Cindy Bedford
RYT200
Yoga has been in my life for more than 10 years. I always toyed with the idea of becoming a teacher, however at the time I was on a different path of caring for my family and working. In August 2014, I walked into Yoga from the Heart and my yoga journey took a huge leap forward. Being recently retired, I now had more time to dedicate to my practice and low and behold the opportunity of a teacher training program appeared and I jumped in with both feet. This reminds me of the Buddhist Proverb “when the student is ready the teacher will appear”! One year later, I am a graduate from the Yoga NH, RYT-200 program as well as Reiki II certified. I was trained in the Ashtanga method by my amazing teachers Beth-Aime Labonte and Maureen Miller. I have also practiced/studied with other wonderful teachers, Joyce Kendall under the Anusara method of yoga and Karen Kenney, Kripalu style yoga. My style of teaching is very heart-felt and will be primarily gentle to all-levels flow. My students can expect to laugh and relax as we share our time on the mat. Off the mat I enjoy spending time with my family and friends being outside in nature, hiking, biking, gardening and kayaking.
I look forward to sharing in your yoga journey!
For any questions regarding my classes or if you want to contact me directly my e-mail is cindy@yogafromtheheartnh.com
Catrina Gray
RYT200
My Yoga Life started in 2011 when I began training for a half marathon. I would practice yoga once a week to stretch those tired, tight running muscles. I moved from the half marathon training to half iron training. That was when my life really began to turn around. I found myself emotionally involved in my yoga practice. I was feeling the intensity of my training and looking forward to that hour on my mat. I loved and hated the feelings that would come up during my practice. Sometimes I would leave feeling refreshed and ready for my day; other times I would be angry and frustrated.
Over time I learned that battle was my inner peace and my ego. Little did I know I was about to embark on a personal journey that would forever change my life. I began thinking about teaching yoga to children and started to look into yoga teacher training. After 3 years of thinking about it, I signed up for the 200 hour teacher training certification through Vidya Vinyassa Yoga; instructed by Melissa Scagliarini E-RYT 500 and Katie O’Connell E-RYT 500.
Having completed the Basic level Childlight Yoga teacher training in Dover, NH, I have already begun to teach in the classrooms. I have also attended many yoga workshops including Girish, Karen Kenney, Yoga Caps, Inc. with Jay Gupta, and Anatomy with Matthew Scagliarini PT, DPT.
I have run multiple half marathons, the Derry 16 Miler Boston Prep, sprint triathlons, New England Tri-fest Olympic triathlon, and the Mascoma Man Half Iron. I hope to complete one more half Iron in the next few years.
Sharing my practice to find inner peace and grace in everyday life is a dream come true. My two children and husband would agree Yoga is the best thing that has ever happened to us.
Denise Boucher
RYT200
RYT 200, ChildLight Yoga Certified. After a few year of being a childcare provider I stumbled across this great little book called The ABC's Of Yoga for Kids written by Teresa Anne Power. I was amazed at how quickly the toddlers I took care of picked up on the poses. After a few weeks all I had to do was take the book out and they would all run to the carpet where we practiced. I had found a piece to the puzzle I hadn't even realized was missing. When a Sheryl Gauthier mentioned wanting to attend the ChildLight Yoga teacher training in Dover I immediately said I would go. It was an amazing experience, the certification was just an added bonus. Yoga is a gift we can give ourselves and our children. I decided to continue on this yoga journey by completing the RYT 200 program with Yoga NH and teachers Beth-Aime Labonte and Maureen Miller. With cellphones and social media we all need the opportunity to tune out the noise and check in with ourselves, even the youngest of children. My childcare contract states that my goal is to provide a warm and loving environment. My hope is to provide the same atmosphere in my classes, both children's and adult. For any questions regarding my classes or if you want to contact me directly my e-mail is deniseboucheryoga@gmail.com.
Melissa LeVine
RYT200
Yoga has been a part of my life for years. What started off as strictly an Asana practice for me has transitioned into a deeply spiritual journey. I continue to address my own physical challenges of aging and emotional challenges of trauma, through embracing Yoga for strength, flexibility and mindfulness. Breath work and Yoga philosophy have transformed my practice, guiding me into self discovery, acceptance and growth. I completed my RYT 200, June 2022 with Prasada Yoga Teacher Training and Prasada Yoga in North Hampton, NH, under Michelle Plante E-RYT 500. Under Michelle’s exceptional guidance, with her clear emphasis on providing space for self exploration, I have decided to share my journey, through teaching. I continue to train for my own self exploration and personal growth in my practice, and will remain a committed student of Yoga.
