Jess Agostinelli
Studio Assistant (she/her)
Despite practicing yoga from a young age, Jess now relies on a daily practice to recover from long Covid, and is a strong believer in the mind-body-breath connection. After moving to Mt. Pleasant in spring 2021, she joined Past Tense as a studio assistant. Aside from yoga, she produces tech-related events in D.C.
Edy Blu
Instructor (she/her)
Edy started practicing yoga to alleviate knee pain, but discovered it increased her flexibility and her happiness. Edy appreciates yoga as a guide for living in the body. Her classes focus on breath awareness, strength, and alignment. Edy also writes, sings, and records catchy songs and music for sync licensing.
Maren Burling
Studio Assistant (she/her)
Maren started practicing yoga as an intern in D.C. five years ago by joining free classes in Farragut Park. After living and practicing in different places around the world, she’s glad to be back in DC and a part of Past Tense. In addition to yoga, Maren loves to romp around outside hiking or biking with her dog, Checo.
Talia Calnek-Sugin
Studio Assistant (she/her)
Talia started practicing yoga to reduce running injuries and found that she loved the practice for its emotional benefits as well as physical ones. She joined Past Tense shortly after moving to DC and is grateful to be part of the amazing community. Off the mat, you can find Talia advocating for stronger climate policy, exploring nearby trails, and tending to the plants on her terrace.
Ellie Conrad
Instructor (she/her)
Ellie began practicing yoga in an effort to find community after graduating from RISD. Now, she is a yoga instructor and massage therapist with a private practice right around the corner from Past Tense. In Ellie’s classes, you can expect creative sequencing, nerdy anatomy references, and lots of props.
Sara Curtin
Instructor (she/her)
Sara started practicing yoga as a way to release tension and deepen her understanding of her breath as a professional singer. It’s her goal to make each class feel fun and challenging. DC is Sara’s hometown, and she loves living here with her husband Brenden and their beautiful and hilarious young twins.
Niki Dasarathy
Instructor (she/her)
Niki started practicing yoga while living overseas as a way to meet new people. Since then yoga has helped her grow into a stronger and more flexible person, both in body and mind. She graduated from Past Tense’s 200-hour teacher training in 2018 and, off the mat, she manages international rule of law projects.
Kelly DiNardo
Owner, Instructor (she/her)
Kelly discovered yoga when she was procrastinating on a writing assignment. Parked on a yoga mat, she not only cleared her writer’s block but developed a new passion. She has been teaching yoga for over fifteen years. She opened Past Tense with the hope of giving others the same strength, balance and flexibility she finds on the mat in a place that is open and welcoming.
Patrycja Dzierzanowska
Instructor (she/her)
Patrycja came to Mt. Pleasant with an intention of finding a loving community and home of her own. After many years living a nomad’s life on different continents, during which she taught art, Spanish, and English to primary and secondary grade students, she yearned for a shore where she could anchor her boat. Happily she found that anchor in in her yoga practice and the Past Tense community.
Nichole Ferrigno
Education Manager, Instructor (she/her)
Since discovering yoga in college, Nichole has embraced yoga as an anchor in her life and as a sanctuary from DC’s hurried pace. You can expect to find your own sanctuary in her grounding classes that emphasize form and tuning in. When she’s not teaching yoga Nichole works as a health coach, full-time mom, and part-time student at GWU.
Natalie Greifer
Studio Assistant (she/her)
Yoga has been an important part of Natalie’s life for the last 15 years. She enjoys how the practice always improves her mood, creates a space to focus on playfulness and joy, and provides community. Outside of Past Tense you can find her reading, drinking green tea, biking in rock creek, or at Purple Patch.
Karen Kane
Instructor
A few years ago, Karen tripped and took a flying fall. But instead of a face plant, she landed in chaturanga and only scraped her knees. That was her yoga “ah-ha” moment—her body had learned how to protect itself. Off the mat, Karen is a children’s book author and is always creating stories in her head. Which is probably why she probably tripped in the first place.
Hannah Krohn
Studio Assistant (she/her)
Hannah began practicing every type of yoga with her mother in Florida. As an adult in DC, Past Tense became her home for all those types of yoga (and more) as well as the incomparable community. Outside of the studio, Hannah enjoys cooking, hiking, and exploring the DMV’s hidden treasures.
