IT TAKES A VILLAGE
GET TO KNOW SALT SPA
Salt Spa & Yoga is built on the simple and powerful foundation of offering affordable, approachable wellness to the Charleston community.
Focused on holistic health and immersive wellness, our spa offers an array of prime pampering to include massage, facials, body treatments, infrared sauna, Inharmony meditation table, yoga privates, group parties and more alongside reiki energy healing.
Inviting neighbors and visitors of all walks to restore, revive and relax within our walls, we’re proud to offer generous local discounts and avoid passing along pesky fees to our clients - what you see is what you get with us.
We have an exceptionally qualified and talented team within a warm, calming and welcoming space. It takes a village as they say, and we value ours above all else ensuring our environment is one of mutual respect, joy and shared success.
Whether you’re unwinding with a luxurious massage, joining us for an energizing yoga class or practicing much-deserved self care with all the above, when you step inside, we want an immediate calm to wash over you with the glow from our signature salt lamps.
they're simply the best
AIMEE ALLYN-LACOUR
LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST
Originally from Seattle, WA, Aimee moved to Charleston in 2008 following the sun and new adventures with her family in tow - three beautiful children, her familiar orange Maine Coon, and six delightfully entertaining chickens.
Aimee graduated from Ashmead College with honors and her NCTMB Massage Certification in 2004. She holds a BA in Creative Writing along with Somassage Certification (2009), Integrative Reflexology Certification (2018) and, most recently, her Reiki Master Certification (2021).
With 18,000+ hands-on-hours to her name, Aimee has taken her talents from chiropractic clinics to premier spas for 5-star resorts with plenty of stops peppered in between. In 2009 she founded her own spa on James Island before deciding to join the Salt Spa team in 2020 after welcoming her third little one and wanting to have more time (and mental widgets) for her family.
As a client herself for years, Aimee fell in love with Salt Spa - from the warm ambiance in a classic Charleston-style home to premier services offered. When the time came for her transition, the decision to join Salt Spa came down to leadership and the environment Founder Ashley created based on respect, kindness, equality and support.
For each client, Aimee’s intention is to provide an experience that is as effective as it is relaxing and rejuvenating. A lifelong practice, how she approaches it will ebb and flow with the wonder that is you - where you are, what you need and how she can get you back to good.
When she isn’t working out kinks and knots, you may find her reading, writing creatively, playing with her kiddos, traveling and working on her spiritual path.
JO MCDANIEL
LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST
Voted Best Massage Therapist in Charleston (2014), Jo simply loves making a positive difference in her client’s lives and believes in the powerful healing in human touch - both mentally and physically.
Jo started her journey as a massage therapist in 1997 specializing in therapeutic massage - after listening to the body, she incorporates deep tissue, trigger point and Swedish massage techniques to deeply heal, relieve and rejuvenate. Along with massage therapy, Jo also offers body scrubs, wraps, foot scrubs, reflexology and is certified in Bellanina Facelife Massage.
Her decorated career includes working with some of the most talented people who also happen to be the toughest on their bodies to include the New York Nicks, the Family Circle tennis players, and the Cirque du Soleil performers. Her massage talents have also drawn the attention and praise of acclaimed actors, actresses, directors, composers, and musicians. Mel Gibson told her that she had the healing touch and Jimmy Buffet didn’t want to get off the table.
When Jo isn’t being the massage whisperer, she enjoys time with her three amazing boys she proudly and patiently raised as a single mother. Her Sundays are for family gatherings and trying new recipes for the brutally honest critique of her two grandsons, Gabriel and Graham.
VALERIE KOZLOVA
LICENSED MASSAGE THERAPIST
Coming down from Boston, Valerie brings more than a decade of massage therapy experience to us here in Charleston.
Over the years, Valerie has worked with different practitioners to include chiropractors and physical therapists. Her extensive knowledge of anatomy and kinesiology allows her to help people recovering from injuries, surgeries, stress, or any ailment.
At the end of the day, she loves helping people feel better and puts her heart and soul into each session to help alleviate stress and tension.
Working at Salt Spa & Yoga allows her to be part of an amazing community where like-minded practitioners share the same goal of helping people live a better, healthier life. She feels lucky to be surrounded by such talented therapists and yoga instructors.
Abby pease
YOGA INSTRUCTOR, 200-RYT
Hailing from a small coastal town in Maine, Abby has called Charleston home for five years and counting. She began practicing yoga to relieve stress and channel her anxiety.
A school teacher, Abby is passionate about fostering creating and a love of learning in her students. She holds a BS in Child Development with a minor in Sustainable Agriculture alongside her 200-hour RYT from Urban Yoga Charleston and Usui Reiki Level 1 certifications.
Abby came to Salt Spa & Yoga first as a student for years before joining our instructor team. Drawn to the teachers and welcoming space, her heart is in the Salt Spa community.
When she’s not teaching, you can find Abby at the beach, reading a good book, or listening to live music.
Casey Huges
YOGA INSTRUCTOR, 200-RYT
Casey began practicing yoga intermittently around 2007 at Clemson University by taking classes at her gym as well as yoga as an elective.
She developed a more regular practice in 2014 visiting Baptiste and Bikram studios, while honing her approach into more of a spiritual and emotional practice. Casey found a home at Urban Yoga in 2018 and decided to take their 200-Hour Teacher Training the following Spring where she learned much more than she could have imagined about herself and her overall perspective on life. Now, she strives to learn more every day.
