Teachers

Erik Strzempko eRYT-500, YACEP
Playfully exploring our fluid energy; fully inhabiting our physical body; surrendering to our unbroken connection to one another, the environment, and the universe; and curiously wandering down the path toward our true nature is the essence of Yoga to Erik.
He credits Yoga as a fundamental part of his own emotional, physical, and spiritual healing. He brings to class the desire to help guide others on their own personal journeys toward holistic wellness.
Erik holds a BA in Sustainable Business with a concentration in holistic health and nutrition from UMASS Amherst. He received his RYT-200 training at Viniyoga New England with Karen Lee, his RYT-500 through Shiva Rea Affiliate – Prana Flow with Coral Brown, and is registered with Yoga Alliance. He has studied Yin Yoga with Josh Summers; Thai Yoga Bodywork with Ed Cardinal; and Restorative Yoga with Jillian Pransky. Erik is also a certified Let Your Yoga Dance instructor.

Kristen Swithers, PhD, RYT-200
Kristen has been actively practicing yoga since 2008, and received her 200 hour teacher training from ProvidencePower Yoga in 2019. She loves the physical and emotional strength she gains from practicing yoga and passes that on in her classes. Kristen actively studies Yoga Kurunta, Iyengar, Hatha, restorative and slow flow yoga. She regularly teaches, Vinyasa,Hatha, and chair yoga.

Sabrina Woods, Holistic Life Coach
Sabrina Woods is a Holistic Career / Life Coach with close to 20 years’ in the career services field at universities including Harvard and Northeastern. Her joy comes from tapping holistic and mindfulness-based practices while helping people with career and life transitions. Sabrina also facilitates workshops and train-the-trainer sessions ranging from the Myers Briggs to Mindfulness to Networking. Her workshops combine her insights, enthusiasm and infectious energy. For more info: www.sabrina-woods.com.

Monica R. Nelson, RYT-200
For the past few years, Monica has maintained a daily yoga practice that she credits with cultivating inner peace and wellness. She hopes to pass these benefits along to her students by leading a thoughtful and playful vinyasa flow, accessible to beginner and seasoned yogis alike. Monica received her 200 hour teacher training through Providence Power Yoga in May 2018. She enjoys taking in the world's natural beauty, culture, and cuisine in her travels around the globe.

Tami Killam, CYT-500
Tami found the power of yoga through a healing journey to feel well, minimize pain & alleviate chronic symptoms. Tami is a mother of four children who has a passion for yoga, energy work, meditation, martial arts, healthy eating and mindful living. Tami's personal yoga practice continues to be a very important part of her day to cultivate balance between body, mind & soul. Through Yoga Tami discovered a deep fascination with universal life force energy. As a Reiki Master Teacher, Tami is able to be a conduit to bring Reiki Energy to others. Tami is also a meditation teacher. Tami's mission is to help people discover and experience the benefits of Yoga, Reiki & Meditation on their wellness journey.
Tami completed her 1st 200 hour Yoga Alliance Approved Teacher Training with Jessie Dwiggins of Wild Wisdom Yoga. She completed her 2nd 200 hour and 500 hour Yoga Alliance Approved Training with Erica Nunnally of Deep River School. Tami completed all of her Reiki Training with Erica Nunnally of Bija Institute. She completed her Meditation Teacher Training Level 1 with Sue Bonanno of Soul Space.

Alicia Fogell, RYT-200
Yoga to Alicia is the art of patience and tapping into your inner wisdom. Her classes emphasize the importance of the breath and being kind to yourself on and off the mat. She does her best to bring a sense of strength and ease to each of her classes.
Alicia received her RYT-200 with Jessie Dwiggins of Wild Wisdom Yoga and is in progress of her second YTT-200 with Zuna yoga. She is certified in restorative yoga and received her reiki training from Bobbi Schaeffer of Pathways To Healing RI.

Kim Daniels, eRYT-200
Kim took her first-ever yoga class as a stressed-out college student and left the studio wanting to skip through the streets of Boston. Since then, she has discovered what she loves about yoga - the ability to get into the body and out of the mind. Kim comes back to her practice because of the benefits yoga offers her on and off the mat.
She became a yoga teacher in order to inspire people to find their inner yogi, whether they are practicing asana in the studio or practicing pranayama during rush hour traffic. She can’t get enough of seeing people progress at their own pace as they continue their practice. She loves that yoga offers her students the ability to meet their bodies wherever they happen to be that day.
Kim completed her 200-hour teacher training in the vinyasa style at Health Yoga Life in Boston, MA in 2015. She has also completed trainings with Goldie Graham and Juliet Loranger. Kim’s classes have a clear focus on smart, intentional sequencing set to a perfectly synced playlist. Her teachers, her students, and everyday life constantly inspire her. Currently an E-RYT 200, she continues to learn more about the practice of yoga each and every day, and is always grateful that people choose to share their practice with her. See her full schedule of public classes and events at www.heretonamaste.com

Shannon Daniels, RYT-200
Shannon first stepped on her mat 9 years ago craving movement and connection. From that very first class, yoga created a space of quiet and freedom in her body and mind that guided Shannon into a more balanced life. She hopes to share her experience by providing a safe and supportive environment for comfort and ease in her vinyasa classes.

