Shanna Small is a spiritual teacher devoted to guiding householders in the living wisdom of yoga. With more than two decades of study and practice, she teaches yoga as a complete path of inner transformation rather than a system of physical exercise. Her work is grounded in the belief that yoga was never meant to be separated from daily life, and that its deepest purpose is to help ordinary people live with greater awareness, integrity, and freedom.
Shanna’s journey into yoga began over twenty years ago with a deep immersion in Ashtanga Yoga, including study within the Jois lineage of Mysore, India. From the very beginning, her training extended beyond asana into the philosophical and devotional foundations of the tradition. During these early years she engaged deeply with the Yoga Sutras and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and was first introduced to the practice of mantra and sacred chanting. These texts and practices formed the backbone of her education and established a lifelong orientation toward yoga as a spiritual discipline.
She later expanded her training through Vinyasa yoga, earning her 200-hour certification under Dolly Stavros and ultimately attaining 500ERYT and YACEP status. For many years she directed Ashtanga and Vinyasa programs in North Carolina, teaching students how to integrate movement, breath, philosophy, and devotion into a cohesive and meaningful practice.
Life redirected her focus in profound ways. A serious spinal injury and the social awakening that followed the murder of George Floyd deepened her understanding of yoga as a tool for both personal and collective healing. These experiences led her to specialize in Accessible Yoga through study with Dianne Bondy and Amber Karnes, and in Trauma-Conscious Yoga under Nityda Gessell. During this period she became committed to creating spaces where the full humanity of every student could be honored and supported.
While scriptural study and mantra had always been part of her path, Shanna later entered a period of more concentrated Vedic learning. She undertook advanced study with Kaya Mindlin and with Shanthala Sriramiah, her mantra teacher in the Krishna Yajur Veda tradition of Mysore, India. This training deepened her relationship to the classical teachings she had been engaging with for years, bringing greater precision and devotion to her understanding of mantra, ritual, and the living transmission of yoga.
Out of this evolution emerged her signature program, Householder’s Guide to Yoga, created for those who seek to live yoga within the realities of modern life. Through this work, Shanna teaches primarily to householders, offering practical philosophy, contemplative practice, and grounded spiritual guidance. She helps students move beyond performance-based yoga and into a way of living guided by wisdom, devotion, and purposeful action.
Her teaching is direct, compassionate, and deeply human. Shanna speaks to the realities of work, family, responsibility, grief, and social engagement, reminding students that yoga is not an escape from life but a way to meet life more fully. She invites students into a sincere practice of self-inquiry and disciplined action so that yoga becomes not something done for an hour a day, but a living path carried into every moment
