At Lotus Yoga, you’ll find more than a yoga practice. You’ll find yourself.

Our Kripalu-certified teachers guide you through a flow of movement and mindfulness that benefit the body and the mind. Our goal isn’t simply physical exercise, and it’s not the attainment of a perfect downward dog, either. It’s to provide a calm space where you can shed what’s happening in the outside world, tune into yourself and unwind. At the end of each class, we want you to walk away from your mat with tools you can use throughout your life.

 

About Our Instructors

Melissa Little, Director

When Melissa opened Lotus Yoga in 2006, she wanted to create space that honored the combination of movement and mindfulness that forms the core of a yoga practice, a place where students of all experience levels and abilities could come to not just strengthen their practice, but deepen it. Over the years, Lotus Yoga has grown into a thriving studio that’s never strayed from its simple yet powerful values.

Melissa has been teaching yoga since 2002. She earned both her 200- and 500-hour professional yoga trainings from Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. She is certified in prenatal yoga, advanced anatomy, Shiva Rea’s Advanced Vinyasa Yoga, and she continues to enhance her knowledge through continuing education. Melissa is a 500-hour registered yoga teacher with the nationally renowned Yoga Alliance and is also a Reiki Level 2 practitioner.

Melissa has been a visiting instructor at Kripalu, an adjunct instructor of yoga at Manchester Community College, and, in addition to her classes at Lotus, she currently teaches yoga at the Manchester Senior Center.

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Vicky Hannon

Vicky is a certified Kripalu yoga instructor and Let Your Yoga Dance instructor. She considers herself a tour guide for students on their own journey through yoga.

Vicky has been a student of yoga for nearly 20 years. She currently serves as an adjunct professor at Manchester Community College, and teaches classes and workshops throughout Connecticut. In addition, she is a Certified Reflexologist, Level III Reiki Master, mother of two, puppeteer, singer and songwriter.

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Sarah Malinoski

Sarah, Certified Kripalu Yoga Instructor,  has been teaching at Lotus Yoga for the past ten years. She completed her 200-hour training at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and has continued her yoga studies with certifications in prenatal and chair yoga.  She is continually inspired by yoga’s transformative power and invites all students to relax, have fun, and be open to yoga’s gifts.  Sarah’s classes are based on the unique needs of the group as she creates a safe and accessible yoga practice for all.

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Susan Motycka

Susan is Kripalu-certified teacher who has been teaching for almost 20 years. She invites her students to join her in a class where they can travel inside, realizing the benefits of both the strength and calm of their yoga practice. She has background in teaching yoga for osteoporosis. For a few months each year, she also teaches yoga at a predominantly Kripalu studio in Mississippi. Susan continues to grow as a teacher and actively seeks knowledge from fellow Kripalu teachers and mentors.

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Judie McKenna

Judie is a 2015 graduate of Kripalu Restorative Yoga Teacher Training with Sudha Carolyn Lundeen. She resonates deeply with practice of Restorative Yoga, and the opportunity to gently release physical tension, ease stress and access inner wisdom.

Judie’s classes feature breathwork, asana, silent and guided meditation and relaxation, all done in stillness with the goal that the posture is both steady and sweet.

Judie has her 200-hour training from River Rock Yoga and Wellness, is a Usui Reiki 2 practitioner and is a student of Structural Yoga Kinesiology, Therapeutic Yoga and irest Yoga Nidra.

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Amy Evans

Now in her ninth year of teaching yoga, Amy has studied many different traditions with many different teachers, but always comes back to Kripalu Yoga. In addition to teaching at Lotus, she also teaches for the Tolland Recreation Department and recently completed her 200-hour Kripalu yoga teacher training.

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Is Yoga Right For You?

Yoga brings benefits to everyone: any age, background or ability level. While the obvious benefits involve physical fitness, that’s just the beginning of what yoga can do for you.

Yoga helps:

Check out our class schedule and start getting the benefits of yoga now.