About Me
Welcome to My Journey
Namaskar, I’m Toni Ann.
For more than three decades, I have devoted my life to fitness, yoga, Pilates, mindful movement, breathing, and overall wellness.
What began as a career in fitness became something much deeper—a lifelong exploration of how the way we move, breathe, nourish ourselves, think, and live can influence how we feel and experience life.
And that journey continues today.
My Journey to Yoga
I began my career as a certified group fitness instructor, Pilates teacher, and personal trainer. I loved helping people become stronger, healthier, and more confident in their bodies.
In 2008, I felt drawn to yoga.
I began practicing and soon enrolled in a Yoga Alliance 200-hour teacher training program, never realizing how profoundly the practice would change my life.
During that time, I experienced several significant personal, financial, and health-related challenges all at once. It was an overwhelming period of my life.
Yet something unexpected happened.
Yoga became my anchor.
Through movement, mindful breathing, and moments of stillness, I began to find a sense of calm when life felt anything but calm. My breath helped me slow down. The practice helped quiet my mind. I became more grounded, more aware, and eventually began sleeping better.
Little by little, I found my strength and my “mojo” again.
I discovered that yoga wasn’t simply something I did on a mat.
It was becoming a way of living.
From the Inside Out
That experience changed the way I think about wellness.
True well-being isn’t just about being physically fit. It is about creating a healthy relationship between body, breath, mind, and everyday life.
Movement can strengthen us.
Breathing can help us pause and reset.
Healthy food can nourish us.
Mindfulness can create awareness.
Rest can restore us.
And small, consistent choices can add up to meaningful change.
That is the philosophy I bring to my work today:
Wellness begins within—and grows from the inside out.
A Lifelong Student
My passion for learning continued long after my initial yoga training.
I pursued additional education in Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, adaptive yoga, youth-at-risk programs, and yoga therapy, eventually completing a 500-hour Yoga Alliance program focused on therapeutic and adaptive practices.
My studies have included approaches for individuals experiencing physical limitations and challenges such as back, shoulder, and leg discomfort, as well as practices supporting stress management, grief, anxiety, and emotional well-being.
I also became a Usui Reiki II Practitioner, adding another perspective on relaxation, mindfulness, and holistic well-being.
But perhaps the most important thing I have learned is that I will always be a student.
I continue to learn from teachers, from my students, from experience, and from life itself.
What I Believe
I believe wellness should be accessible, practical, and personal.
You don’t have to be flexible to practice yoga.
You don’t have to be an athlete to exercise.
You don’t have to completely change your diet overnight.
And you don’t have to have a perfectly calm mind to begin practicing mindfulness.
You simply have to begin where you are.
My goal is to help you discover practices that fit into your life, rather than asking you to fit your life around a wellness program.
Whether through yoga, exercise, Pilates, healthy eating, mindful breathing, or simply learning to become more aware of yourself, there are many paths toward greater well-being.
Living With Purpose
Today, I feel stronger, more resilient, calmer, wiser, joyful, and deeply grounded—and I know that wellness is not a destination.
It is a practice.
A daily choice.
A journey.
My greatest passion is simple:
Improve the lives of others every day.
I want to share the tools and lessons that have helped me so that others can discover their own strength, vitality, balance, and sense of well-being.
Move your body.
Nourish yourself.
Breathe with intention.
Quiet your mind.
Listen to yourself.
Live fully.
Enhance Your Life From the Inside Out.
Namaskar.
Toni Ann Riedel, M.A.
Yoga Alliance Member 500-hour Yoga RYT Yoga Instructor
AFAA certified Fitness & Personal Training over 25 years