I teach a Vinyasa flow class, in which you will definitely find yourself in some variation of Virabhadrasana (Warrior), and more than likely a Surya Namaskara series, crafted into my sequences. My goal is to make class challenging, but accessible to all levels, bringing a greater awareness to body and mind. I also love Sanskrit, and the beauty of the language, so you will no doubt hear it in class. I will still mix up my left and my right, and laugh at myself when I make mistakes in my sequence, but I care deeply about the practice and those willing to practice with me.
Sheryl Gauthier
E-RYT500 & YACEP
From the first yoga class I took I was hooked. Being a person who finds it hard to sit
still, yoga gave the gift of quiet stillness. This gave me a newfound relationship and comfort with myself. I teach from my heart and believe that yoga is a personal experience for every student. My role is to create a space for every student to find what is inside of them and express that through their practice.
My training includes Yoga of the Heart Cardiac and Cancer Certification with Nischala Joy Devi which included over 100 hours in the specific application of Yoga for clients with Cardiac, Cancer and other life threatening diseases, 300 Hours of Yoga Therapy Training with Yoga Life Institute, 200 hours of training with Yoga NH. Other training includes Trauma Aware Yoga with Erin Byron, MA, Thai Yoga (bodywork) 101 and various workshops and classes with Karen Kenney, Thai Yoga 201 with Shai Plonski of Still Light Center in Toronto Canada, Yin Yoga training with Josh Summers, TIMBO training with Sue Jones of Yoga Hope, Child Light training as well as workshops with Beryl Binder Birch and Stacey Gibbons.
In 2013 I founded Yoga from the Heart to be able to share yoga. Everyone has experienced some sort of challenging situation in their life that has affected them deeply in one way or another. Through yoga one gets to know themselves better and on that journey to oneself amazing things happen. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to share yoga with others and I am truly grateful.
. For any questions regarding my classes or if you want to contact me directly my e-mail is Sheryl@yogafromtheheartnh.com.
Yoga from the Heart's purpose is to bring our love of yoga to the community of Laconia and surrounding areas. We will hold the space for anyone who comes to practice at Yoga from the Heart to feel comfortable and free to follow their own path on and off the mat.
Finding Your Path
Copyright © Yoga from the Heart. All Rights Reserved.
David Santucci
David Santucci, PhD, CIYT is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher who has studied Iyengar Yoga for more than 20 years. He completed a two-year teacher training program and regularly studies with Patricia Walden, one of the foremost Iyengar Yoga teachers in the world. He has traveled to India twice to study at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Pune. He currently serves as President of the Iyengar Yoga Association of New England. He has a PhD in Neuroscience and works in the biotech industry. David recently moved to the Lakes Region with his wife Kate, and the two of them recently had a new baby, Maeve.
Rosemary Shannon
E-RYT
Rosemary completed her yoga teacher training in 2005 and has been a Registered Yoga Teacher since 2006 and is currently at the E-RYT level. She has taught yoga in Gilford for the past 12 years. Her yoga teaching style is influenced by both Anusara and Kripalu yoga. She has studied with Todd Nurian, Rama Birch and Doug Swenson. Rosemary believes that yoga can benefit "every body" and "everybody". She infuses her classes with breath work, the Chakras and hand mudras with options for using several types of yoga props, including chair yoga.
Rosemary has been a lifelong runner, having completed one marathon and 4 half marathons, the most recent being the More Magazine Half Marathon in New York City's Central Park in April of 2013. She is retired from the State of New Hampshire and is married to Gary her husband of 45 years. They have three sons, a daughter-in-law and two beautiful grandchildren.
Susie Normandin
RYT500
After years of running, weight training, and spinning, my body was tight and plagued with injuries. I started to dabble in yoga classes at my local gym to “stretch”. After a few months, my body had less tightness and I felt less stressed. I was also learning to be aware of my body and my thoughts for the first time. I was learning how to take my yoga “off the mat” by incorporating the calmness and steadiness that I had been practicing in class to all aspects of my life. While all of this was happening (most of it without me really knowing it) I had this underlying urge to want to know more about this “thing” called yoga. This ultimately led me down the path to teaching and I have been guiding yoga classes since 2009. Off the mat I own and operate SereniThai Bodywork with Susie as well as work part-time in the medical billing field. I received my 200-hour yoga teaching certificate in July 2009 and my 500-hour certificate in December 2013, both from the YogaNH teacher training program. I completed Thai Yoga Massage training level 101 and 201 from the Still Light Centre in 2015. Besides my love of yoga, I enjoy spending time with my family and friends and being outdoors to soak up all of what nature has to offer. If you are wondering if Yoga is for you, please come to one of my classes. I promise the hardest part is walking through the door!
