Who we are
Tybee Yoga and Healing Arts was founded in 2013 and was located above High Tide Surf Shop on Hwy 80. It was a quaint but comfortable little studio and the first ever on Tybee Island!! We had great reviews and a great turnout especially in the "ON" Season but decided after a year that we could serve the community better by becoming a mobile yoga “studio” and closed our brick and mortar one. Now we come to you! We can meet you at the beach, park, vacation rental, home, office or anywhere you’d like to practice.
Meet our teachers
Laurie Kinkel
Laurie Kinkel owner and operator of Tybee Yoga and Healing Arts has lived on beautiful Tybee Island since 2001. She first discovered yoga in 1997 while studying performing arts at Akron University in Ohio. She has has been a practitioner ever since, and teaching yoga since 2013 through her business Tybee Yoga and Healing Arts. She received her RYT 200hr training with Marianne Wells Yoga School in beautiful Costa Rica in 2017, where she gained knowledge from teacher Marianne Wells who, in the 1980’s, studied with BKS Iyengar, the father of Iyengar yoga (alignment based yoga which uses props to aid in performing asana). Since receiving her Hatha yoga certification, she has added certified Pranayama training through Svastha Yoga & Ayurveda Institute, is a registered 200 hr ERYT with the Yoga Alliance and is also a certified "Kidding Around Yoga" teacher! Laurie is now working towards her 500 hr RYT certification and loves learning about yoga!!
She specializes in teaching many different classes on the beach and around town including all levels hatha yoga, gentle yoga, pranayama and meditation classes and workshops, restorative yoga, yin yoga, senior yoga, and Kidding Around Yoga.
Her style of teaching has a big emphasis on breath (pranayama) and connecting the breath to movement (asana). She believes strongly in having correct alignment to prevent injury and using the breath to reach mindfulness during the practice. In her spare time you can often find her on the beach whether it be practicing yoga, paddleboarding, or kayaking.
Jessie Gulliver
Here is my story.
Not native to Savannah, but I have been a resident to the East Coast my whole life…. Beachgirl at birth! From Jacksonville, NC to the northern waters in Mass…. And we ended up in Savannah, Ga! Picked up SUP many years ago, started practicing yoga with a common thread, Jessica Taylor…. She introduced me to SUP Yoga and that’s when I decided I wanted to teach SUPY. It was not an easy journey… I never had a desire to teach yoga, I had SUPY on the brain! Completed YTT at Mira Yoga School and jumped into teaching yoga immediately… as I quickly realized this must be the place for me and developed a love for Baptiste Power Yoga, I went through a certification!! FAST FORWARD to now… I have been teaching power yoga for 10 plus years and bringing the community together with yoga and music (known for my Yoga Jams)!! This year I recently became the yoga ambassador for lululemon Savannah!!!
Carmen “Chintamani” Loup
Carmen has been enjoying a yoga practice since stumbling upon Hatha yoga in 2012, their 70-year-old instructor was so vital and spritely, they knew there must be something to this whole “yoga” deal! Later, Carmen began to seriously study world religions in the hopes of finding a common ground and discovered their personal path to inner peace via Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism and the Tao te Ching.
Wishing to learn more about the Vedic knowledge which spawned yoga as we know it today, Carmen took their 200 hr YTT with Integral Yoga Institute New York in 2021 and found a wealth of knowledge and comfort in the Vedic teachings, so much so that their given Sanskrit name is “Chintamani”, the thought-gem! Carmen is also a certified Usui Reiki Master and Spiritual Coach.
Now, Carmen teaches Tarot at their shop Cosmic Corner in Savannah and endeavors to share the life-opening practice of yoga, in all its forms, with anyone who’s interested! In their spare time, Carmen creates novels and comic books in the world of “The Audacity”, a whimsical Douglas Adams-esque sci-fi universe which splits the difference between absurdism and existentialism. Carmen’s classes are often joyful, playful, and designed for people of all levels!
Danette Bauer, known as Dani B, has a playful and light hearted approach to the practice of yoga. For over a decade of consist study, domestically and internationally, she is equipped with the ability to guide students through a safe and inclusive class that develops a greater sense of self-awareness and inner knowing. Her infectious enthusiasm and deep empathy are clear in each practice.
Dani grew up in the Chicago suburbs, where she first learned to teach yoga with Jeannine Bush Clinton. Immediately she began leading the community in mindful movement. Dani believes yoga can happen anywhere including studios, schools, outdoors and online. Her favorite is collaborations with other creatives and community leaders. Her journey of study includes special focus on children’s yoga and students with disabilities.
Then, her wandering nature inspired travel through the western United States in 2020. Not long after, she landed in costal Savannah, GA with her boyfriend and tuxedo kitty. During the day, she works with children on the autism spectrum as an RBT (Registered Behavior Technician.) Developing strong compassion for skills like patience and resilience. On the weekends and evenings she is on the yoga mat, in union with others as the teacher and student.
Dani is a 500 RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher) with Yoga Alliance and has studied with many different perspectives. In 2024, she earned a scholarship for a teacher training in Poros, Greece with Meg Shuba, owner of Body Poetic. This 3-week immersion, and BP’s methodology, resonated with her deeply. Her wealth of knowledge from her ongoing learning impacts her students by highlighting elements of creative intuition, constant curiosity and fun!
Learn more about upcoming classes at danibyoga.com.
Danette Bauer "Dani yogi-be"
Kierstin Graham
Keirstin will be guiding us on Thursday evenings at 6:30 PM for her Soul Flow Ceremony, a unique opportunity to embrace your authentic self.
Compassion, kindness, and inclusiveness have always been the underlying theme of Kierstin’s words. making the practice fit the individual (instead of making the individual fit the practice)is a top priority for her. After her 200 hour training, she expanded her knowledge becoming a reiki master, breath coach, Crisis Intervention Teams for Youth Trainer, Community Resiliency Model Trainer, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training Helper. Received continuing education in meditation, yoga for eating disorders, circus arts therapy, and mindful self compassion. She started studying integrative health at Arizona State University, and then chose to follow her dharma completing a 300-hour trauma informed yoga training and became a certified yoga therapist.
Kierstin feels honored to hold space for multiple individuals through her work from youth, to recovery spaces, crisis centers, and local nonprofits. She hopes through her work, individuals are reminded it is okay to slow down and take things one breath at time.