“THE BODY IS YOUR TEMPLE. KEEP IT PURE AND CLEAN FOR THE SOUL TO RESIDE IN.”
–B.K.S Iyengar
–B.K.S Iyengar
Take a moment to breathe
We are here to support your wellness goals.
Robert Boswell founded Barefoot Yoga Studio in 2005 and in 2010 partnered with Wai-Mei Yeung. With the joint force of a studio artist and a performing artist, and their passion and expertise of yoga, they designed, created and built the beautiful studio and its diverse and unique curriculum.
Our philosophy here is simple: yoga is a time for you. A moment to expand your body and unearth your connection to a greater consciousness. Our team is passionate and committed to helping students of all levels, ages and body types discover something we find invaluable – peace in mind, body and spirit. We believe that yoga benefits our lives no matter what brings us into the studio. That being said, our goal is to support you through your journey and help your bodies expand safely and comfortably into new possibilities. Namaste.
Our Barefoot Team
Meet the teachers at Barefoot Yoga Studio
Wai-Mei Yeung
WAI-MEI YEUNG
Wai-Mei Yeung has been teaching dance and yoga for 20 years and is excited to share her passion with you in Davis. Wai-Mei graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts majoring in Modern Dance. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Iowa in 1993.
She has since been teaching, choreographing and performing around the world. Her choreography has been presented by major dance festivals in Asia, Europe, and America in cities such as New York, Beijing, Guangzhou, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Melbourne, the Philippines, Singapore, Copenhagen and Montpellier. She was awarded the Hong Kong Dance Alliance Dance Award in three consecutive years for her outstanding choreography and performance.
Along with dancing, Wai-Mei finds yoga not only physical training and healing for her injured body, but also a mental and spiritual practice for her total well-being. She traveled through India and Nepal, the origin of Yoga, where she pursued the brightening of her spiritual light. Continuing her yoga studies, she studied with masters with Ana Forrest, Bryan Kest, and Tias Little, Dina Amsterdam.
Wai-Mei is an E-RYT 200(Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hours) with Yoga Alliance of the U.S. since 2004. She is a RPYT (Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance) and a certified Mini-yogi Teacher from Shana Meyerson of L.A., and happy to be a mom to her teenage daughter. Her classes are known to be filled with laughs, creativity, and fun challenges for both adults and kids. Her energetic and creative teaching is inspired by her career as a dancer and choreographer and her passion for studying human anatomy, energy work, and Eastern spirituality.
She teaches Vinyasa, Gentle Flow, Warm Stretch, Beginners’ Basics, Kids Yoga, Prenatal, Baby&Me Yoga, and Family Yoga as she truly believes yoga is for and benefits everyone. She directs the Yoga Teacher Training Program both in Davis and Hong Kong. Besides teaching yoga, Wai-Mei practices massage for full body wellness. She is a Certified Massage practitioner specializing in Prenatal, Thai, Swedish, and Chinese Acupressure Massage.
Robert Boswell
ROBERT BOSWELL
After graduate school Robert worked for a contemporary artist in Venice, California and worked in Hollywood as a set designer and builder for both feature films and commercials. Robert also trained with LifeSprings during this time—a personal growth program. He later moved to Northern California and opened his own design firm, which he ran for over twenty years in the Sacramento area. During this period Robert raised a son and became involved in the Unity movement in Sacramento (a metaphysical church that embraces “many paths to God”).
In 1999 Robert was reintroduced to yoga and began studying Hot Yoga at Yoga Loka with Bill and Sandy McCauley, who studied under Bikram. He also studied Ashtanga Yoga with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and Baron Baptiste Power Yoga. Robert’s return to yoga was initially the result of a running-related injury, but as he found himself drawn deeply into the practice of yoga, he decided to commit his life more fully to his practice and opened Barefoot Yoga Studio in Davis in 2005. Robert is a graduate of Yoga Tree San Francisco’s Teacher Training Program and Mark Stephens Advanced Yoga Teacher Training Program where he is grateful to have studied with Darren Main, Stephanie Snyder, Elise Lorimer and Mark Stephens respectively. He is a ERYT200 (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hours) with the Yoga Alliance.
