About Me

Hi, I’m Carla!

Embarking on my yoga journey and becoming a fitness instructor has transformed almost every aspect of my life for the better. Now it’s my honor to share my love for mindful movement & yoga philosophy with the world, helping others to discover the tools for a lifelong, sustainable health and wellness practice.

With my background in weight lifting, swimming, and gymnastics, I was intially drawn to yoga for the physical (asana) practice. Seeing the cool poses on social media, I was intrigued.

I found yoga in 2017, a time in my life where I was an avid weight lifter and my top fitness goal was to lose fat and put on muscle. Doing HIIT workouts and weight lifting almost 7 days/week, I had an unhealthy relationship with food, exercise, & myself, battling an eating disorder and body dysmorphia.

Everything changed when I discovered Hot Yoga and Yoga Sculpt. This dynamic practice captivated me with its blend of physical intensity and mindfulness, igniting a passion for yoga and its transformative potential.

Yoga philosophy taught me to slow down, to listen to my body, to accept myself, and to be kind to myself. A message I desperately needed at the time.

Yoga provided me the tools to eventually heal from my eating disorder and my relationship with exercise & myself.

In 2018, I attained my 200-Hour Certification in Hot Power & Vinyasa Yoga. With my extensive background in teaching swimming, music, and academics, I quickly started teaching yoga at CorePower and it became a natural extension of my practice.

After graduating from UCLA in 2019 with a degree in Molecular Biology, I entered the corporate world, and I took a break from teaching yoga. I still practiced yoga at home & discovered the value of low impact, low weight mat workouts. I also became an avid runner and surfer, using the breathwork, balance, & body awareness I learned in yoga to enhance these activities.

I found that cross training yoga (specifically the breathwork, mobility, and flexibility components) with other forms of movement like weight lifting, running, surfing, and swimming increased performance and recovery time. A beautiful synergy.

In 2022, I struggled with anxiety and insomnia. I made the bold decision to leave my corporate job, and return to teaching yoga.

Since then, I’ve taught hundreds of group classes at my local hot yoga studios, led workshops, and taught private 1:1 inversion sessions. I underwent significant personal growth, reclaiming my passion for teaching and deepening my practice through flexibility/mobility training, restorative/yin yoga, and yoga philosophy.

I grew to understand the importance of daily meditation & setting an intention with a positive mindset to bring inner peace and clarity to my anxious brain.

Through my yoga practice, I slowly discovered different tools to find balance in my wellness journey combining different forms of movement, meditation/breathwork techniques, a positive mindset, and music.

Now in 2024, I am thriving as a yoga instructor and fitness coach, dedicated to guiding & inspiring others to find balance on their own wellness journeys.

I value and live by “Everything in Moderation.”

I don’t believe in fancy diet trends or restricting your favorite foods. I eat meat, and I eat dessert. But I’m mindful about the ingredients & portion size. I like to go out with friends and socialize over a few drinks. But I also love to unwind at the end of the day by watching Netflix in bed. Balance, right?

I value learning something new every day.

I am forever a student, finding opportunities to learn, to sometimes fail, and to always grow. I soak in yoga podcasts, newsletters, feedback from my students, modern anatomy based yoga research, injury management for modern day problems. My teaching style absolutely reflects this value, as I pass on what I’ve learned to my students.

I value challenge (physical and mental) as a means to grow stronger & build resilience.

Challenge is essential to great transformation. Yoga teaches you the awareness to learn when to push yourself and when to take a step back. This is an important skill that I teach my students so that they can reach their goals safely and intentionally.

In my own yoga practice, I’m currently training for handstand & press handstand. I practice daily meditation and breathwork to help train my anxious mind. And I sprinkle in weight lifting, kickboxing, and running 1-2x/week.

Off my mat, you can catch me at the beach watching a sunset, painting, slacklining, surfing, or grabbing a drink with friends.