meet the bluebird sky yoga team
Our experienced and dedicated yoga family is excited to share thoughtful classes and workshops with the Bluebird Sky Yoga community. Scroll over each photo to learn about each teacher's background, teaching style, and what brought them to yoga.
Kristine Erickson (she/her)
Kristine is one of the owners of Bluebird Sky Yoga, sharing the role with her amazing partner and spouse, Kris. She teaches Mysore Ashtanga yoga and loves practicing alongside and learning from our Mysore Director, Janet Walkoe. For Kristine, yoga is a lifeline—it helps her find peace of mind, stay (mostly) positive, and embrace neutrality when life gets stressful.
She tries to carry yoga’s lessons into daily life: being kind to herself and others, accepting life’s impermanence, trusting steady effort to bring growth, and, when all else fails, just breathing. As a teacher, Kristine treasures connecting with students and supporting their personal journeys with kindness and patience.
Since becoming an owner, she finds joy in knowing the studio will keep welcoming neighbors for years to come. Outside the studio, Kristine loves all forms of art, exploring the world with her husband and teenage son, and running in the winter—mostly so she doesn’t end up on the bus at the end of the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler!
Kristine Erickson
Owner / Teacher
Kris Erickson (he/him)
Kris is also a co-owner of Bluebird Sky Yoga. He has been practicing yoga on and off since first learning Iyengar in a small town in South Korea twenty years ago. Today, he loves to practice in the Mysore room and to take as many classes as his schedule allows. As a new owner, Kris is excited to have a great excuse to learn more about different styles of yoga, and to build partnerships for the studio. When not at Bluebird, Kris can be found on the trail, foraging for mushrooms, and camping with Kristine, their son Reece, and friends. Even though he thinks he wants to live on a farm, he scratches that itch by making kombucha and yogurt, and keeping bee hives.
Kris Erickson
Owner
Teaching Team
Jennie Light
Janet Walkoe
Kate Rivard (she/her)
E-RYT 500, LMT in DC
Kate is our Lead Teacher and discovered yoga in 2003. After several years of consistent and dedicated practice, Kate started teaching in 2010. In 2014, she worked at Womack Army Medical Center's Intrepid Spirit Center on Ft. Bragg, NC, offering yoga and mindfulness practices to active duty soldiers as a part of the Pain Management and Traumatic Brain Injury Clinics.
Kate's classes are influenced by several different styles and lineages with a focus on the dynamic sequencing of Ashtanga yoga blended with an emphasis on safe alignment and healthy movement. As a teacher, her intention is to offer classes that are designed to inspire self-awareness, a feeling of personal empowerment as well as a sense of the connection we have to ourselves and the world we live in. Kate is also a licensed massage therapist in Washington, DC.
Kate Rivard
Elena Papina (she/her)
Elena, native of Moscow, Russia, discovered yoga in Washington over twenty years ago with a group of friends who found out how the yoga practice on the mat and off the mat could complement their mutual passion for active outdoor lifestyle.
Elena loves to learn and grow in her yoga teaching as well as in her own practice. After taking a multiple training series from Brian Kest, Crissy Carter, Sean Corn, Jason Crandell, she enrolled in an advanced training led by Para Yoga true master teacher - Rod Stryker.
“The heart that gives, gathers” is Elena’s true flagship. With its guidance, Elena offers group yoga classes as well as private yoga classes and the outdoor adventures through ‘NYogaFitness.
Elena's classes encourage students to explore in a fun and playful way, guided by the courageous and kind warrior that resides in each student’s heart. At the end of practice, students are left feeling strong and grounded, balanced and inspired, and loving and compassionate.
If you ask Elena about her favorite season, she might surprise you with her answer: “any season if it snows!”
Shakeelah Sutton (she/her)
Shakeelah is known for her calm, yet edge-pushing teaching style. Blending her background in physiology, mindfulness, and trauma-informed somatics, she crafts yoga experiences rooted in internal observation, breath awareness, and ease.
