Merry Beth Freienmuth, E-RYT 500, YACEP

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Merry Beth Freienmuth, E-RYT 500, YACEP

Merry Beth is director of Green Lotus' Yoga Alliance-certified school and a senior faculty member. She has been practicing yoga since 2000. She found the physical asana practice to be the perfect transition for her aging body that could no longer tolerate a classical ballet practice. She taught ballet for more than 15 years, then she began teaching Body Flow, Pilates, and yoga in 2002. Merry Beth also has experienced the more subtle benefits of yoga; it has given her the strength and balance to navigate a full-time career in corporate America and to raise her children into adulthood. Now the sole owner of Green Lotus, she devotes her time to teaching and supporting the business. 

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Marcia Appel, E-RYT 500, YACEP

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Marcia Appel, E-RYT 500, YACEP

Marcia, senior faculty member of Green Lotus's school, says yoga deepens her connection to herself and to others. Marcia encourages all students to try many class styles and deeply believes that yoga asana (poses) are an extension and beautiful expression of breath and meditation. In May 2013, she completed a two-year study of the integration of yoga and mindfulness meditation at Spirit Rock Retreat Center in California. The faculty included Dr. Richard Miller, Anne Cushman, Janice Gates, Mark Coleman, and Phillip Moffett. Her other certifications include Judith Lasater’s Relax & Renew® (restorative yoga), Baptiste Power Vinyasa (Level One), and iRest ® Level One (Yoga Nidra).

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Dawn Schaefer Stumpf, BS, MS, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, YACEP, IAYT

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Dawn Schaefer Stumpf, BS, MS, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, YACEP, IAYT

Dawn (she/her) began practicing yoga more than 30 years ago at Saint Olaf College where it couldn’t be called yoga. How times have changed! She earned her 200- and first 500-hour certifications at Green Lotus. She believes in the power of cultivating joy and lives by the mantra, lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu, which translates as, “May all beings be happy and free and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way.” Her advanced training includes Yoga Therapy (under mentorship), and she is a certified LifeForce Yoga for Anxiety and Depression instructor and Yoga Calm for Children instructor. Dawn teaches yoga history, philosophy, and pranayama in Green Lotus’s 240-hour teacher-training program.

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Elizabeth Heffernan, E-RYT 500, YACEP

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Elizabeth Heffernan, E-RYT 500, YACEP

Elizabeth discovered the gentleness, grace, and ease of yoga after retiring from the dance world due to an injury. Yoga provided the ideal transition from rigorous training to a gentle and desirable style of physical movement within a discipline that brought sustenance not only to her body, but also to her heart and soul. Liz teaches all styles of yoga at Green Lotus and is also available for private instruction.

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Christine Quam, E-RYT 200, RYT 500

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Christine Quam, E-RYT 200, RYT 500

Christine Quam has been practicing yoga for more than 20 years. She received a Master’s of Art in Psychology from Duquesne University. The philosophical studies she encountered there eventually led her to complete the teacher training program at Green Lotus Yoga and Healing Center in 2016. Christine’s passion for physical movement combined with meditation have led her to complete additional yoga training in Vinyasa Yoga, Yin Yoga, Kids Yoga, East Meets West Anatomy, Mindfulness Meditation, and Ayurveda. Possessing this broad yoga foundation allows Christine to offer vibrant, focused, safe, fun, and creative yoga classes within varying environments and to a variety of demographics.

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Amy Dirksen

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Amy Dirksen

Amy Dirksen has combined her passion for wellness, for service to others, and for business by operating Green Lotus in Eden Prairie, Minnesota from 2015 - 2024. A former marketing executive for a national banking company, she also has many years of experience in teaching fitness and yoga classes in the Y system and at Green Lotus. She gives attention to students' individuals needs and is adept at adapting poses to make yoga accessible to as many people as possible. As a former owner of the Eden Prairie Green Lotus and our first license, Amy brings new insight and energy, laughter, and care to her current role as multi-center manager and to Green Lotus's its mission of integrated wellness. She lives in Eden Prairie with her wonderful husband and son (The Dude).

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Jen Phillips, E-RYT 500, RCYT, RPYT, YACEP

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Jen Phillips, E-RYT 500, RCYT, RPYT, YACEP

On her mat, Jen began a journey that was transformative and character-building. She found strength in the body through physical practice, strength in her breath through pranayama, and strength in her mind through meditation and yoga's teachings. She teaches a comprehensive list of yoga formats and meditation. Jen has been lecturing and leading 200- and 300-hour teacher trainings and continuing education in Chicago, Minneapolis, Orange County, and globally via Zoom since 2010.

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