JULIANA OLMSTEAD

Studio Owner | Original Hot Yoga Instructor | Yin Yoga Instructor

I tried my first Original Hot Yoga class in 2004 while I was traveling for a summer college internship. At the time I was practicing ballet and earning my engineering degree - weird combo! - and I was impressed with the intensity and precision of the 26 and 2. It was totally different from any other yoga classes I’d tried before, and I found myself coming back to it more and more often until eventually I was practicing every day.

In 2010 I decided to go “all in” with yoga and I left graduate school to attend yoga teacher training in Las Vegas. I’ve been a full time yogi ever since and I’ve never regretted it! I taught at various studios around the United States before landing in Pawtucket RI, where I met some of my favorite people. I opened my first yoga studio in Bristol in 2014, with the goal of having a nice little neighborhood studio where I could teach as much as I wanted. The vision evolved a bit! I’m now the proud owner of our two studios plus our wellness center, and I’ve found a new passion for training and mentoring new staff members and yoga teachers.

I live in East Providence with my husband John and our golden retriever Abby, who is living her best life as the yoga studio mascot and makes frequent appearances at the front desk. In my spare time - when I can get it! - I enjoy spending time outdoors, playing the guitar amateurly, baking excessively, and relaxing in our garden.

GIANNA AUGER

Providence Studio & Operations Manager | Core Fire Conditioning

I originally came into the yoga studio, like most people, because a friend convinced me to try this crazy ass hot yoga. She was a Karma Yogi at the time and the studio was having a great deal for the month of February. I left my first class asking myself what I just did and then came back 30 days in a row.

This practice and this studio have changed my life completely. Through this 90 minute open-eyed meditation I have been able to overcome lifelong depression, anxiety, and back pain, and I’m able to identify with certainty the things that do and do not make me happy and whole. This yoga and this studio have been with me when I felt my lowest, when I felt like I was going to give up, when I felt like no one and nothing could help me, and here I am. I wouldn’t be here without this yoga.

MANDY DION

Wellness Center & Front Desk Manager | Core Fire Conditioning

This yoga has changed my life in every way. It keeps away seasonal depression, has alleviated my issues with anxiety, helped me maintain a healthy weight, and greatly minimizes the severity and amount of autoimmune flareups I have. Overall, I have more energy, sleep better, and almost never get sick.

I was terrified to come in for the first time because many of my health issues were seemingly worsened by physical activity, and I didn't think I could stand being in the hot room. The hardest part was getting there for the first time. I vividly remember my first class - I ended up in the front row of a packed class and had no idea what I was doing but LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT. At the end of class I felt like I melted right into the floor and was reborn after final savasana. I never wanted the feeling to end!

STACY EPSTEIN

Bristol Studio & Marketing Manager | Original Hot Yoga | Core Fire Conditioning

I took my first Original Hot Yoga class in 2016 at the Bristol studio and have made myself a home here ever since. Growing up I played a lot of sports but my main passion was playing the drums. I hurt my shoulder very badly in 2006 while drumming and it was all downhill from there. From 2006 to 2016 I was in a constant state of pain, miserable, on medication, had terrible anxiety, and was doing nothing with my body or my life.

My brother took me to my first Hot Yoga class at the Bristol studio and that’s all it took… 90 minutes in a hot room to realize that I can help myself if I put in the right amount of work and self-care. I knew from my very first class that this yoga and studio are going to be a part of me forever. At least 10 years of excruciating pain was now manageable after just a week of being in the hot room. I wasn’t cured by any means, but I was seeing what I was capable of, and was understanding that it’s okay to try something new. I went to class almost every day, sometimes doing doubles, and I came to understand that some of the best things come from discomfort. It was the most I was able to move my shoulder and body since 2006, so saying this yoga made me feel alive is an understatement! Six months into my practice I got off of my prescribed pain medicine (the opioid epidemic hits hard – be kind to everyone) and realized that there is so much in this life to see, so much to do, so much to be!

This yoga and the studio showed me the tools I needed to get my life back, so it was my karma yoga duty to help others the way that I was helped through my process. I went to Bikram Yoga Teacher Training in Spring of 2018 and went to Inferno Hot Pilates teacher training in 2019. I teach full time at both studios and also run the social media for RIHY. On the podium I am your biggest fan, your #1 support, your proud mama bear watching you grow. I learned to fall in love with myself in the hot room and I invite you to do the same. I invite you to challenge yourself, love yourself, be kind to yourself. I invite you to believe that you are stronger than you know. Above all, I invite you to root for you.

