An interesting little fact about Tina is that she was Roots VERY FIRST yoga student on our opening weekend! Tina was already a certified Pilates and Barre instructor, but came to Roots with a desire to learn more about yoga and was instantly inspired to continue to practice and enjoy the community she found and fell in love with at Roots. Tina has just completed her RYT 200 Hour certification at Roots Yoga.

Tina is a wife, a mama to three daughters, one son, and her baby dog Weezy. Tina also works fulltime at Lahey Hospital in the Dept of Tranplant, helping patients get life saving kidney transplants. Tina understands the challenges of being a working mom and trying to find balance in a busy life.

Tina has a contagious energy and playful spirit that is an important part of her classes. During her Friday night Yoga and Pilates class she typically uses bands and balls to really work every part of the body - especially the core, but does it with a sense of humor especially when mixing up lefts and rights and telling new students it is the real judgement free zone! You may also hear a funny story or two about her mom, known as Nona and her big Italian family. Tina’s ultimate goal is to teach a well balanced class, with proper form and alignment, and make you smile and go home feeling better than when you arrived.

Colleen initially discovered yoga at her local gym back in 2011. Soon after that first class, yoga held a permanent spot in her weekly workout schedule. Colleen has always been a very health-oriented person; she studied Nutrition and Wellness at Framingham State University, and later worked as a personal trainer. Colleen is passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and loves to spread her enthusiasm and knowledge with others.

The physical part of the practice was what first drew her in, but a few years and a lot of yoga classes later, she fell in love with the spiritual and emotional aspects of the practice, too. Colleen came to Roots Yoga Studio with a friend for the first time in 2016. Immediately, she felt a sense of warmth, community, acceptance, and an over-all deep appreciation for all aspects of yoga. It was then that Colleen knew she needed to learn and explore the practice further. She was overjoyed when she finally enrolled in and completed her RYT-200hr, studying under Ginger Boomeester. Colleen’s goal is to create a space where students feel strong, connected, safe and balanced.

When she’s not on her mat, you can probably find Colleen out on a long run, hiking in the White Mountains, or hanging out with her dog, Milo. Colleen is also a RRCA Certified Run Coach and finds so much enjoyment in coaching her students through Root and Run (Roots’ 5k training program). Colleen encourages our Root and Runners to pair cardiovascular movement with fresh air, deep breathing and dynamic stretching for mindful movement that will complement and enhance our yoga practices—an added opportunity to tap into the dharana and pranayama we cultivate on our mats to push us across our finish line! Meet Colleen on the mat or on the track for a supportive and energizing practice.

After taking an occasional yoga class, Caitlin discovered Power Yoga in 2004 and was hooked. Being a high energy person, this practice fit her lifestyle. Working full-time in a corporate marketing role and being a part-time runner, Caitlin discovered the practice of yoga not only provided incredible physical benefits, but created a pathway to the balance of mind and spirit. In realizing just how powerful the effects of yoga was on her during a transitional point in her life, she felt compelled to share the benefits of yoga in hopes of helping others find a balance, peace, and deeper part of themselves.

In 2005 Caitlin obtained her RYT 200 in Power Yoga after graduating from Open Doors Power Yoga Teacher Training in Weymouth, MA working with Richard Lanza, Jené Rossi and Shawn Cornelison. After starting her own family, she continued her education by obtaining certifications in pre- and post-natal yoga, yoga for brain disorders, and most recently earned her kids yoga certification with Kim Taylor. After relocating to the Burlington area, Caitlin soon found a new yoga community and is very excited to be part of the Roots family, both as an instructor and student. Caitlin also studied Meridian yoga with Daniel Orlansky and is Reiki I attuned.

I started practicing yoga in college. My practice has grown and changed over time with the constant factor of creating a sense of balance. Yoga is so beneficial on multiple levels. Yoga has the power to create communities, positive outcomes, and healing – both physically and emotionally. I am so happy that I have completed my 200 hour teacher training so that I can share all the beauty and peacefulness that yoga has taught me. My yoga training was a transformation of my life. I left my healthcare job to find balance in my life. I now incorporate ayurvedic practices, meditation, and reiki into my life regularly and I am so grateful for these transformational practices. Yoga has helped me connect with so many people and communities – it is amazing. I love that yoga is never stale, we are always learning, and everyday is different.

Growing up I was always physically active, participating in an array of activities such as dance classes, swimming, and gymnastics. However, my super mobile lifestyle had come to a halting stop when I was diagnosed with severe adult onset of scoliosis at the age of 20. This caused immense pain and strict physical limitations in my daily life, and even more so in my favorite physical activities. After having an extensive surgery with spinal fusion of my thoracic spine, I was left rigid, painful, and frustrated. I walked into Roots Yoga in 2013 where I met Ginger. After a few questions and coming into a simple Chair Pose, Ginger said, “You can do this!” So began my yoga journey.

All thanks to yoga, not long after meeting Ginger I could start engaging in a regular yoga routine; not only was I able to touch my toes, but I could twist through my thoracic spine! After having a yoga routine for 3 years, I felt that others, like me, needed to understand the benefits of yoga: mentally and physically. Overcoming the fear of pain was my biggest obstacle within my practice. With slow and gentle classes I was able to overcome that fear and advance in yoga, quickly falling in love with power classes. I decided in the summer of 2016 that I wanted to further my own practice and knowledge. I received my RYT200 at Health Yoga Life in Boston. I felt—and still feel—inspired to help guide others with their yoga practice through my teaching. Yoga has been life-changing for me in my spinal recovery and even in my daily life outside of the studio with lessons learned of compassion, forgiveness, kindness, and love for myself as well as for others. I hope you will take the next step in your journey by joining me in mine here at Root’s Yoga.

