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Yoga

Parkside
Foundation
Meet Our Family

Jes Durham
Instructor
Jessica found yoga in 2011 and immediately felt aligned and connected with the practice. In 2019, she received her 200-hour training in Bali, Indonesia with a focus on vinyasa and hatha, and later received her 500-hour training in 2022 to include yin, yoga nidra, and other advanced practices.
Her teaching style includes the fundamentals of connecting movement, alignment, and breath, through a vinyasa flow with a balance of challenge and accessibility.
You can expect to be challenged in a safe way to recognize your strength and resiliency both on and off the mat, and leave feeling rewarded, empowered, and focused. Some experience recommended for class.

Danielle Byrd
Instuctor
Yoga saved my life! And it continues to save me. It has been my tool for peace in the midst of social anxiety, work stress, family worry, and a global pandemic. What I first thought was just stretching, has transformed me into a better version of myself. My body is stronger without injury, my mind is more focused, and my spirit has become more at peace and magnetic to other people.
I got certified in Vinyasa Flow Yoga in 2020 and launched Long Life Yoga in 2021, inspired by my first yoga teacher Bobby who lived into her 90s still fully functional. I teach adult community classes, kid’s classes for schools, transformational retreats, and online courses.

Jamie Monte
Instuctor
Yoga has influenced Jamie's life for over two decades. She received her teacher training from 8 Limbs Yoga Centers in Seattle in 2010. Her classes are filled with light-hearted energy, creative sequences, and breath awareness. Jamie encourages curiosity and playfulness to discover and
nurture connections within the physical and energetic bodies. She weaves Ayurvedic principles, pranayama, mantra, mudra, and Vedic stories through the movement practice to create a rich experience. The intention of her yin yoga classes is to explore mindfulness and support the
nervous system in quiet, passive poses. When you practice yin yoga, you create more harmony within your physical and energetic bodies, increasing your overall well-being. Her's is a devotional practice, and you will also be challenged to practice with intention and devotion to
your heart, body, and energy.

Nabil Alfahal
Instructor
Nabil has been practicing yoga for years. He received his 200-hour training in Bali, Indonesia with a focus on vinyasa in 2022.
Nabil loves to teach in a creative, fun, and challenging way, providing a welcoming space to experiment and explore your edges.

Sorren Cooke
Instructor
My name is Sorren Cooke and I love teaching at YPF!
I’m an adventure seeker who loves climbing mountains, camping and hiking. If I’m not doing those things I’m curled up at home with a book and my dogs.
Yoga is one of three things that have helped me feel safe in my body. It’s provided me with a basis of confidence, understanding and perspective during times of upheaval. I love teaching classes to help facilitate those things for others.
My classes focus on breath work and energy work. I’m an occupational therapist by trade and believe yoga can be for everyone, my classes are highly adaptable to provide a safe , inclusive environment for all.

Matt Monte
Instuctor
Matthew has been a lifelong student of myth, meditation, and philosophy.
He completed his teacher training with Noah Maze in 2020. Matthew's teaching style blends classical yoga disciplines. His classes are an upbeat and playful destruction of definitions and limitations, a
fearless and light-hearted exploration into ourselves.

Martha Hoff
Instuctor
Martha discovered yoga ten years ago as a way to calm the mind, reduce stress, and challenge the body. In 2019, she completed her 200-hour teacher training at Mind Body Flow Yoga,
specializing in vinyasa. Seeking a deeper understanding of flexibility and mobility, she pursued a 50-hour Yin Yoga training with Bernie Clark in 2021. That experience transformed her approach
to yoga, revealing the profound impact of slow, intentional movement—not just on physical flexibility but also on mental clarity and emotional grounding.
In her classes, Martha aims to create a balanced practice that blends strength, fluidity, and mindfulness, encouraging students to explore their unique range of motion with curiosity and
ease. When not on the mat, she enjoys long walks with her dog, running, skiing, kayaking, weaving, and baking for friends and family.

Keaton Thiel
Instuctor
Keaton’s authenticity and free-spiritedness form his distinct being and pronounced evergreen-like nature. Through his deeply rooted experiences, he has awakened to the call to serve others on their journey in the matters of the heart, mind, body, and soul.
Keaton completed his Yoga Alliance accredited 200-Hour Teacher Training in Western New York. Be guided to venture into the powerful 60-minute Vinyasa flow that focuses on foundational balance. His approach of integrating the breath into each moment can create a grounding and meditative experience within the physical flow of practicing the yoga limb of asana (postures).

Kristin Martin
Instuctor
Kristin is an outdoor enthusiast, educator, and passionate mother of two bright children. She finds her truth in the practice of yoga by offering guidance to reconnect with our inner strength, resilience, and true self.
She teaches a balance of Sol Power Flow and Yin yoga empowering others to rediscover their authenticity and wild spirits. Kristin also has a deep commitment to the transformative journey of motherhood and offers Prenatal & Mama Yoga with Empowerment Circles at YPF. Kristin creates a supportive space to reclaim power and embrace all life's journeys.

