Danae Laura
Danae Laura (200hr) is a scholar, activist and teacher. She enjoys teaching beginners to build their practice, and advanced students to attune their sense of subtlety. Danae has been practicing yoga for over twenty years, and teaching for over ten. Since 2015, she has made a home at CHA, and appreciates practicing alongside employees and patients. Danae prides herself in retaining longterm students and developing bonds between students through a communal sense of purpose and practice.
Although an athlete, she teaches yoga from the perspective of all the benefits we gain from moving slowly and connecting deeply.
In 2022, Danae earned her M.A. at Lesley University in Mindfulness Studies, where she wrote her thesis on Healing Racial Injustice with Mindfulness Research, Training, & Practice. Since Fall 2023, she has served as the Executive Director of Copper Beech Institute (CBI). CBI is a mini-Kripalu in West Hartford, CT that, among other projects, partners with the Hemera Foundation to give people like yourselves in the care professions (as well as grad students, artists and veterans) merit-based scholarships to attend meditation retreats. Danae invites you to apply for your scholarship and join her this season!
Connect with Danae by email selfmadeyoga@gmail.com | Facebook @selfmadeyoga
Monia Fernandez
"Yoga for me is a practice. A practice of measure, discipline, fluidity & structure. This practice is a tool for me to allow myself to understand the dynamic of how I function as a human in this world. How I hold myself up, how I navigate. Without tools, there is no way to refine. So I use this practice to continue to refine. To take measures. To hold my ground well.
Using yoga as one of my many tools has been transformative for me throughout this experience with endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibromyalgia, ptsd & severe depression. The practice for me ranges between fluidity, grounding & structure. Fluidity when I need to move the waters and get a current going. Grounding when I need to root into my foundation, to hold myself up well. Structural when I need to recalibrate and realign.
I use these different practices to honor the fact that my body is not the same on any given day and sometimes, the level of discomfort I feel may be minor or maybe major - but my body & mind still deserves to move. I still deserve a practice. Chronic illness isn’t a punishment, it’s just a part of a whole mechanism that needs just a bit more love and attention."
Trauma-Informed Yoga Instructor & Somatic Integration Coach. Advocating for an individual's agency so that they can be seen and feel better within their own human experience. All while acknowledging the importance of being adaptable, while understanding that I will not change a person, but will refine the stories their bodies tell.
Trauma-Informed Somatic Integration Sessions range in offerings. These practices include but are not limited to myofascial release, body readings, postural alignment, mind body connection development. During these sessions I offer practices like yoga, pranayama (breathwork), journaling, art, yoga nidra & meditation practices. "These sessions are collaborative - I follow your lead!"
If you would like to work one on one with Monia please email her directly at yogainom@gmail.com. You can visit her website at yogainom.com or fill out this form to receive a free consultation.