Justina found yoga in 2016 in a time of transition and instantly fell in love with the practice. Initially joining for the physical side, she quickly realized yoga is truly a practice and so much more than the physical. She discovered that yoga brings a sense of feeling grounded, a place to come back to when life is trying and access to a built-in community of incredible people at Roots Yoga. That sense of community and being around like-minded people who want to practice yoga to better their lives and share their good energy with others has been one of the biggest gifts.

Yoga and being part of a yoga community is something she knew she had to share with the world. So, after 6 years of practicing, she decided to take the plunge into Yoga Teacher Training, eager and excited to grow as a yogi and learn how to share her love of yoga with others. Her teaching style is flowy and fun with equal parts challenge and ease. Yoga and Roots has changed her life in so many ways and she loves sharing all parts of the practice through her teaching.

Shannon fell in love with yoga in 2009. Initially, yoga was purely a physical practice and a way for her to get her body back into shape after having her first child. Although she immediately fell in love with the physical practice, along the way she also fell in love with the deeper emotional and spiritual benefits of yoga and it has changed her life immensely. In her classes, Shannon will challenge you to find your edge but also honor your body. She doesn’t like to take herself too seriously, but she does take her playlists very seriously. You can always count on a fun playlist to accompany your journey through her class. Shannon’s goal is to inspire you to grow physically, mentally and spiritually and for you to take the benefits of your yoga practice with you off your mat.

Yoga was on-and-off a part of my life from my late teens and strictly for the “workout” until I stepped into the Roots Yoga studio in Burlington, MA in December 2014 and truly found yoga. Yoga is not just about the physical practice of asana (poses) and it’s certainly not about being the most flexible person in the room. Yoga is about your mind-body connection, your strength and your well-being, and its practiced on and off the yoga mat. After experiencing first-hand the true gift that a yoga practice can be to your life, I began considering yoga teacher training to safely and knowledgeably bring yoga into the lives of those I love most. I completed my 200 hour Hatha (with a focus on Vinyasa) Yoga Teacher Training at Roots Yoga, and I am forever grateful to breadth of training, which has provided me with the opportunity, knowledge, confidence, and strength to become a yoga teacher. In my classes I hope to cultivate a connection to breath and strength in the body and mind. You’ll find creative sequences tailored to the class level, peaceful and playful music, and a yoga teacher with your mind-body connection their top priority when you meet me on the mat!

April initially discovered Hatha yoga in the early 2000s at her local gym in her home city of Lowell, Massachusetts. However, life moved her closer to the city of Boston and April lost touch with her yoga practice and fixated on weightlifting and cardiovascular exercise at the new gym she joined.

In 2015, April gave birth to her first son and soon after was discovered to have postpartum depression. Her best friend stepped in and coaxed her to join her for a vinyasa class at her local yoga studio. The rest is history. The practice of yoga aided in her recovery from postpartum depression and then postpartum anxiety after the birth of her second son in 2018.

April received her RYT-200 certification studying under Ginger Boermeester. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance, which acknowledges the completion of her yoga teacher training with Roots Yoga in Burlington, MA (RYS).

April loves to explore diverse movements that challenge and soothe the body and the mind allowing students to find their edge and evolve their practice. She is a firm believer in inclusivity, equality and bringing the practice of yoga to all. Ensuring students feel safe and comfortable with her is the highest priority. When she is not practicing or teaching yoga, she’s playing outside with her two sons, Ian and Patrick, walking her dogs or indulging in re-runs of ‘Parks & Rec’ and ‘Big Mouth’.

Meghan reconnected with her own moving meditation during a weeklong yoga retreat in the Bahamas in 2016. She continued her soul search with 30 consecutive days of yoga including Kundalini, Ashtanga, Yin, Vinyasa, Power, Hatha, and Core with as many instructors as she could experience. Practicing yoga gives her the strength to breathe through anything, to move her energy where it belongs, and most importantly to be kind to herself.

Yoga ignites Meghan’s inner power and creativity, integrating music while building heat within the body. Her teaching style is playful, encouraging, and free flowing, creating a safe space to sweat and surrender. “Study thy self, discover the divine” II.44—Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.

Meghan completed her RYT200 with Ginger Boermeester at Roots in 2020.

Abby found yoga in 2012 and has been practicing ever since. Her first ever beginners class left her feeling calm, centered and craving that sense of peacefulness and bliss that she had never before experienced. Yoga has become her foundation through all of life’s ups and down. Stepping onto her mat feels like home, a place to come back to her body and herself.

Back in college, Abby’s friend gifted her a yoga mat and a yoga DVD. The yoga mat and DVD collected dust in the corner for years because Abby was always too scared to try yoga. She was afraid she wasn’t fit enough or flexible enough or “Zen” enough to do yoga. What Abby has come to learn over the years is that you don’t have to be any of these things because your yoga practice meets you where you are. Abby’s only regret is that she hadn’t put that dusty mat to use long before 2012! After 7 years of practice and falling in love with yoga and the Roots Yoga Community, Abby decided to dive into teacher training in 2019 with a goal of sharing the magic of yoga with others in a world that so desperately needs grounding and connection.

Abby always rolls out her mat with a beginner’s mindset because you never know what you can learn about yoga, about your body and about your mind while practicing. The beauty of the practice is that there’s always room to grow and to evolve. Your yoga practice is what you make it. There’s no competition and no judgment. Abby’s goal is to bring a balance of energy and calm to her classes, creating a well-rounded experience for beginners and seasoned yogis alike. In this face-paced, buzzing world, it’s amazing what just a few minutes of mindful movement and thoughtful breathing can do for our souls.