Casey came to a class at Salt Spa, and the upstairs studio space was bright, open, and welcoming. The energy provided by the space itself was nothing compared to the energy created in the classes, and I wanted to be a part of it.
She wants every student at Salt Spa to feel like this is a place that they can go to express the self that they need to that day. Showing up to a class doesn't have to be about any one thing. Whatever you are working towards, whether it’s emotional, spiritual, physical, mental, or something else.... this is a space for you to exist as they would like to.
Casey wants each participant to find some kind of expression of themselves, and if that involves a few giggles and smiles along the way, that's even better.
Jessica Eisenberg
YOGA INSTRUCTOR, 200-RYT
Frenchie mom, Charleston native and co-owner of Holy City Tattooing Collective, Jessica is here to help you work toward the connection union of breath, body and mind.
Drawn to Salt Spa & Yoga through its welcoming environment, she appreciates the universal ability to be comfortable here and come as you are.
For each of her participants, Jessica hopes you’d slow down and enjoy the experience - focusing on being rather than doing. You may also enjoy her signature read from the To a the Ching during her classes.
KATIE BEAVER
YOGA INSTRUCTOR, 200-RYT
Katie first started practicing yoga as a way to prevent injury as a tennis player and to also get a good workout. Soon into her journey as a yogi, she felt her yoga practice transform into something more than just a movement routine. Yoga became a way for her to find deep connection and a sense of calm within.
With this realization, she dove into teacher training and was eager to share her experiences with others and help students grow in their practice. To date, Katie holds a 25-hour Creative Vinyasa Certification, 50-hour Grounded Certification, 100-hour Vinyasa Certification, 100-hour Yin Certification and a 200-hour RYT alongside leading multiple yoga retreats and workshops with more to come. She is also an Ayurvedic Counselor.
For Katie, Salt Spa has always been such a welcoming space. The staff is amazing at what they do and are all so friendly and warm. The spa is cozy and unlike any other spa around. The studio is open and bright with natural light and cozy salt lamps for night classes. It’s a come-as-you-are safe space that she can stand behind. It’s just like a big hug.
Understanding that everyone has different reasons for coming to the mat, her goal is that you will always honor what shows up in your body. For her students, she hopes you will leave feeling enlivened both on and off the mat.
When she is not teaching, you may find Katie frolicking around the beach, playing with her rotti pup, eating all the food or tending to her plants.
lauren bristow
YOGA INSTRUCTOR, 200-RYT + INFERNO HOT PILATES
Meet Lauren! Yoga has been her greatest teacher and biggest support system. It helped her learn how to turn inward, stay present, and love herself. Hard to choose, but Power Flow and Yin are among her favorite classes to teach.
For each of her students, Lauren believes that how you practice and show up for yourself on your mat directly reflects how you practice and show up for yourself off it.
When she’s not on her mat practicing of teaching, you may find her at the beach, reading exploring new places of listening to some of her favorite artists including Glass Animals, Zhu, Mac Miller, Sylvan Esso, Frank Ocean and Odesza.
LESLEY LEAKE
YOGA INSTRUCTOR, 200-RYT
Lesley is an SC native who has lived in Charleston since 2009. Having done yoga off and on since 2012, it wasn’t until 2015 she really fell in love with the practice. Yoga brought real joy and magic to her life in a time when it was desperately needed. She thought it would be such a privilege to share the joy of yoga with others, which inspired her to pursue 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2016 - Lesley has been teaching ever since.
Lesley is currently pursuing the RYT-500 hr certification and is certified in Yin Yoga, Gentle Yoga, Power Yoga, and Kid's Yoga. She also has a Master's of Public Health and is in a PhD program for Environmental Health Science.
To her, yoga at Salt Spa is so different from traditional yoga studios in all of the best ways. The space itself is unique and inviting and the teachers and students create an unpretentious casual vibe that is truly special.
Her goal is to provide a space where students feel free to be themselves, a space where someone can land on their mat no matter where they are in life and take time to reconnect to, and restore, body and mind.
Lesley wants her students to know that she used to dread going to yoga and only started practicing to touch her toes. But she quickly realized that she was getting so SO much more out of yoga than flexibility, and that is what hooked her in. And good thing too because it took her two years of practice before she touched her toes.
NATASHA MARSHALL
YOGA INSTRUCTOR, 200-RYT
Natasha migrated south to Charleston in 2017 after receiving a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from The University of Massachusetts Amherst. Within a week of her relocation, she dove right into a local 200-hr yoga teacher training program that she didn’t realize, at the time, would make such an impact on her life moving forward.
Aside from the time she took off to embark on a 3-month, cross-country road trip and recover from knee surgery, Natasha has taught yoga all over the city of Charleston since she graduated. Whether she’s teaching in a gym, on a farm, or in a traditional studio, Natasha aims to make each and every class feel welcoming, accessible, and fun. She believes that yoga should always be explorative, introspective, and completely authentic to each and every student.
Salt Spa is a space where Natasha has been encouraged to spread her wings and develop a teaching style that is unapologetically hers. She’s felt an overwhelming sense of welcomeness since Day 1 from the staff and students alike. Salt Spa has cultivated a community that makes her feel seen - one she genuinely feels proud to be a part of.
Off the mat, you can find Natasha dancing her heart out to live music, taking a weekend trip to the mountains, and training aerial silks. She absolutely adores traveling, pizza, and pugs.
