About Us
Ginny Shaddock: Author, Teacher
Ginny East Shaddock has been a writer and a yogi for decades, but considers herself first and foremost, a teacher. She is an ERYT-500 yoga teacher, a certified yoga therapist with IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists), a Reiki Master and a trained Ayurveda Counselor from the Kerala Institute, India. She has a BA in Business Management from Eckerd College and a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing from Lesley University.
Ginny is the director of Heartwood Yoga Institute in Bradenton, Florida, and the founder of the Florida Reiki Association. She teaches Eastern philosophy, including the yoga sutras, Buddhism, the Bhagavad Gita, and Upanishads, combining classical and contemporary interpretations for life enhancement. She has published numerous articles in periodicals and won the New Southerner Literary Award for creative non-fiction, as well as the Royal Palm Literary Award two times for historical fiction and memoir. She is the author of My Million Dollar Donkey: The Price I Paid to Live Simply (a memoir) and The Enlightened Writer, a craft book about writing guided by the teachings of yoga.
Ginny teaches workshops in memoir writing and journaling as a path to self-actualization and deepened awareness for writers seeking new pathways for creative expression, personal healing, or publication.
Ginny has long been an advocate of the mind-body connection. Formerly, Ginny had an extensive career in dance. She taught at the Broadway Dance Center, Steps, Raoul Gelebert Studios , Steps, New York University, Vassar College and other facilities in New York City and was named one of the top ten teachers in NY in 1989 by Dance Pages Magazine. She transitioned to yoga in her 40's, but the one consistent throughout has been writing. She believes life is a story with many chapters, and writing makes each period of live more vibrant and meaningful.
Her extensive background in writing, dance, yoga and the healing arts have helped her combine arts awareness, physical training and mind-body awareness for ever-broadening learning experiences that promote self-discovery and spiritual growth.
