Miriam Hanson, E-RYT500, YACEP (she, her)

Miriam is the Yoga School Director at Svälja Yoga. She is a lead teacher for Svälja’s House of the Gathering Yoga School, and a lead specialty trauma-conscious yoga guide.

Duluth native Miriam built a bilingual elementary school in Roatan, Honduras after completing her BA at U of MN Twin Cites. Yoga showed her the way to practice being connected and present. She has been a student in yoga classes all over the world, which has broadened her perspective and complemented her practice.

Miriam completed TT200 on the island of Roatan with Martha Berry School in 2011. With Martha's worldly view, Miriam was able to find her voice and personal power in guiding Vinyasa. After discovering Yin Yoga in 2002, Miriam has come to embrace this style. She is now a certified Yin Teacher Trainer with training from the world-renowned instructor Bernie Clark, and is a Levels 1 & 2 Yin Teacher Trainer through Michelle Pietrzak-Wegner. She took her first Yin Yoga Teacher Training in 2015 and has continued to deepen her Yin education with over 70 contact training hours. Miriam has led weekly or twice-weekly Yin studio sessions since 2012, including extended workshops and specialty offerings. Additionally, she is certified in trauma-sensitive yoga through the Center for Trauma and Embodiment, Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga, and has Advanced Adaptive Yoga and Yoga for Trauma & PTSD Training with Matthew Sanford and Mind Body Solutions. She extensively studied Patanjali's Yoga Sutra with her esteemed instructor Bhavani Maki and weaves yoga philosophy teachings into her classes. She completed her RYT500 with the final project of memorizing the entire Samadhi Pada in Sanskrit. See her published piece on Sutra 1.20 in Midwest Yoga+ LIfe. Miriam is also grateful for her extensive studies with Indu Arora in Ayurveda and Yoga Philosophy.

Miriam believes in the power of yoga to transform trauma and stress and lead us to freedom from suffering through daily practice of Patanjali’s Eightfold Path. She enjoys the fellowship and healing power of yoga, as well as the opportunity to nurture a loving space of breath, movement and discerning awareness.

Miriam primarily is dedicated to guiding Svälja’s weekly Trauma-Conscious yoga classes through partnerships with several community organizations. Join Miriam for her Yin + Live Music Collaborations that she has been doing for many years. Also check out her specialty refined-study workshops and Yin Certificate Program!

Rebecca James Alsum (she, her)

Rebecca is on a path of creating spaces where healing and deep inner wisdom can blossom. Through her many years working in advocacy and fostering healthy communities, she is most interested in empowering people to find healing that is centered in their own body through re-discovery of their own deep wells of wisdom and authority.  She seeks to support in fostering deep relationships, holistic listening, meaningful communication, and spiritual growth.

Rebecca holds a BA in Sociology. She is a Certified Qigong Trainer and a Certified Practice Group Leader through Spring Forest Qigong. Rebecca has additional certifications in Embodied Innerwork, Dream Work and Trauma Conscious practices. Rebecca is currently enrolled in a Clinical Sexology program with a Sex Coaching Certification through Sex Coach U, with anticipated graduation in 2023. Rebecca works for Duluth Aging Support as an Outreach Coordinator and guides Qigong classes regularly in the community.

Rebecca came to Qigong as a trauma survivor seeking healing for her own physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. As a teacher, she focuses on a gentle, trauma conscious approach that offers practices to ground, in order that participants might feel the power of their own wisdom and healing within. Embracing the knowledge that one can heal one’s self is powerful, centering and life giving– this is a beautiful truth that Rebecca knows intimately.

Rebecca loves spending time with her partner, two kids, pup, cat and the loving community of friends and neighbors around her. Sitting with Mother Earth and playing cello are key healing practices she enjoys along with Qigong. Engaging the magic of curiosity, learning, and the sun and moon keep her spirit wondering and flourishing on the way.

