Gina Puccinelli
(831) 578-5382, beyondyoga.me
This is not Gina Puccinelli’s first time as the Best Yoga Instructor in our annual readers’ poll, but she approaches both the win and her practice with a beginner’s mind. “I’m so surprised and thrilled!” she says. Yoga is about sitting comfortably in body and mind, and since her last win, in 2017, Puccinelli has incorporated therapeutic and mindful yoga study into her universe, and now helps with adaptive and chair yoga classes at the Yoga Center of Carmel. She’s also co-facilitating, with Katie Dutcher of the Monterey Bay Meditation Center, teaching yoga and mindful meditation, and she’s integrating movement therapy and massage into her private practice too. Yoga is also about building community: “One of my strongest gifts is to be a great resource for people by creating community through yoga,” she says. Her students totally agree. Track her down through her website and book a class, stat.