Cher Meli
Hello!
My name is Cher Meli and I’m a meditation coach, yoga teacher and founder of the MY Practice Method™. I have 20+ years of studying and teaching yoga with some of the world’s most respected teachers, soaking up wisdom from mentors including Erich Schiffmann, Shiva Rea, and Danielle Tarantola, and later studies with T.K.V. Desikachar and his stateside teachers.
My most recent studies include the works of and with Caroline Myss and Dr. Joe Dispenza. My formal studies include teacher trainings in philosophy, meditation, pranayama, yoga therapeutics, and asana (physical postures). Altogether, it’s the equivalent of a Master’s degree in Western yogic instruction, and I continue to study and practice daily.
The Healing arts are also in my blood. Traced to my grandmother who was a Hawaiian Master Kahuna, I was raised with a different understanding of how life and relationships work than most.
I learned that if we want to change what’s going on around us, we need to change what’s happening within us, which is one of the very few things that I know for absolute certain. We need to engage in life from a place of compassionate truth, it’s the only way to heal, grow and live in presence.
I’ll always hold deep gratitude for my mentors, to this day their influence carries through my instruction.
My style is authentic with full transparency; doing my best to relate to students on a human level. People seem appreciate the raw honesty and encouragement that I bring, which allows them to relax and start the meditation journey with compassion, and without judgement.
I don’t put on a teaching persona; I’m just human.
I’m comfortable asking students some uncomfortable questions. “Is that really true,” I’ll ask, “or is that something you’re holding onto?” Or: “You’re saying you want to do this but you’re not doing this. Are you seeing that?”. If there’s one thing that I know for certain, it’s that the only place to heal from, is the truth.
In all my exchanges, I ask students to meet me at the intersection of compassion and no bullshit. I’m the teacher that you come to when you’re ready to make some honest, real, lasting changes in yourself, hence in your life. I’m here when you’re ready to stop saying things to yourself like “I don’t have time”, and make a commitment to yourself. We are here to do the work, and that’s an invitation to take action or not. What I offer is designed to get us uncomfortable---to unravel the knots of conditioned patterning so that we can take a raw, honest look at ourselves in order to live with more authenticity and empowerment.
My mission is to equip students with practical, adaptable and individualized tools---so that they can experience greater passion and balance in their lives, as their own best and wisest teacher!
I deeply believe that we each have the power and ability to live extraordinary lives, that it’s NEVER to late to start. I deeply believe in myself. I passionately believe in YOU!
Cher has been studying and teaching yoga for almost 2 decades. She completed her first teacher training at the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara in 1999 under the mentoring of Erich Schiffmann and soon after was given the wonderful opportunity to assist Shiva Rea on many workshops, teacher trainings and intensives. She has since completed almost 1000hrs of teacher trainings in Vinyasa, Yoga Therapeutics, Pre & Post-Natal, Philosophy, Pranayama, and Meditation. Cher has been beyond fortunate to have had the opportunity to study in-depth with some of the best teachers in the world including a 500hr training through KYM/HYF with TKV Desikachar and and his stateside teachers Chase Bossart and Danielle Tarantola.
Cher's current teaching style is best experienced through Yin yoga, vinyasa and especially meditation, guiding the student to connect with their deepest, truest self. She currently holds the position as Yoga Studio Manager at LifeTime Athletic in Garden City, NY, and is on the Yoga Teacher Training Faculty for LifePower Yoga. Cher leads workshops, lectures and retreats domestically and internationally focusing on a program that she's developed over the years called "the Art of Self-FULLness".
www.chermelilifestyle.com