Hi!  My name is Tessa Donovan and I am the founder of A Breath of Heaven Yoga.  God led me down this new path in my life of becoming certified as a Christian Yoga Instructor and I’m excited to have you join me!

A little about my history first…  Grew up in the Saginaw, MI area and graduated in 2000 from Freeland High School where I enjoyed basketball, volleyball, and softball.  I played college basketball at Siena Heights University from 2000-2002 (also met my hubby there too), but injury ended my basketball career.  I ended up transferring to Michigan State University, where I graduated with a Civil Engineering degree in 2004.  I got married in 2005 and then we had 2 beautiful daughters in 2007 and 2009.  I initially worked as a Civil Engineer for over 10 years, but now I have the privilege to stay home and be mom.  In my free time I love painting, coffee dates with friends, watching NCIS with my hubby, volunteering at my awesome church, yoga (obviously lol), spending time in nature, and coaching.

How did I become a yoga instructor?  Well, it’s taken a while because I’m not your typical bendy/skinny yoga instructor lol.  Yes I’ve enjoyed athletics my whole life, but God did not gift me with natural flexibility – which I always felt disqualified me to teach yoga even though I found enjoyment in it beginning in college.  How do you teach yoga if for most of my life I hadn’t even been able to touch my toes!?!

Plus my BODY has had quite the journey, I have felt that I’ve been continually in the recovery zone – with many serious athletic injuries/surgeries, 2 C-sections, 4 miscarriages/surgeries, etc.  RECOVERY has been the journey I’ve been on for a long long time.  However, God had been working on my heart for many years and finally my outlook changed in 2020 on being a yoga instructor and showed me that my idea of perfection (being really bendy & skinny) isn’t required when He calls you to be His vessel – just a willing spirit to step out in faith.  

My hope is that my vulnerability, both physically and emotionally, provides a space where you are willing to take a step out of your comfort zone and join me even though both of our bodies have unique stories and limitations.  If everyone waited to be perfectly flexible or in shape to do yoga… there would be no one who would participate or teach!  The point of yoga is to improve upon where you are at and not compare to someone else.  So I was ecstatic when I’ve been able to consistently touch my toes now! 🙂  

Let us meet each other where we both are at, in God’s grace.  This is the atmosphere I hope to provide everyone that joins me – a grace-filled space… we can BREATH, GROW, STRETCH, and RESTORE together.