ALLISON ESTES

Original Hot Yoga Instructor

Teaching yoga makes me happy. Every time I’m on the podium, I watch students transform themselves. Body, Mind, Spirit. I see students succeed in ways (and in an environment!) they may never have thought possible. It’s beautiful. I’m rooting for you every time you walk into the hot room and can’t wait to see your smiling happy faces.

I began my own practice in August of 2008 at Bikram Yoga Amherst, MA. A co-worker urged me to try my first class. I had no idea what I was in for! Back then, my heart had a lot of anger and it created a lot of pain in my body. I was a very unhappy person and very homesick for South Dakota. I had trouble eating, sleeping, and making friends and was constantly making poor life decisions. I worked through all this in the hot room. I’d never felt so safe and so vulnerable at the same time. The yoga gave me the courage to face myself and gave me a new life.

I graduated from UMass Amherst with a degree in Human Nutrition, but my heart was in the hot room. I decided to go to Teacher Training in Fall 2010 and began teaching right away. I worked at a a few studios before finally settling in Rhode Island.

I’ve been teaching part-time since Rhode Island Hot Yoga first opened and couldn’t be happier with fellow my teachers and students. You are my family. I feel blessed to be able to share the practice with others. In my class, I hope to teach you not to take yourself (or the yoga!) too seriously! To crack a smile when things are challenging. I want my students to find the humor and love in themselves and in the yoga. Try the right way, and watch the magic happen. This yoga works for every body, every time. See you in the hot room!

BRITNEY CARROLL

Yin Yoga & Slow Burn Instructor

For nearly 20 years, I have found yoga to be a deep companion and steady guide through life’s twists and turns.

I believe yoga should be accessible to everyone. My approach centers on creating a safe and accepting space with a calm presence and warm smile to help all feel welcome. In my classes, whether a challenging Slow Burn flow or a calming Yin practice, students are encouraged to slow down and find both compassion and confidence exactly as they are. 

I am 200 hour trained in both the live love teach methodology with Glow Yoga and in hatha yoga with Shanti Warrior Living Yoga in Mobile, Alabama (2015-2016). I have continued my training  to focus on Mindful Resilience for Trauma Recovery, Restorative Yoga, and Yin Intensive Teaching Training. Together, my experiences have led me to value multiple pathways toward wellness. 

CHARLENE PRATT

Yin Yoga / Slow Flow

Teaching lets me be fully myself (quirky, playful, gentle, motivating) in front of a room of people who are doing their best to fully embrace themselves as well. Yoga is raw and allows you to open up (physically and emotionally) in ways you might not outside the hot room. Teaching puts you right in the middle of the process: watching the people around you slowly open, slowly become more empowered, slowly face their demons and embrace themselves while you do the same. It is the ultimate connection.

From the first day that I walked into the Bristol studio, I felt welcome and accepted. The postures and the heat can be very challenging; but when you are in the room, surrounded by others who are struggling along side you, you feel a sense of support and camaraderie. The teachers are there for you and care about their students. It is a safe and loving space for you to do some real work.

Do what you can and set no expectations for yourself. Everyone has a first class and everyone is intimidated by the idea of doing something new. The sooner you start, the sooner it wont be new to you anymore.

DENISE CALISE

Original Hot Yoga Instructor

I have taken various forms of yoga classes over the years, but it wasn't until turning 50 in 2014 that I started practicing the Original Hot Yoga regularly.  After serving 32 years in the US Army, deployments and several knee and foot surgeries; I needed a way to heal and safely stretch my body, plus get a tremendous workout!  This yoga has changed my life.  My goal now is to live a long happy life without medication.  This yoga truly is medicine and just what the body (and mind) needs!  I tell everyone I meet to come and try the Original Hot Yoga!

GED CARBONE

Original Hot Yoga Instructor

Arthritic toes forced me to stop running in 2005, so I sought an alternative way to feel the “runner’s high” of an aerobic workout. I tried hot yoga in Cranston, RI, and found that it satisfied my craving for a runner’s high without stressing my arthritic joints.

Aging is inexorable, but pernicious parts of it – atrophy, rigidity, loss of balance – are not inevitable. I have found that hot yoga helps maintain strength, balance, and flexibility, and I hope to model that in my practice and through my teaching as I age. The deeper I got into my practice, the more I realized that the yoga benefits the mind as well as the body. Yoga uses movement of the body to create a stillness of mind that enhances ability to make decisions from a calm, centered place. Making better decisions is not only good for me, it also benefits people close to me, so I feel that yoga time is not strictly a self-centered  pursuit, it’s better for everybody.

