Voted "Best Yoga Studio" in New Orleans, 22 Years in a Row

About us

OUR APPROACH

Welcoming, Inclusive & Community-Oriented

At Wild Lotus Yoga, creating a genuinely welcoming and open-minded space is at the heart of everything we do. Our studio is built on connection—not cliques—where all are invited to explore yoga in a supportive, down-to-earth environment.

We’re deeply committed to our New Orleans community, offering sliding scale memberships, community classes, fundraisers, service initiatives, and BIPOC teacher training scholarships—ensuring yoga remains accessible, inclusive, and rooted in something meaningful.

0 +
Years in a row voted "Best Yoga Studio" in New Orleans by Gambit Readers
OUR TEAM

Meet Team Lotus

Anne-Compton Lambeth Anne-Compton went for many years by her initials, AC, until she reclaimed her full Southern double name (so, please never just Anne!). She has been teaching yoga for nearly two decades. She is the founder of Living Yoga Teacher Training and since 2025 the owner of Wild Lotus Yoga. Having trained in Anusara, Vinyasa, Bhakti, Tantra, and Himalayan Kriya Yoga, Anne-Compton incorporates asana, breathwork, kriya, mantra, meditation, and yogic philosophy in her teaching, all with down-to-earth and joyful spirituality. She is the author of several novels, many short stories, and tons and tons of poems scribbled here and there. She loves to read, commune with trees, and travel. She lives with her husband Bill and their medium-sized malinois mix, Roux, with big ears and bigger feelings.

Celeste Schexnaydre (she, her)

Celeste is currently a substitute yoga teacher. She also is an artist and art therapist. Celeste deeply believes in the innate ability to create, and that everyone is creative. She loves to include this creativity in her teaching and also brings a sense of play. She found yoga after being diagnosed with breast cancer and recently recovered from a Heart Transplant. She attributes much of her success to her yoga and spiritual practice.

Rebecca Crenshaw

Rebecca came to yoga as a musician, looking for ways to strengthen and understand and protect her body from the rigor of playing violin. She is a E-RYT® 200, RYT® 500, YACEP® yoga instructor with training in yoga therapeutics, anatomy and alignment, and skillful in both group and individual (private) yoga instruction. Her classes are alignment based and led from the heart, sprinkled with creative flows that encourage self expression. Through connecting movement and breath, we arrive in meditative states that slow our busy mind while still getting our bodies moving. Physical alignment is key – as the more we understand our bodies and the specific way we move as individuals, the closer we can tune into the messages it sends us everyday – merging body and mind. Off the mat, she performs with several  New Orleans based ensembles and teaches private violin lessons to both adults and youth. rebeccacrenshawmusic.com

Julia Pretus

Julia (she/her) has been a member of the Wild Lotus Yoga Desk Staff since 2011, joined the management team in 2020, and is a graduate of Living Yoga Teacher Training’s inaugural 2025 cohort. Julia’s goal is to be a welcoming face and grounding energy for all visitors at Wild Lotus. Whether you have questions about membership, need help finding the perfect class, or just want to have a chat about your new favorite restaurant, Julia is always here to support your journey at Wild Lotus Yoga. Julia lives Uptown with her husband, Jonathan, and two little rescue dogs, Jojo and Maxwell. Her favorite place to be when she’s not on the mat is under a blanket (non-negotiable) with a really good (negotiable) book. 

 

Nicole Rezza

Nicole moved from New York to New Orleans in 2002, and after taking her very first class at Wild Lotus Yoga, she instantly knew she had found her yoga home. She has been a part of the Wild Lotus community ever since, serving as studio manager since 2006 and growing alongside the vibrant community she loves.

Nicole attended the inaugural Soul School at Wild Lotus Yoga and is a certified prenatal yoga instructor through Mamaste™ Yoga. 

She lives in Kenner with her husband, Marty “Human”, their two children, and Marty “Dog” (yes—they really do share the same name!).

Nicole can usually be found staying up far too late because she just can’t put down a good historical fiction novel.  

