Like many of you, Maya came to yoga looking for a productive way to deal with stress and back pain.   At her first class in 2002, Maya found what she was looking for and became a devoted student. While she enjoys other types of physical activity, Maya finds the connection between mind and body cultivated by yoga essential to her-wellbeing.  Maya enjoys sharing her love of yoga with others who are also looking for a fun and interesting way to move, connect mind and body, reduce stress, or otherwise take care of themselves. Maya completed teacher training at Connecticut Yoga Center in 2016 and is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance.  Off the mat, Maya lives in Durham, Connecticut with her husband, two daughters, and dog, Mr. Jake. She is an enthusiastic vegetable gardener.

Ashley is a 2018 graduate of the Connecticut Yoga Center 200 hour Yoga Teacher Program. She discovered yoga as a freshman in college at the urging of a friend. She said yes, and it became a welcome relief during the late night study sessions in Engineering School. Yoga proved to be a great compliment to her other favorite activity, rugby. She credits yoga as the reason she can continue to play. Ashley enjoys teaching Restorative, Yin, and Gentle yoga. Her goal as a yoga teacher is to help her students find the calm in the chaos.

In Ashley's free time, she likes to volunteer, travel, and binge-watch.

Kathy is a certified Professional Level Kripalu Yoga Teacher, registered with the Yoga Alliance E-RYT500.  She has been teaching yoga for nearly 20 years. Her teaching style is very detailed with respect to alignment, and compassionate to best meet the needs of individual students.  She also holds certifications in Chair Yoga, Yoga4Cancer,  Power Yoga and Mindfulness. She teaches from the heart and believes that in order to be helpful and compassionate to others that first and foremost, you need to take care of yourself, and Yoga is an important part of that self-care. Her goal is that each student feels better walking out of the class, than when they entered.  

It took three years of encouragement from his wife, telling her, "Guys don't do yoga," until Tony dared to try it. It was love at first class; this is what he needed. Almost immediately he signed up for a 200-hour yoga teacher training course (YTT) , and followed with a 500 HR YTT, both at Sacred Rivers.

He began his teaching career offering yoga at physical therapist’s office, and, the Cheshire YMCA. Tony was introduced to Embodyoga at Newington Yoga and loved the deeper mind-body connection. With an insatiable thirst for knowledge, he completed their 200HR and 300 HR YTT as well.

Certified in both Mindful Yoga Therapy for Veterans, and Adaptive Yoga Training for Yoga Teachers, he has taught veterans with PTSD at both the Newington and West Haven Veterans Hospitals. Tony finds peace in seeing veterans become able to connect their mind and bodies through yoga.

Yingying’s first encounter with yoga was in high school through a family friend. Initially, it was a way for her to stretch and relax after swim practices. Over time, the mat became a place for her to find inner comfort. She completed her 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training Program at Sacred Rivers Yoga to learn more about the practice, realizing there is always more to learn. Yingying credits yoga as a guide for balance in her life. It has helped her stay present in the moment to focus on one thing at a time. She enjoys teaching Vinyasa and Gentle yoga. Off the mat, she spemds most of her time at UConn as a dental resident. Otherwise, you can find Yingying reading a good book, hanging out with her husband and cats, playing a board game with friends, or picking blueberries in the summer.

Zoé Eklund is a yoga instructor whose classes are heavily influenced by hatha, ashtanga, and yin yoga practices. Trained at the Fresh Yoga studio in New Haven, Connecticut, Zoé believes in creating yoga sequences that accommodate modern day bodies and create stronger foundations for them; bodies that sit at a desk, in a car, or whom are made to stand most of the day in modern businesses. With a focus on breath work and alignment, Zoé hopes to bring relief to their clients mental and physical tensions, by settling the nervous system, and unwinding the unhealthy habits we physically create in our day to day movements. Zoé has been professionally performing since the age of thirteen and graduated from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies. They have been taking yoga classes for 11 years as a necessary means to maintain agility and stamina for their acting roles, but discovered joy and levity in the practice that pushed them to pursue a different path. They hope to pass on the gift that yoga has been to their daily life, mind, and body, and share with others it’s endless benefits.

Joe is a former high school science teacher with 15 years of experience, now dedicated to the practice of qigong and mindfulness. His scientific background enriches his understanding and teaching of qigong, merging the worlds of science and wellness. In his free time, Joe enjoys hiking and outdoor photography.

Beth started taking yoga classes on and off in her early twenties. When life would get stressful and she needed to recenter herself, Beth always ended up on her mat in a yoga class. Eventually, Beth realized making yoga and working to incorporate the yogic principles in her daily life would be the best present she could offer herself emotionally, mentally, and physically.  Beth finished her 200 hr Power Yoga teacher training in June of 2023 through West Hartford Yoga. As a public school teacher and mother to two teens, she believes people of all ages can benefit tremendously from what yoga offers to the body, mind, and spirit  on and off the mat.