Padma" first became interested in yoga at the age of 56 while watching an Oprah show in April of 2001 featuring yoga for stress relief with Rodney Yee. This began her personal life changing and healing journey.

What began as a "once in a while stress relief class" became a passion for the practice of yoga. Through the guidance of her first teacher, Eryn Boudreau, she began teacher training in 2003, graduating in 2004 from Discovery Yoga, St. Augustine, FL, ultimately receiving a 200 hour certification in Discovery and Kripalu Yoga from Deva Parnell.

 Since that time Micki has continued her personal growth studying with nationally known teachers and also attending many workshops and seminars. Micki has now completed her 500-hour Master Level professional certification at Discovery Yoga with Christopher Baxter and has since completed the required hours teaching to receive the E-RYT 500 status. In early 2007, Micki found it increasingly difficult to continue in her "regular" job and also teach yoga. Listening to her inner voice, she took a leap of faith and retired early at age 62 to teach yoga full time. She has never regretted that decision.

 In November 2009 Micki opened "Padma Yoga", a center for yoga, health and wellness, at 5 Utility Drive, Ste.# 15, in Palm Coast, FL 32137

 "I am always a student first, learning from other teachers and also from my own students whom I am privileged to teach and guide. Yoga has been a true transformation for me. Sharing the gifts of knowledge my teachers have given me and helping others to make positive changes in their lives through yoga is my priority.

Thanks to all my teachers who have so generously shared their knowledge.

 I extend my gratitude to Deva Parnell, Christopher Baxter and Discovery Yoga for caring and teaching me in the ways of a teacher.  

Thanks to my students, past and present, for caring about yourselves and allowing me to help you on your healing journey of yoga. I have learned so much from all of you.

And a very special thank you to Eryn Boudreau for the gentle "push" and seeing in me what I could not. I will always be grateful to you, my first teacher. You hold a special place in my heart. Namaste.'

Peace and Love to all,

Micki "Padma" 

Other Certifications Include:

***All certifications received from nationally recognized and certified professionals in their field

  • "Ayurvedic Yoga" with "Chaya" Sharon Heller.
  • "Karma Kids Yoga” with Shari Vilchez Blatt
  • "Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga" (LVCY) with Lakshmi Voelker
  • "Prenatal Yoga " with Janice Clarfield
  • Yin/Yang Yoga with Joe Barnett (Senior Teacher and assistant to Paul Grilley).
  • Yin Yoga with Bernie Clark
  • "Safe Yoga for Skeletal Health, Osteoporosis and other Spine Conditions" with Sarah Meeks
  • “Teaching and Guiding Meditation” with Christopher Baxter
  • Sky Styx & Chair Styx with Christopher Baxter

*Advanced Trainings, Workshops and Other Studies Include:

  **All have been studied with certified professionals

  •  "Myofascia, Prana and the Bandhas" with Jeffrey Shoaf,
  • "Iyengar Yoga Basics" with John Charping and Betty Larsen
  • "Advanced Postures and Hands-On Assisting" with Deb Vinyard
  • "Hip Openers", "Holding in the Postures" and "Inversions and Arm Balances" with Eryn Boudreau
  • "Mandala Yoga" (Yoga in the "Round") with Madrona Yoga in Point Roberts, WA
  • "Meditation, Pranyama and the Chakras" with Christopher Baxter
  • "Restorative Yoga with Kate Cordell
  • "Sadhana Retreat I", study of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras with Christopher Baxter
  • "Sanskrit and Hindi, Reading, Writing and Chanting" with Aradhika Webber
  • "The Art of Teaching, Level II" with Deva Parnell
  • "The Four Core Practices of Yoga" with Christopher Baxter
  • "The Joy of Living", “Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche's Meditation Training, Levels I and II” with Tim Olmstead
  • "The Spirit of Change" with Christopher Baxter
  • "Wellness as a Way of Life" with Christopher Baxter
  • "Yamas and Niyamas" with Connie Windon
  • "Yin Yoga" with Arla Larson
  • "Yoga and Ayurveda" with Beverly Segel
  • "Yoga of the Chakras" with Christopher Baxter
  • “Functional Anatomy and Restorative Yoga” with Marlyssa Sulivan
  • “Yoga Philosophy”, “Yoga Nidra” and “Chanting” with Steve Ross at Guruv Yoga in Orlando,FL
  • "Core Asanas I and II" with Christopher Baxter
  • Two Workshops on "Sacred Postures, Archetypes Through Yoga" with Chitra (Mirit) Eder-Turley
  • "Safe Yoga" with Lisa McQuade

Karen Burtnett

Discovery Yoga CYT - 500

Kripalu Tradition

Also Certified in YIN Yoga

Karen has practiced yoga since 2002. She completed Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training in May 2015 at Discovery Yoga in St. Augustine and is currently enrolled in the Discovery 300 Hour Master Level Program. Karen taught the Yoga “Basics” Class at Padma Yoga for 15 months and now substitutes for Yin Yoga. 

