About Me

My path into yoga began while studying Health and Wellness, where I discovered that healing extends far beyond the absence of disease. Yoga became a framework for understanding the relationship between the body, nervous system, mind, and lived experience—and a lifelong foundation for how I approach health, leadership, and human development.

Today, I serve as a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT), Sattva Yoga Therapist, and Lead Faculty at PranaYoga Institute. With extensive experience in nonprofit management, I currently serve as the Chief Wellness Officer in a wellness organization dedicated to human development. My work integrates evidence-informed health sciences, yoga therapy, developmental science, and community wellness to create accessible, person-centered approaches to care across clinical, educational, nonprofit, and community settings.

I have experience supporting individuals across the lifespan with chronic and complex health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, neurological conditions, cancer, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), chronic pain, post-operative recovery, prenatal and postpartum care, trauma, anxiety, depression, addiction, grief, and life transitions. Across every setting, my focus remains the same: understanding the whole person, supporting nervous system regulation, and empowering individuals to actively participate in their healing actively.

Whether working with clients, mentoring clinicians, or leading community initiatives, I believe every person possesses an innate capacity for healing, adaptation, and growth. My role is not to fix people, but to create the conditions where resilience, self-awareness, meaningful change, and the light that already exists within can emerge.

What to Expect From Me as Your Mentor

My role is not to give you all the answers... it's to help you become the Yoga Therapist you are capable of becoming.

You can expect me to:

• Lead with curiosity and compassion. I'll aim to cultivate a safe environment where questions, reflection, and honest conversations are welcomed.
• Challenge your clinical reasoning. I'll ask thoughtful questions that strengthen your assessment, decision-making, and confidence.
• Integrate evidence with humanity. Together we'll bridge health science, yoga therapy, and lived experience to provide individualized, ethical care.
• Provide honest feedback and accountability. I'll celebrate your strengths while encouraging continued growth, reflection, and professional integrity.
• Meet you where you are and walk with you to where you're going.
• Model lifelong learning. None of us has all the answers. I value humility, collaboration, and the willingness to keep learning.

My hope is that our mentorship equips you not only with clinical skill, but with the confidence, presence, and discernment to serve others with both competence and compassion.

Originally a native of San Diego, Ali found herself in Fort Wayne in March of 2024 by way of her partner. After spending nearly a decade in Austin, TX they both felt like they were ready for their next move and were looking to be closer to his family. With this move, she found herself with a lot more time on her hands and was seeking community in this new found home. Ali had been practicing yoga on and off for about 15 years and she thought there was no better time than the present to explore a teaching certificate! Ali initially entered the program to deepen her own practice, learn more than just the asanas, to understand the meaning and the why. What she discovered was her love for sharing that knowledge with others and cultivating a meaningful practice for them. She completed her 200-hour certification through PranaYoga in June of 2025 and is excited to continue her journey by learning from her students!

Off the mat, Ali works as an executive assistant in non-profit healthcare and enjoys reading, cooking, traveling and spending time outdoors with her partner.

Claudia always loved a good stretch: the muscles, the schedule – just how much can one person fit into a day? Attending her first yoga course in 1996 just continued the stretching. However, the more she delved into the practice, the more was revealed that yoga is the space lacking in the hectic life she created for herself. Seeking to explore beyond just one branch in the yoga tree brought her to the doors of Pranayoga. Every step revealed the possibilities of incorporating these teachings into the very breath that carries us through the experiences of our lives, however small or overwhelming they may seem. Claudia’s message: to find yourself in the jumble – even if we start one class at a time, hoping it will expand and stretch across each aspect of life.

Megan has been practicing yoga for over 8 years, beginning as a fun way to connect with friends during college. Over time, the practice evolved into a vital tool for managing mental and physical stress, helping to cultivate inner balance during life's transitions. In recent years, it has deepened into a spiritual practice, offering space to slow down, reflect, and connect with both the self and the divine.

Driven by the belief that life is meant to be enjoyed, Megan is passionate about empowering others to unlock their own potential. Her mission is to create an environment where her students can safely explore physical vitality, inner peace, or deeper spiritual connection.

Beyond the mat, Megan is dedicated to personal development and spiritual growth, with a love for exploring universal laws, intuition, and the expansive nature of the self.

Kelli began her yoga journey in the Summer of 2016 after finding herself at a crossroads in life where her current lifestyle wasn’t serving her any longer. Working in the executive level of a corporation led to a life of stress, anxiety, and depression. Soon unhealthy coping mechanisms became a part of the every day routine, which made the ailments of life even more difficult to cope with. Trying to find the right path to “fix” herself led to seeking many sorts of treatment and therapy, but the growth was only ever temporary. Yoga became that missing pillar to keep positive growth a lifelong journey. It didn’t take long to realize that yoga wasn’t just a daily hobby, but also where her career was meant to be.

When you don’t see Kelli teaching a class, you will likely see her behind the front desk, where she serves as the Accounts Manager for Pranayoga.

She has a passion for helping others find their path in the world by using yoga as a tool to help them heal and grow. Whether it is through recovery from mental illness, addiction, or just trying to live life as their true self, she is eager to share with others her experience and yoga to help others recover as well. She has hopes to continue her training in the future. “It is important for me to share with my students that yoga isn’t just time spent on the mat, but the mat is where we train and practice a new set of skills that we can take with us off the mat and out into the world to help us through our every day stressors and anxieties.”

When she is not behind the desk or on the mat at Prana, you can find her with her 2 children, playing, learning, and exploring.