Robert was on the board of trustees for the development of the SLC (Spiritual Life Center) “oneness symbol” (a symbol which works toward unity by incorporating all major religions) since its inception and is currently a member of the steering committee for the Unity Church of Davis.
Robert’s experiences have led him to embrace many spiritual paths, but he sees his devotion through yoga as the pinnacle of his spiritual journey. He has found that the harmony that one experiences through the integration of body and spirit in yoga offers a deep and life changing spiritual practice like no other.
Robert’s goal for Barefoot Yoga Studio is to create an environment in which people feel comfortable to practice in community with others and he sees his teaching role as one of being in service to others as a “ferryman across the river” toward enlightenment. As a teacher, Robert sees yoga as not only a vehicle to introduce as many people as possible to the practice of yoga, but as a means to deepen his own practice through an understanding of, and commitment to, his students’ practice. Through yoga, he seeks to offer others that which he has found to be invaluable: peace in mind, body, and spirit, as well as a connection to a greater consciousness and the opportunity to lead a more balanced life.
Robert continues his interest in Yoga Philosophy, History, and Meditation and he has been studying Tantric Yoga and Meditation since 2019 with Christopher Hareesh Wallis of Tantric Illuminated. Robert teaches Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga, and Meditation and directs the Yoga Philosophy Studies of Yoga Teacher Training both in Davis and Hong Kong.
Christine Firpo
CHRISTINE FIRPO
Christine is an E-RYT 200 with Yoga Alliance. She has completed two Yoga Teacher Trainings at the 200 hour level, the first right here at Barefoot Yoga Davis in 2014. Barefoot’s YTT was a profoundly transformative experience for which she will always be grateful to Wai-Mei and Robert. Continually looking to learn and grow as a yoga student and instructor, she pursued 200 additional hours of training with Nicholas Giacomini (MC YOGI) and Amanda Giacomini (10,000 Buddhas) of Point Reyes Yoga in Point Reyes Station, CA in 2020. Most recently, Christine became a certificated yin yoga instructor, having completed 80 hours of Classic Yin Yoga Training with Devi Daly of Devi Daly Yoga.
Christine truly loves teaching. Prior to becoming a yoga instructor, she was a high school English teacher at Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, AZ. She has a B.A. in English Literature from Georgetown University and a M.A. in English Literature from San Francisco State. One of her teaching mantras is “your body, your yoga” and she reminds students to focus on how each pose feels, not how it looks, and to explore variations, adjustments, and modifications to suit their unique body and range of motion. She is known to encourage students to settle into the present moment through a focused and steady pranayama (breath) practice; to relax their brain as much as their body; and to allow this beautiful practice called YOGA to unite them with their own center and self.
Christine practices yoga daily, often with her husband, Tony, to cultivate balance, flexibility, and an open heart … both on and off the mat. She is a happy mom to three grown and wonderful sons. Please join her for yin, vinyasa flow, and gentle flow.
Ildiko Benko
ILDIKO BENKO
Ildiko’s interest in Asian culture spans nearly 30 years, beginning as a teenager growing up in Budapest, Hungary during which time she sought out cultural connections with various Far East countries. She followed her interest to New York, and then to Washington, DC, where her passion for Yoga started and continued over the next 15 years. She studied at Padmacahaya International Institute for Inner Studies, has received her Reiki Tummo attunement, practicing Heart Centered Meditation and channeling Reiki Tummo since 2009. After completing 200 hours Yoga Teacher Training at Barefoot Yoga Studio with Wai-Mei and Robert in May 2017, and a 21 hours Restorative Yoga Teacher Training at Hello Yoga Budapest in 2020, Ildiko is grateful to incorporate all her international influences, in a constantly updated blend of East and West of Yoga, Meditation, Reiki practice geared for today’s day-to-day challenges.
