About

We're a group of people passionate about making the healing benefits of yoga more widely known. We've felt the difference yoga can make in our own lives, and feel that much suffering and disease could be avoided if people simply learned to take better care of their bodies. Yoga has much to offer; a regular yoga practice doesn't just make you fit, it gradually transforms mind and body by creating greater and integration and depth at all levels of our being.

Our Writers and Principals

Eva Norlyk Smith, Ph.D., RYT-500, LMT, Co-Founder - Eva Norlyk Smith is a writer, yoga therapist, and body worker with a lifelong passion for yoga and meditation. She started her yoga training in Kripalu Yoga, and has since studied Anusara Yoga, Integrative Yoga Therapy, and has been further enriched with her ongoing studies with some of the leading yoga teachers in the country. Together with her husband, body worker and Anusara-inspired yoga teacher Terry Smith, she is the founder of the Healthy Back, Healthy Body program.

Robin Silverman, Office Manager - Although relatively new to the world of yoga, Robin is a long time meditator with an interest in all things spiritual. She's a transplanted east-coaster and happily lives in the small Midwest town of Fairfield, IA. She has been organizing her family (hubby and three children) and various non-profit organizations for many years and now brings these organizational skills to Yoga U Online to help keep things running smoothly, working with our teachers to set up programs, overseeing our customer service and anything else that needs detailed attention.

Linda Lewiston, Video Editor - Linda Lewiston is a budding video editor who aspires to expand her personal and professional repertoire. With a background in art history, Linda enjoys traveling to visit her favorite art icons. Her favorite so far are the Venus of Willendorf and the Mona Lisa. When not scouring the globe, she enjoys cooking, gardening, health and wellbeing, crafts and going on walks with her Shih-poo, Senja.

Caleb Flynn, System Administrator - After graduating from Fairfield High School, Caleb became involved with the Beatbox, a local youth center in Fairfield, IA. He currently provides system administration, support and development to local and remote companies and individuals. He also provides support as a board member, tech support volunteer and system administrator to KRUU, Fairfield's local community low-power radio station. 

Vanessa Haskins, Social Media Assistant - Vanessa began working with Fairfield Wellness in 2009 and has continued to provide assistance with the development of YogaTherapyWeb. As a social media assistant she understands the social media universe beyond Facebook and Twitter and shares an enthusiasm and understanding of social media. Vanessa has successfully achieved her bachelor’s degree in Business Management and is currently working on her MBA. Vanessa has also been a passionate yoga practitioner for two years and also enjoys Zumba, Running, Walking Trail and Canoeing.

Kristin Muckerheide, Content Editor - Kristin graduated Summa Cum Laude from Bradley University with a B.A. in Journalism and Spanish. She has worked in university marketing & communications, blogging, the news business, the magazine industry, for literary arts journals and publications, websites, and most recently, as an SEO analyst in the B2B arena, but she recently left her corporate job to pursue her many dreams in the health world and beyond (and she couldn't be happier). She is a certified holistic health coach, writer+editor+journalist, health foodie+blogger, published poet and photographer, tree hugger, tea aficionado, world traveler, and animal lover. She has a passion for music, food, art, creativity, travel, and all things health and well-being, and has been practicing yoga for several years. She is absolutely thrilled to be with Yoga U and is savoring the opportunity to deepen her yoga practice amidst such wonderful inspiration.

Karla Christensen, Freelance Contributor - B.A. English. Karla is a freelance writer with an affinity for manuals and grants. She is also a published poet, mosaic artist with grants and commissions for public-participation murals, project manager, teacher of Transcendental Meditation, practitioner of holographic repatterning, aromatherapist, writing teacher, intercultural trainer, employment counselor, and mother of four children. She has studied Yoga Talam with Sofia Diaz, who defines it as "the conductivity (Thandav) of full feeling throughout the entire body in balanced relationship to active surrender or heart-relaxation into the infinitely graceful (Lasya) currents of life force."

Simon Brooks, Freelance Contributor - Born and raised in Fairfield, IA, Simon was introduced to yoga and meditation at an early age at the Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment. In 2008, he moved to Minneapolis, MN where he received his B.S. in Music Production from McNally Smith College of Music. There he discovered his passion for writing essays and short stories. As a freelance audio engineer he records, mixes, edits, and masters audio for music, television, film, and radio. When Simon is not working on a new album or writing for Yoga U, you can find him playing with one of his punk rock bands in clubs all over the Twin Cities.

We're always looking for new writers and yoga therapists to join our team. If you're interested, send us a note: yogauonline108@gmail.com.