You are welcome here. This is a no judgement zone.

Yoga has nothing to do with your flexibility, your size or your experience. Here at Shine, we are all about relieving stress, learning to calm and quiet the mind, increasing strength and connecting to a place of peace, whatever that looks like for you.

Get to know yourself from the inside out!

Be curious, be brave. We’re all in this together! We are here for you, every step of the way. Any questions, give us a call at 757-335-6006, connect on social or hop on over to the Contact Form.

KACIE STEINMETZ, Owner

My vision for Shine Yoga is to be the kind of studio where everyone feels safe to practice and open themselves up to the kind of healing that comes from self-awareness, stillness together with movement, shared community with other warm and accepting souls. We know that doing yoga has nothing to do with your body type, flexibility, or previous experience. I do, in fact, believe that yoga is for everyone; we hope you can find that to be true here at Shine.

Armed with a degree in music theatre and a heart for helping others, I blindly set out into the big world in the late 90’s with very little direction and no plan. I had no idea who I was or what I wanted and my path unfolded very slowly. I took my first yoga class at the Hampton Family YMCA in 2000 and I was hooked! I finally gave in to the burning desire to pursue yoga as a teacher in 2005 when I was pregnant with my son. There are few things that have fit me so well. I love the physical practice of the asanas and the yogic principles of lovingkindness and simplicity and stillness, just for starters.

After a daughter in 2008 and a divorce in 2010, I decided it was time to define who I was and what I really wanted to do with my life! I received my life coach certification in February 2013 and moved to Virginia Beach in July the same year and became a new bride at 38! There are few things that teach you more about yourself than a second marriage. It’s been an incredible journey and a powerful blessing.

That first certification in 2005 was a 30-hour prenatal program through American Fitness Professionals and Associates (AFPA). I enrolled in a 200-hour program with YogaRenew just before the whole world closed down in 2020, and it would be a year before I completed the program. And within another year, I completed my trauma-informed 300-hour program with our current yoga school, Always-at-Aum Yoga School. Those programs were two of the best decisions I ever made!  And it just goes to show that you can complete a teacher training program at any age.

In June of 2020, the time had come for me to realize my long-time dream of owning a yoga studio when I took over at Shine Yoga!  My experience in helping to run a small business varies from a yacht broker to a small site design firm to my own relationship coaching practice! These experiences had prepared me for some of the more challenging aspects of small business ownership. But I am definitely much more at home in a yoga studio! The transition to yoga studio ownership felt very much like coming to center for me since yoga and meditation have been such a big part of my life for so long.

Matt and I live practically right around the corner from the studio with our four nearly-ready-to-launch children and our two dogs. In a transition to a world geographically 45 minutes from my home but a world away from the culture, I feel so much like I am where I am supposed to be. It is so important to me to share that level of joy and peace with others through the practice of yoga.

• Gretchen Alexandria Allen

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• Jackie Sawyer

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• Amy Walton

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• Michelle Moore

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• Jennifer Wolff

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• Kendall Drake

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• Tammy Keefer

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• Christina Frierman

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• Marsha Engle

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Gretchen Alexandria Allen

Instructor

GRETCHEN’S STORY

I started practicing yoga in 1990. As a wife, a stay at home mom of 3 teenagers and attending college full time, I felt the need to participate in an activity that would fulfill my needs on a physical and mental level. Yoga was the best fit plus a yoga studio had just opened near my home.

I can account from experience, the healing powers of yoga as a 16 year cancer survivor. I meditated through chemo and visualized my daily practice which got me through the ordeal. My physician recognized my positive perspective and resilience that came from my practice. My husband witnessed how my practice worked, he started going to yoga with me in 2005 and hasn’t stopped. I may not be able to do the perfect physical poses but mentally and spiritually I’m there.

My Sankalpa is to be teaching and helping individuals that may be going through a trying time regardless of their situation, that they can be present, breathe and heal.

Jackie Sawyer

Instructor

Jackie sought Yoga after an illness many years ago and she’s been practicing ever since. Originally from England, Jackie came to the states in 1997 when her husband took a job here. She received her 200-hour teacher training in 2009 and her 300-hour in 2014, both from Angela Phillips. She also has certifications in Yin Yoga, Prenatal Yoga, and Chair Yoga. She loves the more gentle and meditative elements of Yoga and is looking forward to training more now that she is retired from the school system.

Jackie believes that Yoga is for every-body, and the yoga studio and your yoga mat are sacred places.

Jackie has been teaching at Shine since 2020, when Kacie became the owner.  Jackie is a perfect fit for our team of easy going instructors, having practiced at Shine for three years previous.

Jackie and her husband have two daughters and four  grandchildren. They love to spend time with them, and they also enjoy traveling and spending time outdoors, walking, biking, and golfing.

Amy Walton

Instructor

Amy is an RYT-200 with Yoga Alliance and a certified Holy Yoga instructor and ambassador. She also holds certifications in trauma-sensitive yoga, yin, and yoga for disordered eating. Additionally, she’s a multi-certified coach. Amy has been committed to her physical fitness for over three decades and is a huge believer in the numerous benefits of yoga, meditation, and breath work. She believes yoga mats are sacred spaces where everyone can breathe, move, and just be still…. It’s a place to be grounded. She seeks to affirm and encourage all her students in a safe and nurturing space.

Off the mat, Amy teaches work-life balance seminars for major Employee Assistance Programs, provide life and grief coaching for women, and is an author and regular blogger for Christian websites.

Fun facts: She can wiggle her nose, put her leg behind her back, and fire off sarcasm faster than lightning strikes. Fortunately, yoga helps her keep the sarcasm contained!

