We’re just a little bit proud of our excellent, highly credentialed, experienced, fun, and friendly teachers. Did we say we’re a little bit proud?

Helena McLoughlin
Nikki Saengcha
Misha Krepon
Marti Foster
Jen Accristo
Joni Yabut
Elena Milyukova
Kelsey Lyons
Liana Cohen
Celine Bakan
Nadja Villegas
Evangeline Ventura
Lindsey Sharpe

helena mcLoughlin
yoga | crave owner

Helena was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and moved to the Bay Area in 1990, where she discovered her true passion for wellness and teaching. With a 500-hour Yoga Teacher Certification, she has spent over a decade sharing her love of yoga and empowering students to connect more deeply with themselves. Motivated to create something more meaningful than a traditional studio, Helena founded Crave Yoga in 2021 with the vision of building a community where everyone feels seen, supported, and inspired to grow. Her teaching style blends authenticity, compassion, and a commitment to personal transformation. Helena’s mission is to create a welcoming space that fosters self-discovery, connection, and the joy of shared experiences both on and off the mat.

nikki saengcha (formerly nikki wong)
yoga

Nikki first discovered yoga in 2002 when her co-worker suggested it would help with her carpal tunnel syndrome. Since then, yoga has supported her through many life changes including multiple pregnancies, losing her jobs, chronic pain, multiple surgeries and rare diseases of cancer and tarlov cysts. Yoga helped her stay grounded, resilient and present through all the difficult situations. She’s witnessed how the power of yoga transformed her life and believes yoga is for everyone no matter your age, ability or circumstance. With nearly 20 years of experience teaching various yoga styles, you’ll find her sequences are a combination of traditional yoga postures that are often paired with functional movements, isometrics and other creative methods aimed to provide as many opportunities to connect to your body and move in various angles in order to keep your body strong, supple and functioning well.

misha krepon
yoga

Misha believes that yoga can be playful yet profound. She provides students with the opportunity to explore and find a deeper sense of calmness and clarity. In a supportive and fun environment, Misha focuses on the breath, strengthening the body, flexibility and balance. She ends each class with a deeply relaxing final rest. Misha’s intention is that each student leaves feeling better than when they walked in. 

Misha has been practicing yoga for 30 years and received her teacher training certification in the Himalayas in India. Also, she is certified as an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor.

marti foster
prenatal yoga | postnatal yoga | menopause yoga | prenatal teacher trainer

Born and raised in Los Altos, California, Marti passionately contributes to the community as a holistic health educator.

As a young child, she struggled physically with scoliosis, a painful lateral curvature in her spine— and through her early adolescence, yoga was prescribed to heal the debilitating condition.

Over many years of dedication and discipline with her yoga practice, the condition was completely cured. Through this life changing journey, Marti embodies the healing results yoga can bring to a life of joy and fulfillment. In 1994, Marti received advanced teaching credentials and devoted her life to teaching prenatal, postpartum, restorative, yin, and chair yoga as a full time career. In 2001, she curated the first prenatal and postpartum yoga program here in Mountain View. Currently, she is the lead Women’s Holistic Health Specialist at Healthy Pelvis Physical Therapy in Los Altos. In addition to being a senior certified teacher of yoga, Marti is a Level 4 Reiki Master and musician.

For those curious about learning the art of chanting, mantras and sound healing, Marti is available to support and guide you. At the core of her expertise is compassion, service, community and playfulness.

jen accristo
yoga | meditation | healing

Jen began her exploration of yoga in 1999 when preparing for the natural birth of her son, and after years of personal practice, became 200 hour RYT certified in 2019 through Peacebank Yoga. Jen has 15 years of personal and group fitness training experience, is a women's life coach, Reiki practitioner, trained at the Shamanic Academy under Rose Cole studying Guided Energy Medicine, holds a Black belt in Shaolin Kung Fu, is a plant medicine ceremony integration counselor, has certifications in breathwork, guided energy medicine, craniosacral massage, and is mindful meditation and sound healing guide. 

Jen’s goal is to be a healing presence for all those she practices with, and her classes are imbued with a welcoming vibe which creates an anchored space for spiritual communion with self and energetic reset from the stresses of life. She brings elements into her Yoga teaching from her years of holding space for others in her own holistic practice, touching on breath work, meditation, mindful movement, energy work, and sound healing. These elements all aid in regulating the nervous system, releasing stress and tension from the mind and body, encourage a flow of positive neurochemistry, bringing about a sense of well-being, grounding, and lightness. Jen considers it her life path to be of service, and has a deep love of stewarding the sacred work of holding space for yogic practice. Her wish is for each student to leave class feeling peaceful, centered, and for this serenity to expand into every area of life.

joni yabut
yoga | meditation | reiki

Joni’s yoga journey began in 2011 as a way to bring clarity and reflection into her fitness and daily life. With over a decade of teaching experience, she infuses mindfulness into her classes, having taught students of all ages across the Bay Area since completing her 200-Hour YTT in 2019. As Site Director for the Art of Yoga Project, she empowers marginalized youth through yoga and expressive arts.

