OUR TEACHERS
Kate Stenson, RYT-500, is the director of Nirvana Yoga. 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 June 2021.
Alan LeMoine, RYT-200, has been a devoted student of Nirvana Yoga for 7 years. His journey into yoga began while attending yoga classes taught by his spouse, Mary, who has been a yoga teacher for many years. He completed his 200 hour yoga teacher training this past year with Ruth Anne 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.
Anastasia Ezequelle, RYT-500, 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.
David Valade, RYT 200, discovered yoga early in his twenties and, after a long hiatus returned to the practice after missing the transformative power of yoga. Since 2005, he has maintained his practice at Nirvana Yoga. In 2019, David took his love of yoga to another level and completed RYT Yoga Teacher Training with Ruth Anne 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, Carol, stepdaughter, dog and two cats with occasional visits from their son and his girlfriend. He enjoys exploring and connecting with new places and 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.
Holly Allgaier, 300-hr RYT Holly trained with the Baptiste Institute in Philadelphia. As a former athlete, she fell in love with the physical challenge of hot power yoga. Holly is inspired by the simplicity and structure offered by yoga, and believes that anyone can benefit both physically and spiritually when they make yoga a 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 completed a 90-hour Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training at Yoga Center Amherst, building upon her own experience of practicing yoga while pregnant. 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.
Mary LeMoine, RYT-500, has been practicing yoga for 22 years. Her first class series was 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 a yoga class which Ruth Anne was teaching. Mary soon became a devoted daily yoga student. She attended her 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2010-2011 at Mama Nirvana’s New Yoga. Mary has since certified to teach Lakshmi Voelker Chair Yoga™, Love Your Brain Yoga, and Divine Sleep® Yoga Nidra. She has also attended many workshops of Ruth Anne’s, and Yoga for Scoliosis with Elise Browning Miller. Mary completed her 500HR advanced teacher training through the Karuna Center for Yoga and Healing Arts in June 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.
Susan Moore LMT, RCST, RYT-500, 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 all her classes, to support the journey of inner exploring, healing, and return to Self.
Ruth Anne Lundeberg, the founder of Mama Nirvana Yoga, was the owner and director for 20 years. She leaves a legacy of teaching over one hundred yoga teachers in the Pioneer Valley.
She will remain on the faculty as a guest teacher.
She will remain on the faculty as a guest teacher.