Heather Murphy (she/her)

Heather has been practicing various forms of yoga for 25 years and is a 2020 graduate of the 250 hour trauma-conscious yoga teacher training program through Svalja Yoga's House of the Gathering Yoga School. She is also a Massage Therapist, Evolutionary Astrologer, mom, wife/partner, gardener, knitter, cook, musician, meditator, and more. She has a BA in Women's Studies, studied Massage Therapy at Heartwood Institute in Northern California, and studied Evolutionary Astrology with its founder, Steven Forrest. She has been a seeker and a dreamer all of her life, studying with psychics and astrologers, energy workers and shamans, meditators and yogis, musicians and artists, therapists and spiritual advisors. A passion for learning, a desire for deep personal healing, a search for meaning and purpose, and a calling to help heal and change this world have been the driving forces on her meandering life path. Heather is an assistant to Hilary Buckwalter-Wilde through Indwelling helping facilitate workshops and retreats on  bodymind integration, imaginal ways of knowing, trauma informed care, and engagement with nature and the ancestors. She sees clients for Evolutionary Astrology readings at the Duluth Hub on 9th street. You can reach her at heather.evoastro@gmail.com

Karen Sheldon, MS, NCC, NIC, RYT200 (she, her)

Karen is a mental health therapist and a nationally certified sign language interpreter.  She became a trauma-conscious yoga teacher in October 2019.   Yoga has been a personal passion of Kare’s for close to 20 years.   Becoming a yoga teacher grew from the desire to shift the image of a typical yogi; making yoga accessible and welcoming for all bodies and all abilities.  Trauma work is at the center of Karen’s therapy practice.  Trauma-conscious yoga serves as a tool to refamiliarize the individual with themselves in a safe, supported, guided fashion.  Karen strives to bring her authentic self to all that she does.  Doing so starts with the relationship to self that is developed on the mat.  

David Caligiuri, RYT200 (he, him)

Many years into an earnest yet savasana-lite at-home asana practice, in November 2015 David Caligiuri attended his first public yoga class. Early in 2016, when he was taking several classes weekly, anger at the death of a friend abruptly softened, during savasana, to grief—and he began to catch on. In October 2018, Dave graduated in the first cohort of House of the Gathering Yoga School then hired on at his mothership studio.

He believes in the breath’s primacy and that spiritual transcendence is a fully embodied phenomenon to be discovered again and again in daily living, right here in Duluth or wherever one happens to be. Not only asana but everything in life is practice; everything else is learning to accept that practice won’t make perfect. If perfection exists, one doesn’t repair it—one remembers it.

Jessica Roeder (she, her)

Jessica believes in dance as a mood lifter and a vehicle for joy. This lifelong passion led her to train with the Dance for PD® program of the Mark Morris Dance Group and to found, in 2012, Parkinson’s Dance Studio, a weekly class for people with Parkinson’s and their families and friends. She taught modern dance with Minnesota Ballet for seven years and has performed with Aspen Dance Connection and in Dances on the Lakewalk. Jessica teaches generative writing classes online for Lighthouse Writers in Denver and also works as a writer and freelance editor. Her prose chapbook Staircases Will Outnumber Us is available from Red Bird Chapbooks.

Abigail Venuso, RYT200 (she, her)

Abigail experienced the transformational power of yoga during a period of change and uncertainty in her life. Since then, yoga has been a grounding and healing practice for her. Yoga taught Abigail how to cultivate inner resilience and learn about her body's abilities and limitations. In 2021, Abigail graduated from Svalja Yoga’s HGYS YTT. To Abigail, teaching yoga is about helping others find healing and peace.

Abigail loves to be in nature and enjoys gardening, hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, and camping. Her other hobbies include crochet, reading, and vegan cooking. Recently she has been cherishing time with her new baby girl.

Melissa Hepokoski, RYT200 (she, her)

Melissa grew up near the St. Louis River and has lived in Duluth and the surrounding area for most of her life.  Melissa has experienced healing and growth through the practice of yoga for over twenty years.  More recently, she enhanced her knowledge and skill  by completing Trauma Conscious Yoga Teacher Training through Svälja Yoga in September of 2022. Additionally,  Melissa completed a thirty-hour Yin Yoga certification from Svälja Yoga in November of 2023.

Melissa is an experienced educator and is passionate about building community and taking part in the creative process through writing and other modalities. As a yoga guide, Melissa is dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive environment for all.

Savannah Swanson, RYT 200 (she, her)

Savannah has practiced yoga for over 15 years, and graduated from Svalja's House of the Gathering Yoga School in 2023. She grew up here in Duluth and developed a strong connection to Lake Superior and the nature that surrounds us. She is a descendant of the Lac Courte Oreilles tribe and has found growth, healing, and understanding through reconnecting to her Ojibwe heritage. Yoga, and more specifically trauma conscious yoga, has been another significant factor in Savannah's personal healing as a trauma survivor, and she guides yoga through a gentle, compassionate, trauma conscious lens. 

