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CPF Teacher: Bonnie Davis at YMCA

Updated: Dec 6, 2023



Bonnie Davis is a master yoga teacher with extensive teaching experience. She graduated in Jan., 2023 from CPF training and serves on the Board of Directors for the CPF.


Bonnie will be teaching free CPF Yoga classes at the Winston YMCA in Jacksonville, FL Tuesdays at 10am. Bonnie completed CPF training and graduated January 29, 2023. She is a very experienced yoga teacher and has been teaching yoga and pilates at the YMCA for over 20 years.


CPF has been teaching free Oncology Yoga classes at different YMCA locations in Duval and St. Johns County since 2012. We are happy to be at the Winston YMCA once more every Tuesday at 10am.


She was interviewed by CPF and here are her delightful responses. Read all the way through.



Who are you?


That is the proverbial question! I have done several meditations on this question. I am still not sure of the answer.


What year did you find Yoga? 1989


Why did you begin? I was not diagnosed with scoliosis when I was a child. It wasn’t until my new husband pointed out my crooked back that I even knew it wasn’t normal. In 1988 I took my sister to her appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. In passing I asked him about my back and when he looked at it and he said that I should have been treated when I was a child and that I would be totally crippled by the time I was 40 (I was 27 at that time). As it turns out, one of my neighbors had recently gotten her first level Iyengar certification. When I told her about my diagnosis, she said that yoga could help. I started hosting her first classes at a house we were remodeling. I will be forever grateful to my teacher and for all of the gifts that I have received from yoga – not to mention that I have very few problems from my scoliosis.


How did your practice proceed? I would stop and start, but always practiced some on my own, especially the pranayama – which was invaluable during childbirth and while raising children.


When/how did you connect with your favorite style of yoga? I lived in south Florida until 2003 and during that time I only practiced Iyengar yoga. I didn’t even know that there were other styles. When I moved to Jacksonville in 2003, there were no Iyengar studios, so I practiced what was available which was Hatha and Anusara. While I have tried many styles of yoga, I do not care for Bikram and the other sweaty yogas. I am also not a fan of yoga that requires lots of headstands and arm balances (both of which are contraindicated for me). I really like Iyengar but am happy with most other styles of yoga.


Do you have a favorite teacher? I have had so many wonderful teachers! Each of them have had a huge influence on me: Colleen Gallagher, my very first teacher, Didier Razon, whom I did my 200 hour teacher class with, Doug Keller and therapy yoga, Marios Argiros, a senior Iyengar teacher who has traveled to Jacksonville to host workshops and who was the teacher in Crete at an Iyengar retreat, and of course Alyson Foreacre, owner of Yoga Den in Florida.


What year did you complete YTT 200? 2004

What other yoga certifications do you have? I am currently working on my 300 hour certification

What year did you become a Christina Phipps Foundation certified teacher? 2023

Why did you take CPF? I have had so many students and friends affected by cancer. I think that it is important to learn as much as I can to assist them.

Where do you think you will do 6 months of volunteer yoga teaching? YMCA

In addition to CPF yoga, what else do you teach? At YMCA I teach beginners, seniors, and gentle yoga. I have taught Kids yoga, mommy and me yoga, chair yoga, vinyasa flow, intermediate and a hybrid pilates-yoga over the past 20 years. I am also fully certified in Pilates and all apparatuses.



Bonnie will be teaching at the Winston YMCA in Jacksonville, FL. We had a CPF class there in the past through the Healthy Living program taught by CPF teacher Carol.


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