Our Teachers
Paul Lanni
My Yoga odyssey started in my mid-forties, late bloomer, after my wife Kim chased me to take a yoga class for two years. At that point I had been in the automotive repair industry for 25+ years and I was barely able to bend over and touch my knee caps. I thought "what is she thinking a decrepit mechanic doing yoga, I’ll look like an idiot", but I finally gave into my wife’s relentless pressure. Like so many before me I was hooked by that first class. Never again would my life be without Yoga. For me, the stress management aspect was a bigger draw than the physical, although I do believe yoga saved me from a second knee surgery. For 6 years I took as many classes from as many instructors and disciplines as I could, picking up bits and pieces along the way, filling up my yoga tool box. My “problem” as I saw it was I had not been able to develop a home practice. So I enrolled in a Hatha based 200 hour yoga teacher training with the sole hope of developing my home practice, even setup a yoga room with mirrors to perfect alignment. I never had the intention of teaching. I was already self-employed and over worked, besides yoga was all about me. I cherish the few hours every week where I could focus on nothing but self care. YTT was supposed to be the final piece to my home practice however my expectation and the outcome were way off, as my initial thought, me and yoga no way. So some eighteen months after training, I realized community is part of my practice that I can’t duplicate at home by myself. So I’ve abandoned the expectation of a self practice for teaching in this community I love so much. So to ANYONE thinking yoga isn’t accessible to me, come take a class with a 50+ year old, less decrepit auto mechanic it may just change your life! Lastly to my honey, you were right again!
Sara Ellerbeck
RYT200
Like most things in life, yoga found me at exactly the right moment. Having just graduated with a degree in dance, my body was tired and over worked. My nerves were fried from being in such a high pressure, high stress environment for so long. Yoga immediately gave me the feeling of “going home”. It was a chance to move, stretch and breath, all things I was used to, but in a way that actually was kind to my body and propelled me towards a self-awareness I had never experienced before. It started to unravel the ideas that I had to be ultra-thin to be valued and "work through the pain" in order to succeed....ideas that were forced on me daily as a dancer. In yoga I learned ideas like loving-kindness, gratitude, and self-acceptance and those ideas started to take their place and allowed me to start living my life in a kinder gentler way.
Outside of yoga I have passion for all things active. I love running, hiking, and CrossFit.
Yoga blew the doors of my life wide open and constantly reminds me that all experiences in life bring us opportunities to learn, grow and open our hearts to love. I completed my 200-hour RYT teacher training program through Yoga New Hampshire with my teachers, Beth-Aimee Labonte and Maureen Miller. I am so excited and look forward to sharing my love of yoga with others. My classes are Vinyassa Flow for all levels with a flair for the more active student.
Sherry Gardner
Sherry was introduced to yoga by relatives in Pakistan when she was a young child. She practiced off and on while growing up in Montreal and Brussels, but it was not until after she survived a life-threatening event in her late teens that she began to practice with steady dedication and to explore alternative medicine as a path to healing.
A student of Vipassana (Insight) meditation since 1987 and a certified Holistic Health Educator, Massage Therapist and Acupressure Practitioner since 1990, Sherry holds certification in Hatha Yoga, Yoga for Children with Special Needs, Mindfulness Yoga for Teens and Adults, Mindfulness Practice for Students on the Autism Spectrum, Trauma-Informed Yoga, and Zen Hospice. She has also received instruction in Pal Dan Gum, Tai Chi, and Qi Gong as well as in the YogaKids, Anusara, and Ashaya yoga teacher training programs. She teaches Yoga, Better Posture, Barre, and Rock Steady Boxing at the Downtown Gym in Laconia. She also offers private instruction one-on-one and in small group settings.
A longtime writer, artist, translator and editor, Sherry teaches French and Spanish. She also designs and teaches creative arts classes through the Winnipesaukee Playhouse’s Education Department, where, additionally, she has served as Stage Manager, Costumer, and Props Designer for many productions.
She and her husband own and operate Interarbor Solutions, a technology podcast business in Gilford, NH, where they live with their two teenage children and numerous pets. The entire family loves to travel and to get outside to hike, ski, swim, paddle and play as often as possible.
Linda Van Horn
Yoga practice has been an integral part of my life on and off for many years. Wherever I found myself geographically, an opportunity for yoga practice would present itself. As a recently retired educator I have enthusiastically resumed my practice with a commitment to myself! What started out so many years ago as a compliment to my running and weightlifting routine has evolved into a journey for my mind, body, and spirit.
I am presently completing my PYT200 in North Hampton, NH. I received my Reiki attunements in the early 90’s in Vancouver, B.C. and alongside that journey completed my certification as a massage therapist in 1996, working independently.
Life changes and years of travel in the early 2000’s gave me opportunities to continue helping others, and in doing so help myself. I moved to NH in 2019 after several years of traveling and immediately discovered Yoga From the Heart and the amazing people at the studio. I began taking classes and expanding my community at YFTH and the positive experiences and encouraging environment led me back to training.
Life has a way of providing each spirit with opportunities to grow and mature – so the studio, the inspiring teachers, and my personal journey have all led me here!