Our Instructors

MEGAN CARSON

As co-founder of Sparks Yoga, Megan has avidly been exploring yoga long before she and her husband decided to open a studio. She found a love for yoga after college, when she was forced to find exercise that was easy on the joints and could help heal her body after undergoing knee surgery.
Many years later, her background in therapy and social work is ultimately what led her to seek further training in this mind-body therapy world. She began teaching yoga in 2012, when she earned her teacher’s certification from Atlanta Peachtree Yoga. In addition to teaching in Macon and Atlanta, she has taught yoga internationally and worked in Costa Rica assisting in a training program for new yoga instructors.
Megan and her husband are proud to offer a uniquely dynamic yoga studio that offers heated and non-heated classes in addition to AIReal Yoga™. Megan seeks to teach classes, both on the floor and in the air, that are accessible to every body and every skill level. She believes that yoga is healing for the mind, body, and soul if we allow ourselves to truly be open to its transformational gifts.

JOE ALOI

JOE ALOI is a former Marine. During a deployment Joe suffered a life threatening injury and lives to tell about it. As a result of his injury Joe underwent two open-heart surgeries. During his recovery, he was searching for something to calm his mind and his body. The ability to find peace within himself was his number one goal. As a lifelong athlete, running and lifting weights were a normal escape for Joe; however, they began to lose their luster. A friend pushed him to try yoga, and he hasn’t stopped practicing since. He has discovered that, for him, yoga can be an integral part of becoming fully alive, fully human.

Joe received his 200-hour yoga teacher certification and YogaHour teaching certification from his Teacher, Neda Honarvar at Tough Love Yoga in Atlanta Georgia. Joe’s style of teaching can be described as alignment-based flow with many opportunities for inversions. His passion is handstands and it can be seen in his practice and teachings.

NATALIE BOURDON

NATALIE BOURDON began her yoga journey at Jivamukti and Area Yoga in NYC.  She was drawn to the focus on alignment and wisdom teachings emphasized in those practices.  She believes that yoga practice provides an amazing opportunity for going inward and for a continued and sustained learning about yourself and being in the world.

In 2012, she took a workshop with Tias Little in Atlanta and immediately knew she had found her teacher.  She began studying hatha yoga at his school in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she received her 200-hour certification. She is currently continuing her 500-hour program there as well.

Natalie’s classes focus on alignment, individual adjustment, and meditation. Students can expect to experience a class that both enlivens them and leaves them feeling deeply rested.

BRITTANY CHESTER

BRITTANY CHESTER has a Bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Georgia and completed her 200-hour teacher training certification at Red Hot Yoga in Buckhead under the guidance of Bethany Vaughn. It was love at first crow pose for Brittany. For her, yoga is the courage and strength she has always searched for. Brittany finds that her yoga practice is the one thing she can turn to when dealing with life’s struggles. Yoga is a constant source of peace and a place she can go to connect with herself.

As a teacher she loves watching her students grow stronger in their practice as well as in their own lives. Students can expect Brittany’s classes to be strengthening and challenging, both for the mind and the body. She will push you to discover your limits and then kindly encourage you to break through them.

CHRISTA CONN

CHRISTA CONN’s love of movement first began as a dancer. When she discovered yoga, it gave her the same active and creative outlet. After becoming a Mom, her love of yoga expanded as it provided a place to recharge from life’s chaos and stress. Yoga quickly became an essential part of her busy lifestyle, as it helped her live a healthier, happier, and more purposeful life! Christa became passionate about sharing the benefits of yoga and wellness with others and became a teacher.
Christa completed her 200-hour RYT yoga certification and Stand Up Paddle Board (SUP) yoga and fitness certification at Omcore Yoga & Body. She also has a Balanced Body Barre Certification, which she received at the Sea Island Fitness Center while living on St. Simons Island. She has since moved back to her hometown of Macon with her husband, 2 children, and 3 dogs to share yoga and wellness with as many people as possible. Christa loves teaching powerful sequences set to creative playlists and enjoys challenging all levels of students to breath deeply and strengthen their mind, body, and spirit. Christa is passionate about showing others how yoga helps you achieve a healthy and happy lifestyle!

JENNY FOX

JENNY FOX fell in love with yoga when it was first introduced to her in 2012. She found the lifestyle of yoga to serve her spiritually, mentally, and physically.   She discovered that yoga was a good, healthy alternative for her and her chronic knee injury that she has battled with from playing sports at a very young age. Jen has always had an urge to help others, and to make everyone feel welcome and loved.    With a degree in Sociology and experience with volunteerism and homeless outreach in the Atlanta area she was able to fulfill her need to help others.   She also has a history of restaurant management in the Atlanta area. She once operated and owned a small catering business in the Atlanta area as well.  She moved back to Macon to be with her family in 2010.   

When she moved back to Macon she fell back  into a corporate style business owned by her family and began working in an office setting. She also helped nurse her mom back to health who was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in 2012.  Health and wellbeing are very important to her.  She believes that yoga can aide in helping any ailment, whether physical, mental, or spiritual. Jen recently decided that the corporate style life was not serving her and decided to leave the family business to chase her own passions.   After taking this scary and exciting professional leap she decided it was the perfect time to begin her yoga journey and become an instructor where she would be able to help serve others. She recently attained her 200 hour RYS certification from the highly acclaimed Asheville Yoga Center. Jen’s initiative is to make everyone feel welcome and deserving of the practice no matter where they may be. She wishes to share her love for yoga and life with all who are willing to allow her the opportunity.  

