Melissa Russell, C-IAYT, E-RYT-500, iRest Certified, Duke-Trained Health Coach

Melissa is a certified yoga therapist with specialized expertise in eating disorders and trauma recovery. She provides trauma-informed yoga therapy to clients in both residential and outpatient eating disorder programs, including Carolina House, as well as in mental health treatment settings such as Jubilee. Her approach integrates her yoga therapy training with an evidence-informed understanding of present-moment awareness, mind-body integration, and nervous system regulation—foundational elements in supporting recovery from eating disorders and trauma.

Melissa works primarily one-on-one with clients at Evolve Yoga Therapy, her private studio in Chapel Hill, offering personalized sessions that support healing across physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions. 

She is a graduate of the Advanced Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy Program and serves as a teaching assistant in their Foundations Program, where she supports students in learning specific yoga techniques that can be applied therapeutically to address specific health conditions.

Her work reflects a core belief that transformation is possible at any stage of life. Through intentional practice and therapeutic support, individuals can evolve from states of stress, disconnection, and pain into greater ease, resilience, and well-being.

To know more about Melissa’s yoga therapy story and to connect with her, click here.