BreAnna Rice
Instructor
BreAnna was born and raised on the east side of Buffalo, NY. She is currently a PhD Candidate at UB and serves as Vice President on the Yoga Parkside Foundation board.
You’ll often see her in your yoga class either greeting or practicing along side you so be sure to ask her about anything you need help with at the studio !
Her research investigates how embodied practices such as yoga and pilates are crucial to the healing of the Black community.
BreAnna holds a 200+ hour Pilates mat and Reformer certification and received her 200 hour Vinyasa Yoga certification from Yoga Union Bali.
She aspires to make her classes fun, healing, and liberating ! Her favorite yoga pose is Half Moon. She believes that listening to one’s body and doing no harm (ahimsa) is crucial to one’s yoga practice. Her mantra is I Am (period).

Aileen Bown
Instuctor
Aileen believes that practicing yoga is one of the best things she does for herself. This led her to complete her yoga teacher training at the Ashville Yoga Center in Ashville, NC.
She teaches the importance of connecting with the breath, connecting breath with motion and letting the breath guide the practice.
Her slow flow vinyasa is like a moving meditation leading to a sense of ease, peace and freedom, both on the mat and off the mat.

Julie Lefler
Instuctor
Julie has been a yoga and meditation practitioner for over 25 years and has found these practices to be transformative, healing, life changing and ever evolving.
She received her 200 hour teacher training through the Himalayan Institute and her 300 hour training from Beryl Bender’s The Hard and The Soft Yoga Institute. Julie also has obtained Level 1 certification from The Baptiste Institute and Trauma Informed Children’s Yoga Teacher Training from Yogis In Service.
She has taught in local studios over the past 7 years and has led yoga and mindfulness classes to children, parents and teachers in the KenTon School District, where she recently retired from teaching kindergarten after 22 years.
Julie is looking forward to bringing healing, grounding, strength, flexibility and open hearted connection to her classes.

Kayla McEvoy
Instructor
I am a mom to a very cool little girl, two very wild German Shorthaired Pointers, and a US Army Veteran.
Yoga has given me the gift of personal growth and self-acceptance, and becoming a teacher has given me the ability to offer a welcoming and joyful practice to others.
I enjoy incorporating mindfulness practices and meditation into vinyasa-style classes for a holistic and grounding experience. I look forward to being your guide on the mat.
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Megan McClain-Kwacz
Instuctor
Megan is committed to teaching practices that help us reclaim and remember our common humanity...breathing, moving, gardening, meditation and yoga asana practice.
A devoted home practitioner who built her practice through 15 years of study with Buffalo teachers, she teaches to help empower others to learn how to apply yoga to their daily lives. Megan is a Buffalo native, works in the non-for-profit sector with kids and theater and loves Buffalo sports teams fiercely.

Shannon McCabe
Instuctor
Shannon is a certified 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) that brings her passion for yoga to life by helping her students seamlessly integrate it into their daily routines. Her classes are designed to leave participants feeling refreshed, revitalized, and full of energy. Beyond her dedication to yoga, Shannon enjoys exploring the great outdoors with her two beloved dogs, whether it's through invigorating walks or adventurous hikes. She also has a zest for travel, always eager to discover new places and experiences.

Jessie Mancuso
Instructor
Jessie started her yoga journey over 15 years ago, and began teaching in 2020. She believes in creating space for her students to go inward and listen to the mind and body through yoga poses, breath, and relaxation.
As she continues on this journey, she has learned you don’t do yoga, you live it. She is always looking for ways to embody that in her practice and in her teaching. Her passion is finding ways to calm the nervous system and release chronic stress in the body as well as making yoga available to everyone both financially and physically.

Joelle Salerno
Instructor
As a yoga student of 15+ years and an instructor since 2022, I love bringing yoga to my students. I have a 10-year background in health care which fuels my desire to encourage self-care and wellness in others.
I love bringing my students inward to listen to their physical bodies and answer with mindfulness. Making yoga accessible to everyone is my main mission as a teacher. Whether it's a vinyasa flow, restorative practice, or yin practice, I love every second of it!

Erin Gugliuzza
Instructor
A registered yoga teacher since 2015, I received my eRYT-200 at the Himalayan Institute in Buffalo, NY in 2015 and my RYT-500 in 2018. I have been practicing yoga and Pilates since 1997.
I also incorporate and am still exploring many other modalities of Yoga Philosophy and practice that fuses yoga, Asana, or Stretch through Myo-Skeletal Alignment Techniques that truly heal and help lengthen and strengthen.

Liz Vetrano
Kids Instructor
Liz is a lifelong yoga practitioner and mother who shares the benefits of yoga with her own child, as well as through the kids classes she teaches. She completed her 95-hour Children’s Yoga & Mindfulness training at the Omega Institute through Little Flower Yoga in 2017 and teaches Yoga For The Young Child and Yoga Adventures here at Parkside. Liz also completed an additional training through Kidding Around Yoga and is pursuing studies to become a certified KAY teacher-trainer. She completed her 200-hour training through Yogis In Service in 2019.
Interested in teaching with us?
Send us an email for more information and an application.
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