Meet the Healing Elements and Wellness Team
Meet the amazing people who bring it all together here at Healing Elements & Wellness, including our Yoga instructors and massage therapists.
Wellness Teachers
Samantha Shvetzoff
Owner / Instructor
Samantha is the Owner and CEO of Healing Elements. Samantha earned a BA in Communication and Writing and completed her first yoga study program in 2014 before opening a Wellness Center. She is committed to contributing value and integrity to the small business community by growing a sustainable and practical business.
Samantha guides individuals to lean into vulnerability, and to cozy up into the spaces that need nurturing with inquiry. Her areas of interest include the practices of meditation, yoga nidra, mantra, somatics, trauma awareness, herbal medicine and mindfulness as a lifestyle to create foundational and functional change. Her offerings focus on recalibration of the nervous system and unlearning trauma patterns.
Classes: Midday Move, Midday Meditate
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Sara Sleeper
Studio Manager / Yoga Instructor
Sara’s yogic journey began nearly 15 years ago as she searched for alternative ways to combat mounting anxiety and insomnia. Having grown frustrated with traditional medical treatments, Sara pursued a holistic approach to her health, embracing a plant-based diet and a yoga practice.
After 9 years of dedicated practice and participation in her local yoga community, Sara took the opportunity to spend a year in Europe, where she studied yoga in Krakow, Poland under mentors Vinay Kumar Jesta & Syzmon Jaroslawski. Since then, Sara has received her E-RYT 200 teacher training, and is certified in Yin yoga. She spent 2 years studying with Christina Sell in the mountains of Colorado to earn her RYT 500, and continues to explore various lineages of yoga with the help of her mentors, Ali Certain and Christina Sell.
Sara will become a student of yoga therapy September 2020 offered through Innerpeace Yoga Therapy.
Classes: Alignment Flow
www.sarajeannetteyoga.com
Madeline Harpell
Front Desk Lead / Photographer
I am dedicated to a life of healing and authentic connection. There is not much that I love more than quality time spent with myself and the people I am close with. The foundation of my wellness journey was laid through a spiritual upbringing, and developed deeply through classes on meditation and wellness in college. Through this, I now strive to live most alive — tapping into the spirit for my most aware, honest and loving being.
As someone who struggles with mental health, daily practices of wellness care are very important in supporting my experiences of living — living mindfully invites me into my present moment life. Being outside, whatever the weather, is something that makes me feel most alive. Because of the support Earth provides us, I am passionate about sustainability and protecting the planet. I am drawn to the spiritual sources that we have access to on Earth like crystals, oils, herbs, energy work, readers and healers, and feel called to swim in this ocean of knowledge that the spiritual community provides. As an interdisciplinary artist, my art-making practices are focused in photography, fashion, drawing, writing, and movement. I am overjoyed to be part of this strong community, to continually be supported and to support in this connected healing journey we are all on.
LeAnn Sarazin
This is my second round working at Healing Elements and I returned because this space holds such loving support for it’s community. And the community holds such loving support for Healing Elements. I enjoy being around people who care about their well being physically, mentally and spiritually. Continued growth is essential to creating a world of love and compassion. I am passionate about being the best version of myself to help create that world. I do that by doing things that bring me joy like being in nature and being with friends and family.
I go on a lot of hikes, I camp, I travel, I dance and see live music. I read self help books (and plenty of fiction), take classes with the Modern Mystery School and learn from many healers in the Twin Cities. I am a massage therapist by trade and I am learning how to incorporate energetic and emotional healing in to my technique. Healing Elements has been a doorway to the many healers of this area and it’s always a great opportunity to meet new people. It’s good to be back!
Scott Skoog
Wellness Associate
Scott is on an ever evolving quest of compassion, thankfulness and wellness. Many experiences have urged him to pursue a life surrounded by healthy recreation and lovely people. For the most part, in 2007 he was awakened to a much healthier lifestyle. After experiencing many years of poor sleep and gastrointestinal issues “You are what you eat” became a deep set motto. And with the surprise introduction to yoga at a Spanish camp, life was becoming more and more amazing.
In College, Scott pursued a degree in Therapeutic Recreation. A program that blew his mind as well as opened his eyes to holistic healing, modalities to help people with all types of ability sets, and more compassion for the human condition.
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Morgan Thomas
Massage Therapist
Morgan is very passionate about helping the beings she works with to reawaken their own natural alchemical ability to transform and to experience balance body, mind, and soul. She integrates her training in Therapeutic Massage, Craniosacral, Breathwork, Reiki and Transformational Coaching to help guide these parts of self back into alignment and to help her clients remember their own inner capacity to experience healing and transformation. She honors compassion and loving kindness as the true healers and is most inspired by the human spirit`s ability to heal through love and the limitless potential that grows through the soil of transformation.
