About Your Teachers

Caitlyn Herzlinger

Hi my name is Caitlyn Herzlinger and I'm the owner of Summer Moon Yoga.

I was born and raised in New York. I have my BFA in acting from SUNY Fredonia and my MFA in theatre from Western Illinois University.

"Why is an actress teaching yoga?" you might ask. Because yoga changed my life. As an actress it's always about looking good and the final product of your performance. I found myself always worrying about what other people thought of me as an actress, which got in the way of my work. I started doing yoga as a warm up in my theatre movement class and I knew it felt good. I continued to study and found myself understanding my body and mind better. That hour that I gave myself to practice yoga each day helped me become a better person and a better actress. I was walking out of class in a great mood, and my body was feeling stronger and more capable. Once I became a true believer of the benefits of yoga, I decided I needed to share it with my fellow actors, and with my community.

I studied briefly with Breezy Osborne at Barefoot Yoga Studios in Little Rock , Arkansas. It was there that the seed was planted. Her teaching truley inspired me to take the next leap. In the summer of 2013 I attended a yoga teacher training taught by Michael Stein at Ashtanga Yoga of New Paltz in NY. There I recieved my 200 hour teaching certification. The program I attended included, but was not limited to, instruction and testing in: Anatomy, Philosophy, Asana, Communication, Pranayama and Sanskrit.

Now I'm on to change the world one class at a time :)

Julie Murphy

Julie’s yoga journey began with the opening of Summer Moon Yoga in 2013 and she completed her 200 hour RYT training at Yoga Seven in Quincy, IL in 2016. She teaches Vinyasa Flow, Chair (including wheelchair) Yoga, offers a Friday “Happy Hour” Gentle Flow, and is available for private classes. Julie’s goal is to make yoga available to all ages, abilities, and life stages.

Alex Walker

Alex Walker is a graduate student and Peace Corps Fellow in Economics at WIU. She has been practicing yoga for over six years and began in her college town of Athens, Georgia. Yoga followed her to West Africa after college. She eventually received her 200 hour certification in Classical Yoga from Kashi Ashram in Atlanta, Georgia. She has taught in her office, ashram, apartment complex, and local jail. She is excited to share her knowledge with the Macomb area!

Heather Mcllvaine-Newsad

Heather is a cultural anthropologist and professor at Western Illinois University who has been practicing yoga since 1991. She has been teaching classes in Macomb for over 10 years. She sees the benefit of yoga everywhere she looks and tries every day to find calm and gratitude off the mat as well as on it. She recently finished her 200 hour certification with the founder of the Davenport School of Yoga, Jeani Mackenzie. Because anthropologists are all about tracing lineages back in time, she is thrilled that she is learning from Jeani who was a student of Mr. Iyengar himself.

Ashley Fayhee

Ashley is a 200hr RYT. She recently completed her 200 hour training through The Breathing Tree Yoga Studio in Canton, Illinois. Ashley will be teaching L3 classes and will soon be offering kids yoga. Her passion is leading yoga flows from her heart and sharing her love of yoga and mindfulness with kids!