Joanne Spence attended her first yoga weekend in 2000. Just three days later, she was pain free for the first time since her involvement in a car accident two years prior.

With her life dramatically changed, Joanne embarked on a journey to learn more about the power of yoga, studying with some of the most well-known yoga teachers in the United States, including Beth Shaw, Miriam Austin, Judith Hansen Lasiter, Amy Weintraub, Mirka Kraftsow, Bekir Algan and Susi Hatley Aldous, as well as renowned children’s yoga teachers Jodi Komitor of Next Generation Yoga, Shakta Kalsa of The Radiant Child, Tara Guber of Yoga Ed and Leah Kalish of Yoga Playgrounds and Sonia Sumar of Yoga for the Special Child.

As Joanne’s understanding of the practice of yoga grew through her studies, her passion and knack for teaching led her to share what she had learned with adults and children alike, helping others find health and vitality through yoga. Today, she serves as director to Yoga on the Square, a state-of-the-art yoga studio in Pittsburgh’s Regent Square neighborhood, and is the executive director of the Pittsburgh-based non-profit Yoga in Schools. She expands her reach to a global stage as a trainer for Yoga Ed and Yoga Playgrounds, traveling throughout the US and abroad to train yoga instructors and school teachers in the art of using yoga in the classroom. She also teaches yoga to patients at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, has written and produced the DVD “Absolute Beginner Yoga,” and is currently working on a book by the same title.

Joanne is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (ERYT 200) with Yoga Alliance and a Group Fitness Instructor with the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFAA). Her yoga trainings include Yogafit Levels I-III, Iyengar 200 hours, Viniyoga 100 hours and LifeForce Practioner I & II. She recently completed a Master’s Level Certification in Brain-Based Learning with Eric Jensen of Jensen Learning. Her intuitive inclination toward the mind-body healing connection also led her to complete a bachelor’s degree in social work from James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia, long before she even stepped foot on a yoga mat.

Joanne lives in Pittsburgh’s East End with her husband, Doug, their three children and their dog. She enjoys cooking, eating, reading, finding adventure, writing, dancing and being outdoors.