Inner Strength believes we all need a sacred space where we can learn to return to ourselves and align our internal compass.  Life experiences can leave us facing the wrong direction with all of its challenges and false paths.  We at Inner Strength view life as an evolutionary process of soul development and offer a variety of Eastern and Western approaches to help build and shape this spiritual character.

On a physical level we believe that navigating this evolutionary process in a body that is over stimulated, weak, misaligned, stiff, overweight or just plain stressed will bring unnecessary pain and suffering. Inner Strength taps into the ancient wisdom of Yoga, conventional insights of personal training and the healing properties of acupuncture, Shiatsu and massage to bring balance to the body.

Our team of practitioners, teachers and trainers are highly skilled and exceptionally well trained in their given area as well as in anatomy, physiology, first aid, and Yoga asana/philosophy.  Inner Strength believes that being in the presence of the teacher and being led through a class is the best way to decide if it is right for you. 

Our team is committed to continual education and attend various workshops and retreats throughout the year to bring our community the latest in techniques, insights, and inspirations. 

We lead by example and teach from a place of compassion and understanding.  Our staff is committed to their journey and are fully capable of leading others.

Inner Strength offers support and skills to bring balance, understanding and growth to your whole being.

Your candid opinions, positive or constructive, are appreciated and give us an opportunity to maintain a high standard for our community.  Email Roman Szpond directly.  roman@innerstrengthyoga.com.

The Inner Strength 2010 staff:

Roman Szpond

Roman Szpond was a competitive athlete in high school and at an early age learned the importance of teamwork, hard work and commitment. Right out of high school Roman enlisted in the U.S.M.C. After serving Roman returned to the Boston area and began Inner Strength Inc. a personal training and personal development/coaching business.

While touring the country of India in 1995 with one of his long time clients, Roman experienced his first profound spiritual awakening. This experience was so powerful and inspiring upon return to the United States Roman sought out teachers and began his formal practice of Yoga.

Roman discovered how the practice of Yoga and meditation quickly accelerated the success he and his clients were seeking. And for over a decade Roman has been sourcing the wisdom inherent in the teachings and practice of Yoga to help him and others on the path of excellence and living well. Roman, (500 RYT) has been a student of Yoga since 1995. With a background in exercise physiology, anatomy and post rehab, Romans experience with the physical body and kinesiology made the practice of Yoga asana accessible. Roman’s teaching is influenced and informed by the practices of Tantra, Hatha, Iyengar, Anusara, Ashtanga, and many forms of meditation practices.

Roman continues to study under Yoga greats like Todd Norian of John Friend's Anusara Yoga and Iyengar teacher Francois Raoult, (www.openskyyoga.com) Roman is currently studying with Rod Stryker of Para Yoga. (www.parayoga.com)

Roman’s approach is to distill the best from these lineages/traditions to demystify and allow the wisdom and teachings to be accessible to the modern human to help reduce stress, awaken their Inner Strength and realize their purpose and meaning in this world. Roman's deep love and passion for the human experience continues to inspire him to study extensively in the areas of physical fitness/personal training, Yoga Asana, meditation, Yoga theory/philosophy, physiology, anatomy and psychology.

Roman's classes are informed by ghana (self knowledge) infused with bhakti (devotion to the community) and intend to awaken the Inner Strength or Shakti within. (All interpretations of the word 'Shakti' hold common one parameter, Power.) In his free time Roman loves practicing, reading, writing and traveling.

To contact Roman email roman@innerstrengthyoga.com

Lauren Star

Lauren Star has been practicing yoga for over 10 years. She was formally trained to teach yoga at the Ananda Kutir Ashram in CapeTown, South Africa in the Sivananda tradition. Her training included Raja yoga, the study of Pranayama and the yogic scriptures, which continue to inform her teaching today. She has also studied with teachers in the Iyengar, Ashtanga and Vinyasa traditions. Lauren is a certified teacher of the Shake Your Soul/Danskinetics Movement technique and uses this as a foundation for understanding and teaching transitions or flows between postures in her classes. Lauren is currently studying Body Centered Expressive Movement Therapy in order to deepen her understanding of mind-body health.   On and off the mat, Lauren's biggest commitment is to BEING PRESENT NOW, and her classes nurture this ability in her students. She encourages students to practice staying alert and relaxed within the physically rigorous flow that she leads, and most of all to enjoy themselves through out!   Lauren has personally experienced the energizing, balancing effects of a consistent yoga practice in all aspects of her life. She is committed to her students experiencing this for themselves, and spreading the benefits of this ancient wisdom throughout our society. As well as the classes she teaches on the schedule, Lauren offers private yoga sessions.

