Meet the team
Our team of highly trained teachers offer alignment based yoga classes, designed to empower the student to have their own relationship with their yoga. Check out our class timetable to find out when they are teaching. Our teachers are all First Aid Certified and Registered with Yoga NZ and/or REPS.
Rebecca Harford
Owner & Teacher
I’m the person that thought I would never belong in a Yoga class.Too stiff.
Too uncoordinated.
Certainly not cool enough.
And definitely not ‘woo, woo’.
And then I met some amazing teachers that helped guide me to find a place of deeper physical and mental awareness. I realised that I didn’t have to touch my toes, have a ‘quiet Zenlike mind’ nor did I have to feel uncomfortable and out of place. I could find all of the incredible benefits of Yoga (you know the list I’m sure!) by being guided through a process of awareness to connection. So here I am still teaching 20yrs later, still learning and still living my dream of being able to support people to finding their pathway to being connected within themselves and in our wider society.
Jeremy (Jed) Harford
Owner & Behind the scenes
I’m Jeremy, or Jed for short. My life began to revolve around yoga in 2017 when I joined my wife Rebecca in what became our family business - Adapted Yoga and Pilates, which she had started in 2013 when our daughter Sophie was born. We then became guardians of Grassroots Yoga and Health during the Covid lockdown challenges of 2021. I wasn’t from a yoga, or health background, in fact nowhere near it. I came from a career in Transport / Logistics and Manufacturing, but helping people and problem solving is a big passion. I enjoy the outdoors, loving both the mountains and the ocean. I love giving our children new experiences, and showing them the great country that is NZ. I do enjoy sports, even playing my first game of rugby in 30+ years recently in a Golden Oldies team. What I love about my change in career path is the impact our classes have on the lives of our students, we get to watch some wonderful transformations as we follow students' progress throughout their yoga journey. Living in Woodend with Rebecca and our 2 school kids, you may not always see me in studio, but I will always be in the background both talking to you, and following your journey.
NATALIIA KRUPKA
Yoga TEACHER
Currently on Maternity leave. Nataliia (Natasha) took her first yoga class in 2007 and since then yoga has become a vital part of her life. Practice provided the means of recovery from spinal issues and maintenance of her health and well-being. She started to deepen her yoga studies in 2011 with Christina Vassiliadou at the Inner Science Center in Limassol, and spent several years exploring different yoga traditions, attending workshops, seminars and courses led by internationally reknown teachers. She started teaching in 2012, and after moving to New Zealand, Natasha carried out her 200-hour teacher training with Katie Lane at Grassroots. She has completed the Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher and Prenatal Vinyasa Yoga Instructor certification course, which has enriched her yoga-teaching repertoire with beautiful and fulfilling Prenatal and Postnatal Vinyasa Yoga.
LUCY DOLAN
Yoga TEACHER
"Primarily yoga for me is about connection, bringing more awareness back into how we inhabit and move within our own bodies, learning to trust the wisdom of the heart and belly alongside the intelligence of the mind. We can deepen and support our experience of 'being' human, and influence how we relate to our earth and our society as a whole." Practising yoga since her teenage years, it was Katie Lane, who introduced Lucy to a deeper, more holistic and, more profound yoga, around 10 years ago. Lucy completed her 200 HR RYT teacher training with Katie in 2017. Her hope is to teach students an understanding of, and appreciation for alignment; and to facilitate a deepening connection with their breath that may support them and guide them through their practise. "I believe we are all unique, interpreting and expressing our own 'individualness' and I feel that yoga can inspire and assist us in our own individual ways".
Jesse Burns
Yoga TEACHER
After dabbling in yoga for a few years, Jesse fell into a regular practice in 2008 as a postgraduate student looking to stretch her stiff body and ease her overloaded mind. What was once a weekly reprieve from the computer quickly became an integral part of her life, and her earliest teachers inspired her to complete her RYT-200 certification in 2013. She sought to deepen her knowledge through additional study with Jason Crandell, Noah Mazé, Desirée Rumbaugh, and Ross Rayburn, and completed her RYT-500 certification with Tiffany Cruikshank and Yoga Medicine in 2020. Jesse approaches her own practice with curiosity, and aims to offer opportunities for exploration, growth, and release in her classes. She incorporates elements of mindful alignment, connects movement with breath, creates a balance of action and surrender, and aspires to help you feel good!
