The Full Story
Deirdre “Dee” Lawrence Kittner, PhD, MPH, is the founder of Soul Serenity. She brings nearly three decades of public health experience into a restorative yoga practice centered on rest, stillness, and ease.
After a career focused on tobacco cessation, cancer prevention, and addressing health disparities, Dee discovered firsthand the value of restorative practice as a way to navigate stress, support well-being, and stay grounded while working in demanding leadership roles. That experience ultimately inspired her to support others in a different but deeply connected way. Through Soul Serenity, she offers spaces for supported rest, reflection, and reconnection with the body.
Dee holds a PhD in toxicology and an MPH. This training shaped her understanding of how cumulative stress and environmental demands can affect the body over time, and it continues to inform the way she creates spaces for rest, recovery, and reconnection. She is a Kripalu-trained 200-hour yoga teacher, certified in Relax and Renew® Restorative Yoga, and has completed training in Holy Fire® III Reiki Level 1.
Soul Serenity grew from that awareness and a desire to offer restorative practices that invite the body to rest, settle, and restore.
This work reflects a lifelong commitment to wellness, equity, and belonging, with particular attention to people navigating periods of transition, uncertainty, or change, and seeking space to reconnect with themselves, their values, and what matters most.
Through Soul Serenity, Dee bridges public health and restorative yoga, inviting people to experience rest not as a luxury, but as something essential to well-being.
Mission
At Soul Serenity, our mission is to create a welcoming space where rest is honored as essential to healing and well-being. We offer restorative yoga shaped by values of equity, access, and belonging for people navigating life transitions, including burnout, retirement, career shifts, and emotional recovery. Our work centers people of color, beginners, people in larger bodies, and those whose bodies or experiences may not feel reflected in traditional yoga spaces—recognizing that not all bodies have been equally welcomed.
Our practices honor stillness, supported rest, and the wisdom of slowing down—inviting reconnection, resilience, and ease.
Business Summary
Restorative yoga is a gentle, calming style of yoga that uses props and long‑held, supported postures to allow the body to settle into deep rest. This practice encourages stillness, mindful awareness, and relaxation, supporting the release of physical tension and a greater sense of ease and balance.
Founded by public health professional Deirdre “Dee” Lawrence Kittner, PhD, MPH, Soul Serenity offers inclusive restorative yoga sessions centered on rest, stillness, and supported calm. These sessions are designed especially for people of color, beginners, people with diverse body types, and those navigating life transitions such as burnout recovery, retirement, career shifts, caregiving, grief, or emotional renewal.
