Meet the Team
At Sama, we believe that everyone can benefit from a yoga practice - that inherently yoga is for every body. That’s why we offer an array of styles and instructors who work with you to help you find your best practice. Regardless of your experience, body-type, age or ability, our practice meets you where you are.
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Founder & Owner, Sama Yoga Center
Founder, Sama Yoga Academy, The Nationally Accredited Training Program, Yoga Alliance ®Certifications
Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher and Teacher Trainer, E-RYT®500
Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider, YACEP®
Certified Personal Trainer, CPT
AMI Montessori Assistant Teacher CertifiedAdditional Training
Restorative & Anatomy, Judith Hanson Lasater, PhD, PT
Applied Psychology, Livia, Cohen-Shapiro, M.A.
Hatha & Therapeutics, Ross Rayburn
Meditation, Sally Kempton
Pilates, Physical Mind
Prenatal, Mary Barnes, Jennifer Pettit
Anatomy &, The Breathing Project, Leslie Kaminoff
Yoga for Youth, Christine McArdle-OquendoAwards, Honors
2025 Grace Farms Wellness Ambassador
2024, 2023 Local Love Award, Best Yoga Studio
2023 ‘Brilliant Woman’ Grown Brilliance
2023 New Canaan & Darien Magazine, Best Yoga Studio & Virtual Yoga
2022, 2021 Best of the Gold Coast, Best Yoga Studio
2019, 2018 Mindbody Visionary Award
Accessible Yoga Ambassador
Lululemon Ambassador & Leadership Summit WhistlerConnect @fitnessgururebekah
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Addie's sweetness, fire and kindness inspire us to move and have fun! After a long love-affair with yoga, she completed her first training at Chitta in Philadelphia and continued her studies to graduate from Sama Academy's 200 hour and Kids Yoga Programs. She can not wait to be with you. Come flow, pump and play!
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Amy is a leader in our community, serving as art educator and lead at a private school in Greenwich. She is a graduate of Sama Yoga Academy’s YTT-200-hour and Restorative Teacher Training programs and a mentor for Sama Academy. Amy’s experience and steady presence guide us into harmony.
In 2020 Amy founded bilden farmacy, hand-poured candles available here at Sama that offer rituals from the mat to your home. She is an artist, art educator and marathon runner and can not wait to welcome you.
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Amber is thrilled to be with you. She is a New Canaan resident, native of the Netherlands, mom of 3, avid learner and proud graduate of Sama Academy’s 200 hr Yoga Teacher Training Program. Amber’s signature classes offer steady and easeful sequences to set you on your wonderful day ahead. Welcome to Sama!
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Anna earned her RYT-200 hour teaching certification from Sama Yoga Academy’s Teacher Training, holds a B.S. in Marketing and German and currently working toward her Master's Degree in Marketing
Anna's upbeat atmosphere lifts us all up. “Movement, mindfulness, strength, and stretch—our recipe for joy!” We can't wait to see you at Sama!
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Ashley recently relocated from NYC, spent 15 years working in Corporate Communications and Public Relations, and has a Master’s degree in Media Management from Syracuse University.
She is a proud graduate of Sama Yoga Academy’s 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training and Kids Yoga Teacher Training and is thrilled to be a part of the Sama community. Ashley is a mom of a toddler, adores musicals and can’t wait to meet you!
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Caroline is passionate about the benefits of slowing down and connecting to inner calm through the practice of yoga. She holds a B.S. in Educational Studies from Colgate University and a MAT in Early Childhood Education from Manhattanville College. In 2019, she completed her 200-hour YTT.
Here at Sama, she obtained her Kids Yoga Certification and Restorative Yoga Certification. Caroline is a Grade 3 teacher at New Canaan Country School and the Director of the Sama Kids Program.
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After a career in Finance and 10 years abroad, Denise and her family settled in Darien, CT. She was an avid Sama student and developed into a proud graduate of Sama Yoga Academy's 200 Hour YTT, Sama's 30 Hour Kids and Sama's 25 Hour Restorative YTT. She dedicates some of her time to volunteering including the Norwalk Grassroots Tennis & Education Center.
She loves her family dog walks, neighborhood runs, friendly tennis matches and time on her mat. Denise believes that one secret to maintaining an active lifestyle is finding a little time to slow down. She invites you to come to your mat, take a breath and move mindfully so you are energized ready for your day.
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With three children and a Darien, CT native, Heather understands the pressures and joys of managing our time and priorities. As a proud graduate of Sama Yoga Academy’s Teacher Training Program, she has taken yoga from passion to priority. She is always a student and here to support you. “Welcome – may you be comfortable, safe and flexible in mind and body on your mat and into your day.”
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Mary has been practicing yoga for over fifteen years, and is proud to be a graduate of Sama Academy’s Yoga Teacher Training. She is mother of six-year-old twins.
She currently leads partnerships for Thirty Madison, a platform increasing access to virtual specialized healthcare. Prior to Thirty Madison, Mary led strategy and growth initiatives for the non-profit DoSomething.org, as well as at mission-driven tech startups Andela and ZocDoc. Mary graduated Magna Cum Laude from Fordham University, where she studied International Political Economy and Peace & Justice Studies.
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Molly has been a student of yoga for over 10 years and is grateful to have the opportunity to graduate from Sama’s 200 hr YTT Program. In Molly’s view, yoga is the quintessential therapy for mental and physical health and helps her navigate the challenges of her corporate responsibilities with steadiness and perspective. Molly can’t wait to share the light, love and joy of yoga through uplifting and energizing practices with you here at Sama. Welcome!
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Sara is a proud graduate of Sama Yoga Academy’s 200 hr YTT, and Savannah College of Art and Design with a major in fashion design. She works as a sewing and crafting teacher in Darien and Greenwich, designs clothes, knits and crochets in her free time.
As a former competitive gymnast, she found grounding in the steadiness and ease, within the strength and flow of the practice of yoga. She brings her love of movement and teaching together in her classes and can not wait to be with you.
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Sarah began practicing yoga over 7 years ago in search of balance, harmony, and inner strength, and immediately fell in love. As a graduate of Sama Yoga Academy’s 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training, she seeks to offer the support and steady easefulness that yoga has brought to her life in every one of her classes.
Outside the studio, Sarah bounces between Norwalk and New York City working in book publishing and fills her free time with long runs, crochet projects, and matcha lattes. She is a cat mom and dog walking volunteer at a local shelter and will always say yes to seeing a picture of your pet.
Sarah invites you to leave your day at the door and join her on the mat for an hour of blissful unplugging, joyful movement, and the occasional fiery flow.
Tech
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Graduate of Sama Academy’s YTT-200-hour and Children’s Teacher Training. With a Masters in educational psychology and undergrad in Human Development and Family Science, Zach is passionate about every human being being heard and seen, He is a graduate of Sama Yoga Academy's 200 hr YTT program and is currently an elementary school teacher in Bridgeport, CT. Through his mindful flows and innate kindness, Zach shares that he started yoga as an adult and is eager to meet you where you are.
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After training at a Buddhist monastery in California, Ben got certified to teach yoga teacher under Cyndi Lee and senior Zen student under Roshi Enkyo O’Hara. He is the tech guru of Sama Yoga Center & Academy Online Learning, currently residing in Mexico City. Welcome to Sama!