Our Teachers

Antonetta Tempesta, Personal Trainer and Physical Therapist

I have been a Physical Therapist and fitness educator for more than 30 years!
My clinical experience consists of working with outpatient clinics in the Metrowest and Boston areas, as well as a private personal training business.
I enjoy providing exercise programs specific to he therapeutic needs and fitness goals of the individual.
My emphasis is on education pertaining to orthopedic situations, injury prevention and posture.  This involves a balance of strength and flexibility, coupled with endurance to promote total well-being.

Bec Conant, E-RYT 500, RPYT, HBCE

Bec is the founder of Om Births, a birth centered community offering online pre and post natal yoga, hypnobirthing, momma groups and more.   We are excited to have her teaching at The Gentle Place.

Bec has been teaching Yoga classes since 2001, when she finished the teacher training course at OM Yoga Center under Cyndi Lee. Since then Bec has gone on to gain certifications in restorative yoga and her specialty, pre-natal and post-natal yoga.

Bec focuses on helping women develop strength, flexibility and confidence throughout their pregnancy and post-partum. Bec has studied prenatal and post natal yoga with Betsy Kase, Janice Clarfield, and Judith Lasater. Bec has also assisted Janice in training future pre-natal yoga teachers at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Wellness. In January of 2007, Bec completed Barbara Benagh’s 15 month course: The Art of Teaching Yoga. In April of 2017 Bec completed Kaia Yoga’s Meditation Teacher Training with David Nichtern.

Bec has also studied the Mongan Method of HypnoBirthing® and is a certified HypnoBirthing® childbirth educator. For more on this method of childbirthing involving deep relaxation and self-hypnosis please visit the section on HypnoBirthing®. Bec teaches both group and individual classes in HypnoBirthing® around the Boston area.

a  also the author of a new book on Prenatal Yoga: The Om Births Approach.  You can read about it, and order it HERE.

Donna Kramer Merritt RYT 200

Donna Kramer Merritt RYT 200

As a massage therapist, I often tell my clients to do Yoga as a way to maintain stress relief and flexibility between appointment.  After too many times of hearing them say “I am not flexible enough” or “I feel to intimidated to take a yoga class”,  I decided to become a yoga teacher to share my joy and passion for yoga with those who have felt it was inaccessible.

As the owner of the The Gentle Place Wellness Center, I was overjoyed when after my Yoga Teacher Training, a beautiful room opened up down the hall from my massage studios.  Just large enough for 8 to 10 students, my dream was to create a safe haven for yoga student new and old to discover their own personal yoga practices.

Although our studio is closed due to Covid, I  have begun to love teaching online, with a focus on gentle beginners yoga to give people the confidence and the tools to be safe in any yoga class.  I am now also teaching a Vinyasa class and enjoy the variety, while still focusing on alignment and safety.

Welcome to Yoga @The Gentle Place…. Where we offer yoga for every body.  Namaste’

Karen Fishman

Karen Fishman has been teaching muscle, Pilates, and Yoga classes at area gyms in the MetroWest since 2003.

She is certified as a Group Fitness Instructor by Fitness Resource Associates (FRA) and holds several fitness certifications from the American Aerobic Association International and International Sports Medicine Association (AAAI/ISMA). By day, Karen works as a Probation Monitor for the MA Dept. of Public Health.

When she’s not working, Karen enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Karen Zelinsky, CYT

Karen Zelinsky began practicing yoga in 1999 and did her 200-hour yoga teacher training through Finding Inner Peace Yoga in 2005. In 2006 she left her job as a high school teacher to focus on supporting women during pregnancy through teaching prenatal yoga and HypnoBirthing.
In addition to Prenatal Yoga at The Gentle Place, Karen currently teaches Prepared Childbirth and HypnoBirthing at Newton Wellesley and Mt. Auburn Hospitals and supports growing families both as a birth and postpartum doula.
Prenatal Yoga Teacher Lisa Diebold

Lisa Diebold Smith, RYT 200

Yoga has been a part of my life for over 10 years. I love yoga because it helps me feel centered and allows me to eat more chocolate.
I completed my RYT 200 with Sonic Yoga in NYC and added my Prenatal Certification a few years later. I will always be a student of the practice and am deeply grateful for the wisdom every teacher has shared with me.
When not teaching, I’m busy chasing around two tiny humans. I also enjoy hiking, swimming and eating delicious food.

Mary Ellen Brooks, RYT 200

My training in Martial Arts eventually led me to my Yoga mat as a means to disconnect for an hour each week from a hectic lifestyle that was consuming me.
My Yoga practice started to become more of an experience that was nourishing my Body, Mind and Spirit through Breath awareness. This beautiful gentle connection and my love for teaching drove me to become a Certified Yoga Instructor.
I look forward to sharing my experiences and yoga practice with others who also seek nourishment for their Body, Mind and Spirit in a comfortable safe setting.

Samela St. Pierre, Yoga Studio Director

I attended my first yoga class in 2005 and was immediately in love with the practice. I took out all the books and follow along DVDs my local library in New York had to offer on the subject and followed along with “Namaste Yoga,” aired live in the mornings on FitTV, before leaving for middle and high school.
Ten years into practicing everything from Dharma and Restorative to Hot Power Yoga, I spent a month at Kripalu to receive my first 200 hour teacher training. From there I went on to teach at half a dozen studios and gyms in the Metrowest area and had the privilege of being mentored by many great local teachers like Amy Karabian, Cheryl Wolf and Dima Bosko who I assisted during her inaugural 200 hour One Voice Teacher Training. I then trained under Jennifer Reis to receive my Yoga Nidra certification.
I believe yoga can be accessible to all and goes much deeper than a physical practice. I believe we can use our studio time to practice real world situations: challenges, discomfort and unexpected emotions, to fine tune how we respond as opposed to reacting haphazardly. I believe breathing deeply and calming our minds and nervous systems are key to creating more peace within ourselves and more compassion to how we treat others.
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