Our Team

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Our Coaches

Lisa Abat

As the owner of Namastate of Mind, Lisa believes that everyone deserves to live a healthy and fulfilling life. She is committed to providing a personalized experience, whether you are seeking coaching, mentorship, or mindful movement and support to help you achieve your goals and create sustainable habits.

Health and Wellness has always been a passion for Lisa, who is a Certified Functional Health Coach, a certified Yoga teacher, and a trained Pilates teacher. She also has her own consulting business, ShiftPoint Strategy Solutions, LLC, focusing on helping companies with strategic projects, organizational change management and transformation.

Outside of being a coach, she will also be teaching classes in the studio and ensuring members have everything that they need!

Tara Cusack

Tara is the owner of TLC Wellness Co. and is a Certified Functional Health Coach who is passionate about helping people find the tools within themselves to live a deeply fulfilled life.

Coaching sessions are built on foundational pillars of wellness: nutrition, movement, detoxing the body, mindfulness, meditation and more. With over 800 hours of training in Integrative Nutrition, Tara's approach focuses on multidimensional health and wellness to promote balance in all aspects of your life.

Together we will treat the root cause, not the symptom, and work together to discover the happiest, healthiest you!

Kristin Taddeucci

Kristin is a Chicago girl living in the heart of Gold Coast, passionate about personal growth, resilience, and holistic well-being. She believes that a strong mindset and a healthy body go hand in hand, both requiring consistency, discipline, and the right tools to thrive. She advocates for a balanced lifestyle that nourishes both mental and physical health, emphasizing movement, mindful nutrition, and self-care as key components of overall wellness. Through motivation and life coaching, Kristin empowers others to embrace change, overcome obstacles, and build the confidence to create their best lives, inside and out.

Kristin is also a part of our studio experience team and will be a familiar face to help with all your studio needs!

Our studio experience team

Amy Nolan

Amy is so excited to be immersed in this new and vibrant wellness community, as Yoga practice has increasingly been vital to her daily functioning. Amy is a 15-year small business owner and event planner, with a varied background in customer service, office management and musical theatre. She's thrilled to offer her experience to the team, and to help members to enjoy the full experience of Namastate of Mind.

Ladonna Wright

Ladonna is a 200-hour certified Yoga instructor and movement artist. Blending years of dance with a love for intentional movement, Ladonna invites you to sink into sensation, to move like water—guided by breath, fueled by rhythm, and open to the release that only embodied expression can offer.

Her vibrant morning Yoga Dance Flow classes awaken the body and spirit with upbeat music and creative sequencing, encouraging students to step into the day with clarity and joy. As the sun sets, her Candlelit Hatha sessions offer a softer rhythm—inviting deep rest, presence, and the quiet strength of slowing down.

Occasionally, she also leads Ecstatic Dance events, holding space for free-form expression and emotional release through music and movement. Whether you’re arriving to energize or to exhale, Ladonna meets you where you are—with warmth, grace, and grounded intention.

Claire Romano

Claire Romano is thrilled to be part of the Namastate of Mind community. A lifelong skier and runner, she recently discovered a passion for Pilates, appreciating the deep connection it fosters between mind and body. She values its unique ability to build strength in areas that no other movement achieves.

Finding peace and grounding in the outdoors, Claire spends as much time as possible exploring and embracing nature. Wellness and health through natural remedies and practices have been a foundational part of her life, and she continues to deepen her knowledge in these areas. She is committed to incorporating holistic wellness into her daily routines to live the most connected and healthy life possible.

Claire’s goal is to foster a positive and welcoming environment at the studio, helping others feel strong, empowered, and aligned in both body and mind.

Chase Abat

Jackson Abat

our sound healer

Adrian Garcia

Adrian has had a love of metaphysical healing and wellness since he was a young child and was introduced to several healing modalities that he embraced throughout his life.

Adrian has over 645 hours of sound practitioner training and practical application experience, over 320 hours of training and practice as a certified professional coach, a degree in psychology, and a Master's degree in Metaphysical Sciences.

