try out 2 weeks for $30!
The word “refuge” means an oasis or retreat -- a safe, sacred place of rest and restoration. Refuge Healing Studio is designed to be just that.
In a world that promotes hustle culture and feels like it’s moving faster by the day, we offer a gentle place where you can slow down, turn inward, and rediscover the parts of yourself you might have lost along the way.
REFUGE
what we believe
At Refuge Healing Studio
Your story matters. We honor your journey and meet you with empathy, not expectation.
Community is powerful, and you’ll find a warm and welcoming one here.
Healing is holistic—body, mind, and soul. We create space for restoration in every part of you.
Yoga for all skill levels
mobility and movement
seasonal offerings
1:1 private sessions
specialty programs
retreats
We’re more than a yoga studio. In addition to classes that help you move and nurture your body, we also offer one-on-one coaching sessions and immersive workshops to help you expand upon your practice and discover new approaches to health and wellness.
Some of the offerings you’ll find here include:
Explore classes
We’re a woman-owned business, and our founder has two small children, so we know how busy life can get! We’re dedicated to helping you achieve your health and wellness goals in a way that feels natural and comfortable for you.
Hello, and welcome! I’m Talia, a Kansas Native, wife, mama of 2 little girls, musician and yogi!
My path to yoga began like many - I wanted a good workout and I could get it for free on YouTube. What I came to learn was that the physical practice was one thing, but the deeper healing was another.
When I graduated college, I moved from KS to Greensboro, NC with my husband and taught elementary music. Yoga was my refuge - it saved me in so many ways. Not just the daily stressors of life, but the bigger things too. After years of practicing, I finally decided to get my yoga teacher training.
I received my 200 hr certification in 2020 as well as my Reiki Master attunement. Two months later, I was expecting my first baby and looking all over the place for prenatal yoga! When I couldn’t find anything local, I decided to go ahead and get that certification as well.
In the years that followed those first few certifications, I recognized that this path to holistic healing was one I was going to be on for life - and that others could and should have access to these ancient and wise teachings, too. In 2023, after welcoming my second baby, I decided to get my Ayurveda Health Coach certification with the desire to walk other women through connecting to their bodies, minds and spirits holistically.
This concept of refuge then changed. It wasn’t a place on a mat, or a city - but rather a return to the self.
The call to share these offerings grew - and by the end of 2024 I was ready to begin the process of opening Refuge Healing Studio.
I am overjoyed that you are here and willing to explore our offerings. You can find a variety of yoga classes, reiki sessions, and ayurveda coaching opportunities as well as a loving and vibrant community of like minded individuals. I can’t wait to meet you in real life and move, breathe and be together.
Talia Falcon Blackburn
Owner, RYT-200, RPYT, Reiki Master, Ayurvedic Health Coach
Meet the founder
With gratitude,
Talia
The greatest transformation often happens through small, consistent steps. A membership helps you create space for yourself amidst the busyness of daily life.
Join the Refuge Family
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Meet our skilled coaches
Olivia Smith
Olivia (she/her) began her journey with yoga in college as another form of movement and exercise. After years of more consistent practice and exposure to philosophy, she began to witness the ways yoga gently fosters both physical and emotional healing. Believing in the capacity yoga has to transform and wanting to share this with others, Olivia received her 200-hour teacher training at Greensboro Downtown Yoga through Savvy Soul Yoga and Mindfulness School in 2018. Olivia is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and has always been fascinated with the complexity and beauty of the human experience. She enjoys being able to combine her knowledge of mental health and yoga and provide offerings through a trauma-informed lens. Olivia’s goal as an instructor is to encourage students to live from a more authentic and self-compassionate lens. Through the practice of yoga on and off the mat, Olivia is inspired to guide others towards more self-awareness and mindful living. She and her husband are both Greensboro natives and are enjoying this season of life with their community of family and friends and their two young “full of pep” kiddos keeping them on their toes.
Brandi has been practicing yoga since 2015 and received her 200 YTT in 2020.
Growing up a dancer, she studied dance at UNCG and teaches in Greensboro. Brandi has 3 kids, 2 dogs and a wonderful husband! She loves spending her time with her family, practicing and teaching yoga and doing her work as a photographer.
Brandi Scott
Veda Spidle
Veda was born in Lithuania and at a young age immigrated to the United States with her family. Since childhood, she has been surrounded by art, yoga, meditation, and spirituality. These influences led her to pursue a B.A. in Interior Design and later, to live abroad to teach English in South Korea, where she met her husband, Nate. Her experiences teaching in South Korea gave her a foundation for connecting to students, making learning fun, and expanding her perspective of life. Upon completing her work abroad, Veda and Nate moved to Arizona where the opportunity to blend her love of yoga with her passion for teaching presented itself. After ten years in Arizona, Veda and Nate made their most recent life-leap by moving to Greensboro, NC. With the support of her family, friends, mentors, and students, Veda has completed numerous extensive training courses and has taught for over a decade. She continues as a life-long learner to expand her knowledge of yoga and related sciences through continual self-study, additional training courses, workshops, and mentorships. Veda’s versatility enables her to teach people of all ages and ability levels. As a certified Yoga Therapist, she specializes in utilizing yoga to help individuals find and maintain harmony between their internal and external worlds. She aspires to continue sharing her love of yoga, meditation, health, and life with others; most importantly, Veda hopes to teach people to have self-compassion through yoga!
Emily Hamuka
Bio coming soon.
