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	Aixa Belville Aixa has been committed to Yoga practice since 1999. The Yoga practice as journey of self-discovery provides growth at all levels. Yoga has been a great tool to cultivate mindfulness and arriving in the present moment, through breath and inner awareness. It has provided Aixa with the strength and endurance to move thru emotional/physical life challenges and has become a nurturing space to cultivate joy and compassion for self and others. In 2006 she completed the Forrest Yoga Foundation Teacher Training with Ana Forrest & Jonathan Bowra. In 2008, she completed the Level 1 Resistance Stretching Certification Training with Anne Tierney & Steve Sierra from Innovative Body Solutions. In 2009 & 2010 she completed the Forrest Yoga Mentorship program with Forrest Guardian Heidi Sormaz. In 2011, she became certified to teach Sadie Nardini's Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga. She is ever so grateful to all the teachers that continue to inspire her in this journey, especially her students. The breath and the activation of deep core muscles generate the waves that bring your spine into optimal alignment, create heat and maintain the energy contained within the core. The breath & heat generated, nourishes the organs and the nervous system and helps the body heal, detoxify, revitalize and work more efficiently. Yoga helps us connect with our physical/energetic body and how it relates to the world. My intention with this practice is to help people heal, evolve and age gracefully.
	Liza Dousson After 12 years of personal yoga study, Liza Dousson left the corporate world to further explore her passion for yoga. In 1999 she began studies with regarded teachers -- Tracey Rich and Ganga White, Erich Schiffmann and Patricia Walden -- and taught yoga in group classes, in corporate settings and privately in Boston, MA. When the opportunity to travel to India appeared, she promptly accepted. What started off as a 1 year journey became 7 years of traveling and living in India and South East Asia. The profound cultural immersion imbued by those countries and accompanying life lessons have deepened her study and practice of classical hatha yoga, yoga therapy, Thai massage, meditation and Qi Gong. During visits to the USA Liza regularly assists resident and visiting teachers including Sudha Carolyn Lundeen, Angela Farmer and Paul & Suzee Grilley at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA.
	Shaun English Shaun English is a Marriage and Family Therapist who recently decided to become a yoga instructor. She completed teacher training with Baron Baptiste; Baptiste Power Vinyasa, Ana Forrest; Forrest Yoga, and Helen Garabedian, the creator of Itsy Bitsy Yoga. She treasures her yoga classes as a place for students to focus on their breath, increase strength, and leave feeling more connected to other people and themselves. In addition to teaching Power Vinyasa and Forrest style yoga classes, Shaun is delighted to be bringing Itsy Bitsy yoga to Connecticut shoreline families.
	Grace Osora Erhart, RYT Grace Osora Erhart has been enjoying the practice of yoga for over 25 years. As a professionally certified (500 hr) instructor from the National Yoga Alliance and Kripalu Center, she blends different styles from a variety of schools and instructors. She has taught yoga classes in many different environments such as senior centers, high schools, colleges and hospitals while continuing to work as a nurse. "I feel yoga should be an enjoyable, energizing and balancing experience. What we practice on the mat prepares us for what happens when we leave the studio. The physical asana practice, breathing (pranayam) and meditation connect to our source of energy so we can participate fully in a concious and healthy manner in the yoga of life". Grace is also an RN, a Lisenced Massage Therapist, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist, Reiki practioner and a graduate of the Robert Moss School of Active Dreaming.
	Ken Law Ken is a Kripalu yoga certified instructor who creates a safe place for his students to open their hearts and awaken their spirit by nurturing present moment awareness. This happens naturally when attention is given to the breath. Ken emphasizes the need to deepen our connection to the rhythmic flow of the breath. His gentle, spiritual, approach to teaching involves using modifications and assists. Ken draws upon the wisdom of Thich Hnat Hanh, the poetry of Rumi and Hafiz, and the spirit or Mother Earth. Ken has studied Hatha Yoga with Dharma Mittra, Vinyasa Flow Yoga with Tom Gillette and is influenced by the music and chant of Krishna Das.
	Kristen Helal has been a certified STOTT Pilates instructor for 11 years. She has passion for helping people connect to their body in order heal physically, emotionally and spiritually. She is currently a Healing Touch apprentice and most recently, Kristen has been inspired to attend JourneyDance™ teacher training at Kripalu. Kristen believes that conscious dance forms have the power to transform lives by bringing people back in touch with their innate energy and creative wisdom. We all have our own inner rhythms and stories to express to the dance floor. We are all dancers. Through JourneyDance™ experience you will connect with others, discover yourself, celebrate and heal. "To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking." ~Agnes De Mille

	Claire Matthews As a lifetime practitioner, Claire is living the value of yoga. She trained under Ruth Bender in the 1970’s and taught yoga for 7 years before pursuing a career in higher education. Always a practitioner and student she traveled and studied with Karen Stephan in the 1980’s who along with Patricia Walden brought B.K S Iyengar’s yoga method to the United States. Claire was attracted to the method’s disciplined focus on the details of the postures because it increased flexibility, which led to greater overall health and concentration at the same time it enhanced her meditation practice. But in the late 90’s she was introduced to John Friend’s Anusara Yoga and gravitated to it’s release of strong spiritual energy. Now that Claire has retired she has come full circle to become a yoga teacher again. “It feel like I’m honoring the beautiful women and men who taught and mentored me over the years when I share my practice with others. Thanks in large part to yoga, I’ve been blessed with remarkable health and vitality, a peaceful heart and joy in living.” Claire invites you into a gentle yoga practice that will relieve stress, stretch and strengthen your body and deepen your commitment to faithful practice.
