Cheryl Ricer

RYT 500

Cheryl Ricer began her yoga journey in 1999 with a video tape in her living room. As soon as she finished, she knew, "This is my path; this is my purpose." Cheryl immediately found group classes, began to practice regularly, and then to study to teach yoga and later, fitness classes.

While teaching high school at Round Rock Independent School District in Austin, Cheryl began a year-long research project studying the effects of yoga in the classroom. She was asked to report her findings to the school district: where teachers implemented aspects of yoga into their classrooms, students' performances were enhanced.

Truly a pioneer in the field, in 2001 Cheryl was awarded a grant that enabled her to work with two special population student groups implementing yoga into the educational experience. In both cases, students responded amazingly to the yoga and their whole attitude towards school, along with their performance, improved. In addition to being one of the first teachers in the nation to introduce yoga into the public school system as a teaching method, Cheryl also wrote curriculum and had yoga accepted into the schedule as a physical education credit at Round Rock ISD in Austin, Texas.

Cheryl received her initial certification to teach yoga in 2003 at the famous and extremely rigorous Bikram Yoga College of India, a full-immersion program where she was required to live in Los Angeles. for the full nine-week course. Since then, Cheryl continues to practice consistently and has taught yoga to students at studios all over the United States, even serving on staff at the Bikram Yoga Teacher Training for three sessions, in 2007 in Palm Springs, 2010 in Las Vegas and 2012 again in Los Angeles. She has continued her education by receiving a variety of certifications, including Baptiste Power Flow, Buti Deep, Devotional Flow, Forrest Yoga, Chair Yoga and Hot Pilates. Cheryl has completed her 500-hour RYT with Yoga Alliance (YA), the highest level of training available through YA.

Cheryl believes passionately in utilizing breath, movement and meditation to heal the body, strengthen the mind and calm the spirit. She is insightful, inspired and enthusiastic about sharing the yoga that has so beautifully enhanced her own life.

When Cheryl is not teaching or practicing, she works as a free-lance writer whose work has been published in magazines and other media throughout the Houston metropolitan area and in the Lowcountry, as well as in national publications, books, blogs and on websites.