Meet Our Teachers

Adrianne has been in the fitness industry for over 17 years, with a background in personal training, competitive bodybuilding, strength training, and MMA. She has a passion for lifting, fitness, and helping others become stronger and more confident in what their bodies can do. Outside the gym, Adrianne loves adventure, exploring new places, and staying active.

Alfre is a Santa Rosa-based 200 hour trained yoga teacher and has been practicing yoga for over 6 years. Alfre believes that yoga can benefit anyone looking to build strength, balance and a positive mindset. Her personal yoga practice has helped overcome back pain, reduce stress and develop a sense of community. Alfre strives to create a welcoming class where students of all levels can learn, try something new and have some fun.

Andre teaches yoga and strength that's fun, challenging, and makes everything else you do feel easier. He grew up on the soccer field and in the water polo pool before falling in love with Yoga and now building Cabuya with his wife Jess S. He completed his yoga teacher training near Cabuya, Costa Rica, and brings years of Olympic lifting and strength training to the mat (CrossFit Level 1 Trainer). Off the mat, you'll find him surfing or training for his next triathlon. His classes pair breath-led flow with real strength work, so you walk out feeling strong and capable in your body.

April can’t wait to now share her love of yoga with her own neighborhood of Montgomery Village! As a CYT 200+ with additional certifications in both Yin and Restorative Yoga, her Vinyasa classes explore asana (movement) and pranayama (breath) to build wellness from the inside out. Years of dedication to CrossFit also inspire her approach to build strength, safe form, and community. All of these elements combined are key to vitality and longevity! Come ready to play and to learn; to lengthen, strengthen and also reset. The dualities of yoga – movement and stillness, mindfulness but also letting go, effort and ease – are ideas that we can practice both on and off the mat throughout life. Yoga is a path to fitness that is always there for you. When not teaching or practicing yoga, you’ll find April with animals – either horses or wildlife out at the Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue; or out for a hike at places like Annadel and Bodega Head. We live in an amazing place.

Christa is a yoga teacher, mom of two, and birth doula with a trauma-informed background in Human Services. Her passions intersect in beautiful ways and she believes that movement is medicine for all people. She holds space in her classes with gentle care and great intention infused with lots of joy and a little levity. Christa hopes you leave her classes feeling grounded in your body, lifted in your spirits, and stronger than when you walked in. When she’s not teaching movement she’s playing with her kids, laughing with her husband, and traveling wherever she’s found cheap tickets to.

Emmy is a multi-disciplinary movement teacher who blends yoga, Pilates, strength training, and mindful functional movement into an empowering, accessible experience for students of all levels. With a B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics and over 12 years of fitness experience, she brings a whole-person approach to every class—honoring the body’s natural rhythms, supporting mobility and strength, and creating space for intuitive connection. Her group class teaching experience includes pilates, strength, sculpt, HIIT and yoga.

Jessica Elliott is the owner of Balance Point Fitness and a certified personal trainer, nutritionist, mat Pilates instructor, sound healing practitioner, and 200-hour registered yoga teacher. She loves learning and sharing what she's learned, and her greatest joy is helping people realize their full potential. She's thrilled to be part of the team at Cabuya.

Jess co-owns Cabuya with her husband, Andre. A 200-hour certified yoga teacher, she teaches strong, creative vinyasa flows paired with strength circuits and great playlists (usually thanks to Andre). A lifelong athlete, Jess spent years in group workouts that skipped proper form and mobility, and the injuries caught up with her. Physical therapy and yoga helped her rebuild, and that experience inspired the vision for Cabuya: a place to improve mobility, build strength that lasts, and feel good in your body again. Expect to leave her class grounded, energized, and stronger than you came in.

