Instructors
Nancy Williams
Nancy received her 500 hour professional level yoga teacher certification from the Kripalu Centre for Yoga and Health near Lenox, Massachusetts. Kripalu yoga is known as the yoga of compassion, and is a way to integrate body, mind and spirit through opening to the wisdom of the body. Nancy has taught yoga with The Yoga Connection since 2001, and has earned an additional 500 hour professional level certification in Integrative Yoga Therapy. She holds certification in teaching Yoga Nidra with Richard Miller, Yoga 4 Cancer with Tari Prinster , Restorative Yoga with Judith Lasater, Breath~Body~Mind with Richard Brown, MD and Patricia Gerbarg, MD, Let Your Yoga Dance and Zumba Gold. Nancy has also completed 40 hours of training in Trauma Sensitive Yoga with the Trauma Centre Yoga Program, Brookline Massachusetts. Nancy is certified as a Mindfulness Meditation teacher, having completed a 2 year program in teaching Vipassana meditation, led by Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield.
Karen Smereka
A sore lower back started Karen’s yoga journey 29 years ago. After studying astanga and various other styles of yoga for ten years, she discovered Anusara yoga. and completed her Level I Anusara teacher training at Yoga Sanctuary in Northampton Massachusetts . Since then, confusion over lack of progress (doing the same thing over and over again with no change) and watching yoga students develop Sacroiliac discomfort, shoulder pain, chronically tight hamstrings etc. while doing yoga, led Karen down a different yoga pathway. After studying with Susi Hately, Jill Miller (Karen has her Yoga Tune Up certification), Donna Farhi, Amy Mathews of the Breathing Project, Thomas Myers (Anatomy Trains), Liz Koch (The Psoas), among others, Karen now teaches yoga classes that have therapeutic overtone, are slow, gentle, and generally aim to create movement without compensation, and develop ease while building strength. Karen steers away from using force or building strength on top of tension. Karen's classes promote motor learning where students are encouraged to learn new movement habits and set up new neural pathways rather than to perform asana based postures.
Monica Dando
Monica began her yoga practice to help alleviate neck and back pain and found a practice that also calmed her mind and energized the body. To deepen her understanding and knowledge of hatha yoga, she completed her Yoga Alliance accredited 200 hour teacher training at the Yoga Station in 2011. The experience inspired her to continue to learn and she regularly attends workshops and conferences. Monica hopes she is able to share her love of the practice with those who attend her classes.