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
Blu High
Nicole Lau
Hannah Boggan
Katya Solar
Larisa Perez
Elena Milyukova
Maeve Kavanagh
Amanda Modell
Jen Accristo
Joni Yabut
Kelsey Lyons
Liana Cohen
Celine Bakan
Nadja Villegas

helena mcloughlin
yoga | somatic breathwork practitioner | owner

Helena grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and moved to the Bay Area in 1990. Yoga found her not long after, and it became a lifelong practice. She has been teaching for over a decade, holds a 500-hour Yoga Teacher Certification, and founded Crave Yoga in 2021.

In Helena’s classes, you’ll be invited to move with intention, connect with your breath, and build strength, mobility, and confidence in a way that feels supportive and sustainable. Her thoughtful sequencing, clear guidance, and welcoming teaching style make her classes accessible to all levels, with options to meet you where you are while encouraging you to grow.

Helena is also a certified Somatic Breathwork Practitioner through ReWild Breathwork, bringing a trauma-informed perspective that helps students regulate their nervous systems, reconnect with themselves, and leave class feeling stronger, calmer, and more grounded than when they arrived.

nikki saengcha (formerly nikki wong)
yoga

With over 20 years of teaching experience, Nikki blends traditional yoga with functional movement, kinesthetic awareness, and isometric strengthening through purposeful, dynamic sequencing that adapts to each class's needs. Her classes build strength, mobility, flexibility, and focus by connecting breath with movement, encouraging a deeper connection with yourself.

Nikki’s teaching is rooted in her own healing journey. Since discovering yoga in 2002 to relieve carpal tunnel syndrome, it has supported her through chronic pain, surgeries, and other health challenges, giving her a deep appreciation for the body’s resilience. This perspective informs her thoughtful hands-on assists and helps students develop greater awareness, alignment, and confidence in their practice.

Nikki believes yoga is for every body and is passionate about sharing its transformative benefits through her classes and teacher trainings.

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.

blu high
4beat vinyasa

Blu began practicing yoga at the age of 15, a formative time that marked the beginning of a lifelong journey inward. Yoga offered a new relationship with breath, body, and self—one that sparked a deep and lasting love. This awareness remains the foundation of Blu’s practice and teaching: returning to the present moment through connection with the breath and the truth of who we are.

In 2017, Blu completed a 200-hour teacher training at the College of San Mateo, followed by a 300-hour training in India. Over the years, Blu explored a wide range of yoga styles and ultimately fell in love with Rocket Yoga, a variation of the Ashtanga sequence. This dynamic and playful approach now heavily influences Blu’s classes.

Blu’s teaching combines set sequences with longer holds in each asana, allowing students to deepen into the posture and observe progress over time. Rather than emphasizing perfect form, Blu shifts the focus to the breath—syncing it with music and movement and maintaining a steady four-count rhythm. In this way, class becomes not just a physical practice, but a moving meditation that invites presence, awareness, and transformation.

nicole lau
restorative yoga | prenatal & postnatal yoga

Nicole’s relationship with movement began through childhood gymnastics and later circus training, where she developed an appreciation for strength, discipline, and the beauty of precise, complex shapes. During her yoga teacher training, her perspective shifted, movement became less about perfecting the pose and more about experiencing what unfolds within it.

Nicole creates thoughtfully paced, welcoming classes that invite you to slow down, reconnect, and move with intention. Expect gentle, mindful movement, supportive guidance, and themes inspired by yogic philosophy, nature, or astrology that encourage reflection both on and off the mat."

hannah boggan
somatic breathwork practitioner

Hannah, originally from Liverpool in the UK, now calls the Bay Area home. Her experience of corporate burnout in 2020 marked a pivotal turning point in her life, leading her to the practices of meditation, yoga, and breathwork - and into a deeper connection with her purpose: guiding people back home to themselves.