Modalities: Swedish/Relaxation, Deep Tissue/Trigger Point, Integrative, Craniosacral, Prenatal, Usui Reiki
Availability: Wednesday & Friday 11am-5pm
Ray Neil
Massage Therapist
Ray is from North Carolina and has a passion for helping people. As a graduate of CenterPoint Massage & Shiatsu Therapy School & Clinic, Ray is specially trained in therapeutic deep tissue massage, relaxation, and Thai massage. She also has training in birth doula work and prenatal massage. Ray has an intuitive touch, establishing a unique session for each person. She has learned the art of listening to the muscle tissue, helping to relieve pain and create overall balance in both body and mind. Ray believes in bodywork for all people because everyone deserves the space for healing and to feel good! Outside of bodywork, Ray enjoys being outdoors, exploring the Twin Cities she now calls home, and playing with her two cats Nini and Charlie.
Modalities: Swedish/Relaxation, Deep Tissue/Trigger Point, Integrative, Prenatal, Thai Infused, Hot Stone
No current availability
Meagan Jarvi
Massage Therapist
Meagan graduated from the massage therapy program of Minnesota State Community and Technical College in 2012. She lived and worked in Madison WI for 6 years but recently moved back to MN. Meagan likes to customize each massage to her clients’ needs with an integrative approach of Swedish massage mixed with deep tissue and trigger point modalities. Other modalities she specializes in include prenatal massage and hot stone massage.
Outside of her massage career, Meagan’s hobbies include playing the piano, painting, writing, and photography.
Modalities: Reiki, Trigger Point, Relaxation, Deep Tissue, Integrated, Prenatal
Availability: Wednesday & Thursday 11:30am-5:30pm
Maria Tordoff
Massage Therapist
Maria is a healer who practices massage therapy to help decrease pain in soft tissue, build the client’s body awareness, and provide time for a client to relax and find respite from the busy day to day. Maria applies her knowledge of being a dancer and dance teacher to massage, where she views the whole body as a system rather than a collection of parts. She melts through soft tissue layer by layer in order to bring the body back to a healthier state with less tension and more ease of function. Maria practices Relaxation, Trigger Point Therapy, Cupping, Oncology Massage, and Reiki and can integrate the modalities in order to specialize with her client’s needs.
Maria holds her A.A.S in massage therapy from Northwestern Health Sciences and a BFA in modern dance and composition from UW Milwaukee.
When not doing bodywork, Maria enjoys reading all kinds of genres and journaling especially if given the chance to write outside.
Modalities: Swedish/Relaxation, Integrative, Trigger Point Therapy, Cupping, Oncology, Reiki
Availability: Friday 11:30am-5:30pm & Saturday 11am-5pm
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Mary Sage Sennewald
Yoga Instructor / Massage Therapist
Mary Sage Sennewald is an advocate for empowerment, self-awareness, and collaboration. Through her co-creative livelihood as a life coach, yoga teacher, bodyworker, essential oils distributor, and birth doula, she strives to inspire friends to fill their lives with wellness. She holds a BA in Liberal Arts from the U of MN and has extensive education in healing modalities. Her classes, treatments and sessions are customized to support the individual needs and incorporate breath, alignment, guided relaxation and essential oils.
Classes: Restorative, Yoga Nidra
Jaime DeSmit
Yoga Instructor
Yoga and meditation have become a home base for me, a place of recalibration, of coming into myself. I invite you to experience this connection in the studio with me. I celebrate all bodies and encourage you to do what feels right for you today. I am trained in Vinyasa and have practiced many styles over 15 years and bring those into my classes.
I cultivate a deep connection to the earth through folk herbalism, organic farming and stints of living off-grid. I also practice Reiki here in the Twin Cities, create jewelry from mostly recycled materials and read a lot of psychology.
