Cathy Humphries started teaching yoga in 2010 and enjoys exploring the many ways asanas can be utilized by all students.

1. How did you get started with yoga?
I took my first yoga class in a gym in Saddle Brook NJ at a community class taught by a sweet woman.  I left the class feeling the effects of the deeper belly breath we used and having stretched what felt like every muscle.  I was amazed at how different my body felt after doing these simple movements and even more happy for how calm I felt.

 2. What got you hooked?
The way I felt physically and emotionally at the end of yoga class hooked me. 

3. What’s one of your favorite poses and why?
This changes all the time for me.  Lately, hip openers are my favorites like high lunge moving to standing balancing poses.  I love balancing poses because of the way I experience wonderful slow-down in my thoughts.  

4. What makes a private studio different/better than a yoga class at the gym?
I’m drawn to teachers for their wonderful different qualities.  I’ve experienced such amazing teachers in studios that I prefer them over the experience I’ve had in gyms.

5. For someone who’s never tried yoga before, what are the main benefits they may gain from practicing it?
The most immediate benefits are to the mind and stress response.  After the first yoga class notice how you feel for having experienced deeper breathing down into your belly and getting out of shallow breathing only into the chest.  It also helps to release tension in the body and this feels really great to sweat a little and to release things you may be thinking about from your day.

6. What styles of yoga do you teach? Besides the style you teach, is there any other you enjoy? 
I enjoy taking and teaching vinyasa or flowing yoga asana.  I combine that with attention to alignment and the safety of my students.  I have experienced many styles of yoga and the alignment-based and organic movement both appeal to me.  They may sound like opposites but I find both are all about feeling complete and relaxed in your body with whatever challenges exist for you.  I love working with what is in our bodies in yoga asana practice so that we can be more aware and able to be there comfortably in time. 

7. Do you do anything else to stay in shape?
I love hiking or nature walks or just walks I can fit into my day.  I do interval workouts.  I especially enjoy pilates for the amazing feeling of accomplishment I get after every class plus quickly over time I feel stronger.

8. Who inspires you to stay motivated? How often do you practice when you are not teaching?
Friends, fellow yoga students and sometimes my husband says I won’t do something and that means for sure I’m gonna do it.

9. How seriously do you take nutrition?
Very and not at all.  As humans, we are filled with dichotomy.  I know very well what I should be eating.  Do I always do it?  Not at all.  I enjoy the amazing fresh veggies we can get year-round.  I do what I enjoy so I eat lots of fresh veg and fruit all the time.  I come and I go with the wonderful treats of NJ.

10. What’s an interesting fact about yourself that others may not know?
I like music and listening to it has helped me through some unfun times and been a good part of fun times.  I have gone to the folk festival in Newport, RI several years in a row.  I like lots of kinds of music including Blue Grass and others.  My sister and I used to make up skits and act them out like a precursor to music videos to The Grass Roots and Kiss’ album Rock and Roll All Over.  TMI?  Turn me on to a new singer or band and make my day. 

11. Please tell us more about the class you teach at Studio 108.
I’m teaching an open vinyasa flow class great for many levels of practitioners starting at 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays, alternating every other Saturday with Sara Asher.  I try to listen to what’s happening around me and to be a channel to the yoga as I teach any yoga asana class.  I guide students in how to work the practice of asana for a calm mind and relaxed body.  I enjoy getting inspiration from the seasons, weather and energy of my students for a well-rounded asana practice.  I care about the variety of levels of experience present in all classes so I offer options to make the practice correct for many levels of practitioners. 

Jennifer Miranda

Jenn took her very first yoga class in 2012 while searching for a fitness
routine that would improve her strength and flexibility. After that first class,
she got hooked. Yoga changed her life not only because of the physical
benefits of doing yoga but she also discovered that yoga has greatly improved
her mental focus and self-awareness. Because of this, she decided to share
her practice with others. Jenn completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training
in April 2017 and is a registered yoga instructor (RYT-200) with the Yoga
Alliance.

Jenn’s ultimate goal as a yoga teacher is to lead students towards a deeper
level of physical fitness and healthy lifestyle along with mental peace. She
loves to help beginners feel comfortable in their practice and learn essential
postures while motivating and challenging the more experienced yogis and
ensuring a safe practice for everyone. Maintaining her own personal practice
while learning and gaining inspiration from other yogis enables her to design
innovative, energetic, and fun sequences that are fit for all levels.