Adrian will guide you on a sonic journey where you can relax and immerse yourself in a sound sanctuary.

our pilates teachers

Shauni Cunningham

Shauni has always been passionate about wellbeing and the mind-body connection. An injury led her to discover Pilates, fostering a love that continues to grow thanks to its mindful movement approach, the challenges it presents, and the endless opportunities it offers for physical and mental improvement through practice.

She completed her Reformer and Mat Pilates certification through Breathe Education, an evidence-based approach to Pilates, in Australia and her yoga teacher training in India, where she gained qualifications in Hatha, Ashtanga, Yin, and Aerial yoga.

In Shani's classes, you can look forward to a vibrant and supportive environment that seamlessly combines Pilates, yoga, and sport psychology principles, all set to energizing music, where you’ll be challenged physically and mentally through technique, resistance, repetition, confidence, and movement that encourages personal growth.

DuWayne Wright

DuWayne is a dedicated personal trainer and Pilates instructor with over 15 years of experience in the fitness industry. He has honed his skills in various disciplines including corrective exercise, which allows him to tailor fitness programs to mitigate specific physical limitations.

A former NCAA Collegiate All-American track and field athlete, DuWayne loves coaching youth track athletes - instilling discipline, resilience, and a love for fitness in the next generation.

In training sessions, DuWayne prioritizes creating a positive and motivational environment: fitness is not just about physical appearance but about mental empowerment and emotional well-being.

Tatiana Morozova

Pilates transformed Tatiana's life, and she is passionate about helping others experience the same. With specialized training from Balanced Body, she guides her clients toward achieving strength, flexibility, and a deeper connection to their bodies.

Tatiana's approach is rooted in creating an inclusive and supportive space where individuals of all abilities feel empowered and motivated to reach their goals. She incorporates tailored movement, breathwork, and mindfulness into each session, making every class a unique journey for the mind and body. Seeing clients grow stronger and more confident is what inspires Tatiana every day.

Kasia Brzychcy

Kasia is a certified power Pilates instructor, a holistic coach and a personal trainer. She has experience working with a wide variety of clients with different fitness goals.

Kasia is passionate about Pilates and fitness and wants to share that love with others who aspire to become a better and a stronger version of themselves. Kasia is also an IIN graduate and is currently in school to become a Shiatsu practitioner.

Molly Barnes

Chicago native Molly Barnes was encouraged to pursue a career in Pilates by one of her ballet teachers while at university. In 2008 she started the prestigious Ron Fletcher Program of Study and has been teaching the Fletcher Pilates method for 17 years. Molly’s style of teaching is elegant and athletic. You can expect high levels of technique, results, and lots of fun in her classes.

Our yoga & Meditation teachers

Claudia Portilla

Claudia is a transformational guide, embodiment mentor, and space holder devoted to helping others break free from conditioning and step into their most authentic selves. Through a fusion of yoga, holistic practices, and deep self exploration, she facilitates experiences that go beyond movement guiding students through the unraveling of limiting beliefs, nervous system recalibration, and energetic alignment.

Her work is a bridge between the seen and unseen, blending ancient wisdom with modern embodiment practices to catalyze real transformation. Rooted in her own journey of expansion, she creates spaces where students can shed what no longer serves them and reclaim their truth: fully and unapologetically.

Halle Winkler

Halle discovered a love for yoga and mindful movement many years ago, following a period of grief and the stress of her career as a school social worker. Through her yoga practice, she learned that movement can be a powerful form of medicine, helping to process and release emotions, stress, and tension.

Halle earned her 200-hour Yoga Teacher, Mindfulness, and Social Emotional Learning certification through Breathe for Change in 2021, and she recently completed her Yoga Sculpt certification and finished an Advanced Teacher program. Halle views her classes as moving meditation, where students can expect to focus on their breath, receive encouragement to listen to their bodies, and feel empowered to modify or adjust postures to suit their individual needs. Her classes are welcoming and accessible to all and are infused with a variety of music that inspires and lights her up!

