Amy Etzell has been practicing yoga for 12 years. She came to yoga through the fitness and wellness field finding that adding yoga to her life decreased her injuries, built her strength and calmed her down. Amy is a E-RYT (experienced registered yoga teacher) at the 200 hour level through Yoga Alliance.
Amy teaches vinyasa yoga, chair yoga, and yin yoga. She finds that each style has such benefits to the mind and body of each student.

Amy is also the owner/director of HeartWork Studio. She is also the director of HeartWork Yoga Teacher Training School. When asked about the school she says, "Our staff of highly qualified yoga teachers, plus the amazing outside resources that we bring in make our school so fantastic."

She loves teaching yoga because of its total life transformational qualities. Watching students find their inner strength and peace is what Amy enjoys seeing the most in yoga classes. She is also a personal trainer and trains clients in HeartWork Studios private fitness studio. The balance of fitness and yoga are a fantastic piece in her life!

Amy has 4 children ranging in age from 11-17. She and her husband are active members of the Northfield community volunteering on many committees and organizations. She enjoys running, reading, and decorating.
Kris Layman has had an ongoing massage practice for 15 years. She received certification at Cottonwood School of Massage Therapy in 1997. She completed her yoga training at the Mind/Body Center at Aurora Community College, Colorado, and has been a registered yoga teacher since 2001. She enjoys having a massage practice, teaching yoga and classes on learning beginning massage techniques and infant massage.
Kris enjoys spending time with her son; embracing the 'silliness', reading, hiking, camping, travel, and considers herself blessed with wonderful family and friends.
"I love the variety yoga can offer for each individual need. If you are looking to have a more vigorous practice or  to slowing it down in a gentle manner. Plus, how yoga can benefit anyone at any age.  A person can start their practice, from kids yoga to teens, to seniors. Yoga is a way for us to move our bodies, freeing up from either emotional or physical tension, to come back to a place of peace, stillness. When we can remember that feeling within, that is such a wonderful feeling at any age. When we can begin to heal ourselves from the inside out, that is so powerful. Taking what we experience during our yoga practice into our daily life, taking a step-back away from the chaos in life, to pause, remember the breath, breathe into our bodies and be still and enjoy what is- in that very moment."
Jeff Woods is a registered yoga teacher at the 200 hour level through Yoga Alliance. Jeff enjoys teaching an Iyengar style of yoga. He says “I started yoga in 1974, or at least I called it yoga. It was probably more like stretching with the stereo blasting or the TV on. It was only when I became a serious rock climber that I began to fully realize the power and calmness that can be developed between mind, body, and spirit with a consistent yoga practice. Climbing became “vertical yoga” for me, the focus and controlled body movements were very similar to classical yoga. Over the last 20 years I slowly became aware that the Iyengar style of yoga best suited me. My yoga practice has not only changed my life, it has become my life. Of course I enjoy the increased flexibility, but the main change yoga has made in my life is the sense of liberation and joy that comes with truly “letting go”.” Other than yoga, Jeff enjoys riding and racing bicycles. He enjoys backpacking and takes several trips a year to Wyoming, Utah, or Montana to feed his addiction to the mountains. He also loves lifting weights.
Daisy Christopherson is a physical therapist and a Registered Yoga teacher at the 200 hour level through Yoga Alliance. She received her yoga training at SunMoon Studio in Mankato, MN. Additional training on the integration of physical therapy and yoga with Matt Sanford and Marla Bookhout. Daisy instructs beginning, vinyasa, as well as offering private sessions.
"I started practicing yoga regularly 6 years ago, after a trip to Thailand. I saw the way that the Thai people did not get so worried about little things as we do in America, and how they were happy with much less. I wanted to preserve a piece of this life in my own, and the yoga I had learned on the beach there from another traveler seemed the perfect avenue."
Before I found yoga, my exercise was mostly intense and aerobic. As a physical therapist, I realized that I was developing muscle imbalances, but, like most people, I didn't like stretching. Yoga, of course, has helped with my flexibility, but has also provided countless other benefits, physically, emotionally and spiritually. It brings peace to my analytical mind and deeper meaning to my daily activities and relationships. I am able to relax in the happiness of the present moment and, through teaching, share this with others.

Besides yoga, I enjoy outdoor activities with my husband Michael and dog Willie. We love to backpack, kayak, run trails and adventure race. I also enjoy reading novels, traveling and studying languages.


