Marcia Appel

Yoga & Meditation Teacher, Teacher Training Faculty & Green Lotus Partner

Marcia stepped onto her mat in 2000 to ease grief caused when her beloved father developed a serious illness and also to combat the effects of fibromyalgia. Her practice deepened, her mind calmed, her body strengthened, and her spirit renewed. The fibromyalgia ended, and she felt as vital as she had in years. "Yoga and meditation changed everything for me and for my family," she says.

In 2006, Marcia, a journalist and former corporate executive, wrote the plan that launched Green Lotus. In 2007, Green Lotus opened, and Marcia and business partner Merry Beth Hovey, who joined in 2009, planted the seeds of service that are the foundation of the Green Lotus philosophy. "As teachers and healers," Marcia says, "we meet students and clients where they are. We learn and grow from each other -- and have fun doing it."

Marcia has studied with talented and compassionate teachers, including Baron Baptiste for power vinyasa and Judith Lasater to become a registered Relax & Renew instructor. She created Green Lotus’ Restorative Teacher Training, based on the teachings of Judith and other restorative pioneers.

In May 2012 Marcia completed the RYT 300-hour program – Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training - at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. It explored the integration of mindfulness meditation and yoga with teachers Phillip Moffitt, Mark Coleman, Anna Douglas, Janice Gates, Anne Cushman, Richard Miller, and Chip Hartranft. She now is credentialed to teach Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation, including Yoga Nidra, and teaches classes and workshops in these subjects at the centers. She teaches yin, hatha, vinyasa, restorative, and vinyasa. She completed Level 1 of iRest training in 2018; based on the ancient practice of Yoga Nidra and made accessible for the modern world, it combats PTSD, sleeplessness, fatigue, anxiety and depression, and much more. She teaches iRest weekly and virtually for Green Lotus. She trains teachers bi-annually in Mindfulness Yoga and Mediation and in Yoga Nidra in two 20-hour weekend programs. She helped to develop Green Lotus' 240-hour and 300-hour teacher-training programs and is a co-leader of them.

Marcia enjoys traveling, writing and reading, hiking, swimming, gardening, and studying yoga. She adores her family: her co-parent, Vince, their daughter; son, daughter-in-law, and their little boy (not to mention her amazing cat, Gracie).