Classes: Vinyasa, Restorative Flow, Midday Move, Midday Meditate
Tacy Nielson
Yoga Instructor / Reiki Master
Tacy Nielson is a Registered Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master, Massage Therapist, and Healer. Tacy completed her 200 hr TT in Costa Rica with Marianne Wells School of Yoga in 2014. She has also completed Yin and Yoga Nidra teacher trainings and her true passion lies in teaching these classes. Her spiritual journey has taken her down many amazing roads so far, and she continues to learn and grow, expanding her awareness by exploring many different areas of holistic healing. Through her classes and workshops Tacy encourages her students to connect to and unite their physical and energetic bodies. She aims to teach people that they have the power within them to self-heal. Tacy also offers Energy Healing Sessions and Cupping Therapy at Healing Elements. To learn more about Tacy and her offerings go to her website sapphirehealing108.com
Classes: Yin, Yinyasa
Marko Dewhurst
Yoga Instructor
Marko Dewhurst is a 200-hour trained Power Vinyasa teacher. His yoga journey started when he was in elementary school and followed him all the way through his time at Hamline University. After taking on a more devout practice in college, he found a large piece of himself. Yoga has taught him and continues to teach him that breath is the strongest life force–on and off the mat. Marko’s yoga teaching philosophy is based in showing love and gentleness towards one’s self. Most importantly, instilling that this practice will help others transform into the greatest, strongest, most powerful versions of themselves–just like it continues to do for him.
Classes: Vinyasa
Madeline Summers
Yoga Instructor
Madeline Summers began practicing yoga as a teenager. She finds, within the yogic traditions, a pathway to never-ending learning and blossoming in community with others. She is fascinated by how the work we do on our yoga mats can influence our lives outside the studio. Her journey has led her to pursue certifications in Vinyasa, Trauma Informed Yoga, Yin and Restorative. Outside of her yoga practice, she manages volunteers in a community kitchen.
Classes: Gentle Flow, Yinyasa
Alexandra Strong
Yoga Instructor
Alexandra Strong is a Yoga Teacher, Massage Therapist, Level II Reiki Practitioner, Birth and Postpartum Doula, Wellness Coach, and Photographer. Her approach to all of her passions is intentional and authentic. Her deepest joy and purpose is to serve intuitively and creatively in a multitude of ways.
Alexandra discovered yoga when she was 20. She took a couple of classes with a friend but then (as it does) life happened and she didn’t pick it up again until 7 years later. She always knew yoga would be a part of her journey, but she didn’t realize when or just how powerful it would be. She started practicing yin yoga at a local studio in 2017 and very quickly fell in love. Through yoga practice, she learned to slow down, move inward, and connect with her higher self. A year into practicing, she found out that her studio was offering a training and she knew she had to answer that call. It was the best decision of her life!
Classes: Yin Yoga, Gentle Flow
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Marina Povlitzki
Yoga Instructor
Marina first came to yoga in 2006, needing a low impact workout after a knee injury. It didn’t take long to discover that a yoga practice is so much more than just a “workout”. She was drawn to the feelings of calm and peacefulness that practicing yoga brought, as well as the vast amount information to learn about the history of yoga and it’s different traditions.
Marina loves being a student, and has completed two 200-hour trainings through CorePower in Hot Yoga and Vinyasa styles, and has been teaching yoga since 2011. She completed prenatal yoga and barre teacher trainings through Blooma, and the 340-hour program through Devanadi. Marina continues to study yoga and functional movement under Master Trainer Alexandria Crow. She also enjoys studying energetics and herbal medicine.
Classes: Yoga Barre Bootcamp, Vinyasa
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Susan Helmbrecht
Yoga Instructor
Susan has been practicing yoga for 15 years and received teacher certification in 2013. Yoga has been instrumental in her resolving her back pain and racing mind. Her classes focus on awareness of present moment, relaxation, self-acceptance and reduction of pain. Susan is a nature and animal lover and uses her experience to send calm energy to homeless animals. She honors all teachers who came before her and looks forward to sharing her knowledge.
Classes: Gentle Flow
Jess Rometti
Yoga Instructor / Yoga Therapist
Jessica began practicing yoga in 2010 and completed her RYT-200 at The Yoga Center of Minneapolis in 2013. Yoga, at first just a movement practice, became her path to healing after years of eating disorders and depression. A firm believer and witness to the healing powers of yoga, she is currently studying Yoga Therapy with Chase Bossart, Dolphi Wetergren and Kevin Kortan at The Yoga Center of Minneapolis. Jessica teaches with an emphasis on the individual experience, encouraging students to find expressive, unique movement paired with conscious breath. Jessica strives to lead a practice that is designed not just for the physical body but for the entire system, a practice that leaves students feeling closer to their true nature.
Classes: Gentle Flow
Jessica Jacovitch
Yoga Instructor
Jessica has been a practitioner of yoga and meditation for the past 10 years, and a movement enthusiast all her life. Her first memories of yoga include following along to a VHS tape during childhood. Many years later, she returned to the practice out of curiosity for a new form of movement, which soon exposed an underlying desire for deeper connection. Over the years, she has come to know the transformative power of yoga in uncovering our innate resources of love & compassion. She completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2016 at Big River Yoga in Minneapolis, and has since completed additional training in yin yoga, trauma sensitive yoga, thai adjustments, and somatic practices to support restorative postures. Her teachings focus on cultivating curiosity and creativity, and are heavily influenced by her training as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. Jessica welcomes everyone to the yoga mat and aims to provide asana teachings which are accessible to all bodies and walks of life.