Karen Palmer

Karen has practiced yoga for over twenty years. In 2013-2014 she studied with Sean Johnson and Mitchel Bleier in Soul School Teacher Training and continued her studies in Prenatal Yoga with Mamaste Yoga. She continues to attend workshops and retreats to strengthen and grow in teaching and her own practice. Her classes range from gentle to a medium flow. She likes to incorporate music and a little laughter into her classes.

Outside of yoga, Karen enjoys music, art, photography, animals, traveling and spending time with loved ones. When she is not in the role of teacher, she is a mental health counselor.  

Magen Huntley,

Magen, MS, PLPC, is a mental health counselor, certified yoga teacher, and devoted creative. She brings a compassionate, trauma‑informed approach to her teaching, blending embodied practice, emotional resilience, and mindful self‑expression. With a background in crisis and trauma counseling, Magen creates grounded, choice‑centered spaces where students feel supported, empowered, and genuinely seen. Guided by a holistic view of healing, she integrates mindfulness, breathwork, and heart‑centered practices to help individuals reconnect with themselves and cultivate presence, compassion, and inner steadiness. Her classes offer a warm, nurturing environment for growth, healing, and authentic self‑discovery.

LaTesha Charbonnet

LaTesha is a certified yoga teacher, wellness retreat hostess, and a proud native New Orleanian. A graduate of Wild Lotus Yoga’s Living Yoga Teacher Training program, LaTesha is a passionate and uplifting yoga teacher, known for her warm energy and empowering approach to movement. Blending breath work with dynamic flowing transitions, she creates classes that are both grounding and joyfully challenging. Whether in a heated flow or a gentle practice, she invites students to explore their strength, find ease, and reconnect with their own inner love, joy, and peace. When she’s not on the mat, LaTesha enjoys experiencing life with her two children, resting, relaxing, and reading.

Aloysius Cunningham

Aloysius (he/they) is a yoga teacher and educator who brings connection, care, and spirit into their practice. Rooted in vinyasa flow, breath awareness, and accessible postures, their teaching emphasizes meeting the body where it is. Aloysius’s classes invite both focus and a sense of play, offering clear options and thoughtful pacing so students can move with confidence and curiosity. Off the mat, Aloysius works at an education nonprofit and is drawn to reflective and devotional practices that help make sense of life’s ups and downs. They are a graduate of the inaugural cohort of the Living Yoga Teacher Training and live in St. Roch with their two beloved dogs, Sawyer and Riley, who take their cuddle practice very seriously.

Lori Jupiter

For more than twenty years, Lori has been a beloved member of the Wild Lotus family. Her deep love for yoga naturally blossomed into a passion for teaching, where she blends both mellow and spicy styles with ease. In every class, she invites students to arrive exactly as they are—no judgment, just presence. Known for her thoughtfully curated music and her warm, grounded guidance, Lori encourages her students to carry their yoga practice beyond the mat and into their daily interactions, fostering compassion, connection, and community.

Javi Escobar Yametti

This energetic Chilean arrived in her sweet New Orleans in 2013 and completed her teacher training at Wild Lotus in 2017. Although she sadly moved out in 2018, her spirit and heart have been grounded in this city for life, and she constantly returns to her beloved studio. Javi seeks to inspire her students through a challenging practice that also includes poetry, beautiful quotes, and crazy movements, which often make her students laugh. If you take her classes, be prepared to sweat, have a good time, and bring some glitter home (her personal trademark!). Hint: when you see glitter in the studio, you will know that Javi is in town! If you don’t see her at Wild Lotus, you should look for her at one of the dozens of cemeteries in New Orleans, doing research for her PhD in Architecture, or, during Mardi Gras season, she’ll definitely be at the parade!

