About Mellissa
I’m a Jersey Shore native with nearly a decade of experience educating and assisting students and clients in a holistic manner. My credentials include a certificate in Hatha Yoga Instruction (2013) from the Center for Health and Healing , a certificate in Hands-On and Distance Energy Healing (2022), two certificates, (level I & II) in Holistic Lifestyle Coaching from the CHEK Institute (2013-2014), and a license for Massage and Bodywork Therapy (2024) in the state of New Jersey from the NJ School of Massage.
I work with clients 1:1 in-person, online, or by phone and lead in-person yoga classes locally.
For my current class schedule or to book me for your private yoga session or event, please click here. For all other inquires, please reach out to me via email: support@mellissadeluco.com.
My Backstory
I was led to yoga and holistic health practices in the year 2011. I joined a gym while I was in college and that’s where I took my first yoga class and met a holistic health practitioner. During this time, I had a slipped disk in my back and sciatica so bad it hurt to walk or even stand for long periods of time. I was unhappy in my job, and had just gotten rejected from the bank, as I was looking to purchase my first home. I was also dealing with the stress related to a close family member who was ill and dying. I grew up on the standard American diet, or “SAD diet” as it’s often referred, and for much of my very early years I suffered with allergies, ear infections, inflammation, anxiety, depression, menstrual irregularities, gut issues including h-pylori, (a bacterial infection that can lead to stomach ulcers), repressed trauma, and an overall feeling of being unwell. Of course I was told that all of this was “normal” and, to some degree that may have been true… My head was full of all kinds of dogmatic ideas that no doubt had a profound effect on keeping me sick, stressed, and very unhappy…
Coincidentally (or not), my holistic practitioner specialized in spinal pathologies and functional diagnostic nutrition. Our first couple of meetings just felt like a huge intuitive “click,” so I opted to begin working together. Little did I know how much corrective, or posture focused exercises, dietary changes, and spirituality, in conjunction with the weekly yoga I was practicing would be such potent tools for me and serve as both surgery prevention and the saving grace I needed in my life at the time. Within a matter of weeks of performing the exercises given to me by my practitioner, my back pain was relieved. Upon return to the Orthopedic doctor some months after my initial visit, x-rays showed improvement in the structural integrity of my spine. Although this wasn’t a complete correction, I knew I was on the right track and could refuse NSAIDs, injections, and another script for physical therapy, all of which provided me little to no relief, and perhaps even worsened my condition.
Diet & Food
My diet and food choices changed dramatically… over time. I didn’t even know what a real meal looked like or how to fuel myself properly and in accordance to the needs of my own body. Like, I grew up on cereal, pop tarts, spaghetti, and countless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches… I never thought I would be able to be and enjoy being a “healthy eater” which to me, doesn’t mean strict restriction, diets, calorie counting, or disordered eating.
Sometime in college, I fell victim to the guilt, shame, and horror that tends to be pretty prevalent among vegans and vegetarians pertaining to animal cruelty and consumption, factory farming, etc. So, I experimented with such diets for a couple of years, neglecting to adhere to the innate wisdom and messages from my own body. I knew I was struggling and doing it wrong.
My practitioner helped me to reason. For example sharing that: A human’s dental structure is designed to tear through flesh foods. Vitamin B-12 is essential and can only be found in animal foods. Eventually, I chose to see things differently and put my own body and nature’s wisdom before the judgements and beliefs of others.
Exercise
I’d always been an active person, not necessarily engaged in any particular sport(s) but my childhood taught it to me best… I spent my free time playing outdoors, physically moving and having fun. When “adult” life began to set in, I joined the gym to help make up for movement I felt I was lacking. I worked out hard and ignored my body’s signals to chill. I was definitely burning calories, but what I was really burning were my adrenals. Big mistake. I was completely spent and pushing any results I would have liked to see far away. And I wasn’t even having fun… Meh. Again, the dogmatic philosophy so deeply ingrained in my mind overrode the inherent wisdom from my own body and its and requests for me to stop, slow down, and just relax.
Since I was on a “holistic path,” I was introduced to many new concepts, or at least concepts that were new to me. Exercise was, (and still is) very glorified. I never thought of it as a stressor or that it could be counterintuitive when it comes to healing holistically and doing well by your body.
Yoga & Meditation
Yoga was not a practice I was familiar with. No one I knew was doing it at the time and it wasn’t suggested to me by anyone. I went to my first class, (at the gym) out of pure curiosity and was completely ignorant and unsure what to expect. I often tell all of my beginner students that, “I didn’t even like yoga at first.” I thought it was very strange and I was unaccustomed to the postures, language, and its spiritual essence. I remember thinking that it was weird that the room was dimly lit, the pace was slow, and that I was too young to be in there. Oh, and the “OM-ing”- WTF. However, I kept going back, despite these naïve judgments. I imagine this is because, in some way, I started to register that I felt better physically, mentally, and emotionally. I never really took to or excelled in any particular sport growing up, although I was pretty active in general. I was surprised how quickly and easily I felt that I caught onto yoga. It just seemed to jive with me and that gave me a boost of confidence as well as a physical challenge that I could appreciate. I started to look forward to going to class. I was gaining strength, flexibility, and having fun. I was also fortunate to start out with some great instructors – a huge plus.
The idea to teach came to me on the mat during meditation. I know – very “cliche‘” but it’s true. I never intended to become an instructor but became curious about what that would be like and what it entailed. Prior to teaching, I worked full time as a medical assistant for a small, podiatric practice. The more interested I became in holistic health and how to care for the body as a physical, mental, and emotional whole, something inside of me could no longer align with the modern medical approach, at least not in the way I was experiencing it firsthand through my work, not to mention in my own life as a patient. I ended up resigning from that job and followed my gut instinct to pursue teaching yoga and further my education in various healing arts modalities.