Bridgette Valentine

Bridgette loves Yoga because it is physically and mentally life changing. She obtained a 200-hour Yoga certification with Zen Yoga Garage, followed by an additional 50 hours of training in Trauma-Informed Yoga in Portugal with Yoga Institute.

Bridgette's classes integrate dynamic transitions, personalized modifications, chakra healing, hands-on assists, as well as mindfulness and meditation techniques.

Katie Wemhoff

Setting an intention for her own practice that she can carry and honor in her everyday life is what drew Katie into meditation and yoga. She is a certified 200-hour Yoga instructor, and also a certified 100-hour meditation instructor. During Katie's classes, you should expect to feel cared for, empowered, and challenged. Students can look forward to a class that emphasizes personal autonomy, silliness, and self-reflection. Let's explore together!

Camilla Dwyer

Camilla recommitted to her yoga practice looking for a way to build present-moment awareness while moving her body. She received her 200-hour yoga teacher certification from Zen Yoga Garage in 2024.

Students can expect a class that emphasizes personal autonomy, silliness, and self-reflection. Let's explore together!

Suzanne Day

Suzanne has trained extensively in Yoga from Mexico and California to Illinois. She is continuously educating herself in the arts of Yoga and movement. She's an Anatomy junkie; her Yoga students should expect to learn bit about Yoga, Sanskrit and Anatomy. She loves to teach lively cleansing classes and gently adjust bodies, with permission!

Shay Antunez

Shay is a Shaman, Yoga Therapist and Energy Facilitator. She has been teaching Yoga and Meditation for over 20 years, working internationally in studios, hospitals, clinics and schools. Shay works intuitively and crafts her sessions around her background of philosophy and exploration of creative expression.

Derrick Williams

Derrick hsa been been practicing yoga for 6 years and has found it to be a safe space to explore emotions without judgment or attachment. Yoga continues to teach him the power of the breath and the interconnectedness of everything. It has gotten him through some of the most challenging and difficult times of his life. One of Derrick's favorite yoga teachers once said, "Yoga doesn't get easier. You just keep getting stronger." He hopes to impart this message to his students and help them realize their own strength and growth both on and off the mat.

Maggie O'Gorman

Maggie found Yoga and Pilates through her background and connections in dance. She got her 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification, 50-hour Sculpt certification, and Strength training certification through Core Power Yoga. She teaches Vinyasa Yoga and Yoga Sculpt classes and is currently getting her Pilates certification through Polestar Pilates.

Yoga offers the opportunity to have fun while also doing something great for your mind and body. Maggie's classes come from strength, power, and movement; she gives her students moments to find awareness in their bodies so they can understand how their muscles are working in each exercise by giving them moments of pause and repetition!

Jude Al hourani

Jude Al hourani is a passionate yoga teacher with a 300-hour certification, 20-hour mindfulness training, and specialized certifications in children's yoga and restorative yoga. Her journey into yoga began as a personal practice for healing and self-discovery, which blossomed into a deep love for mindful movement and wellness. With advanced training and a diverse background, Jude offers a balanced approach to yoga that caters to all levels, combining mindfulness, restorative techniques, and playful elements in my classes. In her sessions, you can expect a nurturing environment that fosters physical, mental, and emotional well-being, tailored to meet your unique needs.

Jamie Granskie

Yoga snuck into Jamie's life as an addition to her exercise routine and became a tool for self-study.

She completed a 200-hour certification with New School of Yogic Arts out of Boston Yoga Union (FKA Coolidge Corner Yoga), with training focused on Vinyasa.

You can expect a challenging flow with longer holds focused on strength and alignment.

Saphire Shaw

Saphire fell in love with yoga and mindful practices after recovering from a surgery in 2017. Yoga helped her heal as well become more aware of holistic health. She received her 200-hour RYT certification through the Yoga Alliance in August of 2019 and has been learning and growing ever since. In Saphire's class, you can expect moments of silliness and focuses on meditative practices. She hopes you leave her classes feeling rejuvenated and refreshed!