About Me

Marie Belle Pérez Rivera, Ph.D., NASM CPT, E-RYT 500, NASM CNC is a powerhouse teacher, athlete, artist, writer, community leader, and experience maker. A globally recognized yoga teacher and athlete, she specializes in Somatic and Embodiment Practices for Stress Reduction, Resilience, and Trauma Healing, as well as calisthenics, handstands, and intelligent strength training. As a Latina health coach, personal trainer, and small business owner, she empowers women to live their best lives through systematic, science-backed coaching, personal training, and education, with a strong focus on women’s physiology and performance.

With an anthropologist’s eye for movement and transformation, Marie Belle has shared her expertise across the United States, Caribbean, Latin America, Spain, India, and Bali—bridging yoga, mindfulness, mobility, strength, and critical thinking. She is also a proud advocate for the Fit Over 40 movement, proving that strength, flexibility, and vitality have no age limit.

Marie Belle holds two Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Communication from North Carolina State University, along with a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies from Virginia Tech. She earned her Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Developmental and Biological Psychology from Virginia Tech, with a research focus on Women as Active Constructors of Knowledge.

She currently offers public yoga classes, workshops, teacher trainings, private and group coaching, and transformational retreats in Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, and Bali. She also mentors, coaches, and provides individualized counsel for those seeking deeper personal and professional development.

As the founder of Roots Love Yoga, a Latina-owned yoga school and creative multidisciplinary project, she fosters a global community of teachers, artists, movers, intellectuals, women of color, and world travelers. Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, People Are Awesome, Mantra Magazine, Telemundo, Sweat Magazine, Peace Revolution, Active Life DC, and more.

Marie Belle currently resides in Georgetown, Texas, with her 93-pound Silver Lab, Zion Zeus, along with seven chickens and a rooster, inspiring others through movement, education, and storytelling.

It is an auspicious and profoundly transformative experience to study with Self-Realized Master, Sri Mooji Baba, immerse myself fully in the practice of Ashtanga Yoga with R. Sharath Jois and Richard Freeman, and the Teacher’s Teacher, Sri Dharma Mittra. Developing a deep yoga and meditation practice has completely transformed my movement patterns, communication abilities, and capacity to perceive and offer love.

I am grounded in a daily embodiment practice that consists of mindfulness, calisthenics, yoga, strength training, and gymnastics strength training. I also love being in nature and often train hand balancing, rock climbing, contortion, and dance; all of it is intuitive movement. It's all love. I am happy to offer yoga classes, movement retreats, workshops, and intensives in the United States, Bali, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Mexico, India, Europe, and the Caribbean.

My life calling and practice has led me to travel the world and immerse myself fully in yoga and meditation through villages in south India (Mysore, Lakshmipuram, Goa, Tiruvannamalai, Varkala), mountains of north India (Rishikesh, Dharamsala), Indonesia (Ubud and Canggu, Bali), Portugal (Odemira), and United States (Boulder and The Blue Ridge Mountains), the crisp blue waters in the Caribbean (Puerto Rico, Isla Mujeres), the busy city streets (New York City and Washington, DC), and the heart of Miami Beach. 

With extensive training as a Psychologist in Social Emotional Development (Ph.D.), Women’s Studies (Graduate Certificate), Somatic Transformation, and mindfulness based emotion management, my classes utilize a keen awareness of the intellectual, emotional, and energetic body to empower those who practice consistently, for a long period of time, with devotion. I offer universal intimacy, full of love, honor, and a sweet mix of playfulness, integrity, and discipline. 

To connect with me, make sure to follow my ongoing journeys via instagram and facebook.

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  • Ph. D. in Developmental and Biological Psychology (focus on emotions and culture) from Virginia Tech University

  • National Association for Sports Medicine (NASM): Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), Certified Nutrition Coach (CNC)

  • Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies (women as active constructors of knowledge) from Virginia Tech University

  • Completed coursework for Functional Medicine: Ancestral Nutrition, Mindfulness, Positive Psychology, Health Coaching, and Business

  • Continuing Education in Somatic Transformation: Trauma, Resilience, and Mindfulness

  • Daily practice of silence, contemplation, breath, mindfulness

  • Annual pilgrimage to immerse myself fully in Self-enquiry

  • Angelic Reiki Levels I and II

  • Magnified Healing Levels I and II

  • Oneness Awakening Blessing Giver

  • M.S. in Psychology (Social Emotional Development) from Virginia Tech University

  • Over 2300 hours of extensive yoga teacher trainings

    • 500- hour certified in Rocket Yoga and Dharma Yoga

    • 200-hour certified in Ashtanga Yoga, Rocket Vinyasa Yoga, Hot Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, and completed 220 hour teacher training in Anusara Yoga

    • 50- hour certified in Yoga Nidra & Embodied Yin

  • B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Communication from North Carolina State University

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