Classes: Alignment Flow, Yin Yoga
Erin Jorich
Yoga Instructor
Erin Jorich completed her first 200-Hour Teacher Training in 2009 after studying Dance and Sociology at the University of Minnesota. The practice of yoga created space for her to investigate physical movement without the pressure of a performance or
evaluation. With time Erin came to realize the deeper benefits of the practice and found it to be a necessary tool to manage anxiety and stress. With over a decade of teaching experience and 7000+ teaching hours, Erin has had a lot of time to experiment and develop her voice as a yoga teacher. In 2017 she completed her 500-Hour Teacher Training with Jason Crandell in San Francisco, CA. Her classes are strong in alignment and anatomy while emphasizing personal investigation and self compassion. She aims to hold space for all students who are open to what the practice of yoga has to offer.
When she’s not on her mat or in a yoga studio Erin can be found training for triathlons, reading, exploring the outdoors, baking, and volunteering with her pup, Wallace, who provides social-emotional support to vulnerable youth around the Twin Cities.
Classes: Vinyasa
Paula Lindemann
Yoga Instructor
My travels to India and Thailand inspire and influence my teaching style. I love sharing new techniques combined with the old. My focus is on alignment and breath to build strength and balance in our bodies and minds. I invite you to step outside of your comfort zone, have fun, and surprise yourself.
I received my 230 RYT through the Yoga Center of Minneapolis and I am registered with Yoga Alliance, CPR/AED certified, BA in Theatre. Off the mat I enjoy acting, traveling, trekking and cycling.
Classes: Vinyasa
Vaughn Powell
Yoga Instructor
Vaughn has been practicing yoga for years, but officially became enamored when she realized that her daily practice enhanced her self-awareness and ability to think clearly. She is interested in the connection between mind and body and how we can use the breath to strengthen parts of the brain that make us mindful and present in our physical form.
Vaughn believes that when you move with your breath, you are increasing your understanding of how your body responds to different stimuli. A regular yoga practice allows you to notice what is happening in your body and gain the tools you need to regulate those sensations. A study of and fascination with anatomy has helped her intelligently instruct and assist students as they practice as well as reinforce the bridge between mind and body awareness.
Vaughn’s personal practice is rooted in the traditional Ashtanga system where she has immersed herself in the power of the breath, body movement and detoxification within a set sequence of asanas (postures). Ashtanga ensures that she remains a student and continues to notice how her practice influences her teaching style and everyday life.
Classes: Vinyasa, Flow
Lo Childers
Yoga Instructor
Lauren (Lo) Childers found Yoga in college-while she was studying Health and Wellness Promotion-as a way to deal with stress, and stay active. That hobby turned into a regular at home practice as well as attending classes at some of MN’s finest & most fun studios. The desire to dive deeper into the “why” behind one’s practice, lead her through a 6 month Teacher Training journey where she became an RYT200 in December 2019. For Lo, Yoga makes her feel whole and complete. She aspires to provide her students with their feeling of wholeness within each class she teaches. Outside of teaching Yoga, Lo loves spending time outdoors in her hammock or out on her paddleboard. For more information on Lo, please visit: @wholewithlo on Instagram, Facebook and/or https://wholewithlo.wixsite.com/mysite
Classes: Gentle Flow
Erin Anderson
Crystal Singing Bowl Sound Healing
From a very early age, Erin has been tuning in to energies most people either don’t notice or prefer to ignore (just ask her poor parents). She has spent the past few years developing her natural abilities as a clairvoyant reader and healer, training with gifted psychics and energy practitioners around the world.
Erin is passionate about using her skills and vision to help others access their own truth and create more of their one-of-a-kind magic. To this end, she offers intuitive aura readings, classes & workshops, and teaches meditation techniques for personal empowerment and transformation.
Genevieve Wachutka
Meditation Instructor
Genevieve Wachutka is a certified Healer, Teacher and Guide through the Modern Mystery School International, as well as a certified Jikiden Reiki practitioner. She is passionate about assisting people to restore wholeness and vitality and connect with their own inner knowing. Through her extensive training within an ancient wisdom school lineage, Genevieve offers many effective tools to restore balance, boost physical energy, shift negative patterns, and assist clients who desire a deeper connection to their true self for a greater sense of joy, passion, and life purpose.