Steve Krzyanowski
Instructor (he/him)
Steve grew up as a gymnast and was drawn to yoga as a way to honor the body. He is always looking for the little lessons inherent in our practice: take the time to warm up, look within and examine, let go of what does not serve, and meet yourself where you are. Steve’s classes offer a reflection on how we can apply the lessons of practice to our lives.
Rachel Morrison
Instructor (she/her)
While working as a personal trainer, Rachel found in yoga a safe haven to calm her nervous system and jumped into teacher training in 2015. Her classes combine creative sequencing, functional movement, and philosophical grounding to create a safe space for self discovery. Her home practice is heavily influenced by her cat, Shadow.
Alicia Moyer
Owner, Instructor (she/her)
Alicia has been teaching yoga since 2006. She combines yoga with multidisciplinary styles of movement and mobility practices the will challenge your brain as much as your body. When not teaching, she is a massage therapist and student of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. Alicia is a native to Mt. Pleasant and still lives in her childhood home with her husband and daughter.
Mallory Newall
Studio Manager, Instructor (she/her)
Mallory first joined the Past Tense community as a studio assistant, then graduated from the studio’s first Living Yoga Teacher Training in 2017. Mallory teaches a power-inspired class set to upbeat music to give students the opportunity to find their edge in a lighthearted way. She is also certified in foam rolling and prenatal yoga.
Melanie Nguyen
Studio Assistant (she/her)
After practicing on-and-off, Melanie decided to deepen her practice at Past Tense. She now appreciates the mind-body connection and space for self-reflection offered by yoga, especially as a busy graduate student. Off the mat, you can find her strolling around the neighborhood with her dog or enjoying a cup of coffee and a good book.
Audrey Platt
Studio Assistant (she/her)
Audrey grew up practicing yoga in San Francisco. She knew Mt. Pleasant was home in her first class at Past Tense, appreciating everything from the community spirit to the plants. Off the mat, Audrey loves farmers markets, helping out Friends of the Mt. Pleasant Library, and biking around the neighborhood.
Laura Powis
Studio Assistant (she/her)
Laura first found yoga in high school, and has been practicing ever since. Yoga has been a consistent grounding force through life’s many transitions and she loves the opportunity to hold space and connect with others through her practice. Off the mat, she works in public health and enjoys doing pottery.
Stephanie Preller
Instructor (she/her)
Stephanie discovered yoga after moving to a new city and was immediately hooked. She was inspired to complete her prenatal training after becoming pregnant with her first son. She believes it’s truly a privilege to support others during their pregnancy and parenthood journeys. Stephanie’s goal is to provide accessible and empowering classes that emphasize the mind-body connection.
Otis Ramsey-Zoe
Studio Assistant (he/him)
The name Otis means “he who hears well” or “one who listens.” Yoga has become another opportunity for Otis to live out his mission in life as determined by the name given to him by his parents. A theatre artist, educator, and PhD student, Otis has maintained a committed yoga practice since 2010.
Ginny Randall
Studio Assistant (she/her)
As a student of yoga for nearly a decade, Ginny is thrilled to be a part of the Past Tense Studio yoga community as a studio assistant. Yoga is an important part of her mental health and wellness practice. Outside of the studio, Ginny is a nonprofit director doing diversity, equity, and inclusion work in the aerospace industry and an unapologetic book nerd.
Amy Rizzotto
Instructor (she/her)
Amy has been a yoga student for over 17 years and counts her lucky stars that she has been able to make the practice a full-time career. Amy is dedicated to creating a synergy of functional and therapeutic movement, sustainable healthy eating, and mindfulness for total mind-body wellness.
Emma Silverman
Instructor (she/her)
Emma took her first yoga class with her mom in 1999 and finished her teacher training in 2007. She is trained in prenatal, restorative, senior, and vinyasa flow. In her classes she plays music (usually), tells very bad jokes (always), and offers lots of modifications.
Sasa Tang
Instructor (she/her)
Sasa took her first yoga class during her Peace Corps service when she invited a lost traveling yoga instructor to her village. She loved how yoga could be playful and at the same time provide a calm groundedness. Since completing her 200-hour teacher training in 2020, Sasa teaches from a lens of self-exploration and hopes to create for everyone that comes to her class a sense of home in their own bodies.
Trisha Tucholski
Studio Assistant (she/her)
Having moved to D.C. in the midst of the pandemic, Trisha was excited to find a community at Past Tense, just a few blocks from where she lives. She considers yoga key to building strength and finding balance, and her short-term goal is to master crow pose. Off the mat, Trisha is a scientist leveraging chemistry to study the immune system.