In 2022, 17 years after I began practice, I enrolled in teacher training at RI Hot Yoga in Providence, where I now practice, so that I might share the physical and mental health benefits of a regular yoga practice. Knowing what I now know, it almost seems selfish not to share!

For 25 years, I wrote for newspapers. Now I write non-fiction books and articles, often about American and industrial history. I have completed a Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University, and in 2013 earned a master’s in Public Humanities at Brown University. Luckily my wife, Mary, has a real job in information technology that supports my writing habit.

HONORE FORD

Core Fire Conditioning Instructor

When I'm not in the Hot Room you can find me in the Elements boutique where I am planning events for the studio and answering people's yoga questions. Come say hi! 

JULIE MCDERMOTT

Original Hot Yoga Instructor

I discovered 26/2 hot yoga when I was trying to find a sustainable “life sport,” something that I would enjoy, that was challenging and beneficial to my health.  I took my first class in 2004 and after a few more, I knew I had found what I was looking for.

It started as a great workout, a perfect mix of cardio and strength training. I felt challenged in every class, always finding something new to work on, and I would feel energized after class, no matter how hard I worked. Then I started to notice a spillover;  I was seeing improvements in my other physical activities; my run times were faster, I was swimming longer, and I was less fatigued after my bike rides. What came as the biggest surprise, and what I value the most, was the effects of 26/2 in my daily life; I was calmer, more patient, and more focused.

I took the Original Hot Yoga Teacher Training at Rhode Island Hot Yoga in 2022 to personally get a better understanding of the series, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to teach. But now I have an even greater appreciation for the 26/2 series, and I want to share it. Whether you are an athlete, a non-athlete, a parent, a gamer, a dancer, young, or not so young, however you see yourself, this series will give you exactly what you need.

I hope to see you in class! 

KATHLEEN SEAGRIFF-CHAPMAN

Yoga for Hips & Back

I have always been a very book-oriented person. As a child, I would do anything I could think of to avoid physical activity. Yoga was the first time I enjoyed challenging myself physically. I was amazed to find myself so focused on the present moment that I could quiet my very busy mind. Through yoga, I am learning to become more comfortable with the present moment and in my physical self.

I encourage my students to find and follow their breath and to listen to what their bodies need. I ask them to spend an hour in the present moment and to accept and love their bodies as they are.

KELLY MCCULLOUGH

Original Hot Yoga / Intermediate Series

I took my first hot class while visiting my father and his wife in Atlanta, Ga in 2003. They had been practicing a few months and I was stunned by how glowing, healthy and happy they looked. I joined them for a class and was instantly hooked.

Over the years I have continued to be amazed by the transformations you see in yourself and others through consistent ongoing practice. This sequence of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises in the high heat is an extremely effective tool for personal and physical growth and healing. I believe in this method of Yoga wholeheartedly and have been teaching since 2015. I am honored and thrilled to be sharing what I love at Rhode Island Hot Yoga.

LYNN WEISMAN | MA, LMHC, RYT

Original Hot Yoga Instructor

I came to a yoga class seeking a way to heal my body from the aches and pains of having been diagnosed with SLE (Lupus) when I was young. I was searching to find what it was I wanted to do long term, vocationally, and to make better decisions in many areas of my life. Life had taken a toll, physically, mentally and emotionally. Sometimes just getting to class was harder than what hurt. I had practiced other styles of yoga and enjoyed all of them, but once I found the Original Hot Yoga sequence, in that, sometimes glorious, sometimes torturous hot room, I was home. The results were immediate and have continued for the past 17 years. Yoga is a scaffold, not only for healing, but also, for life’s unexpected happenings. I feel good in my body, work in family therapy and am able to use this amazing yoga practice to keep it all together. And sometimes less is more!

Teaching Original Hot Yoga since 2002 changed my life in so many ways. It has brought me experience, wisdom and love. It is my pleasure and passion to show others the way, because I love what I teach. Every class and every student present a new opportunity for me to gain insight into their journeys, use it to serve others and improve my own practice. I love to bring it all together with compassion, joy and fun!

I have traveled the world, taught, studied, and practiced with many master teachers and am grateful to have one of the best jobs in the world. “The inspiration to teach comes from those who love to learn.” Sri K. Pattabhi Jois said, “Practice and all will come.”

