Tara Murphy is the owner and mama bear of Estrella Collective, hailing from Long Island, New York, living and loving in Santa Cruz, CA since early 2014. She has a love of hip hop that started at the age of 11 when she purchased her first cassette tape, the Beastie Boys “License to Ill”. Her love of yoga began the very first day she stepped onto a mat  and has been a revolutionary journey ever since. And her love of hair styling began when she decided her Barbies needed haircuts.

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    Tara has extensive leadership, sales, and entrepreneurial experience, with  25+ years of hands-on experience in the beauty and service industry ,  She is the sole owner of Estrella Collective from 2018 to present , as well as owning and operating Want Good Hair? on Long Island, New York  for nearly seven years, prior to relocating to Santa Cruz. Miss Murphy has been practicing Yoga for almost 20 years, teaching in New York, Australia and most currently, California.  Her credentials with Yoga include an advanced 500 hour certification , as well as A Certified Buti Yoga/Buti DEEP, and extensive workshops, trainings and classes. Tara is also an accomplished professional Bellydancer, with skills ranging from teacher, performer, choreographer, costume designer and  creative director of The Kali, a Fusion dance troupe based out of NYC. Her tribal fusion training was with Rachel Brice , Kami Liddle, Zoe Jakes, Jill parker, as well as American style Cabaret. Miss Murphy has graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in May 2018, and she has been actively seeing clients and building her Holistic Health Coaching business.  Tara is a Certified Trichologist (study of hair loss and scalp health) and it is the most recent satisfaction in her careers in hair, yoga, health coaching and armchair psychology, where science and beauty collide.

 

              In addition to prior said services, makes client’s smiles sparkle with Tooth Gems  and helps clients help themselves with Holistic Health Coaching. Her past yoga employment in Santa Cruz has included instructing all levels classes at Toadal Fitness, taught the probation officers at the Juvenile Detention Center, a heated Hatha Flow class at Village Yoga Santa Cruz and Wu-Tang Yoga once a month at Dogpatch Dance & Yoga in San Francisco. Tara has lead Wu Tang Yoga Workshops in NYC and weekly in sC  at ec, working diligently to bridge the gap between yoga and hip hop.

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         Tara believes the “off-the-mat” training is what's most beneficial and knows by example that nothing compares to living the yoga in daily life. Her classes are uplifting, open, humorous and her grounded, realistic approach engages students on many levels, as they leave feeling supported, encouraged and aligned, and hopefully smiling.

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         When Tara decided to become an instructor, she realized her purpose almost immediately; to bring yoga to those who wouldn't necessarily go out and seek it. Yoga is a special, life-altering gift that needs to be shared, perhaps in more places than just yoga studios.

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She's also real AF and if there's something else you wanna know, just ask.