Shakeelah is also the founder of the calm/cool collective, a wellness community that offers healing through holistic wellness practices for BIPOC facing stress and trauma from our lived experiences, so that we can strengthen self-awareness, resiliency, and the ability to feel at ease in any given moment. Learn more at calmcool.co.
Elena Papina
Shakeelah Sutton
Becky Paris (she/her)
Becky is a music-loving, profanity-speaking, southern lady with very little drawl but a lot of hospitality. Her love for yoga has changed the way she approaches herself, her loved ones and the world she lives in, and she thinks it's for the better. Her classes are heavily influenced by her personal practice of Ashtanga yoga, where the asana is athletic and the movement is methodical and mindful.
Becky's classes are taught from the heart, honoring the teachings that have and are still being passed down to her by her teachers, but she likes to keep it light, too. Learning to observe our own patterns and responses is immensely deep work, so being able to do it with a sense of levity makes the process feel more balanced. Equal parts grace and grit, warm and wry; sthira and suhka (effort and ease).
Becky Paris
Erica Baca
Aida Ebrahimi (She/They)
Aida turned to the physical practice of yoga to find some relief from the busy and demanding work in the service industry. Soon, the daily Asana practice evolved into a holistic spiritual practice. Yoga allowed her to calm her chronic depression and anxiety, and it ignited a life-long process to work through trauma and rediscover her self-compassion. Aida is an artist and an educator and uses her creativity to invite playfulness into her yoga teachings. Aida's classes can be described as grounding, empowering, and meditative. Since 2021, she has been teaching mindfulness and yoga to children, adults, and older adults, inviting everyone from all backgrounds and abilities to find some rest, peace, and connection to their breath, body, and spirit.
Aida Ebrahimi
Mana Takai
Mana left creative director/consultant position in the fashion industry based in Tokyo in 2015 to travel through Southeast Asia--it was there that she began her yoga journey. Her yoga studies continued once she returned to Tokyo until, in 2016, she finally decided to move to Chiang Mai, Thailand to get closer to her true nature. Since then, she has extensively studied, practiced, and taught yoga as she traveled throughout the world including Thailand, Laos, Japan and the United States. Her daily practices include Ashtanga yoga and Mindfulness meditation. Yoga and meditation simply brings her joy and peace, and she endeavors to share that joy and peace with her students. Based in the firmness of the Ashtanga tradition, her classes are challenging and inspire discipline that guide students towards personal transformation.
Mana Takai
Jess Gioe (she/her)
Jess Gioe is an E-RYT 200 who has led students through 3000+ hours of practice since receiving her certification in 2017. Jess brings her love for a variety of traditions including rocket vinyasa, prana flow, and mindfulness meditation to her classes. Coming from a perspective of managing chronic pain, Jess prioritizes safety and progressive depth in her creative sequencing while cultivating an environment for students to challenge themselves. She strives to hold space for an experience that is meditative yet playful, welcoming yet disciplined, and challenging yet restoring.
Yasmine (she/her)
Yasmine is a medical student at Howard University College of Medicine and Yoga Instructor who currently lives in Washington, DC. Originally from Atlanta, GA, she found yoga at a young age practicing with her mother and aunt, a vinyasa instructor. Yasmine hopes to advance health equity through her career and future endeavors at the intersections of medicine, public health, and holistic wellness.
Yasmine is certified in Hatha Yoga, Rocket Yoga, and Yoga Sculpt, a combination of vinyasa yoga, cardio, and weight training. Her classes range from restorative and meditative practices to power yoga flows. She earned her certifications in November of 2019 and July of 2020 and has been teaching since February 2020.
Jess Gioe
Yasmine Griffiths
Emily Adeleke (she/her)
Emily (RYT, RPYT) is committed to teaching dynamic, strong, yet lighthearted yoga classes to students of all levels. She has regularly practiced yoga since 2004. She received her 200-hour yoga teacher certification in 2010, and her 85-hour prenatal yoga teacher certification in 2016 (while pregnant with her son!). Emily sees the value in practicing many different types of yoga and enjoys helping students see that some days you may benefit from a power vinyasa class and other days a slow flow is what the body needs..