Lois Cromwell
Lois is the founder and owner of Sonda Yoga. She took her very first yoga class in 1999 and from that moment on fell in love with yoga. Since then she has studied extensively. She completed her first 200-hour teacher training in 2003, her first 500-hour teacher training in 2014, a second 500-hour training in 2015, and most recently completed another 300 Hour Teacher training in 2019. It’s safe to say she loves to be a student. Lois teaches Ashtanga Vinyasa, Vinyasa, Yin, and Meditation. Her passion is teaching yoga and training students to become yoga teachers. She also loves to combine her love of yoga and travel and has been running yoga retreats for the past thirteen years.
When she’s not practicing or teaching yoga she’s spending time with her husband, three wonderful daughters, grandson, and extended family. Lois loves any outdoor activity.
Erin Atkinson
Erin is originally from the foothills of North Carolina and moved to Greensboro to study at UNCG. After graduating she decided to plant roots here and discovered vinyasa yoga, and was hooked. Free flow vinyasa offered the opportunity to build resilience, awareness and the opportunity to engage with uplifting community. Erin has a strong passion for the philosophy and teachings of yoga that have transformed her practice into a way of living. Erin completed her yoga teacher training in 2025 and is passionate about sharing this transformative practice with others. When she’s not teaching in the studio, you can find Erin hiking, on her mat, or spending time with her partner and their two puppies outdoors.
Samantha Garnett
Hello! I’m Samantha—a doula, retreat host, and passionate space holder for mamas and women navigating the beautiful, messy, and powerful transitions of life. Through Mushmoon Mama, I offer support that’s grounded, nurturing, and real—whether I’m walking alongside someone during their birth journey, holding space in the tender postpartum months, or gathering women together for soulful, healing retreats. I believe in the magic of community, rest, and being deeply seen, and it’s my honor to create spaces where women can show up just as they are.
Nicole McLamb
Hey friends! So excited to be teaching some power yoga and vinyasa flow classes at Refuge! Yoga has been apart of my life for the past few years & I received my 200 Hr teacher training in 2020, where I found yoga deep within. No longer was yoga just a fun workout, but also a place for my mind to rest & find grounding. Aside from yoga, I am a newish mama, to my precious baby girl & pregnant with baby #2! I love spending time outside- gardening, going on nature hikes with our dogs, and my newest endeavor- raising our chicks! I hope to see you around the studio- I’ll be the one with a bump!
Brandon Joyner
Brandon Joyner is a 200 hr-RYT yoga teacher that has lived in Greensboro for the last eight years. Brandon received his certification from Dancing Dogs Yoga ATL in 2020. Brandon has been teaching since 2021 offering many restorative and yin classes. Brandon is all about making sure you feel relaxed in his classes and that yoga is truly for every body. When Brandon is not teaching, he loves spending time with his wife and son and working out at Burn Boot Camp!
Mary Santana
Bio coming soon.
Katelyn Chaplin
Kaitlyn began her yoga journey in 2015 and immediately fell in love with the practice. She loves how her yoga practice has evolved as she has evolved, and how there are so many different styles of yoga for different moods and phases of life. Yoga has been the only constant in Kaitlyn’s life, so after a decade of practicing, she completed her 200 hr YTT in 2025. Kaitlyn loves the grounding and mental effects yoga offers, and believes yoga is so much more than a workout. She can’t wait to share her passion with you!
Alex Eksir
Alex teaches Slow Flow with the grounded presence of a lifelong athlete and decades of movement experience. His classes invite strength, breath, and stillness to meet in purposeful, accessible flow. He completed his 200-hour YTT at Sonda Yoga under Lois Cromwell and Elizabeth Roeder, and continues his study through ongoing education and deepening exploration of yoga philosophy and practice. Drawing from a dedicated daily routine, Alex offers sequences that support joint health, balance, and inner clarity. Having lived and traveled across different parts of the world, Alex now calls Greensboro home and brings a broad, grounded perspective to his teaching. At Refuge, he creates space for students of all levels to explore mindful movement with calm focus and quiet strength.
Olivia Di Dio
Olivia is based in Winston-Salem and originally from Greensboro. Her yoga journey began at an early age when her mother obtained her own 200-hour yoga teacher training, but it wasn’t until her 20s that a consistent practice took root and became a cornerstone of her lifestyle.
Now certified in Vinyasa, Yin, and Prenatal yoga, Olivia offers thoughtful, breath-centered classes that emphasize mind and body presence and connection. In January 2025, she welcomed her first child through a home birth—an experience she credits yoga for supporting, both physically and mentally. The practice helped ease the common discomforts of pregnancy and empowered her to move through labor with resilience and trust in her body. Outside the studio, Olivia embraces a wide range of movement, from hiking and weightlifting to training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She believes yoga is the foundation for everything she does—supporting recovery, preventing injury, and keeping her grounded in both body and mind. Olivia welcomes students of all backgrounds to explore movement through yoga as a tool for strength, healing, and self-discovery.
Cera Allred
Bio coming soon.
Katelyn Chaplin
Bio coming soon.
Michaela Coleman
Bio coming soon.
Krystal
After years of cultivating my connection to yoga, I felt called to share that experience with others. In 2026, I completed my 200-hour YTT at Parinama Yoga School here in Greensboro, expanding my understanding of yoga and how it supports us both on and off the mat. I value honoring the body’s needs in every season of life and approach yoga with curiosity and without judgment. As a yoga teacher, my intention is to offer a space where you can meet yourself exactly where you are, listen inward, and move in a way that feels supportive and authentic to you. I believe yoga offers a powerful connection between the mind, body, and spirit, and I hope to help you discover how that connection can enrich and transform not only your practice, but your everyday life. When I’m not on my mat, you’ll find me spending time with my husband and two boys, our two dogs, friends and family, or traveling and enjoying the outdoors. I’m most content on my mat and anywhere I can be outside, exploring, connecting, and simply being present.
