Melissa Spamer
Melissa has been exploring the world of healing arts for nearly thirty years. She has been facilitating classes, retreats, groups and seeing private clients since 1997. Melissa is an ERYT 500, Licensed Bodyworker, Ayurvedic Practitioner and holds a Master’s degree in counseling psychology as well as a graduate certificate in holistic healthcare. She has accumulated thousands of hours in Yoga, Body & Energy work, Ayurveda and Psychotherapy training from around the world.
Melissa completed her first certification to teach Yoga in 1997 with the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, and has been consistently teaching Yoga for twenty five years. She has gone on to complete more than six 200-500 hour teacher trainings. Her primary influences are from twenty years of in depth study with elder teachers Angela Farmer, Victor Van Kooten and the late Rama Jyoti Vernon. She has completed additional trainings with the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, TriYoga, and Shiva Rea’s Prana Flow method, among many more. She incorporates knowledge of alignment, therapeutics, somatics, and functional movement to serve each student’s needs safely and individually. Her own practice is continually evolving, always becoming more alive in spirit and form which lays the foundation for her teaching. As her own teacher, Angela Farmer, has said, “Melissa is a true teacher. She allows her practice to be a tool for personal evolution and that brings a deep understanding and creativity to her teaching enabling students to have the confidence to make their own inner journey through Yoga.”
Melissa is an Ayurvedic Practitioner and professional member of NAMA. She is a graduate of the Ayurvedic Institute, having completed more than 1500 hours of study. Melissa is also a licensed massage therapist in the state of New Mexico. She credits the majority of her knowledge of the energetic and physical body to more than twenty years of hands on healing around the globe.
Melissa is a licensed counselor in the state of New Mexico. She also holds a graduate certificate in holistic health care with an emphasis in expressive arts therapy. She has co-facilitated groups and retreats incorporating a full range of therapeutic processes to help unveil the truth of the soul’s yearning for engagement.
Melissa’s own personal healing journey is what has inspired her quest to learn more, implement what she knows, and help others find their way towards more embodied and empowered living. One by one, as we help each other, we support a more vital and connected world. She has lived, traveled, and worked on six continents, and currently resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her beloved husband, dogs, and gardens.