Our Techers
We’re proud to have some of Dallas’s most talented and experienced yoga teachers at Second Side, bringing depth, knowledge, and genuine passion to every class. Our teachers are here to challenge you, support you, and help you continue growing in your practice, whether you’re stepping onto the mat for the first time or have been practicing for years. Come practice with us and discover just how far your practice can take you.
Aalap completed his 200-hour teacher training at Second Side Yoga. His classes pair dynamic movement with thoughtfully curated music, creating an experience designed to move beyond pure focus and into a flow state, where the outside world can dissolve and attention turns inward. Movement and sport have always been a big part of Aalap’s life. After more than a decade practicing martial arts and playing soccer, he discovered yoga while searching for a new way to stay active during the pandemic. He quickly became hooked on both the physical and mental challenge of the practice. For Aalap, yoga asana and yogic philosophy work together, offering tools to find greater balance and clarity in an increasingly ambiguous world. His classes create a safe space to explore the edges of comfort and discomfort, challenge perceived boundaries, and carry what you discover on the mat into the world beyond it.
Aalap Diwanji
Bret McKinney
Bret brings a vibrant, high-energy presence to the mat, pairing a lively spirit with a grounded, authentic approach to the practice. Known as your “yoga bestie,” his mission is to help students build a healthier, more balanced life while encouraging them to stay true to their individual needs, both on and off the mat. His classes are an eclectic mix designed to spark curiosity and meet students exactly where they are. A strong believer that every expert was once a beginner, Bret creates an inclusive environment where everyone feels like they belong. His teaching is focused and intentional, creating a space where students can move freely, build confidence, challenge themselves, and find a little calm along the way.
Cindy’s goal as a yoga teacher is to make every student feel supported and safe exactly where they are. She encourages students to move in a way that feels right for them, whether that means exploring a posture, modifying it, or skipping it altogether. Safety, comfort, and honoring your own body are at the heart of every class. Cindy believes in the power of creative movement and loves offering thoughtful, intentional sequences. And as most yogis know, when creative flow meets great music, it’s a magic elixir for the soul.
Cindy Slayton
Dana Fisher
Dana Fisher is a 700 RYT, biomedical engineer, and educator with more than 20 years of dance and movement experience. Her deep knowledge of biomechanics and movement science shapes her teaching and her passion for creating a supportive space where students can grow both physically and mentally. Dana’s training includes the study of Ashtanga and Vinyasa, along with immersive training in Authentic Movements philosophy. Through intelligent sequencing, intentional movement, and the power of pranayama, she invites students to explore their practice with greater awareness, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of yoga’s potential both on and off the mat.
Daniel Jardin
Daniel has developed his personal yoga practice for more than a decade through dedicated self-practice and ongoing training with Jonas at Second Side Yoga. He began teaching in 2015, bringing years of exploration and experience to his classes. Both Daniel’s personal practice and teaching style emphasize growth through a continual cycle of challenge, repetition, and refinement. His classes encourage students to explore their capabilities, build consistency, and discover how a dedicated practice can evolve over time.
Eric Schambari
Eric has been teaching yoga in Dallas since earning his certification in 2018. A former professional cage fighter and third-degree black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, he brings a unique perspective on resilience, discipline, strategy, and flow to his teaching. Eric discovered yoga as a way to recover and find balance amid the intensity of combat sports. His teaching spans Vinyasa, Slow Flow, and Yin, with an emphasis on connecting breath to movement, building strength and mobility, and creating space to slow down and restore. Eric welcomes beginners and experienced practitioners alike, creating a supportive environment where students can challenge themselves, explore their capabilities, and find greater balance both on and off the mat.
Chronic back pain and what his orthopedic surgeon once called “a spine with character” led Jonas to yoga more than two decades ago. Coming from zero athletic background, more library than locker room, Jonas developed his practice through patience, curiosity, and steady progress. He has studied Vinyasa and Ashtanga for over 20 years, beginning his teaching path with Susie Caicedo in 2012 and earning his Ashtanga certification from Tim Miller in 2017. A former college educator, Jonas has a gift for breaking complex ideas into clear, practical steps. His teaching combines tradition, careful observation, and an eye for detail to help students deepen and refine their practice. His philosophy is simple: “Come see me when you want to get better."
Jonas Park
Before discovering Second Side, Jace wasn’t exactly sold on yoga. His first class felt like little more than boring stretching, especially for someone more accustomed to extreme water sports, half marathons, and fitness competitions.
That changed when he met Jonas in 2023 and accepted an invitation to practice at Second Side. At 210 pounds of muscle and fairly certain there wasn’t much physically that could shake him, yoga quickly proved otherwise. Jace found a practice that was challenging, humbling, unexpected, and incredibly fun.
Nearly 500 hours of training later, Jace stepped into teaching himself. He brings that same sense of challenge, curiosity, and possibility to his classes, encouraging students to push beyond what they think they can do while enjoying the process.