La Reina Marshall RYT 500 has been practicing yoga since 2005 and received her 200 hour certification at Soul Yoga in June 2019. She is trained in trauma informed yoga, yin yoga, restorative yoga and sound healing. La Reina completed her 300 Hour yoga certification with Soul Yoga in October of 2024. She completed trainings with Dolphin Method as a certified Doula, as well as Prenatal & Postnatal Vinyasa Yoga. La Reina is trained and attuned in Reiki I and II and Mastery levels. She currently teaches multiple public yoga classes and events in Sonoma County.

Lindsey lives for movement in all its forms, from fluid vinyasa flows to strength training to traveling the world to run local races. As a kinesiologist, certified personal trainer, and yoga teacher, she combines the science of movement with the mindfulness of yoga. Her Vinyasa and Cabuya Strong classes are approachable and fun, yet satisfyingly challenging. She creates an inviting space where you feel supported to push your limits, build strength, and leave feeling empowered and refreshed. Come as you are, and come move with her.

Merrisa Dolin is an E-RYT 500 yoga teacher with more than a decade of experience leading classes, workshops, trainings, and retreats. She believes movement gives us the steadiness and presence to navigate busy lives with more confidence and ease. Her classes blend flowing movement with strength building, breath awareness, and balance play, all set to upbeat music with a bit of humor woven in. She encourages students to work hard, stay curious, and honor their unique bodies while finding the sweet spot between effort and ease. Merrisa is also VP of Business Operations for International Yoga, coordinating yoga adventures around the globe. Outside the studio, you'll find her lifting weights, biking, camping, on the water, or cooking for family and friends. Learn more at merrisarose.com.

Originally from Switzerland, Nicole found yoga while traveling in Indonesia. The practice gave her a deeper connection to her body, a calmer mind, and a more authentic way of living. No two of Nicole's classes are the same. Expect creative sequencing that keeps you present instead of on autopilot, steady cueing around the breath, new variations in every practice, and hands-on assists if you'd like them. Through chanting, pranayama, and asana, she guides students toward what she calls Home: the inner place where you meet yourself and carry that into the world. Nicole has studied across lineages, including Jivamukti, Katonah, and Yin, and also offers Energy Clearings and Healing Circles using Theta Healing. Learn more about her workshops and retreats at thesoulsparkle.com or on Instagram @nicole.soulsparkleyoga.

Yoga has been an integral part of Nicole's life for many years. As a mother of two, it has kept her grounded through the hardest moments and keeps her curious and open every day. She uses creative sequencing, intentional breathing, and curated playlists to invite students to explore where they are in their practice, in each pose, and in each moment. Nicole trained at Renew Yoga in Petaluma in 2015 and earned her massage therapy certification at the National Holistic Institute of Massage Therapy in 2022. She draws on 10+ years of teaching and her massage work to help people find their way back home in their bodies and hearts. She's dedicated to building community through yoga and looks forward to meeting you on your mat, just as you are.

Stephanie has practiced yoga for over a decade, and her classes mix creative movement, strength, mobility, and stillness, with thoughtful sequencing and a killer playlist. Her teaching honors yoga's traditional practice and philosophy while leaving room to make it your own. The idea she returns to most: give yourself fully to what you're doing without needing a particular outcome. The practice is showing up, noticing, and letting the rest unfold. A mom of two and an adventurer, she's happiest on a trail or in the ocean, and that spirit shows up in her classes: grounded, playful, occasionally messy, and always evolving. There's nothing to prove and no pose to get "right." Just a judgment-free place to try something new, slow down, and maybe laugh when you fall out of something.

Steven “Coconut” Narasimha has been exploring movement and the healing arts for over 20 years. His practice weaves together yoga, capoeira, primal movement, martial arts, breathwork, dance, and embodied awareness. He is especially interested in helping people rediscover movement as a pathway to presence, play, strength, and deeper connection with themselves and their environment. Steven’s classes invite curiosity rather than perfection, exploring how we move, breathe, sense, and respond. Drawing from both traditional practices and improvisational movement, his teaching creates space to build strength, mobility, coordination, and embodied awareness while reconnecting with the natural intelligence of the body.