Savannah has always worked within human services. From disability services to domestic violence advocacy, she has most recently joined the YWCA as director of their young mother's transitional housing program. She hopes to venture into death work in the not-so-far future as well, having felt called to this work in recent years, specifically as a death doula.

With her free time she enjoys being with her family and friends, being an auntie, reading, writing poetry, music, dancing, traveling, cooking, and snuggling up with her cat, Violet.

Sarah Mangan MA, MSW, E-RYT200 (she, her)

Sarah Mangan grew up loving the freedom of movement she felt when practicing gymnastics and dance, however, it was not until 2008 that her yoga journey began.   As a social work graduate student, Sarah was looking for ways to destress and tried hot yoga with a friend.  She was surprised at how difficult it was to move and breathe at the same time, but excited to find movements that reminded her of childhood.  Moving back to Minnesota in 2010, she found a home studio, a daily practice, and the rest is history. She says "Yoga has become my anchor; my practice has become a space to explore, study, heal, and grow.  The path of yoga has become my guiding force."

So inspired by the transformative gift of yoga in her own life, Sarah completed a 200 hour YTT at Muselan in Chanhassan, MN in 2012 and has been teaching since that time.  You can find her teaching yoga in studios (currently Runa Yoga), class rooms, backyards, and online; from little ones to elders, Sarah believes that yoga is for everyone.  Today she gratefully teaches a variety of yoga classes, but especially loves to help folks unwind and intentionally relax with restorative and yin yoga.  She believes in the cumulative effect of yoga – the result of each effort to arrive at a class, take our mats, and breath with one another; the effect is we are transformed. When we practice and connect with ourselves, we have an opportunity to rest in our true nature; and we are free. 

Kristy Marie O’Neill, LMT, NMT, Myofascial Release Therapist, RYT200 (she, her)

Kristy Marie is a yoga guide at Svälja Yoga and an instructor for Svälja’s House of the Gathering School. Kristy also leads Kirtan a musical and devotional yogic practice. 

Kristy began practicing yoga 20 years ago and has been a student ever since. She was in the first cohort of House of the gathering yoga school, Svälja’s first incarnation of the YTT program. 

 She has a full-time massage and myofascial release practice here in Duluth, established 13 years ago. 

Kristy studied and lived in Hawaii for four of the most formative years of her life. It was in Hawaii where she was immersed in a melting pot of different spiritual paths and an abundance of teachers ready to share these ancient wisdoms. She was Initiated as a Sufi in 2005 and has been studying all paths of the heart, religions, and traditions, finding unity between all ways. She uses mantras from the sacred traditions in a Bhakti (devotional) yoga practice called Kirtan. In this practice, we use the tool of the voice along with these archetypical sacred phrases to eradicate negativities of the mind and raise the essence of virtues and high ideals within us.

For the past 9 years, she has studied at length with John Barnes and the Myofascial release approach, taking 11 or more courses and shadowing him in his Pennsylvania clinic. The greater understanding of the fascia and its role in both the physicality and psyche/consciousness of every person feeds everything Kristy brings to both her massage practice and her yoga practice. She brings this deeply rooted fascial understanding into YTT also, co-leading the fascia workshop. 

Kristy has also contemplated Death and dying for over 20 years with the mantra “you have to learn how to die before you can live'' as her guide. She has studied with masters such as Ram Das and Bodhi Be at the doorway to light in Maui Hawaii, stewards in the conscious dying movement. She also has studied with Jerry Grace Lyons from Final Passages, Institute of Conscious Dying, Home Funeral, and Green Burial Education. Kristy has led workshops locally, including for House of The Gathering YTT students on exploring the deeper meaning behind the corpse pose. Embrace death, and enhance life. 

Linda Farrell, PT, RYT200 (she, her)

Linda Farrell has practiced as a Physical Therapist for 33 years and has taught in the PTA Program at Lake Superior College since 1998. She expanded her journey to include yoga, receiving her 200 RYT in Costa Rica in March 2016, and now has over 2500 yoga teaching hours. She is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) through Yoga Alliance.

Linda enjoys teaching a variety of forms of yoga, offering classes at the Pike Lake Golf & Beach Club, the Duluth Indoor Sports Center, chair yoga at Miller Hill Manor, and other private sessions through her business A Grateful Breath. 

