OUR INSTRUCTORS

YPS 300hr Yoga.Psyche.Soul

Laura is the founder and owner of Mountain Kula Yoga. After a 20 year career in apparel design, her love of yoga, and connection to the Be Well community led her to acquire the yoga space at Be Well Studios and launch Mountain Kula Yoga. Laura was first introduced to yoga in 2005 while working at Eastern Mountain Sports Base Camp in Peterborough, NH. It was there that she learned the Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga from former employee and co-worker, Robert Moses. Taking classes at Be Well Studios, she continued to deepen her Ashtanga practice with Dana Deschenes and was inspired to pursue teacher training, seeking not only the physical, but the mental and emotional benefits of a yogic lifestyle. She has studied Ayurveda with Cate Stillman, Heart Centered Leadership and Facilitation via the Spiritual Psychology curriculum of the University of Santa Monica, and most recently received her 300hr RYT from Ashley Turners Yoga.Psyche.Soul teacher training, focused on yoga psychology, yoga for mental health, social justice, and trauma-informed yoga.

200hr RYT

Vanessa was born and raised in New Delhi, India. She moved to New York as a young adult, to work at Time magazine, and never returned to live in India. She grew up in a household where one of her uncles practiced yoga, much to the entertainment and delight of the children in the household, herself included! Her uncle would search for calm as he stood on his head, and the children would bend over and peer at him in what struck them as an odd way to greet the day! Vanessa has lived in the Mount Washington Valley for over thirty years and teaches three times per week. She received her 200 RYT from Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. She has practiced yoga for many years, and it has brought a great deal of calm and grace to her life.

200hr RYT

Erin has been practicing yoga consistently since 2016 and enjoys the sense of deep calmness and integration she is able to find on the mat. The Ashtanga Yoga system offers routine and discipline to her personal practice, and teaching vinyasa yoga allows her to explore creative and dynamic flows. Erin continually looks forward to being a lifelong student of yoga. "Yoga has challenged my mind, body and spirit to cultivate strength, flexibility and acceptance. I am sassy and silly with a playful creative spirit that reflects in my teaching style." She creates a safe space in the classroom for her students to explore the mind-body connection while developing strength and flexibility with a sense of steadiness and ease that can be carried off the mat.

500hr RYT

Yoga found Lori in 2009 when her body had begun to rebel against years of competitive sports and the frequent, grueling training they required. She had also just gone through a painful divorce and was literally breaking down—physically, mentally and spiritually.

She attended her first yoga class at Synergy Power Yoga, a Baptiste studio in Barrington, RI. After just 15 minutes she was hooked! She enjoyed the challenge of the physical practice, learned to respect her body and its limitations, and learned to be a bit kinder to herself. No longer did everything need to hurt to be beneficial. She came to yoga for her body, but continues to practice for her soul and overall well-being.

With much respect and love for her wonderful yoga teachers, she wanted to share what she had learned with others. She studied with Gregor Singleton and Claire Este McDonald at the Baptiste Institute in Cambridge, MA to complete her 200-hour RYT in 2014 and 300-hour RYT in 2016.

200hr RYT

Christine has been a part of the Mountain Kula Yoga family from day 1! When the pandemic hit in 2020, and teacher training could be obtained online, in virtual classrooms, she knew this was her chance to deepen her practice. Eager to engage with the community, Christine completed her 200 hour YTT in 2021, and is continuing her education with a health coaching certification and obtaining her 300 hour YTT. Working as a massage therapist and being introduced to yoga over 20 years ago, she’s excited to continue her service in the healing arts. Though life has a way of throwing one off course from time to time, yoga has always remained fully in her heart.

Slowly but surely the ball is rolling! Though uncertainty still creeps up, Christine reminds herself to take a deep breath and whisper to herself "stop getting in your own way." She's learning to embrace her humanity and hopes to share how yoga has influenced her life beyond the physical practice, and shows her that it’s truly A WAY TO SHOW UP IN THE WORLD.

200hr RYT

Shayna grew up in Fryeburg, Maine. She began yoga in high school and was first introduced to the practice through a program that her school offered. She completed her undergrad in Burlington, Vermont, before moving back to the valley. Like most things, Shayna’s yoga journey has not been linear. When the pandemic hit in 2020, yoga became a crucial ritual for her and she has been practicing regularly ever since. Shayna completed her 200-hour YTT at the very beginning of 2023. She has since been teaching a beginner’s class to her co-workers once a week while continuing her learning. Shayna values authenticity and does her very best to embody this during each and every yoga practice. She is working on strengthening her mind and body connection through meditation and deep self-reflection, incorporating this into her personal practices and classes.

Outside of yoga, Shayna teaches second and third grade. Shayna is passionate about working with children and strives to bring yoga into the classroom. Off the mat and outside the classroom, Shayna can be found snowboarding or hiking at one of our local mountains, mountain biking, somewhere in the woods with her dogs, or snuggled up with a good book.