Coeli Marsh

Coeli Marsh is a dedicated teacher who leads classes for adults and children in the Vinyasa tradition. Her teaching is rooted in her own experience of healing through practice, and the comprehensive training she received from her teachers. With this foundation, and a commitment to share the gift with others, she is able to guide students towards strength, confidence, and creativity.

For the last eight years, Coeli taught as a Master Teacher at the Baptiste Institute in Cambridge, MA. She trained under the mentorship of Baron Baptiste, who guided her in the skill of classroom teaching, and the craft of training teachers and classroom assistants. Currently, Coeli is certified through Yoga Alliance at the maximum 500-hour level, and is an E-RYT500.

Coeli is also the director of the School Yoga Program for children in
the Cambridge Public Schools. This project, which brings yoga to
children K-6 during the school day, has produced powerful results for
both students and teachers.

Coeli received her M. Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education, and has also been trained by Outward Bound and N.O.L.S. in outdoor leadership.

Please visit www.coelimarsh.com for more information on Coeli.

Chanel Luck

Chanel is honored to be here to celebrate life through movement and yoga. She travels nationally and internationally to teach and assist both teacher trainings and retreats. She is the co-founder and director of YogaThree, a company devoted to community, wellness and travel. She currently travels to assist her teacher Shiva Rea and is a Prana Flow Teacher Training Mentor. She is grateful to Ana Forrest, Ellen Heed, Baron Baptiste, Gregor Singleton, Heather Tiddens, Barbara Benagh, Chuck Miller, Hugh and Georgia Milne and all her teacher along this bright path. She is one of the co-founders of Global Mala Project Boston for the second year in a row and is forever grateful to her team of friends and amazing yogi’s who rise up to make each day happen!

Daniel Max

Daniel is the founder and director of Max Sense of Self. Daniel is a Nutrition and Health Counselor, Shiatsu Practitioner, and Yoga Instructor.  Growing up in Israel, Daniel left home to travel through Far East Asia. During his travels, he studied various modalities of healing arts such as Chinese medical and Indian Ayurvedic therapies.  Once settling in the US, Daniel completed his studies in the fields of shiatsu, nutrition and health counseling.  He is a graduate of the former Boston Institute of Shiatsu and of  the Institute Of Integrative Nutrition which is affiliated with Columbia University. Daniel is a nationally certified massage therapist as well as a member of the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.  Each of Daniel’s treatments, whether in the field of massage, yoga or nutrition, is catered to the client’s specific needs.  His wish is to empower his clients by bringing awareness to their own capability of self healing. This is done by introducing simple and subtle changes in diet and lifestyle, extremely relaxing shiatsu sessions, and personal yoga classes. www.maxsenseofself.com

Lisa Miller

Lisa Miller a 200RYT has a driving core philosophy to have a healthy and active lifestyle which includes exercise as part of your daily routine.  Being a mother of two young boys, she understands how challenging it can be to not only carve out time for exercise, but to truly enjoy working out.   For Lisa, fitness is not only a priority but also a passion.  She loves running, strength training, swimming, biking and yoga.  Competing in road races and triathlons are what keep her motivated to train hard, in addition to having the energy to keep up with her boys! 

Lisa is certified through the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and American Red Cross CPR/AED.  Her years of training emphasize total body conditioning for strength, endurance and flexibility along with balance and core strengthening.

She believes that exercising the body is as important as exercising the mind.  Often it is not always just about how you look, but more importantly, how healthy you feel about yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually.  The key to long-term success is establishing your needs and developing your own individual fitness goals.  Lisa looks forward to working with you to create a personalized workout plan that is motivational and challenging. 

Lakota Sandoe

lakota was introduced to Yoga in 1993 & immediately recognized its potential for radical transcendence. For the next ten years, practice supplemented & soothed a busy life as a student, a single mom, an activist & an artist. Around 2003, lakota realized yoga gave not only the gifts of transcendence, but also the patient transformation of deep acceptance & began intensively training under Patty Townsend. Since then she has embraced a life of yogic investigations & committed playfulness, & Yoga has become her revolutionary activity of choice. Whether teaching prenatal, vinyasa or restorative, it is her greatest joy to share what she's learned & watch people reconnect to their physical & mental vitality in class. Embodyoga™ classes combine the classical teachings of Iyengar, Ashtanga & Viniyoga with the life's work of Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, founder of the School of Body-Mind Centering. Body-Mind Centering infuses the traditional practice of Yoga with a vast body of pioneering research & inquiry into the body-mind connection in various movement modalities & therapies. With rich knowledge of anatomy, yogic physiology & sequencing, Embodyoga™ facilitates a practice that balances effort & enjoyment, is deeply integrated & prevents injury. lakota's teaching takes into account each of the Eight Limbs of Yoga & allows for a resonant experience of embodied inquiry, a chance for physical & mental healing, as well as significant informed progression in Asana, at each student's appropriate level. In Embodyoga™ prenatal classes the principles of movement integration & body-mind alignment couldn't be more valuable. Students (& partners) will practice centering the mind around the breathwork & integrating this with movements in & out of both challenging & restorative Asana. Students will tone & stretch the major muscle groups & body systems in a balanced & safe way, mentally & physically preparing for more ease & calm in the birth process. lakota has served as labor support in 6 (& counting) home & hospital births. She has an 11 year old yogini at home.