Maria Bessette, RYT-200
Maria is a committed student and teacher of yoga, and is certified to teach Vinyasa, Yin, Hatha, and yoga for kids. Through her teaching, Maria seeks to aid students in cultivating playful observation of their physical, emotional, and spiritual bodies. She believes that yoga is the practice of lovingly yoking together the opposites of life. With this mentality, she crafts her class as a place where practitioners can both challenge and nurture themselves with acceptance. With a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a background in counseling, Maria loves to weave elements of self-study, self-care, and yogic philosophy into her teachings. Maria is also a certified Reiki practitioner.

Leigh Vincola, YTT-200 hr
Leigh has been a student of yoga for 25 years. Over the years her practice has grounded her as she has navigated through adulthood both on and off the mat. She completed her 200 hour teacher training under the instruction of Abbe Cuilla in 2019 and Yin Yoga Training at All That Matters in 2020. As a teacher her philosophy focuses on transformative healing by balancing the parasympathetic nervous system and dropping into that deep place of self-love that we can get to when we slow down. She sees a great need today, to create more space in order to touch into this place, to listen, process and find compassion for each other.
Her mission as a yoga teacher is also to nurture yoga spaces and resources that are representative of everyone, not just the bodies that typically pervade yoga media.

Nicole Towne, RYT-200
Nicole discovered yoga as she entered her twenties. After spending 10 years in grade school practicing and guided by the more rigid rules and structure of ballet, she loved the way yoga gave her a sense of freedom in her body. She admired that as soon as she stepped on the mat, there was an oppurtunity to explore movement guided by the wisdom of the body. To Nicole, the fact that the practice was first built off of ethical and moral teachings grounded in kindness and community felt like coming home. “Yoga reminds us it is first and foremost a practice of how we connect with ourselves and others. My only hope on this path is to deepen my personal practice so that I may more graciously share the fruits of it with the world around me. Every body is capable, and everyone deserves to receive the profound healing that the practice of yoga has to offer.”
When Nicole realized the profound benefits it had on her mental, emotional, spiritual and physical well being, she decided to take it a step further and complete a yoga teacher training. In 2017, Nicole recieved her RYT-200 certificate through the Breathing Time Institute training with Karen Lee and has also studied Restorative Yoga with Mimi Budnick. She is soon to receive her Reiki level II attunement with Zaura Amaral. Nicole recently has been working to share her personal practice of sound healing with the world. Join Nicole on the mat as she guides you through a strong practice including mindful transitions, pranayama and meditation; during savasana you may find yourself occasionally experiencing the soothing vibrations of her quartz crystal sound bowl!

Laurie Sands, RYT-200
Laurie was brought to yoga at a very low time in her life.  It quickly became her safe place, where she could get lost on her mat and do something completely for herself.  Yoga became her therapy, both physical and mental.  It wasn’t until attending a yoga retreat at a Buddhist Monastery in Colorado that she became aware that the practice of yoga is more than the asanas or postures.   She knew all along but could never put her finger on what it was that kept her coming to her mat.
This feeling and awareness made her want to share it with everyone. Because she has lived most of her life with a service mindset, she was led to Shri Path of Service training and met many wonderful people and vowed to make her yoga journey an inclusive and accessible one.  She recently completed her 200 hr YTT at The Woods Yoga with Christine Maguire and Anthony Diluglio and has found her way to Joyful Bliss after her friend and fellow yogi, Karen joined as a teacher.
Having suffered for years with arthritis, Laurie found that her style of yoga is the more gentle, restorative type.  After obtaining Level One certification for Thai Bodywork, she has found ways to include several body adjustments during Savasana to help her students relax and restore at the end of their practice. It is her desire to help others who suffer from pain and anxiety find their comfortable, accepting place on their mat.

Kristin Campbell, RNFA, RMT
Kristin is a registered nurse first assistant, a reiki master/teacher, sound healing practitioner and Mom to three girls. Kristin discovered reiki and the healing arts after the sudden death of her oldest child Chloe in 2013. She began her studies at Women of Wisdom in 2015, completing her Usui Reiki 1,2 and master teacher in the schools of wisdom program. She has also studied Integrated Energy Therapy, Akashic Soul Mastery, Shamballa Reiki and Karuna and received her Holy Fire 2 Karuna Master in 2018. Kristin completed her sound healing practitioner training and certification in 2017 with Jay Schwed of Crystal Healing Bowls. Kristin combines reiki with crystal and Tibetan singing bowls, crystal pyramids and zaphir chimes to create an experience for the body, mind and soul.