Come challenge yourself and get some Good Yoga while you can.
Jace Whatley
Kennedy began her yoga journey in 2017, discovering a practice that transformed her mind, body, and spirit and inspired her to share yoga with others. Her teaching emphasizes intentional movement and the connection between breath and body. Expect challenging, intelligently sequenced flows that engage both body and mind while encouraging students to stay present, focused, and curious. With nearly four years of teaching experience, Kennedy has guided students in the United States, Spain, and Israel, deepening her passion for sharing yoga across cultures and communities.
Kennedy Johnson
Laura Beth Lopez is a 500-hour E-RYT with more than a decade of teaching experience in Dallas and 200 hours of meditation training through Sukha Yoga in Austin. Her studies span Vinyasa, Ashtanga, and other traditions, which she weaves together into a thoughtful, challenging, and grounded practice. Her teaching is rooted in breath, presence, and embodiment. Laura Beth invites students to step out of the busy mind and into the body, using the mat as a classroom rather than a stage. Her classes encourage curiosity, effort, and self-inquiry, creating space to meet yourself honestly through movement and breath.
Laura Beth Lopez
Melinda’s teaching is rooted in helping students build lasting strength and resilience, both physically and mentally, so they can move better, feel stronger, and thrive throughout their lives. A lifelong athlete and E-RYT 500 (YACEP), Melinda has additional training in Awakening Yoga, Animal Flow, Yoga Sculpt, and HIIT. Her classes are challenging and dynamic, blending traditional asana with dance-inspired flows, strength training, and animal-inspired movement. Expect an energetic practice, often set to R&B and soulful music, designed to build strength, deepen the mind-body connection, and make sustainable movement part of everyday life.
Melinda Harris
Nicolle Callahan
Nicolle is a Baptiste-trained power yoga teacher with two decades of teaching experience. Her foundation is rooted in the methodology of Baron Baptiste and shaped by many influential teachers, including Stephanie Young, Dave and Cheryl Oliver, Julie Boyde, John Salisbury, Jonah Kest, and the exceptional yoga community here in Dallas. After immigrating from Victoria, B.C. to Dallas, Nicolle discovered power yoga during a pivotal transition in her life and soon began teaching under the mentorship of studio owner and teacher Stephanie Young. Nicolle’s classes are intentionally curated to cultivate wholeness, stability, and harmony while maintaining a raw, unfiltered, and slightly edgy energy. Her intelligently sequenced classes emphasize accessibility, consistency, and long-term student growth. Rooted in an athletic Power Yoga foundation, her teaching carries notes of the Ashtanga lineage, with both vocabulary and sequencing having a soothing effect on the mind. Music is an integral part of the experience, with playlists spanning rap, hip-hop, house, tribal rhythms, and low-tempo tracks designed to build energy and take students on a journey. Nicolle creates a space where new and experienced practitioners can be challenged, laugh, connect, and occasionally shed a tear along the way. Fitness for the inner witness.
Molly Moltan
Richelle Lewis
Richelle is a neurological physical therapist and yoga teacher with a lifelong connection to movement. She first discovered yoga as a child and spent nine years as a competitive gymnast before finding a regular practice and community at Second Side after moving to Dallas. Inspired to share the practice with others, Richelle completed her yoga teacher training at Second Side in 2025. Her teaching combines her expertise in anatomy and body mechanics with mindful movement and connection. Richelle encourages students to challenge themselves, discover new strengths, and cultivate greater balance both on and off the mat.
Susie Caicedo
Susie began her yoga journey in 1998 while living, working, and studying in New York City. Drawn to both the philosophy of yoga and the precision of the physical practice, she quickly discovered a space for creativity, breath, and connection that would shape the course of her life. Soon after, Susie traveled to India to complete a 300-hour certification at the Bihar Yoga School Ashram, an experience she describes as life-changing. She later completed her 500-hour certification at the Miami Ashtanga Yoga Shala. Susie moved to Dallas in 2006 and has been teaching yoga and leading 200-hour teacher trainings since 2010. Many of her students have gone on to become teachers and leaders within the yoga community. A lifelong student herself, Susie continues to practice, teach, and study, always searching for meaningful ways to help her students deepen both their practice and their connection to yoga.
Yoga means family to Takeshi. Introduced to the practice by his wife in 2011, the two have practiced together ever since. After more than a decade as a student, Takeshi followed her teaching path, completing both his 200-hour and 500-hour RYT certifications at Gaia Flow Yoga in 2024–2025. Their two children, competitive gymnasts, have also practiced yoga since age five. “I was not particularly gifted as a practitioner, but this was actually a gift as a teacher. My experience with the limitations and struggles of developing yogis gave me humility, empathy, and motivation to help others.” Outside the studio, Takeshi is a radiologist, mathematician, and biomedical researcher. He brings his knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and movement biomechanics into his teaching, helping students better understand their bodies and their practice.