Meet Our Founder, Rachel

Every class has one goal: to help you

Meet our founder, Rachel Lando.

Born and raised in Coral Gables, Florida, Rachel is rooted in a blend of Jewish, Hispanic, and Island culture with a dash of privilege. She curses, she laughs, and she’s loud.

Rachel began her studies at Florida International University after dropping out of Mount Holyoke College and surviving as a waitress and writer. She ultimately completed her undergraduate education at Wellesley College in Massachusetts, where she received a Bachelor of Arts with honors. Her studies focused on Jewish history, Biology, and Media Studies.

Awarded the Susan Klein Fellowship upon graduation, Rachel moved temporarily to Israel, where she studied language and rabbinical commentary in Netanya and Jerusalem. Upon her return to the States, she was accepted into Columbia University and began to pursue advanced degrees in Yiddish Literature and Translation, but struggled with her health in New York City.

Rachel took a sabbatical year and resumed her work in the fields of hospitality and writing in the mountain land of Colorado, but never returned East. Home has been Park City, Utah since 2010, where she fell in love with the mountains, its seasons, and her husband Michael.

In 2012, Rachel was diagnosed with scleroderma several months after the loss of her mother. Since then, Rachel has refocused her attention and study on health, wellness, and movement.

Following the devastating loss of her large intestine in 2017, Rachel set her sights on becoming a movement teacher. In 2019, Rachel graduated with her 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training certificate from Inbody Academy. Though she joined a team to begin teaching, the pandemic shut her practice down before it began.

During lockdown, Rachel explored online training options, and dove deeper into her studies with Roll Model Jill Miller, Movement and Yoga therapist Dana Levy, and her excellent local Mat Pilates teachers. She started collecting anatomy texts for study and joined Yoga Philosophy Groups, too. Once society opened up again, she decided to begin attending cadaver labs to study biomechanics as well as the subtler details of anatomy and physiology.

By 2022, she became Tune Up Fitness Certified. In 2023, she became Pilates certified. In 2024, she received her 500 hour Yoga Teacher Training certificate from Yoga Biomechanics author and yoga mentor, Jules Mitchell. This summer she will attend her third dissection lab with fascia expert, Dr. Carla Stecco and Internationally-renowned yin teacher, Jo Phee.

She has also trained with Dr. Gil Hedley, Tom Myers, Dr. Bre Dumke, Cindy Metcalf, Heather Jones, D’ana Baptiste, Yael Calhoun, Alexandria Crow, Tracey Mallett, Jenn Solomon-Armstrong, and Yoga for Scleroderma. She was strongly influenced by Park City Pilates teacher Dr. Becky May, Anna Lee Sanders, and Kyle Draheim.

Outside of teaching, Rachel enjoys spending time with her wonderful family and friends. Getting outdoors in the winters can be hard on her, but she loves mindful walks in the summer, trying new flavors, and tea paired with fabulous conversation.