Yoga Mel
+506-8520-2559
Meet the Yogis Choice Academy Team
Our team of culturally-rooted, heart-led instructors are here to guide you through yoga as more than movement—it's medicine, it's reclamation, it's your birthright. Whether you're seeking peace, purpose, or your place in the yoga world, you're home now.
About Mel
A registered yoga instructor (E-RYT 500, YACEP, RYS) and advanced yoga nidra facilitator with more than five years of experience in helping individuals find inner peace and well-being. Passionate about holistic health, Mel offers personalized coaching, classes and yoga teacher training. Often incorporating reiki, sound healing, and affirmations into her classes, Mel creates an immersive experience that leaves participants feeling rejuvenated and balanced. She is also a seasoned retreat leader based in Costa Rica, where she lives with her wife, step daughter.
Meet The Team
Shaka Xolani
Having over 16 years of yoga practice and 7 years of teaching experience, she specializes in Hatha yoga and holds an MA in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation from SOAS. Her practice is based on Ashtanga and Iyengar yoga, with an emphasis on self-discovery and liberation via yoga. Shaka's holistic courses incorporate posture, breathing, relaxation, and meditation to promote flexibility, strength, calmness, and connection. Aside from teaching yoga, she is a psychic, Reiki Master, and masseuse who provides psychic development and spiritual guidance. Shaka's goal is to help people connect with their inner selves and divine wisdom, helping them on their path of self-discovery.
Hope Davis
Hope Davis discovered the power of movement at a young age, finding in it a sanctuary and escape from life’s noise. Through the rhythm of expression, she uncovered self-love and acceptance, grounding her soul and quieting her mind. Today, movement is no longer an escape but a way to cultivate presence—rooting her in the moment and shaping a reality that feels aligned and true.
As a certified 200HR Yoga Teacher with four years of experience, Hope channels this philosophy into her teaching, guiding others to liberate their mind, body, and soul through yoga. Certified in Vinyasa, Restorative, and Yoga Nidra, each class she leads reflects her love for movement as a form of healing and expression. These classes become sacred spaces—love offerings to her community—inviting curiosity, deep feeling, and full self-expression.
Our Mission
At Yogis Choice Academy, our mission is to reclaim yoga as a pathway to healing, liberation, and leadership—especially for Black women, professionals, and queer BIPOC communities.
We offer soul-centered yoga teacher trainings that honor your full identity and centers the voices often left out of traditional yoga spaces. Led by a team of Black instructors, our programs blend cultural awareness, ancestral wisdom, and modern healing practices.
Whether you're deepening your personal practice or stepping into your calling as a teacher, this is a space to rise, to be seen, and to transform.
This is more than training—iit's a soul calling. A return to self. A movement toward collective healing and joy.