Your Guides

Jenna Forte

I have this electrifying passion for the yogic lifestyle and the ever-so fleeting moments of enlightenment. I found yoga through a demon I battled for years before finding absolute liberation, and I now know this is exactly how it was meant to happen. At first, I used yoga as an outlet to escape the present; my demon. I used yoga as a regression tool instead of acceptance. I used yoga in all the ways that made me a coward of truth, fear, and forgiveness. I USED yoga for the ego. I did not practice yoga, I did not live authentically through yoga, I did not listen to my intuition, I did not speak my truth. I used the physical practice to disappear from reality and I used the mental practice to justify the dark. Regardless, I still knew the truth, and I still continued to neglect it. I’ve always known what I had to do, it just took years of finding my voice and utilizing yoga to its purest potential. It took years to build courage. It took years to trust the universe. It took years to tap into my power through truth and compassion.

Each vulnerable moment during my journey has taught me the quintessential necessities to allow the light to surface. I cultivated an intention and manifested it. I finally listened, I trusted, I cried, I doubted, I feared, I lost confidence, and I struggled, but I regained my strength, and so much more through breath, movement, stillness, acceptance, and love. I started living my truth through the humbling benefits of yoga, I trusted the destination no matter how many times it felt off-course, I followed the light, and I came out illuminated. Yet there will always be deep shadow work to explore as we continuously transform in this lifetime.

Through my teachings, I gently guide others to live through a deep connection between the soul, emotions, awareness, senses, the body, and nature. I want to help those see through the thickness, to explore their comfort zones, to be brave, vulnerable, aware, and to feel alive. I want my students to truly discover who they are. I want them to know what it feels like to live full-heartedly, to value nourishing self-care, to see what they are fully capable of by trusting intuition, to feel every emotion they experience. I encourage students to move through the heart with love, intention, and energy while trusting every difficult process of their healing. Yoga and meditation can gift us a lighter, compassionate, and accepting way of living if we learn to surrender. May we shed the layers that no longer fulfill us. After all, yoga truly is about exploring the unknown depths of who we really are.

​

Physically, my classes focus on functional + primal movement, mobility for healthy joints and longevity, and often jiujitsu-inspired flows that'll encourage you to expand your perception on traditional yoga.

Amanda Hinkle

Mandy Hinkle completed her yoga teacher training in Los Angeles, California at the internationally accredited Yogaworks Center for Yoga. She has Ashtanga Yoga and Iyengar-based training and has done in-depth study of asana, pranayama, yogic philosophy, Ayurveda and anatomy with teachers Joan Hyman (trained by  Maty Ezraty and Pattabhi Jois,) James Brown and Amy LaFond. While in LA, Mandy taught Vinyasa Flow Yoga on the Malibu and Santa Monica piers. She also taught Yoga For Actors and Movement For Actors in Hollywood. She taught meditation with SWAP LA, an outreach program to assist sex workers battling drug addiction on Skid Row.  Mandy also helped mount two donation-based yoga studios in the heart of Hollywood. In addition, Mandy was a professional theatre director, actress and print model. The LA Times called Mandy “a strong (theatrical) director with choreographic whimsy.” 

After moving back home to Youngstown, Mandy began collaborating with Dr. Jamie Marich teaching trauma-informed yoga. Mandy and Dr. Marich co-facilItated several workshops on uniting trauma recovery with yoga. This trauma- yoga work became Mandy’s passion and purpose.  All of Mandy’s classes are trauma-informed and she aims to bring students back home to themselves. With a strong focus on mental health, Mandy’s classes can aid in alleviating anxiety, depression and PTSD symptoms while exploring Ashtanga-inspired vinyasa flow yoga. 

We store the past in our bodies… trauma, abuse, heartache, regret and a myriad of emotional and physical pain. Through yoga, our emotions can open up like a shooting star. As we move energy in our bodies, we are letting go and finally moving forward. It’s the combination of the deep breathing and the deep stretching that makes yoga so therapeutic. 