Michelle Moore

Instructor

Michelle's Story

Michelle is very proud to have spent the better part of her life right here in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and here is where her heart has always been!

In 2009, she fell in love with yoga and went on to acquire her 200-hour certification in 2011.  She taught at several studios, including Shine, up until 2019.  The pressures of life in corporate America pulled her away from teaching for a while, but with that lifestyle now behind her, she is eager to return back to the Shine studio.  She is a believer in the power of being still and present and takes pride in ensuring that all practitioners, whether new or seasoned, leave her class feeling that they walk away with just what they need.

Michelle teaches a variety of styles from slow flow to fast, from yin to sound healing, including gong baths.

Welcome back to the family, Michelle!

Jennifer Wolff

Instructor

Jennifer Wolff is a Virginia Beach native and has raised her own kids here.   Jennifer is certified as a trauma sensitive RYT-200 with the Yoga Alliance, and is currently working on completing her RYT-300.  As a lover of learning, Jennifer is also certified in Hot Yoga, Yin Yoga, SUP Yoga, Kids Yoga, and is one of Shine’s two teacher’s certified in Inside Flow~a practice where students move as one to the rhythm of music.

Once Jennifer began practicing yoga, she knew that yoga was not only for her but suited for everyone, regardless of age or ability. She is a huge believer in the multitude of benefits that yoga has to offer, such as increasing fitness, flexibility, mind/body awareness, meditation & breath.  She enjoys adapting her classes to fit a variety of individual needs and accommodations, although Vinyasa Flow & Inside Flow are her passions.

Off of the mat, Jennifer enjoys spending time with her grown twins, her 2 dogs, hiking, any activity near or on the water, and loves to travel! You can find her traveling to participate in numerous Yoga trainings as she has always enjoyed being a life long learner who loves to challenge herself through continuing education and immersion.

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Kendall Drake

Instructor

After graduating with a Bachelor in Kinesiology from James Madison University, Kendall began working in acute care and retirement community settings.  She worked alongside therapists and other fitness professionals to increase health and improve quality of life of patients and residents. It was there in the retirement community setting that she was introduced to yoga on a deeper level; her desire to share this practice with the active aging population was ignited after witnessing the profound benefits it brought to the residents. She completed her 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in the fall of 2021 and her 300 Hour in the fall of 2023.  Her practice approach is a bit more conservative and she loves to teach a slower paced, yin sided practice. She’s a huge advocate of Restorative Yoga.

Currently, Kendall works full-time in the non profit sector.  In her spare time, she loves going to the beach, being outdoors, reading, and attempting various crafts.

Tammy Keefer

Instructor

Tammy and her parents moved to Virginia Beach in 1985. As the daughter of a Marine, she was used to not settling down in one place for too long, yet her family fell in love with the Hampton Roads area and began establishing roots. Virginia Beach has always felt like her home even while spending several years away serving in the Army and living in the DC area and Charlottesville.

It was in Charlottesville in 2016 where Tammy took her first kundalini yoga class under Crystal Oliver (Sohan Raj). She immediately felt a deep connection, and within a short period of time of continued practice she began to notice an undeniably positive shift in her life. Since then she has devoted much of her time to deepening her practice and in 2019 her endeavors included a RYT 220 teacher training under Jai Gopal Khalsa.

Having adopted a daily meditation practice, Tammy enjoys sharing the tools and techniques that has transformed her inner awareness, health and life. Her classes offer invigorating breath work, meditation and kriyas that will help you balance and optimize your physical and energetic bodies. She also offers Gong Yoga Nidra, a guided meditation that will take you into a deep state of relaxation by incorporating her voice and the use of the gong.

When not on the mat, Tammy is a wedding and portrait photographer and works alongside her husband. She also enjoys the great outdoors and trail running.

Christina Frierman

Instructor

Christina is a Virginia Beach native and has been an English teacher/reading specialist at Ocean Lakes High School for 8 years; she’s been teaching for 18 years. Her first yoga class was in December 2023 and she just completed her 200 hour Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training program with us this month! She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English from ODU, a Master’s in Education from Regent and she is currently pursuing a Master’s in Reading from UVA.

Christina is married to the love of her life, is the mother to four children and looks forward to being a new grandmother in early 2024! She loves spending time with her family and her dogs, reading, travelling and relaxing.

Marsha Engle

Instructor

Marsha's Story

Marsha discovered yoga when looking for deeper healing from her own depression and PTSD. Asana became a very important practice for her own well-being, and she wanted to share this with others. After gaining her 200-hour yoga training from Studio Bamboo in 2010, she taught at Bamboo until 2019. She completed the 100-hour Certification in Yoga Therapy for Trauma and PTSD in 2016.

Marsha Engle LCSW, M.Ed., RYT300 is a psychotherapist in private practice In Virginia Beach. She works with teens and adults, and conducts individual and couples therapy. Marsha blends traditional “talk therapy” – Brainspotting and EMDR, Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy, and Polyvagal Theory – along with “less-traditional” interventions – mindfulness training, meditation instruction, and yoga therapy, for healing of mind-body-spirit.

Marsha regularly offers workshops on Mindful Living and is co-author of a school/agency curriculum for social and emotional learning (SEL), Mindfulness, and Movement for Children. Prior to her psychotherapy practice, she was a Special Education Teacher in elementary and secondary schools.

Marsha moved to the courthouse area of Virginia Beach with her husband, Chuck, and 2 miniature dachshunds. She enjoys time with her son and 6-year-old granddaughter. Marsha loves to walk, read, travel, and share time with friends.