Stacey began practicing yoga to counterbalance other exercise, like biking, rock climbing, and running, as a young professional living in Boston. While Stacey appreciated the physical benefits of yoga, she quickly realized the practice is as much about mindful thinking, breathing, and introspection as it is about the postures. 

Yoga is a critical aspect of Stacey’s self-care, enabling her to integrate physical and spiritual wellness while staying grounded. In addition to yogic methods, Stacey is a nurse scientist and incorporates nursing knowledge into her practice as a yoga teacher. To Stacey, yoga is a personal practice of balance that transcends beyond our mats! 

Middle to advanced students are welcome to attend Stacey’s community class, which combines meditation and breathwork with a flow sequence culminating to a peak posture. 

Over the years, Lauren would attend yoga classes randomly and practice at home. Yoga made her feel physically stronger but also calmed her mind. Being able to ground herself through movement and the breath was empowering. However, her journey into yoga really started five years ago with the sudden death of her mother. 

After her loss, she became disconnected, uncertain, and trapped in an emotional storm. As a result, she felt lost and questioned herself along with her values. Although she had support from her friends and family, it was returning to a yoga practice that helped her regain her sense of self and to begin living her truth. She was also surprised by how much of what she learned on the mat was helping her with other aspects of her life. 

At times, she can be very protective of her yoga practice because this is where she holds space for herself. Yet over the past couple of years, she has found herself talking about how yoga has supported her through the grief process and other challenges in life. This is what has led her to complete Yoga Teacher Training at Hummingbird. Yoga is creating a space where one can reconnect and find more compassion within themselves.  

During a particularly rough time in Jen’s life, she was a part of a community yoga class every Sunday morning. She would cry through class and leave it all on the mat. Jen believes that yoga releases and opens up areas of yourself that you did not realize were closed. Yoga is a shared experience where we are one, but each of us can unlock and discover more about ourselves through the practice. 

Jen wants to share that experience with others, and that’s why she decided to become a yoga teacher. All levels of a yoga student will be comfortable and are welcome in Jen’s community class. 

Holly found yoga in 2004 in a most unusual place: a maximum-security women’s prison. As a women’s health nurse practitioner working in a women’s prison, Holly became interested in how yoga might improve women’s mental, physical, and spiritual wellness during incarceration.

When Holly first started yoga, she was most interested in the physical aspect of the practice: the asana. With age and the study of yoga, Holly has found that the philosophical underpinnings of yoga, especially the yamas and niyamas, help her navigate the inevitable ups and downs that come with living a full life. She especially likes gentle yoga and yin yoga, as these practices help her to calm her mind, give her the space to be still, and allow her to focus on breathing.

Holly completed the 200 RYT training in 2020, including training in NECTAR and Reiki. Holly’s class is perfect for a beginner of any age who wants to practice in a safe, inclusive, and trauma-informed space.

Jenny first came to yoga over 15 years ago, and it took the first 10 years or so to really find the style that felt like a fit for her. During a particularly difficult time, she found that the consistency, support, and breathwork of yoga offered a beautiful release from pain and opened up a space for hope for the future.  

As a former Division I athlete, Jenny thought yoga would be a breeze. Yet the invitation to sit still and breathe, to hold poses, and to allow the present to just “be” proved to be a much more challenging task. Yoga balances out her other offerings as a college professor, certified spinning instructor, and fastpitch softball pitching coach.

For Jenny, yoga is a way of honoring oneself by using the body and the breath to remember our divine light. Jenny decided to complete her 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training at Hummingbird to help foster the same sense of connection of the mind, body, and spirit in others that yoga has given to her.  

From South America, Chelmy was born to a Brazilian Japanese mother and she has been proudly brought up in a Japanese household with a Brazilian twist. Discipline, health, honesty, and self-care have always been in her life. 

Chelmy’s first encounter with yoga was in 2007, but she didn’t feel a connection back then. It wasn’t until she got pregnant with her second daughter in 2014 that she started feeling a connection with the practice of yoga. Passionate about fitness, she then realized that yoga could be a great complement to any form of exercise. Yoga has helped Chelmy get in touch with her body, mind, and soul. It has made her more resilient and flexible, and it has become a part of who she is. 

A certified health coach, Chelmy is now pursuing a Masters in Social Work, as she wishes to help people who need assistance but have no voice. She wishes to empower the vulnerable and extend them a hand. 

Chelmy’s community class is a reflection of who she is. It’s a blend of movement and static postures. You’ll be invigorated and yet relaxed and ready to start the day.   

My yoga journey began 24 years ago when I was searching for physical activity and groundedness while going through infertility treatment.  As a runner, I loved the familiar feeling of the freedom of being in my body and being present.  I soon learned that yoga wasn't only good for my body, but it fed my soul.  

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After an on-again, off-again relationship, yoga has been a solid part of my life since 2004.  It has taught me to be more patient with myself and others.  I know myself more clearly, I know others more readily, and I accept more deeply.  I am stronger and more flexible in body, mind and spirit.  And learning to take yoga "off the mat" is where the magic really happens.

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In the spring of 2019, I embraced the opportunity to apply to yoga teacher training at Hummingbird Yoga.  It was It was my time.  I will graduate in May 2020.  

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For me, yoga is peace.  Yoga is freedom.  Yoga is self-awareness.  Yoga is wholeness.  Yoga is the sharing of our hearts.

Ludy is a bilingual (English/Spanish) and bicultural instructor who found the healing properties of yoga 30 years ago. She firmly believes that on the mat, we all can encounter a higher self. Her yoga practice is informed by her interest in nontraditional healing arts. 

Ludy will incorporate/share her Latinx heritage with the students attending her community class and will be offering Hummingbird’s first bilingual class! 

After two hip surgeries, Hannah had to leave behind her world of dance. Feeling lost, Hannah found yoga. At first, she was skeptical of how yoga would fill the space of dance, but over time, Hannah found the beauty and strength of yoga. She found that yoga was not just about stretching and breathing, but it is a safe place to check in on one’s mind, body, and soul. 

Yoga has enriched Hannah’s life by teaching her patience and self-love. To Hannah, yoga is a space that allows one to explore themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. 

Hannah will offer a class that includes a mindful practice for athletes to build strength, flexibility, and focus.