we are a team of practitioners that combine holistic health with social justice
DREAM TEAM
ACUPUNCTURE, YOGA, HERBAL MEDICINE
Masha Schmidt
she/her
Masha is a NYS-licensed acupuncturist with specialized focus in Kiiko Matsumoto style Japanese acupuncture and Esoteric Acupuncture as taught by Mikio Sankey. She has also trained as a yoga instructor, herbalist, and 5 Element aromatherapist.
She holds a BA in psychology from Barnard College, and an M.S.Ac from Tri-State College of Acupuncture. Her yoga training includes kids yoga, restorative, and yin traditions.
Masha places special focus on nervous system regulation, trauma repair, and addiction recovery. A certified AcuDetox/NADA specialist, she volunteers at New York Harm Reduction Educators (NYHRE) and is working toward becoming an ADS trainer.
Masha has great love for teaching holistic health to middle schoolers and teenagers. She deeply resonates with the immigrant experience, folks struggling with addiction, as well as survivors of all kinds.
SUPPORT GROUPS, YOGA, NADA ACUDETOX
Melissa Soong
she/her
Melissa is a yoga teacher, yoga teacher trainer and Program Director of Meridian Yoga Technique with Science of Self Yoga. She was social work program director at a supportive housing facility for chronically homeless adults for a decade in NYC. She continues the work of community healing with Holistic Health Services at the NY Harm Reduction Educators/OnPoint NY and collaborations with other local nonprofit organizations. Throughout her experience, she asserts that healing must address an individual’s mind, body and spirit - one must be an active participant in their healing process.
She is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW), a Registered Trainer and AcuDetox (NADA) Specialist, and has completed the Science of Self 200 hour YTT and 300 hour Advanced YTT. She also holds a Plant Based Nutrition Certificate from T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and eCornell. She has completed certification from the Center for Nonprofit Leaders Program, Fordham University.
Melissa specializes in working with people from many walks of life -from those that are just looking to become more aware of their internal patterns to those with specific goals. She is experienced working in high stress environments, with clients who have issues related to mental health, addiction, trauma, and more. She is also passionate about helping those who work in nonprofit settings, as a way to assist in managing the stress of caregiving and burnout prevention.
DOULA SERVICES, YOGA
Hillary Lopes
she/her
Hillary has worked in various communities and settings as a yoga and mindfulness teacher and certified holistic health coach, focusing on weaving elements of healing from the inside out in order to strive for personal and collective liberation. She believes in using physical body and subtle body movement as vehicles for reducing stress, addressing trauma, and learning how to continuously be in the practice of claiming one’s worth for the purpose of healing.
Hillary has lived a life built on movement: first, gymnastics and, later, classical ballet. Yoga made its debut into Hillary's life as a therapeutic remedy to a dance-related knee injury. There have been many teachers guiding her path of uniting soul, heart, body and mind. She attended the ISHTA 200hr yoga teacher training and Prema Yoga Brooklyn’s inaugural vinyasa training. She has also trained and taught with Little Flower Yoga training program and Urban Yoga Foundation focused on working with young people from 4-18 years-old within the NYC school system.
Hillary trained to become a doula through Mama Glow with the incredible Latham Thomas. She now offers doula services throughout the Hudson Valley to support the entire birthing community.
She has she blended her passions for community action, social change and wellbeing by joining the Off the Mat, Into the World organization for their leadership in action training and then their advanced training in social justice. Recently, she founded the Blackwell birth foundation to connect BIPOC birthing people with birth and postpartum doula services at no cost to them.
CIRLCE KEEPER, EDUCATOR, SUPPORT GROUPS
Amie Anderson
she/her
Amie Rose Anderson, Ms.Ed, MSW (May 2022) is a teacher, therapist, group facilitator and circle keeper. She attended Sarah Lawrence College, studying psychology, writing, and music, and then receiving a Master’s Degree from the school’s Art of Teaching program. Amie spent the next four years in Harlem, teaching at The Calhoun School on the Upper West Side, before landing in Beacon.