Our yoga practice gives us the gift of the present moment. The past does not exist on the mat. The future has not yet happened. We breathe in this beautiful, wild moment and we are free. We are healing. 

Yoga is medicine. It's therapy. It's church. It's art. It's philosophy. It's self love. It’s self care.  It’s poetry in motion. Yoga changed my life and it continues to ground me every day. Yoga is a path to bliss, joy, peace of mind and enlightenment. Yoga can change your life too. All you have to do is practice. A beginner’s mind is always welcome. An advanced practitioner can always learn more. Yoga is a lifelong journey of healing the body and the mind. Keep practicing.

​

Melissa Delsignore

Hi I’m Melissa! I started at Yoga Element as a student in 2019 and immediately felt deeply connected to the studio, and soon I found a connection to myself that I never had. I knew about yoga and loved it for years before finding YE. I did at-home yoga videos for a workout, I thought it looked cool but was weirded out by chants or ohms or Sanskrit.
I only cared about the Asana, and this shallow perspective also mirrored the depths that I allowed my healing. I have always ran from my problems, ran from facing myself, and instead buried all my emotions deep within.

Something started happening to me in Jenna’s classes. And what I would soon find is Yoga Element being a key component to my recovery from alcohol.

​

In class, all of these feelings, memories, emotions, self-talk would come up. Some days I would find myself bawling my eyes out uncontrollably in her class. Other days I left with my throat choked up and would spend the entire evening delving into the inner feelings that came up. Oftentimes allowing myself space to grieve and feel through the night and even into the next day. Crying my eyes out in the bathroom at work. Finding acceptance or who I was, and learning that everything in my life lead me to where I am now. Some days during Jenna’s classes - especially Fire Flow - I would catch myself meditating. Completely immersed in the moment, union of breath mind and body. In that moment, None of the past mattered, and the negative self talk wasn’t there. It took me a few times of convincing to go to someone else’s class other than Jenna’s. I NEEDED her Monday night class to start my week and I needed her words and wisdom. Then I went to Mandy’s class. On a Saturday; Sun Flow. The first class was about coming home to yourself, listening to your heart. Again, the choked up feeling came in my throat and tears filled my eyes, and I allowed myself to feel. I allowed myself to be with all of the discomfort and I allowed years of buried emotion to surface. It was through these classes that I, instead of numbing emotions and spiraling down the familiar path of self-harm, began to accept and let go. I was immediately attracted to inversions. You can’t dwell on your past when you are standing on your head! Honestly inversions look sweet but for me inversions are more about not running when I fail, committing to something and finishing it. Where if I can do this on the mat, I can bring this commitment and drive to other aspects of my life. Eventually, my breath in class became audible. Now I can’t live without my ujaji pranayama and don’t need to be in a studio space to breath deeply.

The more I practiced the more I learned, I learned names of poses like wild thing, extended side angle, skandasana. And I committed to finishing a teacher training! The third one in my life that I signed up for, I completed. I wanted to be able to help others the way Jenna and Mandy have been able to help me. Jenna knew about my teacher training and told me SHE would tell me when I was ready to teach, because if it was up to me, I would never say I was ready. Just a year ago , Jenna asked if I wanted to sub for her and I said yes without hesitation - it was time.

Here we are today. My goal as an instructor is to create a safe space for you to feel. To allow a space for breaking habits and patterns that stand in the way of your own peace. To find that voice inside that tells you , you are enough, exactly as you are. And all the guilt, shame you carry does not define you as a person and everything will be okay. I invite you to come home to yourself. My class Flow + Restore can be powerful, but for me, I need to burn off all that excess energy/ heat held in the body to allow for the buried emotions to surface, for the mind to stop racing. Then cool down, when the real work happens. For me, this is what separates yoga from the gym or working out - the time for inner work.
Surrendering into poses teaches us acceptance of our current situation and acceptance of ourselves. We slow down. Allow ourselves to ground, connect, feel, relax. To listen to our inner light. It’s an honor for me to write this to openly share how much element means to me and how much of my own growth happened because of the space Jenna and Mandy hold for us. Because here in these walls was where I found my own self love. I'm here to help you do the same. I look forward to seeing you. Namaste.

