Stephanie Adams Ruff is inspired by the awareness, acceptance, and transformation that yoga offers. She has witnessed—and personally experienced—how a regular practice can cultivate peace, authenticity, connection, and joy.
With deep gratitude for the practice, Steph honors yoga’s rich tradition in both her life and her teachings. Every three years, she leads Return to the Source, a pilgrimage to India where students study and experience yoga at its roots. She brings over 30 years of experience and devotion to this lifelong path.
Alongside her yoga work, Stephanie has decades of education, training, and hands-on experience in orthopedic exercise and fitness. A certified personal trainer since 1998, she created Strength45, a community-centered, 45-minute metabolic strength conditioning class combining dumbbells, bodyweight, and a joint-friendly approach to progressive overload. With an emphasis on load, range of motion, and smart recovery, Strength45offers the metabolic and longevity benefits of heavy lifting—delivered in just 45 minutes. The program is accessible, adaptable, and designed to help participants train not just hard, but wisely.
Bringing together her love of yoga, biomechanics, orthopedic exercise, and movement education, Steph also developed SAYF—a comprehensive program rooted in anatomy, movement mechanics, and injury prevention for yoga asana and other movement practices. SAYF reflects her commitment to helping students build a sustainable, lifelong asana practice—one that often leads to personal growth, deepens self-inquiry, and opens the door to spiritual awakening through the broader path of yoga.
Select Credentials:
• B.S., Washington State University
• 500-hour Yoga Alliance E-RYT
• YACEP (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider)
• ACE Certified Personal Trainer (since 1998)
• BodyMind Academy Fitness & Nutrition Certification
• ACE Orthopedic Exercise Specialist
• Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Training with Angela T. Jones, MS, LCMHC, MLADC, LCS, RYT
• Moderation365 Coach
• SAYF-Certified
• CETI Cancer Exercise Specialist
• Creator, YogaFit Kids Program/YTT
• Author, Cancer Exercise Specialist Yoga (2014)