	Kate Novack Kate Novack is a Certified Personal Trainer and Goddess Yoga Instructor. Relating to the Kripalu master lineage, Kate has studied with Jeff Migdow, Amrit & Kamini Desai and assists Sierra Bender. A healer, Kate enjoys her days as an In-home Life Coach for the Connecticut shoreline motivating families and elders to open their hearts and keep moving. Spiritually, Kate is a humble student of The Condor Eagle union. She is attuned with and respects traditions of the elders of North American and South American natives. She brings a light, open heart to the mat.
	Nickie Padilla/ Sukh Aman Kaur Nickie Padilla doesn’t know if she found yoga or if yoga found her, but after beginning her personal practice 8 years ago, she knows she has never been the same since. Nickie became a Certified Kundalini Yoga instructor in 2008 through the Kundalini Research Institute and study at the Baba Siri Chand Ashram in Millis, MA. There she received her spiritual name, Sukh Aman Kaur. She has enjoyed teaching classes of students at all levels and ages, ranging from her middle school students to a class of retirees, with everyone in between. Her belief is that yoga and meditation brings stillness and authencity so that we can hear our inner selves and react to the world from an informed place of peace.
	Maia Rose Maia Rose is a student of life. She loves to dance, read, write, travel, laugh and hoop! Growing up in Connecticut and homeschooling from ages 13-17, Maia has worked, danced, laughed and loved her way to young-adulthood. Now 22, Maia has been hoop dancing for over two years. Her business includes making and selling custom Every Body Hoops, teaching, performing, and hosting hoop parties. She can't wait to hoop with you.
	Jennifer Shultz Following her passion and calling to pour out joy, peace, and love to others, Jennifer was on a 20+ year journey as a group fitness and wellness instructor while she was guided “home” to the yoga mat as both a student and as a teacher. Focused on joining with, inviting, and guiding others to become aware of and surrender to the mind, body, spiritual connection, Jennifer is inspired by the Power Vinyasa practice which is physically and mentally challenging, athletic, and energizing. This practice can serve as a transformational trigger for unearthing the authentic self through the movement, the challenge, the stillness, and the surrender. Jennifer teaches with a joyful spirit and brings lightness, humor, compassion, and freedom to her classes. She encourages everyone to completely show up on their mat, and become completely present to each moment by surrendering to their own beautiful breath. A RYT teacher with Yoga Alliance, Jennifer completed the CorePower Yoga Teaching Training Program in Minnesota, and is thankful for the many teachers who continue to inspire, teach and guide her. She is humbled by the path which God leads her down, and follows Him with a grateful heart.
	Emrys Tetu Emrys Tetu is passionate about our whole relationships with ourselves. She has been fascinated with food, wellness, and movement from a young age. In addition to yoga, her background includes ten years of studying modern dance, as well as work as a fitness instructor. She started studying yoga and meditation 17 years ago. While grounded in the Iyengar tradition, she has also explored Yin Yoga, Vinyassa, Forrest Yoga, both locally and abroad. In addition to her local teachers, she has spent time studying with Catherine de los Santos, Seane Corne, Anna Forrest, Josh Summers, Cora Wen, and others. While in Pune, India, she spent time at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, the Osho Meditation Resort, and sitting in open satsang w Dolano. An adjunct professor of health, wellness, and nutrition at Three Rivers Community College, Emrys is also a Certified Holistic Health Counselor in private practice in Chester and writes a wellness column for INK magazine.
	Kimberly Smith, M.A. PYT Kimberly is the founder of Riverdog Yoga. She has holds a Bachelors degree in Kinesiological Sciences from the University of Maryland, and a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology/Cardiac Rehabilitation from the University of Connecticut. She has studied Yoga with David Swenson, Joseph LePage, with whom she is completing her 500 hour Professional Yoga Therapist studies, and has also studied with Richard Freeman, David Life, Rod Stryker, Donna Fahri and of course, Kathy McNames of YogaVermont. Kimberly deeply thanks all of her teachers, including Riverdog teachers, friends and family, And most importantly ALL of the many students from her many classes over the years. “Each of you has added to the creation of Riverdog Yoga…..We truly are building community one breath at a time!” Read Kimberly's full bio here
	Yuji Claire Smith Yuji loves yoga class, and says her favorite asana is "mouse".
	Ava Tyler Thirty two years ago while studying dance, Ava was introduced to yoga. Her enthusiasm and dedication as a yoga practitioner led her into teaching. She is committed to living a daily spiritual practice and her goal is to share how fulfilling yoga can be emotionally, physically, and spiritually to one's life. Ava believes that the breath is the sutra 'thread' in which connects who we are to all that is. She continues to intensively study Iyengar, Ashtanga, Anusara,and Jivamukti Yoga. She holds her certification in the Kripalu tradition. Ava considers Rodney Yee to be her primary teacher completing many years of his advanced teacher trainings and workshops and continuing to study with him.
	Chris Passehl Chris Passehl is a long-time practitioner who has studied Qigong, taichi, and the related internal arts of bagua and xinyi with Master Zhang Zhao Xun for nearly ten years.