Amie has been connected to the Manitou School in Cold Spring since its inception in 2014. She designed the early childhood program as the founding Stepping Stones teacher, and then as the early childhood coordinator for the school. She now supports the school’s social and emotional learning program as the Life Skills teacher, working with children and teens to understand the nuances of friendship, emotion, identity, puberty, substance use, relationships, sex, body image, and more.
Amie graduates from NYU in May 2022 with a Master’s in Social Work. She completed her field work facilitating groups at The Philipstown Behavioral Health Hub, providing psychotherapy with New York Creative Arts Therapists, and New York Medical College. Amie completed an externship in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples, and enjoys working with parents, families, and anyone who experiences challenges in relationships or struggles with attachment.
Amie identifies as queer and is passionate about working with the LGBTQ+ population. She is a strong supporter of Body Liberation and the Health at Every Size movement.
She also plays bluegrass guitar, and lives with her husband, three cats, and two apple trees in Beacon, New York.
HERBAL MEDICINE, NADA ACUDETOX SPECIALIST
Rich Maddocks
he/him
Rich is a queer Community Herbalist and Acupuncture Detox Specialist who’s work is centered in social justice, harm reduction and access to care. He is a regular volunteer at New York Harm Reduction Educators (NYHRE), and facilitates a monthly free clinic in Hudson, NY offering herbal medicine and NADA/Acudetox support treatments.
Influential teachers and mentors that have shaped his relationship to plant healing include: Mandana Boushee, Lauren Giambrone, Jen Stovall, Janet Kent, and Dave Meesters.
Rich’s background is in organic farming, herbal medicine production, community building and work contributing to a collective vision of holistic healthcare. He is currently based on Mohican Land in the Hudson Valley.
NUTRITIONAL THERAPY PRACTITIONER, EDUCATOR
Kathryn Selman
she/her
Kathryn (Kat) Selman, NTP is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner with a specialized focus in postpartum care and blood sugar/diabetes support.
She holds a Masters Degree in music from the University of North Texas, and a certification in Nutritional Therapy from the Nutritional Therapy Association. She has an extensive background in teaching music to adults and kids, both 1:1 and in group settings.
Kathryn focuses on nutrition from a bioindividual approach with the understanding that each body is unique, with no one-size-fits-all solution. She works with individuals and groups to make small but powerful changes to help support the body and mind, and to explore overcoming barriers to greater wellness. Kathryn is also passionate about food equity and volunteers regularly with Fareground, a women-run food justice, anti-hunger organization in Beacon, NY.
Kathryn loves combining her passion for nourishing the body with her teaching background to share empowering nutrition knowledge with her community and beyond.
STORYTELLER, CURANDERA, REIKI PRACTITIONER
Robyn Moreno
she/her/ella
Robyn is a multi-faceted guide who helps Latinxs and BIPOC come back home to themselves. Believing that young people “can’t be what they can’t see,” Robyn has worked tirelessly as a passionate storyteller and mentor to create and elevate empowering stories about Latinxs and BIPOC via her podcast “Get Rooted with Robyn Moreno,” as the former Co-President of Latina Media Ventures, and via her books including her latest, Get Rooted (June 7 2022, Hachette Go), which is a journey of healing generational trauma and reclaiming ancestral medicine.
Robyn is a two-time certified yoga teacher and practicing life coach who trained with Martha Beck. She is certified in the Usui Reiki Ryoho method (levels I and II) with Vanessa Codorniu of The School of Healing Artes. She has studied herbalism with Berenice Dimas of Hood Herbalism and Amanda David of Rootwork Herbals; Decolonized Nonviolent Parenting with Leslie Priscilla Arreola- Hillenbrand of Latinx Parenting; and Chicana/o/x Psychology with Dr. Manuel X. Zamarripa and Tlazoltiani Jessica Zamarripa of the Institute of Chicana/o/x Psychology.
As a practicing Curandera, Robyn has studied under the guidance of Virginia Rincón and Bob Vetter— students of Elena Avila—as well as Dr. Eliseo Torres and master curandera Rita Navarette among many other revered and cherished maestrxs. By far though, her ancestors continue to be her greatest guides. The native Texan currently lives in Cold Spring, New York with her family.