Tara began thinking about yoga years before beginning to practice. Always one to try new fitness and healing pathways, upon taking her first class in 2018, she felt a sense of finally coming home. After completing her Sattva Hatha 200hr teacher training in 2021, she immediately began pursuing a path to become a Yoga Therapist. In early 2024, Tara will finish her 1000hr Yoga Therapy training and start working through clinicals to obtain her IAYT license. Throughout this time, Tara completed a 500hr RYT, 80hr RPT in the Pre/Postnatal space, and a 100hr Ayurveda and Yoga Certification.

Founder of PranaYoga, Creator of Somatic Vinyasa Yoga Therapy, Author, Yoga Therapist, and Ayurveda Wellness Counselor

Dani “Pranavani” is the founder of PranaYoga and the visionary behind the Somatic Vinyasa Yoga Therapy method. With over 22 years of yoga practice and a dedicated focus on yoga therapy since 2007, her journey into the healing arts began as a personal quest to overcome an eating disorder and chronic pain. Through the transformative power of Yoga and Ayurveda, Dani found healing and purpose, which she now shares with others through her therapeutic offerings and teachings.

Dani is the author of The Path of Joyful Living, a contemporary exploration of kriya yoga and the psychology of yoga. She has a profound commitment to helping individuals navigate life with greater ease, particularly those facing cancer, chronic pain, or other health challenges. As a certified Yoga Therapist accredited by the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), she leads the PranaYoga Institute, which offers a 1,000-hour IAYT-accredited Yoga Therapy Diploma program.

In addition to training future yoga therapists, Dani works one-on-one with clients, providing personalized Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy sessions designed to foster balance and well-being.

Jenny started yoga for her daughter in 2010 but stayed for herself. This is when powerful healing began to transform her body, mind, and spirit, not necessarily in that order. Through a regular asana and sitting practice, studying with phenomenal teachers and soaking in the love of the beautiful yoga community, she has begun to discover a quieter mind. She became RYT 200 certified through Prana School of Yoga and Health in 2012 as well as Thai Massage from Thai Body Work in 2012. She became ERYT 500 certified in 2015, and a Certified International Yoga Therapist in 2017. As a teacher, she sees each student as whole. She strives to create a supportive environment in which each student can safely experiment in uncovering the beauty and joy that reside within the heart of each of us. This support can include traditional yoga therapy, massage therapy, and a synergistic blend of the two. She is a perpetual student and is furthering her yogic and massage studies on the pelvic floor and myofascial release.

Joe Brothers has worked in the manufacturing field since high school and is the proud father of one adult son. At home, he shares life with a playful puppy named Rumi and a small flock of chickens, grounding his days in simplicity and care.

About three years ago, Joe discovered Ayurveda and yoga through Pranayoga—an experience that opened the door to deeper healing practices. His first sound bath was a turning point, sparking an immediate connection to the profound effects of sound and vibration on the nervous system and overall well-being.

Joe went on to complete Sound Massage training in St. Louis at the Center of Sound. He is passionate about sharing sound healing as a powerful avenue for relaxation, release, and restoration, and is dedicated to creating experiences that help others reconnect with ease, presence, and inner calm.

Brett Caroline Matzke, C-IAYT is a Yoga Therapist and Ayurvedic Wellness Coach with a deep reverence for nature, movement, and lifelong learning. She completed her Yoga Therapy training through the PranaYoga Institute of Holistic Health and Yoga, where she now has the honor of returning as a luminary mentor, and her Ayurvedic Wellness Coach training through the Shakti School. Her work prioritizes nervous system regulation, empowered healing, and trust, supporting sustainable, individualized healing that welcomes both Eastern and Western approaches to care. Brett believes wellness is a daily practice—one that is alive, adaptive, and continually evolving with us.

My Why

My training at the PranaYoga Institute of Holistic Health and Yoga was far more than an academic pursuit—it became deeply personal. Although I had practiced yoga for many years and completed a prior 200-hour training, it wasn’t until this program that I truly experienced Yoga as something embodied and lived. Through the guidance of Dani, Jenny, and the entire Prana faculty, my rigid, “do everything right” approach to health softened into something more compassionate, sustainable, and individualized.

What stayed with me most was not just what I learned, but how held I felt throughout the process. The Yoga Therapy container supported me not only as a practitioner-in-training, but as a human moving through my own life and healing. That experience—of being seen, supported, and trusted—shaped how I practice and how I teach.

My desire to serve as a luminary mentor comes from the genuine joy I feel in supporting others on this path. Yoga Therapy training is not just a professional journey; it is a deeply personal one. We are learning how to hold others while also learning how to hold ourselves. Being able to walk alongside trainees in that process—witnessing their growth, questions, and self-trust unfold—is something I feel profoundly grateful for and excited to give back.

What to Expect From Me as a Mentor

What I want students to know is this: you will never feel fully ready—and that’s okay. You can know the language, understand the philosophy, and memorize the protocols, but Yoga Therapy comes alive when you trust yourself to make informed, aligned, and intuitive decisions with a real person in real time.

Yoga Therapy is deeply personalized. While the information matters, the work ultimately comes down to your ability to show up, hold space, listen closely, and respond with presence and discernment. Our clients are complex, deeply human, and not scripted.

My goal as a mentor is to help you build trust in yourself, strengthen confidence in your clinical judgment, and nourish the belief that you belong here—that you are capable of stepping fully into your role and identity as a Yoga Therapist.