Leti Franchi
Angela Wang (she/her)
Angela has always enjoyed challenging her body in strength, flexibility, and balance. She grew up dancing and keeps an active lifestyle by doing triathlons so practicing yoga over the last 10 years has empowered her to listen to and take better care of her body. She has been teaching Vinyasa-style yoga for over 5 years and her classes offer many modifications and build on variations to set students up for success so that everyone can find something rewarding as well as inspiring. She loves teaching because it challenges her to continually create as well as learn from, and adapt for students of all sizes, shapes, and experiences. Yoga is a personal and ever evolving practice so her offerings try to meet students where they are that day and always remind them to smile as yoga should be fun!
Angela Wang
Gabriela Duarte
I am a RYT 200! Yoga came into my life about 10 years ago and has helped me find so much beauty in pause and movement. The practice inspires me to live each moment with awareness, compassion, and intention. I am very passionate about movement and nurturing the mind, body, and soul. I aim to create a safe and inviting space for all and to guide you through your own practice, to heal, and ignite the vibrant light we all have within us.
Gabriela Duarte
Molly Hoeg (she/her)
Molly found yoga in 2010 and has been practicing on and off ever since. She picked up a very regular practice in 2020 and decided that it was time to start a teacher training program to deepen her practice. Molly quickly fell in love with sharing her knowledge and went on to get her 300 hour certification soon after completing her 200 hour. Molly began teaching classes online during the pandemic, and then started teaching to climbers at DC Bouldering Project. She loves hosting pop-up classes at breweries and community events as well. In her classes, Molly helps to quiet the mind by linking the body and breath through the flowy movements in her sequences. Yoga, both on and off the mat, has become a big part of Molly's life and she strives to create a space for others to learn and get curious about their own practice.
Molly Hoeg
Anna Franklin
When she suddenly became a part-time caretaker to a parent and then a sibling, Anna not only found the strength and courage in yoga to be a little kinder and a bit more patient, but also found herself increasingly attracted to the idea of sharing this healing practice with others. As a teacher, Anna strives to create a warm and welcoming community with her students while also focusing on the rigor of the practice to cultivate the rich and universal spirituality that yoga offers. She brings a sense of humor and deep care to her meditation and yoga classes. Her approach to teaching, much like her other work as a Workplace Wellness Consultant and Community Organizer (and pet sitter extraordinaire!) is embodied by the spirit of Cura Personalis, or Care for the Whole Person. If you take a class, workshop, or attend a retreat with Anna, you can expect some time with your breath, space for reflection, (and maybe some chanting!). Anna completed her 200 hour Vinyasa yoga teacher training in 2014 at The Studio DC and her 220 hour Kundalini Yoga TT in 2017 at Lighthouse Yoga Center, and recently graduated from The Living School at the Center for Action and Contemplation with Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM.
Connect with Anna about any of this and/or to learn more about her new work with individuals and organizations dealing with Burnout via her linktree: https://linktr.ee/annapfranklin or website:annafranklinconsulting.com
Anna Franklin
Heather Levy
Heather believes in sharing with students what has helped her in the practice of yoga. . She encourages students to find the benefits of yoga within themselves through breathing, focusing, and engaging their bodies in poses. Heather completed her 200 hr RYT at the Progressive Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga School in Puerto Rico, as well has her 100 hour Rocket training. As a lifelong dancer, Heather has found that her yoga practice has been a great addition that balances and supports her dance practice.
Heather Levy
Shannon McKenna (she/her)
Shannon started practicing yoga regularly in February 2018 while serving in the United States Army and recovering from an injury to her elbow. Yoga helped her cope with the stress of military service, heal from her injuries, and find a community that she didn’t know she was missing. The moment she stepped back onto her mat, yoga became an integral part of her life and helped her see her see the world in a completely different way.