Alice Highman has been practicing yoga for 37 years. She is a registered yoga teacher at the 200 hour level through Yoga Alliance. Alice teaches vinyasa yoga. She is known by her students to continually challenge them to become stronger and more mindful, always bringing new poses and breath work to her class. Alice says “yoga is the best way I know to stay feeling young". It makes me feel strong and flexible. Through yoga I’ve learned the power of meditation, and the miracle that the human body is. As an instructor I really enjoy all the different, wonderful people that come to class. Alice is an avid gardener. She enjoys quilting, reading, grand kids, pets, and hiking in parks and woods.
Elizabeth Child has trained in several styles of yoga including Vinyasa, Anusara and Viniyoga. Elizabeth is a registered yoga teacher at the 200 hour level through Yoga Alliance. She has an additional 200 hour certification with Maggie Kessel of Riverbend Yoga in St. Paul, which she completed in 2008. She has also taken Anusara, Immersion I and intensive workshops from John Friend, Baron Baptist, Patricia Walden, Judith Hanson Lasater and Doug Keller. Elizabeth says “For me, the physical practice of yoga is separated from other fitness exercise by the focus on breath. The attention to breath puts me in the moment while making me feel both awake and relaxed. It creates an awareness of my body that allows me to work carefully, in alignment, to heal and not stress my body- or my mind. Ideally, yoga is more than a way to get fit. It is a way of living life. Recently I’ve been studying Patangali’s sutras, chanting, pranyama and breathwork as ways to affect my mind, my mood and my energy. The sutras say yoga is a method to focus the mind so you can direct your life toward what you want. I’m finding the broad complement of yoga techniques taken together create a powerful, holistic practice.” Elizabeth owns a marketing communications business for educational institutions and other mission-driven organizations. She enjoys nature walks, golf, reading fiction and poetry, hanging out with her husband and cat, and intimate talks and playtime with friends. She likes having the kids to dinner when they are home, and spending time in the azure blue waters of the Caribbean whenever possible.


Linda Schneewind started yoga 4 years ago through HeartWork Studio. She began practicing yoga weekly and quickly started practicing yoga everyday. Linda says "Yoga absolutely changed my life and the way I navigate through it every day. It transformed the way I feel about and treat my body as well as made me realize the importance of a peaceful mind. We can all benefit in some way from a yoga practice, whether it be vigorous or gentle, an hour each day or ten minutes…it has the capability of enriching your life and your relationships with others as well as yourself. Linda received her yoga teacher training from the HeartWork Yoga Teacher Training School. She teaches vinyasa yoga. Outside of yoga, Linda enjoys biking, reading, live music, and knitting.


Shawnee Langworthy  has been taking yoga classes at Heartwork Studio since 2007. Yoga quickly became a regular and joyous part of her Northfield existence. The physical strength and mental grounding she experienced through yoga led her to participate in Heartworks first teacher training which she completed in 2009. Shawnee loves connecting with the community at the studio and teaches a variety of styles; Power Yoga, Advanced Beginning and Relaxation. In her spare time she makes custom stained glass with her husband and can often be found in the kitchen cooking something up to share with friends.


H.B. "Skip" Edmonds is a carpenter/contractor with a family business who has been practicing yoga for 10 years. His training has been with a variety of different teachers, many from Heartwork Studios. His style is Vinyasa. He enjoys leading the 108 Vinyasas on each solstice and equinox.

Joe Cuddy started his yoga practice 5 years ago. He was looking for something that would give him a challenging work-out, while incorporating a stretching regime that would help ease the ‘tightness’ in his body.
Yoga has helped him realize the countless benefits of a ‘yoga’ practice, for his body as well as his mind and spirit. Joe received his yoga training at HeartWork Yoga Teacher Training School. As Joe’s yoga experience evolved, he recognized his passion for hot yoga. Not only does the hot yoga experience allow for increased flexibility, Joe has found it to be beneficial in the purification of his body and mind.

Outside of yoga, Joe’s interests include activities with his wife and 2 children. In the summer, you can find them enjoying time in Northern MN, and in the winter months, you can find them on the slopes.
Stephanie Carlson
Stephanie has been teaching yoga since 2009. She completed her yoga certification through HeartWork Yoga Teacher Training School. She is known at HeartWork as the teacher who "gives the best head massages in Savasana". She enjoys teaching and helping run her family's business. She and her family live in Northfield.
HeartWork Studio
101 W. 5th Street
Northfield, MN 55057
amy@heartworkyoga.com
phone: 507-645-8290
Cassie Schwamb: completed the HeartWork Yoga Teacher Training Program in 2009, and has been enjoying teaching prenatal yoga ever since. Cassie loves being able to share the many benefits of yoga and to provide the space for mothers to nurture themselves and their babies. Cassie lives in Northfield with her husband and two small children. She enjoys sewing, gardening, and spending time with family.