I believe if you come to class when you can, you will step onto a path to improve, heal or change your life physically, emotionally or mentally.  Yoga will support that! Let it change you “from the inside out, bones to the skin.” All you have to do is come to class and practice! Hope to see you in our lovely community!

REBECCA HENRIQUEZ

Core Fire Conditioning Instructor

I spent the majority of my youth as a competitive rower and stretching was most definitely not a part of the culture, so I never really thought about my flexibility too often. I was introduced to the Original Hot Yoga practice in 2010 and my life was changed forever. (I think that is a theme with yogis!)

Each time I returned to the yoga room it was better and better. I struggled through tough classes and I have celebrated breakthroughs. It is true what they say that the "worst yoga class is the one you miss." I am also always amazed at how every class is filled with people from so many different walks of life working to heal themselves physically, mentally, or spiritually.

Without knowing it, yoga led me to Inferno Hot Pilates (IHP). I found myself in a class where people were talking and laughing in the hot room before class (unheard of in yoga!) Then the instructor walked in and I knew I was going to get my butt kicked, which I did! After 4 months of practicing, I realized that I needed to help share this amazing HIIT workout with others. 

I have been teaching since February 2019 and it has been both an energizing and humbling experience to see students push themselves and get stronger with each class. The best part is that the classes are designed for everyone to be able to challenge themselves where they’re at and see fast results that carry over into their yoga practice as well. I love being creative with my class plans and bumping good music so we can always have fun and feel the burn! See you in the hot room and have fun!

SAM ELLIS

Original Hot Yoga Instructor

I came to my first hot yoga class in Providence, Rhode Island in 2016 with a good friend who had a Groupon. She never came back...but I did. I started off slow only coming to class 2-3 times a month. Then in January 2017 I really dove in and was coming 4+ times a week regularly. As someone who lives with Rheumatoid Arthritis, the effects of the hot room and the 26+2 series were immediate. Pain and inflammation dramatically reduced. Improved range of motion. Depression put at bay. I was hooked. My life was changed.

After just a year of practice I knew I wanted to teach. This yoga had helped me physically and mentally in ways that medicinal therapy never could and I wanted to pass it on. I completed my Teacher Training course in 2022 at Rhode Island Hot Yoga. I love to share my journey with my students and fellow yogis, and to hear about their progress in return. 

Outside the hot room I'm an interior designer, an avid reader, and a movie fanatic. I love watching baseball (go Mariners!), stand up comedy, and spending time with my husband and our two dogs, Sophie and Ender.

SHIRLEY KILLIAN

Original Hot Yoga Instructor

STEPH BARTA

Original Hot Yoga Instructor | Intermediate Series | Teacher Trainer

I took my first Original Hot Yoga class in December of 2011 and was immediately hooked. Long distance running left me with achy joints, I was full of stress and anxiety, and a friend suggested I try hot yoga. After that first class I was amazed at how great I felt, physically and mentally. Just nine months later, in the fall of 2012, my toes were on the line at Bikram Yoga Teacher Training!

After teacher training I began teaching regularly, starting in Pawtucket, RI. As I began my teaching journey I eagerly sought out all the continuing education I could find, attending yoga workshops all over New England with some of the best Original Hot Yoga teachers. I love to share this learning with beginners and experienced students alike. helping everyone on their yoga journey.

Along with a passion for OHY, I love exploring other fitness and body modalities. I am trained to teach HIIT classes, aerial acrobatics, myofascial release, and intermediate hot yoga. I've also discovered a passion for helping others teach. I lead our Core Fire Conditioning training and serve as assistant trainer at our Original Hot Yoga teacher training. When I'm not exploring the amazing things the body can do, you might find me working as a children's librarian, reading a book, plucking a banjo, or playing with my two beagles.

SUNNY SHATTUCK

Original Hot Yoga Instructor | Inferno Hot Pilates Instructor

I fell in love the with Original Hot Yoga after my very first class. Nothing I had ever done before had made me feel that way. I was hooked! Everyone I came across heard about hot yoga.

I went to teacher training in Acapulco in 2008. Being in the yoga bubble for 9 weeks was amazing. I love this yoga and enjoy watching people's lives transform as they commit to their practice. 

As someone who has physical challenges, I had to learn to do as much as I could the "right way," which was a lesson in patience and very humbling. Now I get to share the message to listen to your body and that less can be more in the hot room.