Jessica Streeter
YOGA TEACHER
I am a yoga and meditation teacher with experience in teaching multiple styles of yoga, including Hatha, Vinyasa, restorative, and children’s yoga. I earned my 200-hour certification in Pennsylvania in 2017 and have been practicing yoga over two decades. All my classes have an emphasis on alignment and using breath to connect to the body. I enjoy teaching and really try to keep classes fun as well as relaxing and beneficial to the body and mind. When I’m not teaching, I am with my family either playing games or chasing around our crazy dog, Murphy. I am really excited to meet you on the mat!
OLIVIA (LIV) HOBSON
Yoga TEACHER (Sub)
Liv is a passionate and caring yoga teacher, having completed her 200 hour teacher training in Thailand; bringing her passion and fire to her practice. Recently arrived in New Zealand from the UK, she hopes to share her love of the yogic practice in her classes. Lokah Samasta Sukino Bavantu (may all beings be happy and free)!
CLARA caponi
Yoga TEACHER
Arriving from Italy in June 2013 to help in the Christchurch rebuild, I was frozen; it was one of the coldest winters Christchurch will ever remember. I didn’t know much about yoga but, when a friend invited me to join a Hot Flow Yoga class, I did not think twice and asked her to sign me in. The appeal of a warm room motivated me!!It was the beginning of a great passion and a transformative journey. Now, I am a certified Yoga Teacher deeply committed to the path of Yoga and Self-discovery. I am passionate about yoga as a holistic practice to nurture body and mind, and as a gateway to regain harmony and balance in life. I provide a wide range of classes from Power Vinyasa to Restorative Yoga. My lessons focus on breath awareness, fluid movements, muscular strength and body relaxation. My intention is to encourage students to reconnect with themself and develop a deep unity between body, breath and mind.
Sophie Walton
Yoga TEACHER
Alicja Skop
Yoga TEACHER
I started my yoga practice in 2007, in an attempt to manage my constant back pain. I will never forget my first class and its impact on my wellbeing. Encouraged by my very first teachers, in 2017 I became a teacher myself and never looked back. I seek to teach yoga to empower others in the same way it has helped me - both physically and mentally.I completed two teacher trainings, an uncountable number of workshops, and I am registered with the International Yoga Alliance with over 300 hours in Yin and Yang yoga. I love to merge those two practices into one, and get the best of both worlds. Besides studio classes I taught on sound journeys, many retreats, festivals like the renowned Splore Festival, support a great number of students through 1-1 classes and community engagement, at my day jobs, in my backyard, friends' lounges and I taught a high performing U18 girls football team. The list is long, and hopefully it reflects that creating wellbeing in communities is my main driver and the reason I get up in the morning. I take that passion further through my day job. Working for New Zealand’s largest cycle tour operator gives me a platform to shine a light on wellbeing through cycling.
In my free time I love to learn more about the science of yoga, how to enhance my own wellbeing and find myself in nature most of the time. I love mountain biking, hiking, reading, taking photos, I appreciate art, connecting with my friends and community, and traveling.
Femke Van Zwynsvoorde
Yoga TEACHER
My yoga journey started in 2017. Recovering from a back hernia, I found relief in yoga and enhanced my practice ever since. By moving consiously and focussed, I believe you can find a greater understanding of the boundaries of your body and how this is connected to your mind. I love how yoga can make you regain confidence in yourself.In February 2024 I took my yoga journey to the next level and completed a 200h Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training in Thailand. I started teaching immediately upon my return to Belgium, my home country, and would love to continue this here in New Zealand. I look forward to meeting you on the mat and flow together.
