MEET OUR TEACHERS

Melissa Ferrigno discovered yoga when looking for an outlet to help balance her busy schedule while reducing stress and countering more active workout activities. After her first vinyasa yoga flow class she was hooked! She had found a practice where she could let go and focus on her connection of mind, body, and spirit while toning and strengthening her body.
Melissa received her 200 Hr teacher training from Breathing Room in 2013 and continued to teach at Breathing Room learning from one of her mentors Lily Dougher. In addition to teaching, Melissa soon became manager of the studio and connecting more with the Breathing Room community. In July of 2020 Melissa became the new owner of Breathing Room. Owning a Yoga Studio was a dream of hers and is grateful to be able to continue to lead and work with the community in this way.
In addition to her 200Hr teacher training, she also holds a certification in kids yoga, prenatal, restorative, yin yoga, and is a Reiki Master.

Bridgett’s love of yoga was ignited when she joined a friend for a Hatha class at a small Portland studio in 2004. After 15 years of routine practice, her desire to share her passion and lifeblood in yoga drew her to complete her 200hr teacher training through the Breathing Room. Here she found a new depth in which to build her practice and belief, rejuvenating her appreciation of life and the world around her.
Bridgett’s teaching is built on the Vinyasa foundation of pairing movement with breath, for a fluid practice to warm and stretch the body while bringing clarity and recentering into the mind. With an affinity for anatomy and physiology, and the strong belief of individual intuition, she mingles physical body awareness with subtle body knowledge into each class. Bridgett believes that Contentment begins when one becomes accepting of their imperfections, progressions, abilities and talents. Creating a full yoga practice through posture, breath and mindfulness can illuminate the path to this state of health and happy wellbeing. She is gratefully thrilled to share her knowledge and experiences for inspiration to cultivate and continue your own yoga practice.
Off the mat, Bridgett stays busy as a mom, business owner, any season outdoor enthusiast, monkeying with wrenches and motors, singing too loudly in the truck, and laughing at her own expense.

“All you ever longed for is before you in this moment, if you dare draw in a breath and whisper ,"Yes.” ― Danna Faulds

Jess Zdanys obtained her 200 hour Recovery Yoga Teacher certification in 2019 at Zen and Now Studio in Connecticut and has been dedicated to practicing yoga regularly since 2013. During the pandemic Jess completed her 300 hour yoga training online through My Vinyasa Practice and continued to teach virtually during that time. She loves working with students of all levels and ages, with a special interest in Vinyasa yoga and Restorative Yoga. Jess is most inspired by introducing others to different healing tools such as meditation, sound healing, and self-care practices. She has her Reiki 2 certification and plans to complete her Reiki Master certification to enhance her instruction and healing abilities. Jess is also a guitarist and singer and loves to incorporate mantra singing and instrumental accompaniment into her classes or during workshops.

Jess’s intention for teaching yoga is to encourage others to develop a positive relationship with their bodies and minds so they can better serve themselves and their well-being on and off of their yoga mat.

Sri Devi Melissa has forever been drawn to the union of mind and body in the present moment and the learning that can take place there. Coming from a background in theater and dance, she began sharing this as an important life skill with children of all ages through those mediums.

Finding yoga while in recovery from surgery, she realized that everything she loved most about teaching theater, she could share even more deeply through yoga. She completed her 200HR YTT with Aiyana Athenian and Krishna Perry at the ShivaShakti School of Yoga in 2016 and her 500HR YTT in 2018. She has done specialty trainings in Yoga Nidra, Pranayama and Meditation and Children’s Yoga with ShivaShakti and Restorative Yoga training with Margo Rosingana. A great lover of Sanskrit, yogic philosophy, and mantra she currently studies with Sri Vidya Ramananthan (Samskrita Bharati), Shantala Sriramaiah (Veda Studies) and Prem Sadasivananda from whom she received her spiritual name Sri Devi in 2017.

Sri is also a Reiki Master and Sound Healer and loves integrating elements of these healing modalities into her classes whenever possible. When off the mat, she enjoys writing, walking in the forest, birdwatching and putting her feet in really cold water.

Catherine Escamilla has been a student of yoga for 18 years, attending various studios and creating a routine at home practice. In 2020 she took her practice to a more consistent level with a 200 hour online yoga teacher training with My Vinyasa Practice in Austin, TX. Since this training, everything changed and she knew introducing others to various forms of yoga was an important step to add balance to our lives.

Catherine enjoys working with students of all levels with a gentle flow hatha class, Yin, Restorative, Chair Yoga and Yoga Nidra. She is also certified in Reiki Level 2 and has training in Yoga for Anxiety and Trauma Informed Yoga. Catherine loves to incorporate positive affirmations into her work and classes to create a positive and accessible yoga practice. Outside of the yoga studio, Catherine enjoys time at the beach and local parks with her family.

Alexa (she/her) has been practicing yoga since she was a freshman in college. Her classes have moments of heat integrated within breath work and strength building. Alexa is passionate about her students fully embodying themselves during her classes, and aims to create a container in which they feel comfortable and safe to explore sensations within their bodies.

