Rebecca Butler

Yoga teacher, mom, wife, writer, life coach, former studio owner, amateur chef, and fervent animal lover - Rebecca Butler Paynter. A bum knee brought her to the mat in the late 90s; awareness of how incredible she felt after the practice eventually led her to take the leap from corporate America life to yoga entrepreneur. She studied constantly — with Baron Baptiste (350 hours), Ana Forrest (350 hours) and Rodney Yee & Colleen Saidman Yee (350 hours), earning her ERYT-500. After cutting her teeth at small boutique studios in Fort Worth, she opened The Sanctuary Yoga Room, taught teacher trainees, wrote for mindfulness blogs, and led international yoga retreats. She lost one parent to ALS, then another. This only further solidified her commitment to a life of spreading wellness, breath and the appreciation of health and movement… and then along came COVID. She’s spent the last year with her family, creating online content and recalibrating as a wife, parent, friend, student and teacher. In her opinion, the suffering of the pandemic is undeniable. And as any authentic life experience would offer, she has also been able to find gifts in the forced pause. Moments of connection and precious memories with her children and husband have kept her both grounded and uplifted. Riding horses, running, and sharing yoga as a family would’ve once been only a dream. Now, they are daily rituals. So when Rodney & Colleen, easily her most influential and beloved teachers, approached her about being a part of Yoga Shanti, she was overwhelmed with joy at the opportunity, so much so she cried happy tears. Suffice it to say, she’s over the moon to be able to be a part of this studio schedule, the teacher training and what Yoga Shanti offers to the collective at large.