FACILITATORS
At North Node Space, our facilitators are more than just instructors; they are dedicated guides on your journey to self-discovery, expression and personal growth.
Learn more about our facilitators; they are the heart and soul of our community. Each facilitator brings a unique blend of expertise, intuition, and compassion, creating a supportive environment where you can truly become more you.
ELANA KAUFMAN
Elana Kaufman is a Yoga instructor (E-YTT 300), Usui Reiki practitioner, space holder, and musician who is passionate about fostering community, whole being nourishment, and self expression.
Her degree in holistic psychology and the healing arts alongside a dedicated yoga practice of over 20 years inform her love of teaching and facilitating healing experiences.
She is passionate about empowering students’ self inquiry and growth through decolonized Yoga for every body.
ELIZABETH VOETSCH
Elizabeth is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP) with nearly 20 years of teaching experience. As a former classical ballet dancer, her classes are a fluid blend of asana, pranayama, music, movement, spirituality, and somatic awareness.
Creating a welcoming environment where you can connect with yourself authentically is at the heart of her teaching. She views her classes as a practice of liberation, fostering a space for self-discovery, mindfulness, and healing.
She’s had the joy of sharing the transformative power of yoga and movement with students across the country, and now, from the beautiful Hudson Valley, NY. Elizabeth invites her students to embark on this incredible journey of somatic discovery together!
LIRIDONA DURAKU
Liridona Duraku is an artist, herbalist, writer and yoga instructor. She is a first generation Albanian American. She currently lives in the Hudson Valley and spends most of her time outdoors studying the local fauna. Liridona received training in Ashtanga Yoga in Rishikesh, India and Katonah Yoga.
She has completed multiple herbalism trainings but mostly practices from her native Balkan perspective. She has a professional background in the food industry, farming and hospitality. She has published fiction and non-fiction writing and shown art work in local galleries. Her work is primarily in oil painting, charcoal and pastel drawing, but recently she has been playing in forms of ceramics and sculpture of various materials. Liridona brings in imagery, ritual and mysticism of Balkan culture to her teachings and art. The themes of plants, animals, folklore, myth and magic can be seen throughout her work.
LUKE SIMON
Luke Simon shares the healing tools that help him stay in the flow of life: reiki, breathwork and yoga. He is here for creatives and queers, and anyone who feels outside and is trying to come back to their true self.
He is the founder of North Node in Kingston. He trained in Breathwork with David Elliott since 2014. He continues to study Iyengar yoga and practice meditation to cultivate ease and compassion.
He is also a writer. His first book is a playful spiritual memoir called Venus Juice: When I Tried to Live in LA. In sharing his path with others, he hopes to inspire and make you laugh.
He hopes to share tools with people to ground and deepen their path in these radical and challenging times. He believes that uncertainty is part of life and that learning to trust, be brave and stay open are the way.
CATHERINE MERINGOLO
Catherine Meringolo is a multidisciplinary performance artist, facilitator, and writer working at the intersection of theater, dance, and poetry. An alumna of The New School for Drama’s MFA Acting program, with a Bachelors in Theater and Film and a Minor in Dance from St. Mary’s College, she has trained and worked in experimental and physical theater, dance, film and poetry for over twenty years.
In addition to acting in theater and film, her collaborative and original solo pieces have been presented at venues such as The Emerging Artists Festival, New Dance Alliance’s Performance Mix Festival, Gibney Dance, ChaNorth and 1 Brooklyn Bridge Gallery. In addition to making and performing, Catherine is a movement and creative process facilitator with an approach that encourages playful curiosity and experimentation.
CORINNA BARSAN
Corinna Barsan is an Akashic Records practitioner, crystal guide, spiritual medium, and writer.
Corinna received her Akashic Records training with Christina Cross, in the lineage of Linda Howe, and studied mediumship with Eileen Davies, Mary Grisey, and Christine Morgan. She is certified as a Crystal Resonance Therapist and Primus Activation Healing Technique practitioner, trained by Samaya K. Aster (formerly known as Naisha Ahsian). She also received an Usui Reiki 1 attunement from animal communicator and Reiki Master Cindy Brody.
Corinna has worked in publishing for almost two decades and taught in the MFA Writing Program at Columbia University, and is currently an independent editor.
AMY SHEARER
Amy Shearer, a former fashion retail executive for over 15 years, is now the founder of The Recreated, a company focused on helping individuals learn their power to heal. She helps women transitioning into midlife ready to embrace their inner power to emotionally and spiritually recharge themselves so they can have wholehearted relationships, ongoing wellness, fulfilling careers, and a connection to deeper meaning in their lives.
Amy is a trauma-informed Master Life and Success Coach, Master and Trainer of NLP, EFT, TIME, Hypnosis, certified Flow Breathwork Facilitator, and Somatic Stress Release Facilitator. Amy is a California native who resides in Kingston, New York, with her husband, Brian, and sweet rescue dog, Brinkley.
ANA GIOIA
Ana Francisca Gioia is an Earth and Birth Worker. She has trained in multiple yoga lineages including Hatha and Kundalini and is certified at the 500hr level. She has been living and teaching yoga in Kingston since 2013. Ana is also a practitioner of plant medicine, regenerative earth practices and ancestral health.
Ana has a B.A. in Philosophy from Boston College and an Masters in Eastern Classics from St. John’s College in New Mexico where she studied Eastern Philosophy and Sanskrit. She is a trained Radiant Child Yoga Teacher and teaches Children’s Yoga and Family Yoga as well as adult classes and offers workshops in Family Dynamics, Energetics and Rituals.
Ana is the mother of two children and practices writing, wild crafting, foraging, sustainable cooking and connecting with the Earth. She is very passionate about Seasonal Living, working with children, and connecting with her Celtic and Mayan roots. Ana currently teaches a restorative fusion blend. She also speaks Spanish, as she is half Guatemalan and works with Cacao and other plant medicines, often crafting her offerings/circles around the the New and Full Moon Calendars.