Shannon completed her 200-hour hot vinyasa training with Virginia Gallagher through Hot Asana Yoga University in 2019 and completed her 300-hour requirements through Hot Asana Yoga University in February 2022, almost four years to the date that started practicing regularly. Shannon loves teaching vinyasa, yin, restorative, meditation, and yoga nidra. In 2019 as Shannon prepared to leave the military, she had the honor of teaching at the OM’ERICA Yoga Fest hosted by American Yogi and Hot Asana Yoga Studio in Southern Pines, NC. This festival features military veteran teachers and proceeds go towards awarding scholarships for veterans and their families to attend yoga teacher training.
In Shannon’s vinyasa classes expect fun and powerful sequences paired with a playlist you won’t be able to get out of your head. Expect heavy focus on anatomical cueing and connection between mind and body in Shannon’s more restorative classes. Shannon hopes that her classes inspire her students to trust their bodies and minds and to take the time to honor what brought them to their mats in the first place.
Shannon McKenna
Brielle Weber
I have been practicing yoga since 2010, and became a certified instructor in 2017. My intention with each of my classes is to use various breathing techniques and shapes to empower you to ground into your body. With that grounding, I offer tools to open yourself up to whatever is showing up and respond accordingly.
During my time in nursing school, I became a birth and postpartum doula. Since then, I have attended births at St. Joseph's Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital, George Washington University Hospital, and Franklin Square Medical Center, and supported numerous families in the Baltimore and DC area. I have a passion for teaching prenatal and postnatal yoga classes, and love sprinkling childbirth education and comfort measures into my prenatal classes whenever I can.
I believe that in life and in birth, you can do hard things. I teach with an emphasis on learning to listen to what your body needs in each pose while focusing on an easy, steady breath. Each of my classes are infused with poetry and affirming mantras, all of which personally get me through hard things.
Brielle Weber
Dan Levin
Dan’s classes emphasize breath, movement, and alignment, and he works to help students build strength, flexibility, and focus. Dan's yoga classes are fun and creative, and frequently include opportunities for individual guided practice. He loves seeing yoga students develop greater confidence in their practice. Dan trained at Yoga Heights DC with Jess Pierno and Angela Meyer, and he is an RYT®200. He also completed 20 hours of functional yin yoga training with Paul Grilley. He is currently studying Ashtanga and hopes to eventually apprentice. Fun fact: Dan holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
Dan Levin
Eleni Grove
Eleni has been a student of yoga for nearing two decades and an instructor since 2014. Eleni loves the crossover of yoga & art. She found yoga as a life-long dancer, and stayed because of the openness and inclusion of the practice and community. Whether an energetic flow or slowing down in yin, Eleni aims to provide a lightness in her class while drawing focus to the power of breath. Outside of yoga, Eleni has a supportive partner, Carlos, and two adorable toddlers, and works as an arts administrator.
Eleni Grove
Toni Thomas
Toni’s first class at extendYoga was in September 2016. Her introduction to Hatha Yoga was at the Alexandria City YMCA sometime around 1997 and it was a forgettable experience. She then tried Bikram and even completed a 30-day challenge– all while enduring the classroom heat
and DMV traffic to make it happen. After a plantar fasciitis diagnosis and a mild ankle sprain in July 2016--she hung up her running shoes and sought out yoga again. There were classes, retreats and a growing thirst for the practice and an eventual 200-hour certification at extend
YOGA in February 2022.
Since that time, she has also received a certification to teach Yin Yoga, has led classes for her
neighbors, members at a National Association of Manufacturers Convention and at the Fenestra and Modera Sedici Apartments. Practicewise, she prefers a mid-paced flow, but prefers to teach either a mid-paced flow, Yin or Restorative class. Her hope is that students leave her classes feeling peaceful and refreshed.
Favorite Yoga Posture: Balasana (Child’s Pose)
Off the Mat: She loves to relax and watch episodes of classic tv – specifically
Columbo!
What’s Up: She is planning for retirement, trips, drinking coffee and searching the web for latest Japanese stationery and planners. It’s all about the paper.