She is happy to be part of the yoga community and is striving to be as knowledgeable and compassionate as her many mentors, teachers and fellow yoga participants – wishing all peace, love and light …

Karen has received her Master Level Certification!

Having studied trainings below and more.

  • "The Art of Teaching: Three stages of Kripalu Yoga" w/Deva Parnell
  • "Safe Yoga" w/Lisa McQuade
  • "Functional Anatomy and Therapeutic Yoga" w/Tra Kirkpatrick
  • "Myofasciae, Prana and the Bandhas" w/Jeffrey Shoaf

Kim Friedman

RYT 500 Master Level / YACEP

Discovery Yoga (Kripalu Tradition)

Lead Teacher -  DYTT  Training at Padma Yoga

Yoga found Kim in 2008 after her husband had a heart attack. She was working at a corporate company putting in 60-70 hours a week and also traveling with the company.

Kim's first experience with Yoga was at a small studio, where the owner was Kripalu Tradition certified. Since that first class, Kim knew this was her new path in life.

In June 2014, she invested in an existing yoga studio as a partner with Yoga Circle and Dance and realized her path as a yoga teacher.

Kim started her certifications in 2016 with Discovery Yoga in the Kripalu Tradition at Padma Yoga. After graduating from the 200 hr program, she immediately started the 300 hr program at Discovery Yoga which she completed, in 2019. She then assisted Micki Higgins for two ten-month "Discovery Yoga Teacher Training" programs in the Kripalu Tradition to expand her knowledge of Yoga.

Kim has most recently completed assisting Deva Parnell, being a Lead Teacher in the 200 hr program, completing all requirements certifying her to hold Discovery Yoga Teacher Training programs in the Kripalu Tradition.

Once Kim's studio closed, she felt a strong need to serve her community.

That path became apparent when she found the Christina Phipps Foundation and became certified to teach Yoga for Cancer.

She currently volunteers to teach a free yoga class to cancer patients, cancer survivors, and caregivers at Advent Health Cancer Institute.

Her passion for giving to her community has led her to acquire additional certifications from Y4C Methodology by Tari Prinster, a certificate from Yale University in Science for Well-Being, and additionally, a certification from Cyndi Lee, Yoga International, Restorative Yoga Teacher Training. 


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Linda Lee

CYT - 500

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Linda Lee is a Kripalu Yoga Certified Instructor (1994), and Amrit Yoga Master Teacher (2001), and a Certified Anti-Gravity Yoga Instructor (2017). She is also studying for her Aqua Yoga certification. She has diligently practiced multiple forms of yoga for fifty years and taught for almost thirty!

Linda is well-traveled and has studied with many world-renowned Yoga Masters. She draws from a blend of authentic yoga disciplines such as; Hatha, Kriya, Yin, Astanga, Iyengar, Kundalini, Chair/ Special Needs, Water Yoga, and many more!

Her particular modality of teaching offers students of all levels of fitness the opportunity to explore their own body's wisdom at their own pace. With detailed guidance and assistance - students are immediately put at ease.

"Linda's classes are the most authentic I have experienced, hands down!"  KATE

Martrice Endres

CYT 200

Photo soon

Martrice is a yoga teacher, meditation coach, and writer who is passionate about sharing her wellness journey with everyone.

Martrice's story of self-healing and empowerment are shared in the book Journeys with the Divine Feminine, a collection of 24 personal stories of women's experiences in discovering the Divine Feminine.

She completed yoga teacher training at Indi Yoga in 2018 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and began teaching two weeks later both in group and in private settings. Martrice likes to teach classes meditation focused on creating a safe space that allows practitioners to learn about themselves. She continues to study yoga and meditation and has completed additional training in the following areas: Yin Yoga, Trauma-Informed Yoga, Marma Points of Ayurveda, Reiki, Life Purpose Coaching, and the Science of Wellbeing from Yale University.


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Hope Kessler

CYT -200

 

Hope Kessler received her 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Certificate of Completion in April 2020 from Sanctuary Yoga in Gainesville, Florida. She is eternally grateful to her teacher trainer, Melissa Montilla, a lifelong dancer, yoga teacher trainer, and movement instructor.

Hope combines what she has learned from Melissa and other yoga masters she has encountered over the last 20 years into a practice incorporating elements of Ashtanga, Hatha, Restorative, Iyengar, and other yoga traditions, celebrating the exploration of the relationship between breath and movement.

She believes yoga is a limitless journey of self-discovery, wellness, and awareness–observing and practicing the union of breath, body, mind, and spirit.

She taught for a year and a half in Keystone Heights and Melrose, Florida, before moving to Palm Coast in October, where she taught at Hammock Beach Resort.

 

"Looking forward to having you join me at Padma Yoga!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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