ZAC BONHOFF

Core Fire Conditioning Instructor

By day, I’m a manager of diversity, equity and inclusion, but by night, I’m a certified, equal opportunity booty kicker.

I came to Rhode Island Hot Yoga on a dare in February of 2019 assuming I’d hate every second of it, but I was most certainly wrong.  Immediately hooked on Original Hot Yoga/26&2, I soon thereafter discovered Core Fire Conditioning as a second love.  You’ll even catch me in some of the slow-flow classes now too!

Spending my childhood and teenage years as an athlete (dancing, swimming, wrestling, and diving - yes 10+ years with all of them), I thought I had good control of my muscles and body.  However, in yoga and CFC, the simple cues to tighten this muscle or relax that one taught me so much about my body that I never knew that I didn’t know.  It was wild to me when I realized what a dedicated and regular practice could bring to my health - mental health, physical health, and honestly (and most importantly) confidence.

To make sure I could come as frequently as I wanted, I became a karma yogi back in 2019 and spent my evenings sweating in the hot room followed by cleaning right after.  Eventually, I moved onto the desk for check-ins, then working on our studio inventory, and in May 2022, I got my certification to teach Core Fire Conditioning!  I’m super excited to put that booty-kicking certification to work with the amazing folks I practice alongside and see at the studio so often.

Outside of the studio, I love to read, travel, and hike, and I am a big-time foody.  Being alone fully taking in nature is my happiest happy-place.  People who know me know I have three sisters, but people who *know* me avoid bringing them up because I’m obsessed with them and won’t shut up about them given the opportunity.

ABBY DABA DO

Studio Dog

Hi, I'm Abby! I like to come to yoga class and greet students at the door. I am a very well behaved dog who loves to get ear scratches and belly rubs. Once you give me some good patting, you've got a friend for life. Sometimes I help the humans to relax when they are stressed out after a long day or nervous about taking a hot yoga for the first time.

The best day of my life was probably when my Dad adopted me from the Providence Animal Rescue League. But another good day was when Mom opened a yoga studio, and then TWO yoga studios, so that I can meet lots of humans and get all the ear scratches! (The day that I almost got the squirrel was a pretty good day too.)

My favorite yoga pose is savasana and I am very good at it - I can do it on my back, my front, my side, or even curled up into a ball. I think I might even be better at it than the humans, but they keep practicing and they are improving.

Please do not feed me your snacks or let me sneak into the hot room even if I give you my best puppy eyes!

BRIEN LANG

Brien is a graduate of the Bancroft School of Massage Therapy and an NCBTMB nationally certified therapist.  He is certified in myofascial release, facilitated stretching and trigger point therapy.  

As an avid runner, cyclist and weight trainer he has first-hand familiarity with the aches and pains and common overuse injuries associated with these sports – because he’s had more than a few of them himself! 

His main focus in a massage treatment will be to structure a session to fit your individual needs.  Whether you are looking to recover from an injury, restore sore and tired muscles or simply relax and recharge, he will work with you to come up with the ideal treatment plan.  

Brien is also active in the Rhode Island theater and music scenes and is a Resident Artist at Olneyville’s Wilbury Theater Group.  Runners with a sense of humor may also recognize him as the so-called ‘evil genius’ behind the Wild Colonial Tavern’s Grog & Dog Jog, an annual fundraising relay.

CHARIS RUSSELL

Charis embraced the power of massage and its restorative abilities after addressing her own chronic pain with the ancient artform. A graduate of Bancroft School of Massage Therapy, Charis utilizes relaxation massage, deep tissue, Trigger Point Therapy, hot stone therapy, and myofascial techniques. Using a trauma-informed perspective and an intuitive touch, she is dedicated to educating her clients about anatomy, the deep-seeded connection between the emotional and somatic self, and exploring pain as a body’s means of communication.

She enjoys reading, writing, crafting, and the outdoors and has started pursuing end of life care in addition to her massage work.

COREEN CROGAN

Coreen graduated from the massage therapy program at Springfield Technical Community College in 2013. Coreen is trained in Deep Tissue, Swedish, Prenatal Massage, Cupping, and Hot Stone. She continues to take classes to learn different massage modalities and techniques. 

Coreen is very passionate about her job as a massage therapist . To not only be able to help clients with relief  from physical  muscle tension, but overall stress truly rewarding.

Coreen enjoys working out and running and is very excited to try hot yoga!

STEPHANIE JULIAN

Reiki & Reflexology