Toni Thomas
Carmen Mathaudhu
Carmen was born in Germany and moved to Maryland in 2007. She is passionate about her profession as a registered nurse, loves spending time with her daughter, and enjoys exploring nature on land and in the water.
Carmen’s practice began in 2010 as a college credit and was initially a fun exercise. Over the years, she gained a deeper understanding of yoga. The mental and physical strength she cultivated on her mat supported her through many challenging experiences. In 2020, she completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training at the Yoga and Ayurveda Center under the guidance of Steph Mitchell and Alecia Croft. The following years, she deepened her knowledge by completing the Yoga Anatomy Membership with Ariele Foster, DPT and expanded her teaching skills with Linda Feldman’s Kid’s Yoga Teacher Training.
Carmen always had a passion working with and learning from children. She loved her time as Au-Pair, working as a nanny, and found her professional niche caring for sick children at Children’s National Medical Center. Prior to teaching kids yoga at Bluebird Sky, Carmen focused on private sessions for yogis of all ages with specific physical challenges.
In Carmen’s classes, she combines music and movement as well as yoga games and philosophy. She loves integrating ideas of the young yogis in her flow and always continues to learn from their growing minds.
Carmen Mathaudhu
Steve Krzyzanowski
Michelle Petrotta
Michelle (RYT) has been a student of yoga for over 15 years. The practice of tethering breath and movement to create space and develop focus in a world full of distraction inspired her to want to share the practice with others. In 2017, she did her 200 hour training in Power Vinyasa, enjoying the sweat, precision, and strength. Michelle seeks to create a warm and welcoming classroom environment that prioritizes community, connection, and personal growth by encouraging students to customize the practice to best suit their goals. Her flows have a balance of moments to nourish the body with strength and moments to instill a sense of peace. She enjoys learning as much as she does teaching and has completed training in Rocket and IPATH Yoga. When not on the mat, you can find Michelle spending time with her family or teaching PreK in DC.
Michelle Petrotta
Elaine Chan
Elaine first discovered Ashtanga during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Although she had previously practiced vinyasa yoga, the quarantine created an opportunity for self-practice. The first book that came up in her search was an Ashtanga book. She has since developed a consistent and devotional Mysore Ashtanga practice with the support of her many teachers (Janet Walkoe, Mana Takai, Kristine Erickson, Petri Raisanen, Kino MacGregor). Elaine regularly assists in the Mysore room with Janet Walkoe and believes in compassionately carrying the lineage of the practice. She enjoys attending yoga teacher training and workshops to hone her skills and connecting with the community at Bluebird Sky Yoga. For her practice is a chance to go home, to make the impossible possible, and to remind herself that it’s never too late to begin again.
Elaine Chan
Inspired by her mother, a yoga teacher, Suria began her yoga journey as a child in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Her early passion for movement and the human body led her to study acrobatics, trapeze, and theater at the National Circus School, while also exploring dance forms like modern, jazz, ballet, and salsa.
As life’s challenges, including the pressures of her academic pursuits, began to build, she returned to yoga for balance. In 2011, a life-altering accident left her in chronic pain, forcing her to rediscover yoga and meditation as paths to healing. Through dedicated practice, she found not only physical relief but also emotional strength, emerging from her experience with a renewed sense of purpose.
Suria has been attending yoga classes for over 20 years, with the last 9 years dedicated to teaching. Her yoga journey has taken her across the globe, where she has both learned and taught, enriching her understanding of yoga and personal growth. In 2015, she completed her first 200-hour Ashtanga Yoga teacher training in Thailand and later pursued advanced Hatha Yoga and Yoga Therapy certifications in India. Her teachings integrate Ashtanga, Hatha, yoga therapy, and meditation, with a focus on empowering others through the transformative power of yoga.
Today, Suria is passionate about sharing the transformative power of yoga with others. She encourages everyone to explore their own potential for growth, healing, and self-discovery through this ancient practice.
Suria Carvalho