Our Yoga Instructors
Shannon Smith
Shannon has been a yoga student for a little more than 10 years. As a licensed Physical Therapy Assistant, she took a Yoga as Therapy course and fell in love. She decided in 2016 that she wanted to share her love of yoga to everyone, so she became an instructor, learning from the very qualified yogis at Rasika Yoga School, and then opened Southern Yoga Studio in Rock Hill.
Sharon Fox-Thornton
Sharon began studying yoga while in college. Since that time, her practice deepened through the decades as she raised a family, completed a MBA program, and worked in a fast-paced environment within the financial services industry. She will tell you she is grateful for all aspects of her life, and also grateful for the impact yoga has had to offer her through many challenges in each area of her life, particularly for managing stress.
As a teacher, Sharon’s passion is serve others through yoga styles that lift the spirit , quiet the mind and benefit the body.
Sharon left her corporate job in 2020 to pursue sharing yoga as a teacher. She earned a 200 hour yoga teacher certification in 2018 and is currently completing a 500 hour certification program at Chakra Flow University, studying with Victoria Martinez.
Mayuko Fukino
Mayuko is a mother of four children (24, 22, 19 and 16 years old) and two Australian Shepards! She is a wife to a supportive husband who is nature and food lover!!
She was born in Tokyo, Japan and grew up both in Japan and the United States. She grew up with some challenges having eczema and asthma. That’s when she met yoga at the age of 7. When she moved from Los Angeles to Rock Hill in 2017, she was drawn to returning to a yoga studio again as she has done several times in the last 4 decades. For this time, she decided to follow her heart to experience yoga teacher training to become a yoga teacher.
She completed her yoga teacher training in 2018 at the Inspired Living with Sara Cain-da Costa and Michele Tampa Hoag. She is a RYT 200, also trained in yoga for trauma. She started teaching yoga for kids and families visiting their homes and online right after her yoga teacher training. She also has a background teaching dance and martial arts to children.
She is excited to circle back sharing love of learning and teaching by teaching mind body spirit wellness through yoga especially to children.
Julie Hance
Julie began practicing yoga 20 years ago to manage stress and recover from an injury. She is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher, RYT 500, completing 500 hours of training with Grace Morales with additional training to teach Yoga for Athletes.
Julie’s classes include an awesome playlist and a wide range of poses, with options to get more or less out of each pose. She offers something for everyone in this class regardless of experience level. Taught at Synergy Yoga in Rock Hill, Vital Yoga in Charlotte, and the Woman's Club of Rock Hill.
Rita Hines
I began my yoga practice in 2004 at the YMCA. Since then I have been an avid practitioner and received my 200 hour level training in 2013 through the Asheville Yoga Center with Stephanie Keach and her amazing staff of trainers. I have been teaching since then at community centers in the Rock Hill area, the YMCA, and was a teacher at Synergy Yoga, as well. I love all styles of practice from Vinyasa to Deep Stretch and everything in between. My classes are mainly Deep Stretch classes and all levels are welcome. I hope to see you soon!
Angie Huechtker
Angie’s yoga journey began 6 years ago when a back injury led her to a deep stretch yoga class at Riverwalk YMCA. She is now a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher, RYT-200. A graduate of the Medical University of SC in Charleston, Angie is a licensed occupational therapist with over 20 years of experience. In addition to working with students with special needs in the Rock Hill School District, she is also certified to teach children’s yoga. Angie and her husband of almost 30 years have 3 children (23, 21, and forever 22). It was when her oldest son unexpectedly passed away in 2020 that she began to seek a more in depth study of yoga and pursued her certification. Yoga has helped her heal and grow stronger spiritually, emotionally, and physically.
OT for 26 years
Yoga alliance RYT- 200
Children’s yoga certified RCYT
Reiki 1 certified
Sound bowl certified
Whitney Simpson
I’ve been practicing Yoga since 2011. It wasn’t until 2019 when I hit a point in my life to where I started questioning if I loved the direction that my life was going. I was feeling a lot of burn out and begin learning about Chakras. Once I learned about alignment things begin to become clear, the path I was on did not belong to me. I no longer loved what I was doing, so I started making changes in my life. My yoga practice became more consistent to where it became like therapy for me. It truly helped me with the anxiety I was feeling.
I then begin to share my transformation with others and how my life was changing, and all the shifts that were happening in my life. I knew what practicing yoga had done for me, it’s my passion to share that gift with others. Sharing the light that yoga provided me in such a cloudy time is my why. I truly feel that Yoga brings clarity to self, and me teaching it is my gift to others as well as myself.
Brittany Winans
Brittany Winans is a yoga instructor and musician who was lucky to find yoga at the age of 17. From her first week of consistent practice, she found that yoga was a perfect combination of movement and focus that complimented her life as a performer in music, dance, and theatre. Because of this, Brittany decided to dive deeper and get her yoga certification. In the summer of 2017, she received her 200-hour RYT from Holy Cow Yoga located in Charleston, SC.
Brittany currently teaches yoga at Southern Yoga Studio, online at YogaVibes.com, and at Winthrop University as a Professor of Yoga. She enjoys guiding her yoga students to decompress by using the tools of yoga to help them be more aware, focused, connected, and open to new experiences. Britt loves to incorporate music, chanting, deep breathing, and emotional healing in her yoga classes.
In addition to her yoga certification, Brittany has a BM in Vocal Performance with a minor in theatre from Winthrop University. When she is not on the mat, you can find Britt in the Rock Hill band CYAN, singing/dancing on stage, teaching music lessons, gardening, cooking, and traveling.