As a certified coach and somatic trauma-informed breathwork practitioner through ReWild Breathwork, Hannah supports people to regulate their nervous system and create space for deeper self-connection, awareness and presence through immersive breathwork journeys.

Her belief is simple: it all starts within. And your breath is one of the most powerful tools to get there.

katya solar
yoga

Katya comes from a dance and choreography background and received her first Yoga and Pilates teaching certification in Russia in 2015. Since then, movement has remained at the heart of her life. She has been practicing yoga for over 11 years and teaching for more than 8, continually deepening her understanding of both the physical and mental aspects of the practice.

Her training includes a 200-hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training in Berkeley, California, and a 300-hour Ashtanga and Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training in Ubud, Bali. She has also studied with renowned teachers such as Kino MacGregor and Talia Sutra and continues to expand her knowledge through ongoing study, workshops, and personal practice.

Katya’s classes are designed to help students breathe deeply, release tension, build strength, and reconnect with themselves through mindful movement. Passionate about helping people feel better in their bodies and minds, Katya believes that we are often capable of far more than we imagine. She loves encouraging students to discover their own strength, confidence, and potential through their practice.

larisa perez
prenatal | restorative yoga | vinyasa yoga

Larisa discovered yoga over a decade ago and has been guided by its spiral path ever since. From her first practice, she experienced a calming of her nervous system and a deep sense of wholeness, grounding her in trust in life’s natural ebb and flow.

A dedicated student of yoga, Larisa continued her practice through both her pregnancies, drawing on prenatal training from Folk Yoga NOPA (formerly Yoga Garden) in San Francisco. During her second pregnancy, she intuitively adapted her movement to support her changing body, using her mat as a sanctuary for breath, trust, and surrender as she entered motherhood.

Larisa now offers prenatal yoga to create a safe, supportive space for women to connect with their transforming bodies and growing babies through strength, mobility, and loving guidance. In her Slow Flow & Restore classes, she weaves gentle movement and breath to offer deep nourishment and a steady presence, supporting students on their journey home to themselves.

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.

maeve kavanagh
yoga

Maeve discovered yoga at age 10 when her mom brought her to a kids’ yoga class at a local health club. As an energetic kid who was always on the move, yoga became one of the few places where she could slow down, connect with herself, and find stillness. She continued her practice through high school, college, and beyond, earning her 200-hour teaching certification at a trauma-informed yoga studio in Philadelphia. 

Maeve’s classes are energetic, challenging, and fun, with an emphasis on linking breath and movement to help students stay present and build both physical and mental strength. Whether you're looking to explore your edge or simply reconnect with yourself, she aims to create a supportive space where students can move with confidence and curiosity.

amanda modell
yoga

In Amanda’s classes, you can expect reflection, exploration, and inclusivity. You’ll move at an approachable pace, giving you time to explore your mind-body connection through alignment cues and yoga philosophy. As one student described: “It felt like we were refining poses instead of rushing through them.” At its core, yoga's liberatory potential is about quieting the mind, which you'll do through body and breath with Amanda.

Amanda holds certifications in trauma-informed yoga and Anusara (alignment-based) yoga, with lineage extending to B.K.S. Iyengar and Krishnamacharya, who formalized these practices in Pune and Mysore, India. Outside yoga, Amanda loves queer things, cooking, live music, and spending time outdoors in the Santa Cruz mountains with their rescue dog, Dezzy.

jen accristo
yoga | sound bath

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

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.

kelsey lyons
yoga | meditation

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

Liana has been teaching yoga for over a decade and knows firsthand how transformative and healing the practice can be. In her classes you can expect intentional and creative sequencing, often building up to a challenging posture where a student might discover an edge. Liana also offers pranayama and conversation around the other limbs of the practice, as she believes this is where the depth of the practice lies. Students are encouraged to become more aware of their bodies, their reactions, and their habits. Liana strives to offer classes that balance heat with calm, and challenge with softness.

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
yin yoga

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.