Linda is fascinated by the human body and guiding people in healthy movement. When she is not on her mat, Linda loves to spend time in nature hiking, kayaking & paddle boarding. Her special day is Wednesdays when she gets to spend the day with her grand-daughter Annie. 

Laura Sellner, RYT 200 (she, her)

Laura Sellner is a trauma-conscious yoga guide at Svälja Yoga. She is a 2020 graduate of Svälja Yoga’s House of the Gathering Yoga School and was the Teacher Assistant for Svälja’s 2021 Yoga Teacher Training.

Laura has practiced yoga for over 14 years. She was first introduced to yoga at a music festival, then went on to take an in-depth study of Hatha Yoga at Lake Superior College. Since then she has continued to develop an authentic home practice and participate in different styles of yoga. She has found growth and transformation on the mat, which she incorporates into her journey of healing and self-discovery.

Laura’s main passions are music and yoga. She is a singer-songwriter and guitarist, and leads the eerie-folk project Superior Siren from Duluth, Minnesota. Laura is inspired by the human experience, the depths of the psyche, and the beauty of natural surroundings. She continues to promote creativity and compassion in hopes of encouraging a more connected community. Laura is excited to expand her practice of yoga alongside her career in music, and aims to be a vessel in which the tools of meditation and art can pass through.

Laura also is employed as a server and bartender at Lake Avenue Restaurant & Bar, and is a member of the Washington Studios Artist Cooperative.

Julie Deters, RYT200 (she, her)

Trained at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, MA, Julie guides in the style of Kripalu, an asana practice that weaves moving meditation with pranayam, encouraging inward focus and connection of body, mind, and spirit.

With 20+ years of a personal practice and 10+ years of guiding others, Julie knows the importance of meeting the body where it is in each moment, empowering practitioners to approach the practice at a level that is appropriate for them.

Julie’s philosophy is that we all have an inner guru that we understand through our breath and sensations in our body and that we can access immense knowledge with a sweet balance of effort and ease, coupled with kindness and compassion.

“I am deeply grateful for the loving wisdom and meaningful lessons my teachers have shared with me throughout the years. I continue to be a student and am honored to be your guide.” ~Julie

Yvonne Rutford, RYT200 (she, her)

Yvonne completed her training through Sutra Seekers/Runa Yoga in May 2022.  She has also completed training in 5 Elements Yoga Practice (Janet Stone Yoga, July 2022), Yin Yoga Training (Svälja Yoga, November 2022), and will complete Trauma-Conscious Yoga Training through Svälja Yoga in March 2023.

Prior to training in yoga, she worked 20 years as a writing teacher, guiding students as they explored creative expression and discovered—or uncovered—their voice. She brings that same philosophy to yoga, providing a safe and supportive (and hopefully fun and casual) environment as students explore movement, breath, and presence.

Yvonne is particularly drawn to yoga that fosters connection to the outdoors, explores creative movement in nature, and deepens our respect and reverence for the natural world and our place within it.

Mary Kotter, RYT200, Breathwork Facilitator (she, her)

Mary is passionate about holding space for healing, transformation and growth through Breathwork and Yoga. Yoga has been an important part of her life for over 10 years. She began the journey to guide others in 2020 after receiving her Trauma Sensitive RYT 200 through SoulWork. Since then she has completed special training in Breathwork, Meditation, YIN, Feminine Embodiment and Prenatal Yoga. She is also currently receiving training to become a 500 hr registered yoga teacher. While she fell in love with yoga through fast-paced asana, she has grown to hold a deep love and appreciation for the power of our breath, the power of stillness and meditation. She is on a mission to share tools to help others drop out of the head and into the body, allowing the wisdom of the body to heal ourselves and create space to connect with our soul and inner knowing. Mary also sees private clients virtually for one on one breathwork sessions and can be reached at marykotter.com.

After spending 5 years as an analyst, she left that field of work to focus on career pursuits in the holistic wellness space. In her free time she enjoys traveling, outdoor recreational activities, board games, reading, drinking tea, and spending time with her loved ones and dog Ember. 