A founding teacher at Crave, Joni also became certified as a Reiki Practitioner and continues her path of healing here. Specializing in Slow Flow and Vinyasa, she emphasizes mobility, therapeutic movement, and meditative breathwork. Joni inspires her students to listen to their bodies, release judgment, and cultivate compassionate curiosity to reconnect with their inner light.

elena milyukova
yoga

Elena was introduced to the fascinating world of yoga 15 years ago. During summer vacation Elena's daughter Stacy took yoga classes at Foothill College. Stacy enjoyed yoga classes and demonstrated her proficiency in yoga, which invoked Elena's interest in yoga. She remembers herself looking at the asana pictures in books and on-line and thinking, "Wow! I want to perform these beautiful poses too."

Elena started practicing yoga poses from yoga books and later took classes at local yoga studios. She studied the whole spectrum of yoga art - philosophy, pranayama, chanting, and meditation. When she realized passion to share her knowledge and love for yoga, she graduated from the Avalon Teacher Training program in Palo Alto. Later, she enrolled in a Sufi school and learned Sufi meditation techniques to help improve her classes. After more than 10 years of teaching Elena is well-known and loved by many students in the Bay Area. 

Elena lives in Cupertino, California with her family, loving husband Andrey and two beautiful daughters. She feels much love for them as they support her in this path. Elena has a Master's in Computer Science from Russia and Degree in Accounting which she received in the United States. She also loves horses and rides several times a week.

kelsey lyons
yoga

Kelsey found yoga in her late teens after trying, what felt like everything, to heal from chronic pain and illness. Yoga was Kelsey’s doorway into deep and profound healing. Five years later, thanks to yoga, meditation and reiki, she is free from all chronic pain and illness. Kelsey’s life mission is to share these invaluable tools with the yoga community and beyond. 

Kelsey is a yoga teacher, meditation teacher, reiki master, holistic healer, and lifelong student at heart. In her classes she focuses on fostering loving kindness for all the parts of ourselves. She believes love is at the core of healing and that each of us is already whole. It is through the power of love that we come into divine remembrance of the innate wholeness of the innate healing that lives always within each and every soul.

Liana Cohen
yoga

Like many yoga practitioners, Liana first fell in love with the asana side of yoga. Having never been an “athlete,” she enjoyed surprising herself with what she could do and found there really is power in her body! As she delved deeper into the spiritual practice, Liana discovered the healing effects yoga has on the mind. In 2015, Liana became a 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) in Portland, Oregon. She believes we are all capable of any pose with practice, and feels privileged to show people what they can do when they give themselves permission. Liana has taught a range of yoga classes including gentle, flow, pre-natal, and mommy and baby, but her favorite is creatively-sequenced, challenging power vinyasa. When she isn't practicing in the studio, Liana loves hiking among the redwoods with her husband and two kids.

celine bakan
yoga

Originally from France, Celine made California her home twelve years ago, bringing with her a blend of warmth, openness, and a passion for growth. She discovered yoga soon after her arrival and was immediately captivated, making it an essential part of her life. In 2017, Celine’s journey evolved as she embraced teaching, driven by a desire to deepen her practice and share the transformative power of yoga with others. Her classes offer a welcoming space where students are encouraged to explore, grow, and connect with themselves. Celine is dedicated to guiding her students toward a fuller, more connected experience, helping them unlock yoga’s many benefits for mind, body, and spirit.

nadja villegas
yoga | meditation

Nadja is a wellness and holistic coach, TCM and Acupuncture Masters student, Yoga Alliance certified E-RYT and RPYT with over 1000 hours of advance training and a YACEP. She specializes in Yin Yoga, Gentle and Restorative, Meditation (Certified CTTA), Breathwork, and functional yoga for mobility. She integrates multiple aspects of yoga including Pranayama, Mudra, Meditation and Trauma Sensitive Yoga to help her students transform physically and mentally. Off the mat, Nadja enjoys drinking tea, gardening, and spending quality time with her two hairless cats.

evangeline “vangie” ventura
restorative yoga

Evangeline “Vangie “ Ventura, completed the 200 hour Avalon Yoga teacher program in the fall of 2016. She specializes in teaching traditional Restorative Yoga classes, as well as her signature class that combines traditional yoga asanas with a strong Yin element along with functional physical therapy rehab exercises (Yang). She’s a California board certified physical therapist practicing in outpatient orthopedics clinics since 2002. Vangie's love of Restorative Yoga developed under her teacher, Janya Wongsopa, whose classes were a portal to experiences of profound meditative and blissful states. Nothing is more fulfilling for her than sharing the practice of Restorative Yoga for students to experience for themselves the healing power of a well regulated and balanced sympathetic (yang) and parasympathetic (yin) nervous systems.

Lindsey Sharpe
yoga

Lindsey’s yoga journey began as an outlet for stress relief as a graduate student in Austin, TX. She instantly fell in love with the opportunity yoga provides to connect with our breath, the euphoria of getting upside down, and perhaps most of all, the incredible communities that are built along the way. By creating a dedicated space to reflect and recalibrate body and mind, Lindsey believes yoga can be a transformative tool to feel like our best selves in all areas of life.

Lindsey has practiced yoga for over 10 years, while teaching for the last five years. With a foundation in power yoga and secondary training in the physical-therapy-informed LYT style of yoga, you can expect her classes to blend fun, challenging, and grounding elements. Her goal is to help students move with more strength, control, and ease - and for each student to leave each class feeling better than when they walked in.