Dana A. Smith is the founder and owner of Spiritual Essence Yoga and the creative visionary behind the international YES! Yoga Has Curves movement. She is a wife, mother, certified yoga instructor, author, yoga teacher trainer, master life coach and holistic health practitioner. For almost 20 years, she has been a pioneer for inclusive yoga in the West with a simple, yet profound, message: “Yoga is for EVERYbody!”.

As the creator of Jiivana (L.I.F.E.) Yoga®, a National Yoga Alliance approved and registered yoga style, Dana guides students and teachers-in-training in a dynamic experience of yoga as a powerful tool for total life transformation. Even though she has trained nearly 300 yoga teachers since 2008, she considers herself a lifelong student and continues to seek inspiration through workshops and advanced studies.  Dana’s style of teaching draws on Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Vinyasa roots with the aim to usher practitioners to live inspired, fearless and empowered every day—on and off the mat.  Her work has been featured on NBC4, FOX5, The Examiner, Essence Magazine, WHUR, NPR, and Black Enterprise.

Dana teaches and facilitates yoga retreats throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean.