Cathryn Wilson

Director of Soma Yoga Institute

Cathryn Wilson, M.A., APCC, C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, and E-RYT 500, is Director of Soma Yoga Institute and has been teaching since 2012. Over the past 14 years, she has developed a specialty in the intersection of yoga, mental health, and embodied awareness — helping students understand how nervous system regulation, movement, and lived experience are deeply connected.

Her passion for yogic philosophy was deepened through six months studying Indian philosophy and Indian dance at the University of Hyderabad in Hyderabad, India. Cathryn teaches therapeutic yoga through a lens of curiosity, compassion, and integration. She values expressive, responsive movement over rigid forms, supporting students in building self-trust and discovering their authentic teaching voice.

Cathryn is especially passionate about helping future teachers feel confident working with diverse bodies, nervous systems, and life experiences, and guiding students toward teaching that is compassionate, adaptable, and real.

Liz Heffernan

C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, Faculty

Liz Heffernan, MA, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT, is an internationally respected yoga educator, Integrative Yoga Therapist, and founding faculty member of Soma Yoga Institute. With over 25 years of teaching experience, she leads yoga teacher trainings and therapeutic immersions worldwide, providing skillful mentorship that helps students deepen their practice and teach with clarity, confidence, and heart.

Rooted in the Hatha yoga traditions of Kripalu, Integrative Yoga Therapy, Ashtanga, and Anusara, Liz bridges ancient wisdom with modern anatomy, biomechanics, and nervous system science to create adaptive, evidence-informed practices that support healing and resilience for all bodies. She previously served as mentor-faculty with the Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy and leads specialty trainings in Yoga Nidra and Somatic Movement, with a focus on healthy aging and cognitive resilience.

Known for her clarity, compassion, and depth of knowledge, Liz empowers teachers to translate complex principles into practical, therapeutic tools that make yoga accessible and transformative across the lifespan.

Peggy Profant

C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, E-RYT 500

Peggy Profant, E-RYT 500, Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher, and yoga therapist, is a lead teacher with Soma Yoga Institute and has been teaching yoga, mentoring students, and leading trainings since 2005. Rooted in the Kripalu tradition and shaped by immersive study of Ashtanga yoga in India and therapeutic alignment through Anusara, Peggy blends heart-centered philosophy with skillful sequencing and hands-on therapeutic awareness. Her background as a massage therapist and life coach informs a deeply intuitive, body-based approach that supports healing, resilience, and self-trust.

Peggy founded and operated Om Shala Yoga for ten years and co-founded World Family Yoga retreats in Costa Rica, mentoring teachers and building strong, connected communities. Known for her warmth, creativity, and uplifting presence, she empowers students to move with confidence and reconnect to joy. Outside the studio, she finds her deepest happiness in nature, travel, and time with family.

Samantha Akers

C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, E-RYT 500

Sam Akers, E-RYT 500, CMT, C-IAYT, is a certified Yoga Therapist and senior faculty member with Soma Yoga Institute specializing in Yin, Restorative, and fascia-informed therapeutic yoga. With over two decades of teaching experience, she integrates mindfulness, meditation, and self-myofascial release to support nervous system regulation, pain relief, and sustainable healing.

Sam’s path began through her own recovery from chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia, where restorative practices became essential to rebuilding strength and trust in her body. She later founded TheraYoga Studio and developed the TheraYoga Method, mentoring teachers through trainings and workshops in restorative care, special conditions, and therapeutic movement.

Rooted in Iyengar-influenced alignment and long-term Buddhist mindfulness practice, Sam brings a calm, compassion-centered presence that helps students slow down, listen deeply, and create safe, inclusive spaces where lasting healing can unfold.

 Alison Scola

C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, E-RYT 500, LMT

Alison Scola, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, LMT is a trauma-informed Yoga Therapist and Licensed Massage Therapist with nearly 30 years of experience guiding healing through yoga, somatics, and therapeutic bodywork. It was the gift of chronic pain that first brought Alison to yoga in 1993. Through dedicated study and practice of all eight limbs, she discovered powerful tools to restore both body and mind—sparking a lifelong commitment to helping others do the same.

Alison trained with the White Lotus Foundation, Integrative Yoga Therapy, YogAlign at Kauai Yoga School, and the Healing Hands School of Holistic Health. She is an IAYT-certified Yoga Therapist, Reiki Master, and seasoned educator whose work blends yoga therapy, somatic experiencing, and nervous system–informed care.

Her teaching emphasizes safety, consent, and deep listening, helping students reconnect with their innate wisdom and capacity to heal. Known for her gentle presence and grounded strength, Alison creates spaces that are compassionate, empowering, and profoundly transformative.

Jess Trudeau

E-RYT 500

Jess Trudeau, E-RYT 500, first began practicing yoga in 1999 as a young college student and quickly fell in love with its creative, liberating nature. The practice became her foundation through the “carnival of life,” including motherhood and a battle with Guillain-Barré Syndrome that left her temporarily paralyzed in 2016. Through recovery, yoga and meditation became her shining light, revealing the body’s remarkable capacity to heal, adapt, and overcome.

For more than 17 years, Jess has led teacher trainings, retreats, workshops, and classes worldwide, beginning with her first class to women in Mongolia while serving in the Peace Corps. Her teaching blends mindful alignment, thoughtful sequencing, and rich yoga philosophy with playfulness and creativity. She offers styles ranging from therapeutic and restorative to chair and dynamic, multi-level vinyasa flow.

Jess infuses classes with mantras on harmonium to find voice, hand mudras, breath pranayama, as well as insightful themes and intentions to shake out routine and invite people back home to their bodies. She is interested in balancing the architecture of alignment with the grace and freedom found in flow. As a teacher she inspires her students to use yoga as a gateway to better understand oneself, accept and even celebrate our humanness, and to seek wonder in the cracks where the light tries to find us.