Jubilee Walls, American Council of Exercise certified fitness instructor (she, her)

Jubliee has been a certified fitness professional for over 7 years, however her journey began many years earlier. Since she was a young girl, she understood that her love of movement was a gift that God had blessed her with. Whether it be dancing, cheer or running, movement has always filled her with both giddy excitement and peace. Sharing the experience of movement with others has proved to be yet another gift in her life.

Anissa Thompson, RYT200 (she, her)

Anissa is an alumnus from Cohort 3 of Svälja’s House of the Gathering Yoga School. Yoga has been a lifelong intrigue of Anissa’s via books and DVDs since grade school. In 2012 she attended her first in person yoga class at the University of Wisconsin Superior. Anissa’s personal practice really took root in 2016 to heal and prevent injury while training for Grandma’s marathon. Yoga has been an integral part of Anissa’s days ever since. In early 2020, she earned several certifications in yoga trapeze, breath coaching, and gravity yoga. Anissa earned her 250-hour trauma conscious teaching certificate in the House of the Gathering Yoga School’s trauma conscious program graduating in November 2020. Completing the HGYS program opened many doors and has led to a dedication to learning and continued study. She is currently studying and working on a 300-hour training with Authentic Movements.

Anissa is originally from central Wisconsin but is a twin ports transplant and has made Duluth her home. In her free time, she can be found running, crafting, DIYing projects around the house, and hanging out with her dog. 

Jesse Dykhuis, RYT200 (she, her)

Jesse is a graduate of HGYS Cohort 2 and a current teacher in the YTT program at Svälja’s House of the Gathering Yoga School. She is RYT200 with additional trainings and certifications in trauma conscious yoga and body positive yoga and guides yoga through a lens of accessibility and self trust. Jesse was introduced to yoga through her mother as a young person and has enjoyed a lifelong practice. Jesse also studies Tantra and Ayurveda and is a student pursuing a degree as a Registered Nurse. Jesse has worked in service to our community in a variety of ways from the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival to advocacy for women as a doula, childbirth educator, and placenta services provider since 2008.

Jesse is excited to be offering a 6-week series at Svälja called Yoga & Body Image Exploration. (This session is sold out) Yoga & Body Image Exploration allows participants to interrogate how body image is formed, explore the potential for body acceptance, learn how to adapt yoga asana for their bodies, interrupt their negative self talk, and finding yoga as movement for embodied pleasure - not fitness. Jesse hopes to schedule a weekly drop in class for folks in abundant bodies/series graduates beginning this summer. If you are interested in a future series of Yoga & Body Image Exploration you can join the waitlist by emailing hello@svalja.yoga

Kristin Fogard, E-RYT200 (she, her)

Kristin attended her first yoga class in 2002 and two years later found herself at David Swenson's Ashtanga teacher training.  She completed her first Yoga Alliance specific teacher training in 2005, through Yoga North Duluth.  In the following years she attended workshops in the Ashtanga tradition led by Manju Jois, Doug Swenson, Matthew Sweeney, Michael Gannon, Michelle Lynn and more.  She began to see a disconnect between "tradition", Western bodies and inclusiveness which led to her personal interest in safety and alignment for a general population.  In 2013 she attended her first workshop with YogaFit and found an organization that upheld the values of safety, alignment, and making the practice more accessible. 

Kristin taught at Yoga North from 2005 to 2015, and at the Duluth YMCA from 2008 to present.  She has training in Restorative, Hatha, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Yin, Yoga for Healthcare, Yoga for Backs, the Wounded Warrior program and yogic philosophy.  She has conducted workshops in sun salutations, inversions, arm balances, vinyasa flow, Ayurveda and the Bhagavad Gita. Kristin feels learning doesn't stop with a certificate, and she continues to attend training as often as feasible for personal growth, inspiration, and to keep her classes fresh and engaging.

Kristin works full time for the St. Louis County Land and Minerals department helping to maintain 850,000 of tax forfeit land and healthy forest in Northern Minnesota.  In her free time, she enjoys relaxing with her Husband, working out, road cycling, gardening, knitting, sewing, reading, cooking, hiking, snowshoeing, and playing with her pups. 

Sophie Hillmeyer, RYT200 (she, her)

Sophie began her journey as a yoga guide in 2022 after years of practice and a true passion for sharing yoga with her community. Her teaching style is inclusive, creative, and grounded. Sophie truly believes yoga is for every body and strives to make yoga accessible and approachable for all who seek it. Off of the mat, she is a passionate reader, writer and nature-lover. She loves to be outdoors all year round, but never passes up a chance to cozy up at home with a book and her cat, Loon. Join Sophie Sunday evenings for a cozy, all-levels slow flow.