Alexa holds a 200-hour Vinyasa Yoga certification and is looking forward to taking more trainings to continue to learn. She is passionate about working with queer youths and young adults. Alexa discovered yoga during a time where she felt a disconnect with her body and yoga was the only time she felt safe and whole. She hopes to share yoga with people who feel or have felt similarly.

When off the mat, Alexa likes to cook pasta, read historical fiction, color in adult coloring books for mindfulness, and spend every available second with her soul-pup Lucy.

Natalie found a personal yoga practice when she was in need of slowing down while working in a fast-paced job. She took a leap of faith into a journey of deeper self discovery, leaving Corporate America and diving heart first into yoga. She completed her 200hr Hatha/Vinyasa YTT with Full Circle Yoga School and additional 108hrs in Yoga Meditation. It is through yoga that she has been healing her mind and body and is so grateful to be able to share the practice with others.

The heart of practicing with Natalie is to slow down and find stillness within. She helps her students to listen to their bodies, connect to their inner voice, and find the courage to reach into their hearts. She enjoys teaching both a soft, gentle dance of a slow flow practice as well as a more dynamic, fiery vinyasa.

When not practicing, she loves spending time with her husband and cat, walking barefoot by the sea, or cooking warm, nourishing meals. goes here

Aleksandra completed her initial 200-hour vinyasa teacher training with Yoga Source in Richmond, Virginia. She holds 40-hour Prenatal Training with Still Point Healing Method, Shiva Shakti School of Yoga, and Kids Yoga Teacher Training with ChildLight Yoga. Additionally, she has a strong background and certification in Pilates, Ayurveda, and is a Usui Reiki Master.

Aleksandra completed her 500-hour advanced Yoga Teacher Training with Yoga of Energy Flow. She additionally completed Yoga Nidra and Thai Yoga Bodywork training with Shiva Shakti School of Yoga. 

Her teaching style is heart and alignment driven with a therapeutic lense. She strives to create a safe space for healing to occur across all ages and levels of experience. Aleksandra works full time as a Physical Therapy Assistant in a busy orthopedic practice seeing patients for orthopedic, pelvic health and cancer diagnoses.

When not teaching, Aleksandra enjoys being in nature, travelling, dancing and spending time with her children Axel and Konrad. goes here

Description Emily (she/her) has been a student and lover of yoga for over several years. In 2023 she completed 250 hours of yoga teacher training including a 50 hour Creative & Intelligent Sequencing Intensive through The Portland Yoga Project.
In teaching, she aims to create an environment that invites student to explore themselves through playful and intuitive inquiry. Creative sequences intentionally designed for embodied movement, building relation to the breath, and finding release.
When Emily is not on her mat, find her in the mountains or on a beach, with a book in hand, or tending to her cat (Lupin) and houseplants. here

Description Taylor first came to yoga after sports injuries and found solace in the practice for her body but more importantly for her mind. After practicing for several years, she completed her RYT 200 training with Vishuddha Yoga Teacher Training in 2017. Learning more about the mind body connection informed her practice and teaching and deepened her understanding as a mental health professional. She utilizes yoga as a means of self-care integrating breath, movement, and meditation into her daily routine and teaching practices. Taylor wants to bring the experience of integrating mind and body to all of her students.

While in graduate school in California, Taylor taught yoga with detainees in jail and for mental health professionals and became certified in trauma-informed yoga. She continued to teach in studios in multiple states while completing her doctorate in psychology. After relocating to Maine in 2024, Taylor began working towards her 500 hour certification with a focus on Yoga Therapy. She hopes to draw on her experiences as a mental health professional to improve and expand the experience for students on the mat. here

Description Maria Connor has studied and practiced yoga and mindfulness for over 20 years. She values the idea that we “don’t use our bodies to get into yoga, we use yoga to get into our bodies” and honors the reality that every body is different and everyone has gifts to share. Maria has over 500 hours of training in various yoga modalities. Her first training was in Vinyasa yoga with ShivaShakti School of Yoga in Costa Rica in 2010, with beloved teachers Aiyana Athenian and Krishna Peter Perry. She went on to study yoga therapy and received 300 hours of training with the Integrative School of Yoga Therapy at Kripalu Yoga Center in Stockbridge Mass. Further yoga therapy training brought her to Tuscon Arizona to study functional anatomy in motion with Maria Kalima. In addition, she has studied human anatomy at the university level and trained as a clinical herbalist. She has taught everywhere from donation classes to college courses and private living rooms. She also has training in prenatal yoga, kids yoga, and Thai massage level I. Her latest training, in Yin Yoga, was in 2024 with Cathleen and Hannah Wasielewski. 

Maria brings a wealth of knowledge from many different schools of thought to her yoga teaching and approaches each class with playfulness, curiosity, and a gentleness of heart. She is particularly interested in exploring mindfulness, wellness, and mind-body health and how yogic practices can facilitate greater integration and well-being in everyday life. Off the mat, she is a mother, horticulturist, animal lover, amateur baker, and graduate student working toward a career as a psychotherapist. here