Jeanette Cole

Jeanette's yoga training all started during her first pregnancy when she realized that her pregnant body craved a practice that would prepare her for birth. This led her to seek out birth doula training both with DONA and IDI, where she studied the pregnant body and learned how to properly support prenatal and birthing bodies through labor with positions and breathwork. Through her birth doula certification, Jeanette gained intensive knowledge of the mind-body-breath connection. This connected her to further her certification by training as a registered yoga teacher, where she  fully supports both the prenatal and postnatal body with movement. Once Jeanette had another child, she saw the need again for her yoga to expand. This is how her baby, preschool, kids, and adolescent yoga classes were born. With her background in education for 15 years, teaching these creative and mindful classes fused together parts of her heart where it all made sense: her yoga journey came full circle for both the mother and baby unit. Jeanette's skills in understanding the pregnant body, the newly postnatal period, and motherhood life deeply inspire her class offerings. Her yoga for children draws on the mind-body-breath connection and supports mindfulness for both the parents and children. 

Jeanette is also a certified lactation counselor, and feeding babies during yoga classes is normal, accepted, and welcomed. In addition to her maternal wellness business, Jeanette also specializes in herbalism, ayurveda, and chair yoga. 

​

Her teaching led her to Yoga Element and its family through a series of serendipitous events: she knew Mandy from childhood and was a previous student under Jenna. It all made sense, and she is blessed to be connected to such a wonderful community. 

Sam Tower

With over 15 years in the spa and wellness industry, I bring a nurturing, restorative energy to every yin yoga class I teach. As a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) and licensed esthetician, I blend my deep knowledge of the body's natural rhythms with a passion for relaxation and self-care.

My teaching is rooted in the belief that slowing down and tuning in is essential for true healing and balance—both on and off the mat. My classes offer a gentle, grounding space where students can slow down, release tension, and reconnect with themselves. As a mom, I understand the importance of creating space for restoration, and I strive to offer that to every student who joins me. Whether you're new to yoga or looking to deepen your practice, my classes are designed to help you unwind, reconnect, and find stillness.

When I'm not teaching, you’ll often find me In Millcreek or at home with a good book in hand, savoring quiet moments and the simple joy of slowing down.

Cara Meadows

Through yoga, I have stepped into my purpose. For years, I spent my life running… Running from myself, striving to overcome the past, and desperately trying to hold on as everything within me slowly unraveled. In 2004, I found yoga. One session at a time, a shift began. What started as a simple movement practice soon became a form of personal therapy. Through time and dedicated practice, yoga gave me a path towards healing and deep transformation.

Over the next decade, I immersed myself in numerous practices, earning yoga teaching certifications through Three Rivers Yoga at The Yoga Room. As my personal healing journey expanded, I took yoga off the mat with holistic studies including a deep dive into cyclical living. Guided by seasonal mapping and intentional living, I was led to specialize in Yoga for Mental Health and Trauma under the mentorship of Ashley Turner. Developing an awareness of trauma healing provided insight and healing into my own journey. The depth of this training created a merge of my career with my yogic passions.

With a 22 year background in public education in the inner city school system, I returned to higher education and received my Master’s Degree in Trauma-Informed Education. Combining mindfulness with trauma-informed practices, I share tools and strategies for emotional regulation with students and staff in the Warren city school system.  In the school and on the mat, my work is rooted in creating safe, nurturing spaces where all people can explore their own path. Instead of running, today I live an intentional life attuned to mindfulness and the  seasonal rhythms of life. I am devoted to presence, purpose, and peace. With daily practices of meditation, somatic movement, and the arts, I continue to walk towards personal alignment.