OUR TEACHERS
Kate Stenson, E-RYT-500: Kate has been the director of Nirvana Yoga since 2020. She started taking yoga classes in 1996 to carve out time for herself as a new mom. Her interest grew over the years and she graduated from Mama Nirvana’s Teacher Training in 2009. Over the past decade, Kate has developed a unique and creative style, incorporating humor and a graceful approach in all her classes. She strives to support each class member in reaching their optimal experience, and looks for ways to make more challenging poses accessible to all levels. She continues to deepen her own practice and completed her 500HR advanced teacher training through the Karuna Center for Yoga and Healing Arts in 2021.
Mary LeMoine, RYT-500: Mary has been practicing yoga for over 20 years. Her first classes were with Puja Sue Flamm in Northampton. With a full time job as an Applications Analyst and two active daughters, attending yoga classes provided Mary with movement, strength and peace. In 2006 when her youngest daughter broke her foot at a dance competition, she and her daughter decided to attend yoga classes. She completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2011 at Mama Nirvana’s New Yoga. Mary is also certified to teach Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga™, Love Your Brain Yoga, and Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra and studied Yoga for Scoliosis with Elise Browning Miller. Mary completed her 500 hour advanced teacher training through the Karuna Center for Yoga and Healing Arts in 2021. Mary feels the importance of keeping the body moving, the mind calm, and is honored to share this with students. She has a certificate in Interior Design, is an avid photographer, enjoys gardening, biking, hiking, and loves spending time with family and friends.
Anastasia Ezequelle, RYT-500: Anastasia has been practicing various styles of yoga for over a decade but her dedication to the practice deepened when she took an Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga class in 2013 at Miami Life Center, where she continued to practice under the guidance of Patrick Nolan. She soon learned that Yoga has its roots in spirituality and was more than a physical discipline but a quest for self inquiry. She has maintained a regular Ashtanga Yoga practice ever sense. Anastasia obtained her 200-hour teaching certification in 2015 at Corpo Yoga, and her 300-hour training in 2019 with Beryl Bender Birch through The Hard & The Soft Yoga Institute. She continues her studies by learning from senior Ashtanga Yoga teachers who have a deep knowledge and respect for the lineage.
Holly Allgaier, RYT-300: Holly trained with the Baptiste Institute in Philadelphia. As a former athlete, she fell in love with the physical challenge of power yoga. Holly is inspired by the simple structure of yoga, and believes that anyone can benefit both physically and spiritually when they make yoga part of their daily life. During her first pregnancy in 2018, Holly spent time figuring out how to keep herself and baby safe while maintaining a yoga practice. She then completed her Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training at the Amherst Yoga Center, while pregnant with her second baby. She loves learning more about everyone’s unique pregnancy, the prenatal and postpartum time, and how to best support moms during their individual journey. When she’s not practicing yoga, Holly enjoys getting outside with her husband and two kiddos, by simply playing in the yard or trips to the beach, grilling, gardening, hiking and campfires.
David Valade, RYT-200: David discovered yoga early in his twenties and returned to the practice in 2005 after missing the transformative power of yoga. In 2019, David took his love of yoga to another level and completed his Yoga Teacher Training at Nirvana Yoga. As a former middle school ESL teacher, David combines his passions for language, justice, and equity working at the state level supporting multilingual learners, families, and teachers. David lives with his wife, stepdaughter, dog and two cats with occasional visits from their son and his girlfriend. He enjoys exploring new places and connecting with new people through traveling, hiking, and kayaking. Each time David steps on the mat, he approaches yoga with the beginner’s mind and looks forward to sharing that experience as a yoga teacher.
Emily Graves, RYT-200: Emily started practicing yoga from a young age to foster a sense of relaxation, stillness, and stress relief. Since then, yoga has been a constant in her life, always serving as a way to come home to herself. After a tough year for her mental health, Emily pursued a path to live in alignment with her passion for connecting with people, the natural world, and inspiring positive change. She became a certified 200 Hour Yoga Teach through Yoga Hive Colorado in 2021. She is honored to offer her students the opportunity to live in the present moment by connecting mind, body, and breath.
Susan Moore LMT, RCST, RYT-500: Susan is a craniosacral therapist and yoga teacher. She came to yoga after more than two decades of martial arts and tai chi study. In yoga, she found the opportunity to express the strength and agility of martial arts while exploring yoga’s subtle practices of mind and breath. She earned her 200-hour yoga certification in 2013 from Mama Nirvana's New Yoga, and her 300-hour Advanced Teacher of Therapeutic Yoga through Integrative Yoga Therapy with Joseph Le Page. Additionally she is a Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator with the Center for Trauma and Embodiment, and kinesiology instructor at The Massage School. Susan is dedicated to creating an experience of safety and autonomy in her classes, and supports the journey of inner exploring and healing.
Alan LeMoine, RYT-200: Alan has been a devoted student of Nirvana Yoga since 2013. His journey into yoga began while attending yoga classes with his wife, Mary, who has been a yoga teacher since 2011. He completed his 200 hour teacher training in 2019 with Ruth Anne Lundeberg at Nirvana Yoga, and found the experience to be life changing. Alan looks forward to inspiring students in the practice of yoga. In his spare time he enjoys biking, hiking, and spending time outdoors with friends and family.
Ruth Anne Lundeberg, was the owner and director for 20 years. She leaves a legacy of teaching over one hundred yoga teachers in the Pioneer Valley. You can now find her at Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy of Western New England.