Founders & Philosophy

Hi! Our names are Clayton and Shanine and we are the co-creators of Chrysalis Yoga and The Naked Sprout (our vegan restaurant). Both Clayton and I are like opposite sides of a coin. Some would say we are Yin and Yang merging as one. Clayton is more Yang – outgoing, funny, pushing things to the extreme and questioning everyone (especially senior yoga teachers). I am more Yin – I would love to snuggle up reading a philosophy book all day long if I could, I like to play it safe and am more apt at listening to what senior teachers have to say.

It all started in a meditation class a long time ago, where Clayton, as usual, asked the teacher a question. While annoying the teacher with the very thought-provoking question, I sat up taller and started to pay closer attention to him. The next week, Clayton came and sat next to me and from that point on our journey began together.

I have come to admire his thought-provoking questions and his boisterous character in life, while I hope, sometimes, I am able to ground him a little and show him the peace in sometimes sitting still. Through our journey together in Yoga and our relationship, we have come to embrace the beauty and power of moving toward balance.

We had the vision of creating, Chrysalis Yoga, a studio where we could share yoga and its transformative powers with as many people as possible. We are living proof of how yoga has changed our lives! Transform Yourself, Transform Your Life, Transform the World Around You is our motto! We love being able to connect with students, we love learning about ourselves and yes, we also like a challenging yoga class that kicks our butts!

Teaching together has been an amazing ride as well. The class becomes more dynamic with two teachers. We have studied with many teachers in various traditions. Our first Hatha Yoga teacher training was with Nesta Falladown. We also completed a Meditation Facilitator Training with Tony Murdock. We then went on to complete our Anusara™ teacher training with Todd Norian & Ann Greene (senior Anusara-Certified™ teachers. We are both Anusara™-Inspired teachers. To learn more about Anusara™, go to: www.anusara.com. We have also done many workshops with teachers in various styles of yoga, such as: Sean Corne, Rodney Yee, Shiva Rea, François Raoult, and more.

We added the restaurant part to the yoga studio, The Naked Sprout, because of our love of being vegetarian and the transformative powers plant-based food has. We don’t want to force people to become vegetarian. We just want to share with people that food can still taste great when it is not laden with salt, meat, cream and preservatives. And guess what, it is extremely healthy, makes you regular too AND you are helping the environment!

We are extremely blessed to have amazing teachers, yoga advisors and energy exchangers to support us in sharing the power and love for yoga to you!

We look forward to practicing with you!
Shanine Dennill