JESSICA HARDMAN

JESSICA HARDMAN fell in love with yoga while earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Southern Mississippi. During this time she learned how to use yoga to recover and strengthen the body and mind, and now incorporates these practices into most of her dance classes to aid in injury prevention. In 2005, she began teaching dance and yoga classes at various venues around the Middle Georgia area, and in 2013, Jessica started practicing Aerial Yoga and Silks in the Atlanta area. Two years later, she completed Aerial Yoga Teacher Training with Vita-Prana Yoga in Atlanta, and is excited to finally have the opportunity to share her love for aerial work with Sparks Yoga, as well as the Middle Georgia area.

SUSANNAH MADDUX

SUSANNAH MADDUX committed to yoga certification when her mother exclaimed, “You can teach me to do a headstand!” Inspired by loved ones and an enthusiasm for a joyful life, she believes in the goodness of yoga for every body. Through her practice, Susannah is constantly drawn to Patanjali’s Sutra: “By contentment, supreme joy is gained.”
Susannah has practiced yoga since 2006, but her practice came alive when she moved to Macon in 2010. She knows that the Macon yoga community has helped Macon quickly become her home. She completed her 200-hour teacher training in 2013 at the “life changing” (her words, not ours) Asheville Yoga Center.
She graduated from NC State University, in her home state, with a BA in Communications and is the founder of Goods Public Relations. She realized years ago that to do good work, she has to love it. She continuously incorporates yoga in life, work, play and love. Susannah believes that we start each day anew, and we are all just practicing at this thing called life. There is no rule book.

ANNA RICHARDS

ANNA RICHARDS is a lover of all forms of movement and creativity. As a constant seeker of personal transformation and self-expression, she found that yoga was the key to connecting and unleashing her truest spirit. Her passion to help others and her belief in yoga’s ability to heal the body, heart, mind, and soul is what lead her to becoming a yoga teacher. In 2014, she earned her 200-hour RYT certification at Practice Yoga in Austin, TX.
Specializing in alignment based Hatha & Vinyasa Flow, Anna loves incorporating elements from all styles of yoga such as Kundalini, Bikram, Iyengar, Partner/Acro, and Buti yoga. Her classes are designed to create a safe space where students can let loose, explore their personal power, and observe the beautiful shifts that happen on and off the mat. Expect fun and funky poses, indulging stretches, sweet tunes, and maybe even a few dance moves.
As someone who lives and works in downtown Macon, Anna is honored and excited to be apart of Sparks Yoga and the downtown yoga community.

BETHANY ROGERS

BETHANY ROGERS A Kentucky native and a long-time New Orleans resident, Bethany moved to Macon in 2016 to join the staff at NewTown Macon and work to revitalize the city’s urban core. She first became a student of yoga in 2000 when moving to New Orleans. Her home studio, Wild Lotus, taught bhakti yoga – a heart-opening and devotional form of vinyasa yoga. Experiencing the collective healing yoga provided as New Orleans recovered from the loss and trauma of Hurricane Katrina profoundly shaped her personal practice.
Bethany earned her 200-hour yoga-teaching certificate in 2014 from the Om Place, a long-standing Kentucky yoga studio that values the healing and strengthening benefits of a lifelong yoga practice. Her training featured in-depth study of alignment and hands-on adjustments and assists, which helped Bethany develop a teaching style that honors but also helps heal personal injuries and limitations of all kinds.
Most of Bethany’s classes incorporate the influence of both of these studios and her long-time homes, playing with the balance and wellness that can be found between alignment and creative movement. Bethany’s power flow-style classes at Sparks Yoga will feature the spirit of Macon’s musical heritage and the community-building movement she moved here to join.

TRACIE SOUTHER

TRACIE SOUTHER discovered her deep love for yoga after battling Crohn’s disease for decades. The healing aspects of yoga go beyond the physical into the mental, emotional, and spiritual, [and this is what] which is what Tracie wants to share with others. She believes that the battle between the body and the mind brings about a dis-harmony that can find balance through the practice of yoga.
Tracie weaves the spiritual nature and the energetic aspects of pranayama into her practice to find unity and peace within. Tracie’s mantra is “bring what you have to your mat everyday, shed what no longer serves you, and go out into the world with a grateful, open heart.”
Tracie completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Asheville Yoga center and will graduate from the 300-hour Therapeutically Oriented Yoga Teacher Training in May 2017, also through Asheville Yoga Center. Tracie specializes in yoga for chronic health conditions and orthopedic conditions.

ELIZABETH WEBB

ELIZABETH WEBB, AuD, is a practicing audiologist at the ENT Center of Central Georgia. Originally from Ohio, growing up, she suffered from a family named condition of NAS (no attention span). In order to combat the disease, she was quickly enrolled in organized sports and dance lessons. Elizabeth remained active throughout school and while completing her doctorate degree, however, upon moving to Macon by herself, she was lacking the social and community aspect that organized sports had always provided her. Her mother started practicing yoga around 2011 and sparked an interest in Elizabeth. Shortly after moving to Macon for employment, she found herself in a yoga studio and soon developed an addiction to the energy that the practice of yoga and those practicing with her created. Yoga also produced a passion for the community of Macon.
Elizabeth teaches yoga because she loves the art and wishes to share the beauty with others while shaping her own craft. Elizabeth completed her 200-hour teacher training at Asheville Yoga Center in Asheville, NC.