Lauren Best

Lauren teaches gentle flow class at Wild Lotus on Mondays and Fridays 9-10:15 am. The class offers an opportunity for students to slow down, bring nuanced awareness to sensation, connect with breath and explore movement in a safe, supportive and welcoming  environment. Her teaching is informed by her background as an occupational therapist and as a lover of language, poetry and music, as well as the ways yoga helps her get through life’s challenges. She appreciates how yoga offers a soft space to land, and how it helps us show up for ourselves and the humans and creatures and communities in our lives. A native New Yorker and former long-time resident of Chicago, she is enchanted by New Orleans and its rhythms. And much to her surprise she started “y’all-ing” only a few weeks into her life here. And loves the pizza in all the cities she has lived in.”

Christine Thomas

Christine loves teaching yoga and the special honor it is to share its many gifts with others. She offers asana sequences, breathwork and meditation aimed to open, soothe, strengthen and stabilize the body and mind. She was introduced to yoga nearly 20 years ago on the beach and she has been awed, challenged and delighted by all that yoga has to offer, ever since. A forever “student” and seeker, she completed the Wild Lotus Yoga Soul School teacher training program (200 hours) in 2016 and has continually trained and studied asana, meditation, history and philosophy with many extraordinary teachers from a range of cultural traditions, lineages and styles including Hatha, Yin, Restorative, Kundalini and Bhakti. Christine has a true passion for sharing the restorative power of yoga, offering patience, knowledge, enthusiasm and props. Christine truly enjoys community and making the tools of yoga accessible for anyone who wants to learn and practice.  Born in Los Angeles, she loves music, books, art, nature, world travel, dreaming out loud and a good laugh.  She lives in Algiers, near the river, where she is close to the “deep sustenance in the voices of our ancestors.”

Dena Borman

A teacher for over a decade, Dena strives to offer yoga in an accessible and sustainable manner, inclusive of all ages, all bodies and all ability levels. She has extensive experience teaching foundations classes and intro to yoga courses, chair yoga and yoga for older adults, adaptive yoga and yoga for people with disabilities, as well as mixed-level classes.

In Dena’s classes, you’ll experience heartfelt Dharma and elements of Bhakti Yoga woven throughout. She provides clear and thoughtful instruction, paired with invitational cueing and lots of options for exploration–so that you might learn more about your own body and your own preferences, all while feeling empowered to unearth your own intuition and strength.

Dena loves long walks, snacks, and naps–and has questionable taste in TV programming. She lives in the Bywater with her partner Dan and their 90-lb teeny tiny baby, King Bartholomew.

Lauren Sloan

Lauren made her home at Wild Lotus Yoga in 2011, shortly after relocating from her native North Carolina. What began as a job on the desk staff led to completing Soul School teacher training with Seán Johnson and Mitchel Bleier.  She’s gone on to continuously explore and teach different forms of movement and yoga.  Lauren feels that physical movement is one of her clearest forms of spiritual connection and expression, and her teaching reflects that joy and heartfelt intuition.     
  Currently Lauren teaches the Prenatal yoga classes.

Andra Aitken

Andra’s practice and classes are dedicated to cultivating calm and clear states, slowing down, and feeling the moment. She lives by the principle that by practicing mindfulness in gentle, still moments, one can rewire the response to stress in the day-to-day experiences of life.  

Andra has studied Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Meditation, and the Science of Rest extensively. She loves to share these practices of restfulness with anyone ready to go nowhere and do nothing. 

In addition to teaching yoga, Andra works as a psychotherapist, integrating yogic practices with her clients.  In her downtime, Andra listens to physics podcasts, pets her dogs, and attempts to cultivate a green thumb.  

Integrated, Intention-Led Practice

At Wild Lotus, yoga is not approached as a workout—it’s experienced as a living, integrated practice. Each class weaves together physical postures, breathwork, meditation, mantra, music, storytelling, and philosophy into a cohesive, immersive experience.

Rather than teaching in isolated parts, our instructors build classes around intentional themes that guide the experience. This approach creates space for deeper awareness, reflection, and connection—allowing the practice to extend beyond the mat and into daily life.

