Highly trained and experienced
To use the many tools of yoga competently, effectively, and appropriately, all HYF teachers have undergone rigorous training and internships. Each teacher is specifically trained and tested in the holistic model of yoga to address the needs of the individual physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Teachers are experienced in observation skills, modification, appropriate sequencing of postures, and therapeutic application. In addition, every teacher maintains a personal practice and an ongoing relationship with a mentor.
Kate Holcombe
Founder and Director
Location: San Francisco, California (either in Kate’s studio or home visits in the Bay Area). Also available for philosophy, mentoring, and consultation via phone and online.
Training/Credentials: E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, YACEP, and personal study with TKV Desikachar
Areas of Specialization: The practical application of the Yogasūtra and yoga philosophy, Sanskrit, Vedic chanting, personalized yoga therapy for those facing a wide range of health concerns, cancer support, specialized populations, mentoring for professional and personal growth and transformation
Interests: Spending time with her family, writing, being outdoors, the ocean, travel
Personal Mission: To pass along the teachings she’s been lucky to receive so that all feel supported and empowered to live more fully, freely, and connected with our authentic, true self.
Angela Madonia
Community outreach coordinator
Location: Berkeley, California, Bay Area, and via phone and online
Training/Credentials: 200-hour yoga teacher training, Yoga Vermont; 500-hour therapeutic yoga teacher training, Healing Yoga Foundation (HYF); Foundations of Yoga Therapy, HYF; 75-hour cancer support training, HYF/Commonweal
Areas of specialization: Those living with cancer, prenatal/postnatal, children and families, mental health, eating disorders, homeless women, domestic violence survivors, creative self-care and personal transformation
Interests: Being in nature, making art with her family
Personal mission: Angela is committed to making the practices of yoga and mindfulness accessible and inclusive. She has taught in yoga studios, community centers, libraries, prisons, homeless shelters, clinics, nonprofit organizations, schools and treatment centers. In all of these settings, Angela believes in the value of applying ancient tools to modern life.
Website: Angela Madonia Yoga
Lizzie Nichols
HYF co-founder and former co-director
Location: San Francisco, California
Training and credentials: M.A. in counseling and psychology, LMFT, 500-hour Yoga teacher training through Healing Yoga Foundation
Areas of Specialization: Facilitating small groups in clinical settings for patients, caregivers and their families facing diabetes, cancer, and a wide range of health concerns
Interests: Lizzy enjoys hiking and spending time outdoors with her husband and son.
Personal Mission: With a focus on empowerment and ease, Lizzie works with individuals who are navigating the emotional landscape of managing chronic health concerns including pre-diabetes, diabetes, pain management, and cancer.
Molly Armour
Location: Boulder, Colorado and Jackson, Wyoming. Also available for private consultations, for philosophy study, yoga therapy, and mentor classes via phone or online.
Training/Credentials: C-IAYT, 500-hour teacher training at Healing Yoga Foundation
Areas of specialization: Small group classes for general health, stress reduction, and specialized populations. Weaving the Yogasūtra of Patanjali into real-life with students. One-on-one mentorship and sessions in yoga therapy, creating personal practices, reflective writing as practice, ritual as practice, chanting, and mantra.
Personal Mission: Molly aims to deliver the tools of yoga efficiently so people are empowered to support their autonomic nervous system through the vehicle of breath and attention. It’s Molly’s mission to reinvigorate the power and truth of yoga that resides within each person.
Website: Molly Armour Yoga
Becky Deano
Location: Mandeville, Louisiana (along Lake Pontchartrain, just north of New Orleans)
Training/Credentials: LPC, C-IAYT
Areas of specialization: Mental health and spirituality. The majority of Becky’s practice is as a yoga therapist. She mentors other yoga teachers and therapists and works with clients who have mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.
Interests: Becky has spent several decades passionately studying dreams and exploring spirituality, which informs her practice. Love of both spills out into her group classes: one on Yogasūtra and another on yoga for spiritual connection. She also enjoys travel, sunsets, politics/economics, dreams, Jungian psychology, cooking, spiritual philosophy, family, cooking, and a wee bit of gardening.
Personal mission: To walk with and beside those who are exploring meaning in their life, who are interested in better understanding themselves, and who have a curiosity about their spiritual connection.
Website: Becky Deano
Stacy Lawson
Location: Seattle, Washington and anywhere else via Zoom
Training/Credentials: MA in adult education, 500 E-RYT, CYT
Areas of Specialization: Gentle but deep yoga asana, philosophy, and meditation with an emphasis on therapeutic practice.
Interests: Family (including her dog), weaving, knitting, reading, writing, walking, dancing, music, politics, baking, cooking, talking to friends
Mission: To practice, teach, and live yoga to the best of my ability while maintaining a sense of humor and perspective
Website: Red Square Yoga
Jennifer Rault
Location: Ft. Worth, Texas; Shreveport, Louisiana, and anywhere else via Zoom
Training/credentials: Jen trained with her first teacher, Tiffany Conner, and continues her studies with Kate Holcombe. She received her 500-hour certification through Yoga Well Institute.
Areas of Specialization: The Yogasūtra, individualized one-on-one work with students, chant
Interests: Yoga philosophy, being outside, travel, art, reading, cooking, and dance parties with my husband and two young sons.
Personal mission: I hope to pay forward the life-changing tools that were shared with me and to find, connect with, support, and be supported by those that speak my language, seek to connect deeply, and live honestly and fully.
Website: Yoga Sanga
Email: jmrault@yahoo.com
Dhurga Reddy
Location: Irvine, California
Training/Credentials: 500-hour certified yoga teacher, naturopathic doctor
Area of specialization: Women’s health. Dhurga has an integrative and holistic primary care practice, and works with patients of all ages. She strives to use the safest, most effective tools to helping her patients, ranging from herbs to asana, and pharmaceuticals to simply holding space.
Interests: Exploring the outdoors with her toddlers, chanting, anti-inflammatory cooking, books
Personal mission: To support individuals on their health journeys by using her knowledge of the intricate and interconnected workings of the human body. Dhurga hopes to inspire her students and patients to overcome health challenges, to live mindfully, and to thrive by empowering them with information and providing them with compassion.
Website: Orange County Naturopathic
Jen Ripa
Location: Ridgefield, Conneticut, and online
Training/Credentials: Reiki master, 200-hour certified kundalini yoga teacher, 200-hour certified Vinyasa yoga teacher, certified health and life coach, gong and meditation teacher
Areas of Specialization: Grief and loss, creating life shifts, birthing large projects or life dreams
Interests: Yoga and meditation, energy healing, essential oils, journaling, writing, painting, running, hiking, cooking, gardening, spending time with her boys and dog
Personal Mission: To support people to connect deeply with, and live from, the yearnings of their souls. When people connect with the abundance of joy that is their natural state of being, they can work through difficult circumstances and create powerful change in their lives.
Website: Thrivologie
