— ABOUT
Our Story & Philosophy
Yoga is more than poses. It’s a practice for living.
Devoted Heart Yoga is a yoga collective connected to philosophy and lifestyle.
We believe yoga is a living tradition—one that supports not only how we move, but how we live. We honor the traditions of yoga while offering practices that meet people where they are through movement, breath, meditation, philosophy, sound healing, and community.
Located at Ingrid K Studio in the Hamilton Park neighborhood of Jersey City, Devoted Heart Yoga is home to a collective of independent teachers who share a commitment to thoughtful, heart-centered teaching. Each teacher brings their own experience, lineage, and perspective while creating a welcoming space for students to practice, learn, and grow.
Whether you’re stepping onto the mat for the first time, preparing for birth, seeking community, exploring meditation, or deepening a lifelong practice, we hope you’ll find a place to feel supported, inspired, and at home.
Meet Lauren
Lauren Hemley
Founder
@devoted_heart_lauren
Hi, I’m Lauren!
I’m the founder of Devoted Heart Yoga and creator of The Live Your Yoga Transformation. I’m a yoga and meditation teacher, transformational coach, circle leader, ritualist, sound healer, and practitioner of Tuning Fork Therapy.
My work is rooted in the belief that yoga is more than poses—it’s a practice for living. I specialize in yoga lifestyle and applied yoga philosophy, prenatal yoga, meditation, sound healing, and one-on-one transformational work that supports people in living with greater intention, presence, and connection.
I completed my first 200-hour yoga teacher training with Syama and Dhyana Masla at Stanton Street Yoga and The Bhakti Center in New York City, followed by a second 200-hour training with Alison West at Yoga Union. I have continued my studies in prenatal yoga with Juliana Mitchell, restorative yoga and pranayama with Judith Lasater, yoga for back care and scoliosis with Alison West, and the Acutonics® methodology for Tuning Fork Therapy. Most recently I also completed a Sound Healing & Nada Yoga certification with Boston Vibrations.
From 2020 through 2026, I co-led eight cohorts of a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training at Asana Soul Practice from which I graduated over 100 new yoga teachers, and created and led two 25-hour Restorative Yoga Teacher Trainings. I continue to mentor yoga teachers while offering continuing education, trainings, and courses that support students in deepening both their practice and their teaching.
My mission is to help people uplift their lives through the healing arts.
Whether through movement, meditation, philosophy, sound, ritual, or coaching, my intention is always the same: to help people reconnect with themselves and discover practical ways to bring the wisdom of yoga into everyday life.
My mission is to help people uplift their lives through the healing arts.
Whether through movement, meditation, philosophy, sound, ritual, or coaching, my intention is always the same: to help people reconnect with themselves and discover practical ways to bring the wisdom of yoga into everyday life.
My work includes:
Yoga classes that cultivate strength, awareness, and healing through mindful movement.
Meditation and pranayama practices that develop clarity, presence, and a deeper understanding of the mind.
Sound healing and Tuning Fork Therapy to support physical, emotional, and energetic well-being.
Women's Circles and seasonal rituals that create space for reflection, celebration, community, and connection with the rhythms of nature.
Transformational coaching that offers compassionate guidance, accountability, and support for meaningful personal growth.
Yoga philosophy that bridges ancient wisdom with modern life, making timeless teachings practical and relevant.
These are all forms of yoga—and yoga is a practice that helps us live with intention and alignment with our Soul.
I would be honored to support your journey, whether you’re joining a weekly class, exploring a private session, participating in a training, or simply taking your first step onto the mat.
My Weekly Classes
My Weekly Classes
Our Story & Philosophy
These are all forms of yoga—and yoga is a practice that helps us live with intention and alignment with our Soul.
I would be honored to support your journey, whether you’re joining a weekly class, exploring a private session, participating in a training, or simply taking your first step onto the mat.
After completing her MFA in Acting at The New School in 2014, Amy was introduced to yoga through a Groupon class with Austin Sanderson at what was then Jivamukti Jersey City. What began as a single class soon became a dedicated practice, and in 2019 she enrolled in the 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training at Asana Soul Practice, completing her certification virtually during the pandemic in 2020.
In 2021, Amy began a 500-hour mentorship with Austin Sanderson as he developed the Urban Sadhu Yoga Method. During this training, she discovered a passion for hands-on assists, which have since become one of the hallmarks of her teaching.
In early 2026, Amy earned her 850-hour Yoga Therapist Certification through the Prema Yoga Institute. Her studies deepened her appreciation for yoga nidra, pranayama, chanting, sound healing modalities, yin, and restorative yoga. She especially enjoys sharing these practices with seniors, individuals recovering from injuries, and those in recovery from substance use.
Amy’s classes combine thoughtful alignment, therapeutic awareness, and compassionate guidance, helping students build strength, confidence, and a deeper relationship with their practice.
Weekly Classes
Austin K. Sanderson began practicing yoga in 2008 after attending a Jivamukti Yoga class at a neighborhood gym in Jersey City. Inspired by the profound impact the practice had on his life, he immersed himself in the study of yoga, completing the Jivamukti 300+ Hour Teacher Training at Omega Institute in 2011, followed by the 800-Hour Jivamukti Teacher Certification at the Jivamukti Yoga School in New York City in 2012.