Accessible for Every Body & Every Level

Yoga should meet you where you are—and grow with you.
We offer a wide range of classes designed for all levels, from deeply restorative and stress-relieving to more dynamic, strength-building practices. Whether you’re stepping onto the mat for the first time or refining an advanced practice, our class offerings provide clear entry points and room to evolve.

Accessibility here isn’t an afterthought—it’s built into everything we do.

Heart-Centered
Teaching

Technique matters—but heart is what transforms a practice.
At Wild Lotus, our teachers lead with authenticity, presence, and care. Classes often incorporate heart-opening elements such as music, mantra, creative expression, and loving-kindness meditation—inviting students to connect not just physically, but emotionally and energetically.

We don’t just guide movement—we create space for connection, both within yourself and with the larger community.

Down-to-Earth
Spirituality

Our approach to spirituality is inclusive, grounded, and practical.
We honor yoga as a deeply transformative tradition while presenting it in a way that is accessible to modern life. There’s no expectation to subscribe to any belief system—only an invitation to explore practices that cultivate clarity, balance, and a deeper sense of purpose.

This is spirituality you can actually live.

Creative, Highly-Trained Teachers

Wild Lotus is known for developing teachers who are both skillful and original.
Through our Living Yoga Teacher Training, instructors learn to teach with precision, depth, and creativity—moving beyond scripted sequences into authentic, experience-driven classes. Each teacher brings their own voice, energy, and perspective, creating a rich and varied experience across our offerings.

You’ll feel the difference immediately.

Workshops, Events & Immersions

Beyond daily classes, Wild Lotus offers a robust calendar of experiences designed to deepen your practice.
From specialized workshops and multi-week courses to concerts, immersions, and retreats, these offerings provide opportunities to explore yoga in greater depth—physically, mentally, and spiritually.

These are not add-ons. They’re an essential part of the Wild Lotus experience.

A Center for
Yoga Education

Wild Lotus is more than a studio—it’s a place of study, growth, and transformation.
Our signature 200-hour Living Yoga Teacher Training is a six-month immersive experience that goes far beyond learning how to teach poses. It’s designed to help you embody yoga as a way of life—integrating philosophy, practice, and personal insight into something lasting and meaningful.
Whether you plan to teach or simply want to deepen your own practice, this program is a powerful next step.
OUR HISTORY

Wild Lotus Yoga through the years

Wild Lotus has been shaped by both defining milestones and something quieter, yet far more meaningful—the steady rhythm of teachers and students returning to their mats, day after day, year after year. This timeline honors both: the moments that marked our growth, and the ongoing practice that sustains it. We are deeply grateful to every teacher, staff member, and student who has been part of this community.

A Studio Rooted in Community

For over two decades, Wild Lotus Yoga has been a space for practice, connection, and growth. Here’s what our students have to say about their experience.

PRESS

Press & Archives

Wild Lotus has been honored to be featured in conversations both close to home and across the country—sharing our approach to yoga, community, and mindful living. This collection brings together local and national media mentions, along with archived features that reflect our evolution over the years. Each piece offers a glimpse into how our work has been experienced, interpreted, and shared beyond the studio.

“Widely considered one of the best and friendliest yoga studios in town.” – Lonely Planet

“Wild Lotus has been voted Best Place To Take A Yoga Class by Gambit Readers every year since they opened. From the vibrations of your very first “Om” to a strong and active downward dog, the instructors at Wild Lotus always have your back. Sean Johnson, the studio’s owner and founder, and The Wild Lotus Band merge mantras with New Orleans rock ‘n’ roll, giving the studio extra edge as a leading voice in kirtan music and the first mantra music act to play the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.” – Gambit Weekly

“The symbol of the lotus flower as a thing of beauty that emerges out of the mud has a special resonance for the yoga community in New Orleans. Sean Johnson, whose Wild Lotus studio was one of the first to reopen in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina, says that he’s seen the city’s interest in yoga blossom in the wake of the devastation.” – Yoga Journal

“The creative minds behind this studio organize and facilitate countless events throughout the year catering to every sort of taste.” – Where Y’At Magazine