Melanie is a certified Yoga instructor (RYT 500), and she also holds certifications as an
Ayurveda Health Practitioner, Heart-Based Meditation instructor, and as a Jyotishi
(Vedic Astrologer). Her yoga instruction specializes in breath-movement coordination
and the attunement of the body, mind, and spirit connection. Melanie is dedicated and
committed to supporting new and advanced students to deepen their yoga, Ayurveda, and
meditation sadhana (practice).

Melanie has been an athlete since childhood, studying classical ballet, competing in
triathlon competitions, and elite ultra-distance trail running. She also has been a college
professor in Art/Cultural History for 20 years and a manager of organic farms in
Colorado and Hawaii. She discovered Bikram yoga in 1997 as a form of cross-training
and over time experienced deep transformative healing through her personal practice that
inspired her to begin her ongoing studies in Vedic culture including the art and science
of yoga, its philosophy and history. She received her RYT-200 level yoga teacher
certification at The Academy of Yoga in Grand Junction, Colorado in 2013, and continues
to add to her 500-level yoga teacher training with Tedd Surman of Yoga Awareness
International in Honolulu, Hawaii. She also continues her studies of Jyotisha under the
mentorship of Penny Farro in the sangha of The Cosmic Kaleidoscope.

In 2021, Melanie earned her Ayurveda Health Practitioner certification as well as a
Meditation/Spiritual Mentorship certification from New World Ayurveda, emphasizing
consciousness-based healing. Melanie feels called to help people discover their optimal
balance according to their unique nature, and she incorporates her expertise in her
business Life Force Ayurveda. She works with clients online throughout the world and
locally at her private studio, Halberg Chiropractics in Port Angeles, and at Blue Mountain
Yoga in Sequim. In her spare time, Melanie is out on the trails mountain biking and
hiking, kayaking, or experimenting in the kitchen with organic vegetarian foods.