Our Team

Shelby Williams

Nationally Certified Massage Therapist, Yoga Tune Up Teacher, Founder of Balanced Bodies

@balancedbodieslife @balancedbods Shelby Williams on FB

Shelby started Massage Therapy in 2007 and Yoga in 2008. She traveled with her practice coast-to-coast and found her roots in Tulsa, OK, where she established Balanced Bodies in 2013. She has trained and partnered with several area gyms, professional sports teams, fitness professionals, and doctors who share her vision for optimal conditioning, health, and wellness through Yoga and Massage therapy.

Shelby takes a therapeutic approach to self-care, fitness, athletics, and pain management with Massage Therapy and Yoga. She specializes in neuromuscular therapy and deep tissue massage as well as an integrative and practical style of Yoga. She studied with Jill Miller, founder of Yoga Tune Up^®, and the Roll Model Method^®, to combine Yoga and Massage as a way to encourage clients to practice healing themselves with an emphasis on proprioception, mobility, body mechanics, and recovery.

Shelby is a wife, mother, homeschooler, business owner, massage therapist, yoga teacher, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner, blogger, anatomy nerd, and busy body. She has found how to love and care for each and every client, student, and follower by tuning in and creating balance for herself through self-care, massage, and yoga.

Thomas Williams

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Instructor, Co-founder of Balanced Bodies

@balancedbodiesbjj Thomas Williams on FB

Instructor Thomas Williams began learning martial arts at age 4, and continued progressing through his black belt in karate. After beginning wrestling at 12 years old, Thomas wrestled through high school, then began learning BJJ fundamentals along with Muay Thai, kickboxing, and MMA. Since then, he has competed numerous times in BJJ tournaments and other disciplines with great success.

Thomas is a black belt under Piet Wilhelm (Lineage: Mitsuyo Maeda > Carlos Gracie > Carlson Gracie > Renato Tavares > Piet Wilhelm). He teaches willing learners ages from 3 to 75 despite any physical limitations. Thomas is also available for BJJ seminars, and loves helping out in the community.

Katy Ellington

Certified Yoga Instructor, Massage Therapist

@balancedbodiesyoga

Katy initially decided to become certified as a Yoga instructor as a way to complete her increasingly healthy lifestyle; she studied organic farming and herbology and practiced Yoga for years privately.  She knew that becoming certified would give her a platform to help others find their best selves as well as begin to listen to their bodies for their own sense health empowerment.

Katy discovered how crucial alignment would be for her Yoga practice and her Yoga students. Katy shows her students that how we move (or don't move) throughout the years causes degenerative diseases, muscle and joint pain, and that making precise changes to movement can drastically improve health. Katy loves teaching new Yoga students how to de-stress and restore the body by using Yogic breathing practices, how to improve their alignment for optimal health, and how these tools can be carried with them throughout their lives.

Casie Whitney

Licensed Massage Therapist, BJJ Purple Belt

Casie came to work at Balanced Bodies immediately after graduating from the Massage Therapy program at Community Care College. She specializes in deep tissue and neuromuscular massage therapy, and believes the best part about massage is seeing the results it brings to the clients. Casie feels that Balanced Bodies is the best place in Tulsa for people to improve themselves physically and mentally.

She has also served as an EMT in the Tulsa area, and is still an active duty medic in the Army National Guard.

Since 2012, Casie has been practicing BJJ and has medaled at multiple tournaments. She was promoted to purple belt in 2016, and also enjoys running, weightlifting, and rugby, where she leads a successful women's team.