Jenn is also a professional portrait photographer and her love of both yoga
and photography paved the way for Yoga Photography. The skills she has
acquired over the years allow her to best capture yogis demonstrating beauty,
strength, and grace through movement.

Carrie Del Purgatorio

Carrie has had a consistent, daily, at-home yoga and meditation practice for many years and was finally inspired to take her love of yoga to the next level and embark on teacher training in 2022. She enjoys teaching a more powerful yoga flow with a strong focus on breathing. Carrie firmly believes that a little self-love goes a long way, and she feels extremely grateful to be able to share her practice with people.

Camille Alonso

Camille is a Holistic Health Coach, 235RYT (235 hour Registered Yoga Teacher),
Mindfulness Meditation Teacher, and former Pastry Chef. She received her 200RYT at Indigo Yoga in 2018 and studied meditation at Kripalu in 2019. She then earned her Integrate Nutrition Health Coach Certification at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

She is also a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America with a Bachelors in Baking Pastry Arts and Business Administration. Camille began her yoga and meditation practice in 2009 when she was dealing with chronic panic attacks. She found that through mindfulness practices she could feel like herself again. She is now inspired to guide clients through a relaxing and peaceful practice and leave them with tools to help manage stress and anxiety.

Theresa Conlon

Theresa is a Yoga Alliance certified instructor (200-hour RYT) who has been teaching since 2013. She is skilled in various yoga styles including Hatha, Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow, Restorative, and Meditation. Theresa also brings an extensive dance background to her yoga practice, which includes teaching both modern dance and ballet. She has over 40 years of dance/theater performing experience and currently showcases her choreography as part of Bergen Dance Makers, a dance collective in northern New Jersey. Theresa’s yoga classes offer a calming mix of traditional asana postures and creative movement flows, supported by energy-moving breath. Students of all skill levels are invited to find ease and peace in their bodies/minds/spirits through the joyful bliss of yoga movement.

Carrie Parker Gastelu

Carrie Parker Gastelu, E-500 RYT, has been teaching yoga since 1993. Carrie began her journey when Yogi Raj Mani Finger initiated Carrie into the ISHTA Yoga lineage after training with Mani’s son, Yogi Raj Alan Finger. In addition, she has studied many other yoga traditions as well as anatomy, physiology, movement, and awareness practices to create an eclectic style all her own. She is known for her honest, non-dogmatic yet passionate approach.

Carrie is a regular speaker and contributor at conferences, websites, and print publications and has been featured in Fit Magazine, the Yoga Zone Book, and in the Yoga Zone Video, “Flexibility and Stress Release.”

Lisa Podesta-Coombs

When Lisa found yoga in 2008, she started to find herself again and it set her on a path of health and healing. She received her 200HR RYT certification from Raji Thron of Yoga Synthesis, and her 30HR Chakra Yoga Teacher Training certificate with Anodea Judith and holds a Y12SR (Yoga of 12 Step Recovery) certification. She is also a Holistic Health Coach (certified through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition). Lisa believes we’re all on a journey of learning how to trust ourselves; she helps her clients build that trust by supporting them in creating better habits for a better life through various functional movement modalities like yoga, barre, Pilates & strength training, mindset, and whole food nutrition.

Forever a student with a passion for people, holistic health, and self-actualization, Lisa is always embracing opportunities to advance her education to better serve; Ayurveda workshops & immersions have been of particular interest as she continues to deepen her knowledge of and experience with food as medicine and she recently completed Unleash Her Power Within, a transformational program of rediscovering our truest selves, powered by Tony Robbins.  

As she continues to give herself space and grace to nourish her natural self and actualize her potential, Lisa continues to share the gift of movement as medicine to inspire authenticity & health in body, mind, and spirit. You can expect mindful, accessible, dynamic, playful, and uplifting classes from Lisa.

Roberto Reynoso

Roberto Reynoso completed basic training in 2017 at Jaipure Yoga in Montclair. The training was Hatha Vinyasa based. Roberto has created his own style from the various styles of yoga he has loved practicing. He is well-versed in Iyengar, Vinyasa, and Restorative Yoga. He hopes to teach poses and themes in each class that inform, challenge, and guide students toward a better understanding of how to make the shapes and the anatomy behind the poses. He hopes to help students find more space when they leave and also hopes to help people grow in awareness through breath, alignment, and movement.