Meet Lonnie Galt-Theis
Lonnie is a yoga and meditation teacher, herbalist, flower essence practitioner, and medicine maker. She offers individual classes as well as integrative experiences that weave together all of these healing modalities to support well-being.
Rooted in the traditions of yoga and plant medicine, Lonnie’s work blends gentle and restorative yoga, yoga nidra, mindfulness, heart-centered meditations, herbal tea circles, and medicinal plant walks. Deeply connected to nature and the healing wisdom of both the earth and the body, she tends the connection between people, plants, and the web of life—helping others rediscover their innate capacity for healing and wholeness.
Nature and Earth Stewardship
Growing up among the forests and creeks of Athens, Ohio, and spending time on Equinox Farm & Botanical Sanctuary, Lonnie developed a deep love for Appalachian ecology. She finds her greatest joy simply being in nature connecting with the elements and natural world—listening, observing, and attuning to the beauty and vitality of every plant, tree, insect, and bird.
This bond with nature and the land drew her back to Equinox after completing her studies in Anthropology and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. Since 2011, Lonnie has been devoted to caring for this land—gardening, forest farming, and cultivating a reciprocal relationship with the plants and ecosystems she calls home. In 2020, she became co-owner of Equinox Farm & Botanical Sanctuary.
Herbalism
With herbalist Paul Strauss as her stepfather, Lonnie was introduced to medicinal plants and trees at a young age. During her college years, she apprenticed with Paul and Equinox Botanicals each summer, learning to tend, protect, and cultivate At-Risk forest herbs such as goldenseal, black cohosh, and American ginseng, as well as to practice ethical wildcrafting and craft potent herbal extracts and salves. After graduating, she returned to Equinox as the full-time medicine maker. Lonnie’s passion for herbalism has led her to study with the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism, the Aralia School of Herbal Medicine, and the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine.
As the owner of Equinox Botanicals today, she oversees every aspect of the business—gardening, forest farming, harvesting, medicine-making, and leading a dedicated all-woman team—while also managing bookkeeping, product development, and customer care. Through this work, she continues to carry forward a living tradition of healing through plants. At the heart of it all, Lonnie’s greatest joy remains in connecting directly with the plants and their medicine, and in sharing that connection with others.
Flower Essences
Since 2013, Lonnie has been gathering flower essences from the abundant blooms of Equinox Botanical Sanctuary and working closely with their healing medicine. She is a certified Level 1 & 2 Flower Essence Practitioner through Ameya Cohen’s Woman Rising Mystery School, and has also trained with the Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism. Lonnie now tends an apothecary of over 200 flower and 50 gem essences, weaving their energies into her holistic offerings. In 2025, she launched a line of 34 handcrafted essences for Equinox Botanicals, sharing this vibrant plant medicine with the wider world.
Yoga
Lonnie discovered her love for yoga at the University of Colorado Boulder, drawn to its calming and uplifting effects on body, mind, and spirit. In 2013, she began practicing Ashtanga yoga daily and completed her first 200-hour teacher training in Ashtanga and Vinyasa in Brazil the following year. As life evolved, she transitioned toward gentler, more therapeutic styles, earning a 200-hour Therapeutic Yoga Teacher Training in 2016. Since then, Lonnie has completed advanced therapeutic, restorative, children’s, and yoga nidra trainings—totaling over 800 hours—and continues to deepen her lifelong journey of study and self-discovery.
For Lonnie, yoga is a way of life—a map for healing, ethical living, and embodied awareness. Her alignment-based, therapeutic, and meditative classes invite students to move with the breath and reconnect with the body’s innate wisdom. She specializes in therapeutic and restorative yoga, chakra and nervous system health, yoga nidra, and meditation. Lonnie’s intention is to support each person’s journey of healing and awakening—guiding them, breath by breath, back to presence, heart, and body with care and authenticity.
Mindfulness and Meditation
Lonnie began her mindfulness and loving-kindness meditation studies in 2021 under the guidance of Sam Akers. These practices have helped her meet life’s challenges with greater wisdom, presence, and compassion. Inspired by their transformative power, she deepened her studies with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield, completing over 175 hours of training and graduating in 2025 from their Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program. Lonnie now shares these teachings on her outdoor yoga deck and in community spaces, inviting others to cultivate peace, insight, and the gentle wisdom of the heart.