Mike Bouscaren

Mike Bouscaren ( RYT200) landed at Inner Strength following formal teacher training with the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute. Mike's passion for teaching finds root in his experience that community practice can awaken all individuals to a clear path of open awareness and joy. He believes every yoga practitioner has potential to find freedom simply by placing trust in the practice. In this way we unleash the power to dissolve intellectual blocks, to naturally embrace a more truthful and connected way of living. Arriving years ago on the yoga mat to rehabilitate an injured back, Mike soon discovered a new world of possibility and truthfulness that extends beyond the physical. He learned that the connection of breath empowers mind and body together to surpass all prior self-imposed limitations, making them in retrospect seem trivial. By conventional measures, Mike’s experience is marked with accomplishments that include a fulfilling married life with children, a productive career as an investment advisor, authoring a book on his experiences as an ultramarathon runner, and degrees from Harvard Business School and Yale University. As a teacher at Inner Strength, Mike is committed to being present simply in the service of yoga practice, with the intention that all students may by their own means awaken and experience the joyful power that dwells within.

Rebecca Pacheco

Rebecca Pacheco is a yoga teacher, writer, and creator of OmGal.com, voted Best Yoga & Fitness Blog in the 2010 Intent Web Awards. She began practicing yoga at the age of 16 and teaching others at age 20 while studying abroad in various foreign countries, including India, the birthplace of yoga. For the past decade, Rebecca has worked with students of all levels, including beginners and experienced yogis, professional and amateur athletes, ballet dancers, corporate executives, community leaders, children and teens, people with injuries or disabilities, and more.

A master-level teacher at the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute for several years, Rebecca now teaches classes and workshops at several studios in and around Boston.  Her strong, articulate, and inspiring teaching style is influenced by many types of yoga, including Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Kripalu, and more.  She has appeared in national ad campaigns for Reebok, Ryka, and New Balance and is an ambassador for lululemon. 

Rebecca holds a B. A. in English from the University of Richmond, where she immersed herself in the study of Eastern religions and philosophies, including Buddhism and Hinduism, both central to the tradition of yoga.  She is on the advisory board for YogaEarth and a contributing “voice” for Intent.com, an online wellness destination created by Mallika and Deepak Chopra.  In addition to being a yogi for nearly half her lifetime, Rebecca is also an avid runner (she ran the Boston Marathon in 2009), Boston sports fanatic, nature lover, and supporter of organizations that benefit at-risk youth.  

Molly Powers

Molly brings power, grace, and enthusiasm into all of all her yoga classes. She leads a powerful vinyasa flow and her humor is infectious. Molly has been teaching yoga for over 7 years and truly believes yoga can changes lives. Her ability to bring a sense of lightness into a challenging moment is all part of her charm. Her gift to bring healing to others is one of molly’s true passions in life. through her own healing , she has realized yoga’s powerful potential to transform lives both heart and soul. Ms. powers holds a masters degree in education in mental health counseling. She has worked with various populations facilitating groups and also worked with clients on an individual basis. She has trained with various yoga teaches, Rolf Gates “vinyasa yoga”, and Todd Norian with whom she completed a two hundred hour “hatha yoga” certification program. molly believes there many facets of healing along with the practice of yoga. Molly also runs her own alternative healing business where she works as a Medium doing readings connecting to spirit and she is also a Reiki Master.

please feel free to email molly at molly@powersofhealing.com.

Dawn Davis

Dr. Dawn Obeidallah Davis brings a rich set of experiences to the teaching of yoga to children. She is a Developmental Psychologist, a mother of three, and is trained in both the Baptiste and Elemental yoga traditions. In addition to her expertise and formal training, Dawn brings great enthusiasm to teaching yoga to kids, a quality that children immediately connect with. She is a former Harvard Medical School faculty member and is the author of scientific articles on child development. Dawn is also a author of children's books, writing stories that assist children with developmentally appropriate challenges in a fun and engaging way. Dawn received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University, and has trained in Elemental Yoga with Bo Forbes and in Baptiste Power Yoga with Coeli Marsh.