Madeline Fisher, RYT200 (she, her)

Madeline’s mission is to bring joy and laughter to others, she thrives on connection and her classes offer a safe space to feel that acceptance. She offers a space to play and feel confident in any posture. Madeline believes that yoga can be as much a creative outlet as a mindful practice. Honoring that yoga is for everyone and every body, Madeline brings that sense of belonging throughout life on and off the mat.

As a full time stay at home mother to two toddlers Madeline spends her time off the mat in the thick of nature and mess. This offers her a unique way to see life that is full of chaos and recognize that we can still balance the chaotic through breath and movement. In their free time, she and her family can be found near a body of water, on a snowy hill, or caring for their chickens.

Kate Horvath, RYT 200, Yin Certificate (she, her)

Kate brings 20+ years of yoga and fitness experience to her classes. A professional actor, singer, director, and educator, she now counsels executives on career strategy for a boutique firm in Duluth, MN. Kate’s enthusiasm for mindfullness, health, and wellness ranges from studying kettlebells with a former KGB trainee in NYC to Keening, the vocal art, and practice, of mourning the dead. She has studied yoga around the world and once “whirled with dervishes.”

Kate teaches with energy and athleticism. She is also passionate about the benefits of a Yin Practice for all movers and shakers. You can expect an encouraging and inclusive class, creating a connected practice at every experience level. She is also an avid runner, community builder, and bonafide Shakespeare nerd.

Melly Weidendorf, RYT200 (she, her)

Hi friends! My name is Melly, and I’m new to the area. I completed Svalja’s HGYS trauma conscious yoga teacher training with the 2022 cohort, after being invited by my fascia to do some healing.

My educational background is in clinical mental health counseling, and recently I have been on a path of dismantling all the ways that my education taught me how to support the status quo of white supremacy and heteronormative culture in my own body. 

Yoga has been instrumental in this process.

Yin yoga was my first real exposure to yoga in a way that offered me the opportunity to slow down and listen to what my body is saying to me. What a gift this has been! The things I have learned in my yoga practice translate into my daily life with ease, and allow me to be more fully aligned with my purpose in this world.

Because of this, I offer a wide range of healing modalities in my therapy practice, such as meditation and breath-work, somatic remembering, and plant and fungi medicine work. 

Sharing space during an asana practice is one of my core self care strategies, and I am so pleased to be able to offer this here in my new community! I’m looking forward to meeting you all soon! 

Natalie Johnson E-RYT500, AYS, YACEP (she/her)

Natalie has been guiding trauma-conscious, therapeutically-oriented yoga classes since 2016 and is passionate about making yoga accessible to all. Powerful tools of yoga like awareness, mindful movement, and breath are all free inner resources that Natalie believes everyone deserves to know how to tap into. Through the Community Funded Yoga program of her small business Happy Place Yoga, she is able to donate yoga services to folks who may not otherwise have access. And as a guide in community settings like YWCA of Minneapoils and the Duluth YMCA, Natalie has been fortunate to practice alongside (and be inspired by) folks from all walks of life. 

Natalie is drawn to guiding practices that help folks slow down. To pause in true presence in their bodies, with their breath, and whatever else needs to show up. She has deep appreciation for yin and restorative yoga and she believes that yoga nidra can offer the kind of profound healing that is needed to help transform our broken world. She also loves guiding chair yoga classes to folks of all ages and abilities!

While Natalie has had the great honor of training with many skilled teachers, some of these experiences have been particularly formative. In 2018, Natalie completed her 500 hour yoga training at Kripalu's School of Integrative Yoga Therapy where she studied therapeutic yoga with a mental health emphasis. Endlessly inspired by the natural world, Natalie has also studied Ayurveda with Yoga North/Himalayan Institute and loves incorporating the elements into her practices. 

When she's not guiding yoga classes or helping people access health care as a MNsure Navigator, Natalie dedicates time to supporting causes that foster a more just and sustainable future. She also loves growing food, singing, and adventuring along the shore or through forest trails with her husband and sweet elder pup. After emptying their nest in 2020, Natalie's family moved up to Duluth from the cities and she is grateful every day to live in such a beautiful, nature-rich environment.