Olga Dubrovskaya
OLGA DUBROVSKAYA
Olga Dubrovskaya Also known as Baba Llama Yega, Olga had been practicing yoga at home for 10 years prior to starting her Teacher Training at Barefoot. Deeply influenced by her Russian roots and a culture deeply connected to the Earth, she had an early exposure to Eastern philosophy and pranayama through martial arts practice with her father, and her grandmother’s love of Buddhism. She started practicing with a Power Yoga program until finding the joy of Vinyasa Flow with Shiva Rea. As a college club volleyball player, handstands and yoga became a regular part of her routine to aid in recovery, flexibility, strength, and most importantly, integration. Olga graduated from UC Davis in 2007 with a B.S. in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior and was accepted into medical school, but decided to postpone going in order to start a family. Prenatal yoga proved to be a saving grace for her during her pregnancies to aid in back pain and difficult deliveries. As a lifelong student, yoga proved to be the perfect home for Olga, for it’s multifaceted surface allows you to learn something new about yourself every time you step on the mat. Becoming a teacher was a lifetime goal that proved to be just a starting point. For her, Vinyasa Flow has become a way of life, an eternal dance with the world around her, we just have to be still enough internally to hear the music. Yoga has taught her how to be graceful, peaceful, happy, and of service and her practice is centered around spreading that joy to her students. She combines intense Sun Salutations with challenging balance and inversion poses to give students a complete body workout for all levels. She is forever indebted to Robert and Wei-Mei for their knowledge, love, passion, and space and is honored to be teaching in such a perfect place.
Kim Sharpe
KIM SHARPE
Kim grew up in the Bay Area and has been practicing yoga for just over 10 years. With much of her childhood spent in the dance studio, the transition to yoga was an easy one. She attended San Jose State University and received a degree in Kinesiology in 2017. She has practiced many different forms of yoga throughout her life but finds Barefoot’s gentle flow and warm stretch to be her favorite styles. Kim values the yogic lifestyle and the physical and mental health benefits that come from practicing regularly. A teacher at heart, she loves to share the joys of practicing yoga. Making practice accessible for all levels is important to her. She believes that every teacher is a student and vice versa. Kim completed the Yoga Teacher Training through Barefoot over the course of 2020. She appreciates the incredible support from Mei and Robert over the course of the training. Kim looks forward to continuing her education through Barefoot and the Davis community.
Dannelle Larsen-Rife
Dannelle Larsen-Rife
Dr. Dannelle Larsen-Rife has been practicing yoga and mindfulness meditation for more than 30 years, along with studying interpersonal neurobiology. Dannelle has continued to practice yoga through chemotherapy, multiple surgeries, radiation, and ongoing treatment for Stage IV breast cancer and attributes her vitality, resilience, and longevity, in part to her yoga practice. She completed her Yoga Teacher Training at Barefoot Yoga in 2022 and is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) with Yoga Alliance. She incorporates an interpersonal neurobiology mind-body perspective into her yoga studies and teaching. Her classes focus on developing mental and physical flexibility, strength, balance, and ease. Dannelle is committed to offering classes that are accessible, challenging, and fun for all.
Julia Van Horn
Julia Van Horn
Julia is a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher, having completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2022 here at Barefoot Yoga Studio and her 300-hour certification as a Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator (TCTSY-F) in 2024. Her yoga practice has helped her learn to listen more deeply to herself and she loves supporting students to do the same.
All of Julia’s classes are informed by the trauma-sensitive approach, understanding that each person is the expert in their own body and focusing on empowering participants to choose what works best for themselves in each moment. Regardless of the pace or level of physical challenge in a class, she strives to create a space in which participants can practice being guided by their own experience and meeting themselves and their bodies however they are showing up in the current moment.
Tatiana Malta Soucy
Tatiana Malta Soucy
Tatiana is also certified in Kids Yoga and is working on her 500-hour yoga certification focusing on female health and Chinese medicine.
She is excited to share yoga with her new Davis community.
