Yoga Certifications: 200 Hour Kripalu Yoga Teacher, Level 3 Yogafit Instructor, BROGA-Yoga for Men Certified Instructor, Yoga Warriors International Certified Instructor

Additional Credentials: UMass Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction Program (MBSR) Graduate, HealthRHYTHMS Certified Drum Circle Facilitator

 

Biography: Walter's yoga practice began thirty years ago as cross-training for his other true passion; cycling. His first experience on the mat proved transformative and developed into a deep personal practice and his first teaching  experience as a level three Yoga-fit instructor. His love of cycling and yoga led him to Kripalu to participate in a weeklong retreat: Riding the Wheels of Life; a cycling/yoga experience. Here, he felt a deeper calling to study the Kripalu yoga of compassion and enrolled in their teacher training program from which he graduated with his 200-hour YTT certification in 2013. Walter’s classes are filled with compassion, warm intention, personal humor, and a deep gratitude for the opportunity to share yoga with like-minded people.

Yoga Certifications: 200 hr RYT Hot Power Yoga Center

Additional Credentials: Licensed Occupational Therapist

 

Biography:

Donna has always had an interest for health and wellness, stemming from her background as a home health Occupational Therapist for the past 30+ years. Having always had a passion for fitness, and no longer able to run due to a back injury, she found found yoga as a new outlet to prevent injury and maintain flexibility. As her practice evolved, she found yoga to be not only physically fulfilling, but also spiritually. 

 

Looking for a new way to connect with people, while using her skills as an Occupational Therapist, Donna enrolled in teacher training after feeling burnout in healthcare. She completed her RYT 200 Training in 2021 through Hot Power Yoga Center. Drawing from her professional experience as an Occupational Therapist allows her to engage and modify students in a safe practice, while challenging them physically and mentally, both on and off the mat. Donna's mission is to "bring inner peace and self awareness to all whom I cross paths with."

Yoga Certifications: E-RYT 200 Shambhavananda Yoga Teacher, Continuing Education via Shambhavananda Yoga in Vinyasa Flow, Deep Roots Lower Body, Levels 1 and 2 Meditation Teacher Additional Credentials: Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Level I Training, Licensed Certified Social Worker, PhD in Social Work 

 

Kristen's yoga practice began on a whim at age 19 when she took a class with a friend. After many years struggling with body image and anxiety, that first experience of mind-body-spirit connection made an impression. Kristen cultivated a home practice for many years, eventually pursuing Shambhavananda Yoga 200-hour teacher training at Chi-town Shakti Yoga and Meditation in Chicago in 2011. Yoga and meditation practice, teaching, and spiritual community were an anchor as she completed graduate school, became a parent, and walked through grief. Kristen is devoted to yoga as a heart-centered, liberatory practice, and she strives to create those spaces as a teacher, developing weekly Queer and Trans Yoga and EveryBODY Yoga classes in Chicago that she hopes to bring to Central Mass as well. In addition to teaching yoga, Kristen is a doula, a somatic psychotherapist, and a social work professor at Simmons University, all of which shape her approach to teaching yoga and meditation. Kristen's classes are unconditionally supportive, a nurturing space for anyone who wishes to grow their practice. 

Yoga Certifications: Certified Yoga Teacher – 200 Hour, Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP Yoga Teacher – 30 Hour

Additional Credentials: CPR and Wilderness First Aid

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Biography:  Yoga has always been a big part of Sara’s life. Every morning she makes it a “must do” and practices at least 20 minutes on the mat. She believes this is such a great way to ground yourself and be ready for whatever the day may bring. In 2018, Sara decided to take her love for yoga and get certified as a 200 hour RYT. This is when she originally started teaching a Vinyasa flow class at Union Street Yoga.

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In the spring of 2020, she became certified to teach SUP Yoga with SUP YO out of Boston This has allowed her to teach on the lake that she lives on in Worcester MA. In that same year she also received her Wilderness First Aid Training which has allowed her to be able to take her love of yoga out in nature and lead yoga hikes in the White Mountains.

In addition to teaching yoga and leading hikes, Sara also owns her own business, SunnySide Upcycled. She creates handmade items such as; jewelry, upcycled clothing, and home decor. As well she does interior design work part time as an independent contractor.

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Yoga Certifications: 200-Hour RYT Embodyoga through KMB Yoga

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Additional Credentials: Certifications in the Yoga and Neuroscience Connection, Science of

Slow, Yoga and the 8 Limbs, and Mindfulness-Based Addiction Recovery. Brenda is also currently finishing training to become certified as a 500-hour RYT, and a Reiki Master.

 

Biography:  Brenda’s desire to share yoga with others stems from the transformative spiritual

and overall health benefits she has experienced in her life through her own practice. She began

regularly practicing yoga during a difficult transition in her own life. The calling to her mat was

not anything she had planned, but rather an intuitive wisdom that seemed to arrive on its own.