200hr RYT, ACE Group Fitness Instructor

Bobbi thoroughly enjoys all kinds of group exercise and became certified in several different types of movement including Hi/Lo Aerobics, Drums Alive!, Step Aerobics, Cardio Kickboxing and Powder Blue PiYo (Pilates/Yoga). In 2004, she attended Alyssa Sullivan’s class at Synergy Power Yoga in RI and was completely humbled. Yoga was so much more challenging than she ever imagined but it was also very welcoming and had a spiritual element that was missing in other forms of group exercise.
After losing her design-related job during the pandemic, Bobbi chose to attend the Believe You Can Yoga School in Bristol, RI with her long-time, mentors, Jane Viscolosi, E-RYT500, RYS-200, YACEP and Nikki Gelsimono, RYT-200, CPT who were both trained by Baron Baptiste. She continues to take their powerful and soulful classes whenever she visits RI.
When she is not practicing at Mountain Kula Yoga, she enjoys hiking, snowshoeing, mountain biking, SUPing, swimming, creating art and geocaching. She has been known to break into dancers pose at the top of NH mountains or on her travels around the world with her husband and 2 adult children.

200hr RYT

Erin initially found herself drawn to yoga and her mat for the workout, sweat, and stretch it provided. She soon found herself constantly going on "rest days", which made her reflect on the way she was treating her body. Ultimately learning to listen to her body she began to get stronger physically and mentally when discovering the healing that yoga provided when recovering from an eating disorder and panic attacks. She knew she had to share this gift with others because surely she was not the only one suffering from these obstacles. Erin hopes to create a space in her classes that allow the student to find empowerment and strength through each pose and self-love through each inhale and exhale in order to help them find their own power of getting out of their head and into their body and find authentic self-expression through the yoga practice. Her intention is that students leave each class with new confidence and appreciation for their bodies and minds.

200hr RYT

Bailey began practicing yoga in 2008, starting with a 6-week beginners class in Boston. After many years in the corporate world, she was searching for ways to focus, de-stress and unwind. She ultimately completed her yoga teacher training at Sacred Seeds Yoga in 2017. After teaching for a few years in Fryeburg, Maine, she saw the benefits of yoga and developed a deep belief that yoga is for everybody and for every BODY! She found a passion for introducing yoga to beginners and special populations to support strength, stability, mindfulness and quality of life.

Bailey’s teaching background lies in Vinyasa with a special focus on anatomy, posture modifications, accessibility and stability. She is from Fryeburg and lives in Lovell, ME with her husband, daughter and pup!

500hr RYT

Lea found yoga in high school and began teaching in 2015. She has a 200-hour certification from WellHeart Yoga, a 500-hour from ShivaShakti Yoga School, and another 500-hour from The American Viniyoga Institute. Her teaching style aligns closely with Viniyoga principles which seek to create a class environment that is accessible and appropriately challenging for all bodies and abilities. To Lea, yoga is a way to balance the many intense physical activities she partakes in, such as skiing, mountain biking, ice hockey, and hiking. Lea uses her daily morning yoga practice to check with her body and assess its inner workings. Her classes follow that process, helping students gain body awareness so they can safely challenge themselves.

When Lea isn’t teaching, she can be found studying for her MFA, writing stories, working as an editor for the Stonecoast Review, and working on her podcast, Nonprofit Navigator.

300hr RYT

Stacey Forend, RYT300, Yoga Teacher, Psychic Medium, Energy Therapist, Birth & End of Life Doula and Lifestyle & Spirituality Mentor. In addition, Stacey is a certified Institute for Integrative Nutrition Health Practitioner and the creator of the organic anti- inflammatory super food Super Golden Blend TM. She began her journey of healing herself of an autoimmune disease in 2009 which led to her Dharma, life purpose, of teaching yoga and guiding others in their healing and self remembrance. She opened her own healing arts practice in 2017 and offers a multifaceted approach to healing.

200hr RYT

Robin has been a Mountain Kula Yoga student from the beginning. Covid took Robin away from her practice for a period of time in late 2021 - early 2022. While working to recover from Long Covid, as soon as she was able, Robin made her way back to her mat and back to her practice at MKY. Truly believing that yoga was the biggest contributing factor in her healing journey, Robin wanted to find an effective way to share her deep gratitude for yoga with others. With that intention, she completed her 200 YTT in early 2023. Especially sensitive to folks who might feel intimidated for any number of reasons by group classes, Robin hopes and strives to embody the statement “Yoga is truly for EVERY BODY.”

Robin is a MWV Valley local, long time massage therapist, and her other certifications include Trauma Informed Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and Science of Stretching Coach. Her heart full of gratitude leads her own personal practice, as well as her teaching.