About Us

    Thank you for visiting The Yoga Loft. We are so happy to bring a yoga practice into our community. We invite students of all levels to open their hearts, minds, and bodies to the wonderful joys of yoga. So many of you have already discovered the infinite ways in which yoga has enriched your lives, we hope to be part of that continuous discovery. Our professionally trained staff is committed to sharing their enthusiasm, knowledge, and spirit to provide fun, safe, meaniful  yoga classes. Please check our class descriptions page to see where you would like to begin. There are classes to fit everyone's needs.
Namaste.

Jen Ryan M.A., R.Y.T.
    Jen Ryan opened The Yoga Loft in Wilmington in October of 2005. Jen was born and raised in Wilmington and she wanted to create a fun, friendly place for people in the community to come and practice. She started practicing in the early 90’s while living in California and was immediately ‘hooked’. She decided to move back to Wilmington after finishing her graduate degrees and decided to teach here. Eventually she chose to dedicate herself to studying and practicing yoga full time. She trained and studied the Ashtanga practice and continues to study and practice daily. Jen has studied with local and national master teachers, including Shiva Rea, Manju Jois, David Swenson, Nicole Bacon and Mimi Louriero. She believes that one must continue to learn, practice and study on their own before being able to teach others; and she believes that discipline should continue in order to be a better teacher. She started giving free community classes at the local elementary school and began teaching in studios all over Boston and the Merrimack Valley. Finally she decided to open The Yoga Loft and bring the practice home to Wilmington. Besides the daily class offerings, she runs workshops and specialty classes and works with local and national charities to host fund raisers. She worked as teacher liaison for the Global Mala in September 2007 and hopes that everyone can participate in the worldwide peace effort again next year. This year she started The Yoga Amistad of Massachusetts to help bring yoga teachers and students together at the local level and work on bringing even better yoga instruction to the community. You may visit www.ya-mas.com for more info.

Lauren Smith
    Lauren is a lifelong resident of Wilmington who began her yoga practice 12 years ago after undergoing multiple neck operations. Her yoga practice allowed her to regain flexibility, control the pain, and relax. She is an avid fitness enthusiast who also teaches spinning, muscle conditioning, Cardio Kickboxing, Ball classes, Skating and Personized Training. After earning her BA from University of New Hampshire, Lauren worked as a software engineer. She brings her energy, spirit and experience to every class.

Karen Fraser R.Y.T.
    Karen has been teaching group exercise for 20 years and brings her love of yoga and people to The Yoga Loft. She has taught and studied yoga for the past ten years. She is well known throughout the Merrimack Valley as an excellent instructor and a great addition to The Yoga Loft. Her B.S. from Fitchburg State College is in Human Services and she has extensively studied Anatomy and Physiology and Exercise Science. Karen lives in Methuen with her husband and her three sons.

Kristin Olson. MS. RYT
    Kristin began practicing yoga in New York City at Cyndi Lee’s studio, after deciding she needed an outlet that provided a sense of serenity within the city’s non-stop chaos. As she deepened her practice, she found that in addition to serenity, the physical and mental challenges of yoga led the way to a more balanced, centered lifestyle. Since moving back home to Massachusetts, Kristin has found her new yoga home at The Yoga Loft, where Jen Ryan -- and all the Loft’s yogis – continue to inspire her practice. She is currently studying with Natasha Rizopoulos, Yoga Journal’s Beginner’s Expert, and has earned her 200-hour teaching certificate under Natasha’s tutelage. Kristin’s practice has been influenced by Ashtanga’s emphasis on connecting breath with movement and Iyengar’s emphasis on proper alignment. In her teaching, she combines these two core components with an equal interest in graceful transitions and honoring where one is in his/her own practice. Prior to having her first child in July, Kristin worked as a journalist and publicist in New York City. She earned her BA at Colgate University and her MS at Boston University

Kate Ryan
    Kate has recently finished her Stott pilates training in Mat and Reformer. She teaches group mat classes and also private reformer/mat sessions with individuals and small groups. Kate holds a B.A. in Elementary Education and would love to incorporate her love of Pilates into classes for children and teens as well. Kate and her husband Fred are lifelong residents of Wilmington and they are both very active in the community as coaches for their three children's various sports teams.

Lucy Gelormini, R.Y.T.
    Lucy joins the Yoga Loft in many capacities. As the Pre/Post Natal yoga instructor, she brings her beautiful practice and teaching style to the students. She also teaches other levels of yoga, from Kids Yoga to Basics to Power. We are pleased to welcome her to the studio and hope you can meet her soon.

Susan Himml

    Susan's interest in athletics led her to the practice of yoga in 1990 to gain strength and flexibility. She quickly realized that she had acquired not only physical benefits but emotional and spiritual benefits as well. Her passion for yoga inspired her toward the path of teaching others in 1999 and she has been teaching full-time to individuals and groups on Cape Ann and the North Shore for 5 years. Combining natural teaching ability with learned training skills from a previous career in corporate training, Susan teaches with patience and compassion and encourages her students to see beyond their self-imposed limitations.

    Susan studied with Patty Townsend of the Yoga Center Amherst, where she completed her 200 hundred-hour certification program. She also completed Ashtanga teacher training with David Swenson, and one of the highlights of her yoga journey has been studying ashtanga yoga with “guruji” Sri, K. Pattabhi Jois in NYC. She has also been influenced by Rod Stryker, Richard Freeman, Anna Forrest, Beryl Bender Birch, Baron Baptiste, Tias Little, Kathy McNames, Gayna Uransky, and many gifted yoga teachers in the Boston area. Most recently Susan has found her most inspiring teachers to be her students and observations of life experiences and relationships. She is a registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance, and holds a Master's Degree in Human Resources from Lesley University. Susan truly enjoys working with beginners as well as advanced practitioners and has a talent for teaching mixed levels. In her classes she focuses on moving with breath and awareness (vinyasa) while providing a safe yet challenging environment. She encourages her students to be present, increasing body awareness and individualizing their practice while moving towards inner peace, an open heart and self-realization.

    In 2005 Susan took her practice to a deeper level and expanded her offerings to include Holistic Health Counseling. She graduated from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC, which is accredited by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. She currently works with clients individually in 6-month programs and conducts small group sessions that focus on nutrition and nourishment, cleansing and wellness. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and experiences to expand and support others in achieving optimal health.