Rather than judge or plan her practice, she was amazed to observe her normally planner

personality take a break as her practice slowly unfolded. What began on her mat eventually

infused her breathing and sense of ease off the mat. Soon after, the pranayama and yoga

philosophy began to take root and grow within all parts of her life. She then became a certified

Yoga teacher, and has been constantly teaching, practicing and evolving in her education and

understanding of the neuroscience and the healing potential of yoga.

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Brenda hopes to be a resource to help students incorporate that feeling of peace in their hectic

daily lives off the mat by using the tools of breath work, yoga philosophy, and energy work

experienced during asana practice at the studio. She enjoys offering students a peaceful,

nonjudgmental and loving space within her class, and meeting them where they are in their own

yoga and life journey.

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She also teaches yoga series on a variety of self growth and self care. Each series blends

in-person asana class with ongoing private virtual practices for a whole-life immersion. Each

series threads the moving meditation of asana, with philosophy, pranayama, meditation, dharma

talks, and life practices.

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Yoga Certifications: 200 Hour Kripalu Yoga Teacher; Level 3 Yogafit Instructor

Additional Credentials: UMass Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction Program (MBSR) Graduate; Behavior Change Facilitator; AFAA Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor

 

Biography: Jenn’s love of the Kripalu yoga tradition was ignited the first time she visited Kripalu for a Retreat & Renewal weekend in the early 2000’s. Her dream of becoming a Kripalu yoga teacher finally became a reality in 2013 when she studied under Devarshi Steven Hartman and graduated from the program. She’s inspired by the Kripalu philosophy of compassionate self-awareness without judgment and this training completely changed how she carries herself in the world. Jenn feels honored to be able to share this lineage of love with others.

Yoga Certifications: 200RYT FRA Yoga, continuing education - Frog Pond Yoga Centre

 

Biography:

Jessica has been teaching yoga for over 20 years in the Metro West and Central MA area. Her journey began as a student athlete experimenting with yoga as a way to reduce injury and has evolved over the years to become a holistic mind body practice.

Jessica is also a wife and mom of two children, as well as a recent breast cancer survivor. She wholeheartedly believes in the importance of self care and movement and is dedicated to sharing these powerful practices with others.

Yoga Certifications: 200-Hour RYT Common Ground Yoga

 

Biography:

Al is a 200-Hour certified yoga teacher and lifelong student of yoga. Al first started
practicing yoga during her time as an undergrad at UMass Amherst, at a time when she was
very overwhelmed by the pressures of her coursework. Each time she got on the mat, she felt
more and more connected to the body and inner world, providing an increasingly solid
foundation to stay grounded through those stressful and challenging times. In 2015, Al took an
8-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) training, which formally introduced her to
the art of meditation and how the practice translates to situations off the mat. Yoga and
mindfulness have since become a cornerstone of her wellbeing, and as her practice deepened,
so did her desire to share it with others. As a yoga teacher, she is inspired by creative and powerful, yet nurturing flow sequences that challenge and inspire students to get to know the strong, resilient warrior within and cultivate empowered habits of self-care. She guides students with the intention to coordinate movement with breath, to bring awareness to our inner world, become more in-tune with the body, and to remain grounded and balanced in the face of challenges both on and off the mat.

Yoga Certifications: 500-hr Kripalu Yoga Teacher, specifically in Yoga for Adolescents, Meditation, Pranayama, and Ayurveda

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Additional Credentials: UMass Mindfulness-Based Stress-Reduction Program (MBSR) Graduate

 

Biography:  Heidi has had a dedicated yoga and meditation practice for over three decades, which has kept her joy, sense of humor and patience intact while raising four sons and teaching full time in the Worcester Public Schools.  She is profoundly influenced by Buddhism, her Greek Orthodox family, and ongoing (yoga) trainings at Kripalu.  In each class, Heidi strives to create a safe space for Every Body, and to inspire a loving, committed practice in others.  According to Swami Kripalu ,“The highest form of spiritual practice is self-observation without judgment,” and the path that must be followed to ‘get there,’ is LOVE. A devotional yoga, meditation, and mindfulness practice is a beautiful way to stay on the path of Love  Grateful to be that guide.

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Yoga Certifications: Yoga Shakti Teacher

 

Biography:  Adriana Tropeano graduated with her 500 hour yoga certification in December of 2019 from Yoga Shakti in Irvine, California. She specializes in Vinyasa, syncing movement with breath to create a holistic practice for the mind and body. By day, Adriana is an elementary school teacher where she specializes in English as a Second Language. She enjoys incorporating Ayurveda into her daily living, traveling as much as possible, and spending time with family and friends.

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