Originally from the world of theater, Austin earned his master’s degree in Set and Costume Design from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and spent more than twenty years as a designer in American theater before devoting himself to teaching yoga full-time.
In 2019, Austin founded the Urban Sadhu Yoga Method, an evolution of the Jivamukti tradition that integrates rigorous physical practice with yoga philosophy, meditation, devotion, and compassionate living. He and his partner, Bob, were the co-owners of Urban Sadhu Yoga Shala in Jersey City, where they cultivated a vibrant community rooted in authentic yoga practice.
Austin is also an ordained minister and Reiki practitioner. His classes are known for their intelligent sequencing, thoughtful hands-on assists, inspiring spiritual teachings, and encouragement for students to explore yoga as a complete path for living.
Weekly Classes
Austin Sanderson
Instagram: @urban.sadhu
@urbansadhuyoga
@urbansadhujerseycity
Echo Ni
@echo_niii
Echo Ni (RYT-500) is a Jersey City–based yoga teacher with more than 1,000 hours of training in Urban Sadhu Yoga within the Jivamukti tradition.
Originally from Shanghai, Echo discovered yoga during a time of transition and came to experience it as a path toward balance, resilience, and inner stillness. What began as a personal practice evolved into a lifelong study of yoga as a way to cultivate presence, compassion, and connection.
Echo teaches Vinyasa and Yin Yoga in both English and Mandarin. Rooted in traditional yoga philosophy and breath-centered movement, her classes weave dynamic flow with moments of stillness, inviting students to build strength, cultivate awareness, and reconnect with themselves through practice.
Her intention is to create a welcoming space where students can move with mindfulness, deepen their relationship to the breath, and experience yoga as a practice that supports both body and mind.
Weekly Classes
Elissa began her yoga journey more than ten years ago, initially exploring movement through a variety of physical practices while searching for a healthier relationship with her body. Although yoga remained a constant presence, it wasn’t until 2019 that she experienced the practice through a new lens—one rooted in emotional healing, self-discovery, and inner transformation.
In 2022, Elissa found a home at Common Earth Company, where practicing in community became an essential part of her journey. Week after week, the experience of showing up with others in vulnerability, support, and authenticity deepened both her personal practice and her desire to share yoga with others.
Inspired by the healing she found on and off the mat, Elissa became a yoga teacher with the intention of making these practices more available to those who may face barriers to healing—whether through limited access, lack of time, fear of the unknown, or life’s many challenges.
She honors the generations of teachers and ancestors who have preserved and passed down this sacred practice and is committed to remaining a lifelong student. Her teaching is rooted in community, compassion, and the belief that yoga offers a path toward healing, understanding, and connection.
Weekly Classes
Elissa Jade Smart
Janine DiAngelo
@fulghamamy
Janine came to yoga the way many people do—searching for relief. While living in New York City and working in a fast-paced advertising career, she turned to yoga as a way to slow down, breathe, and reconnect with herself. What she discovered was much more than stress relief; she fell in love with how yoga transformed not only her experience on the mat, but the way she moved through everyday life.
After completing her 200-hour yoga teacher certification in 2017, Janine continued to expand her studies through certifications in prenatal and postnatal yoga, corporate yoga, kids yoga, trauma-informed yoga, meditation, and, most recently, sound healing. These diverse modalities allow her to meet students where they are and create welcoming, supportive experiences for practitioners of all backgrounds.
Janine’s teaching philosophy is simple: she hopes every student leaves class feeling better than when they arrived—more grounded, energized, at ease, and connected to themselves. Whether guiding movement, meditation, or sound, her intention is to create a space where students can reconnect with their bodies, quiet the mind, and begin the day with greater presence and purpose.
Outside the studio, Janine volunteers teaching yoga to residents at St. Lucy’s and enjoys running, hiking, dancing, seeing live music, and spending time with her dog.
Weekly Classes
Her yogic path began when her Bharata Natyam dance teacher recommended yoga to help her recover from an injury. She later received yoga therapy from Gary Kraftsow in the Viniyoga tradition before discovering the joyful and rigorous practice of Jivamukti Yoga while training in Kung Fu.
In 2007, Purnima became a certified 300-Hour Jivamukti Yoga teacher under co-founders Sharon Gannon and David Life. That same year, Kirtan artist Miten of Deva Premal & Miten bestowed upon her the spiritual name Purnima, meaning “Full Moon.” In 2024, she earned her Advanced Certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher designation, reflecting years of dedicated practice, study, and teaching.
Living with scoliosis and having undergone two cervical fusions has deepened Purnima’s personal relationship with yoga as a path of healing, resilience, and devotion. Her continued study of Bhakti Yoga and the Bhagavad Gita under Joshua Greene (Yogeswara), an initiated disciple of Srila Prabhupada, continues to inform both her practice and her teaching.”
Purnima’s classes blend intelligent movement, devotion, philosophy, and mindfulness, inviting students to experience yoga as a transformative practice that extends far beyond the mat.
Weekly Classes
@moondragon9
@therealrickijean
Ricki Jean Trink is a meditation teacher and intuitive guide with more than thirty years of personal meditation practice and over seventeen years of teaching experience.
Her work is centered on heart-centered meditation, offering students practical tools to cultivate presence, inner peace, and a deeper connection with themselves. Ricki Jean believes meditation is a practice of returning—again and again—to the wisdom that already exists within each of us.
Whether working with those who are brand new to meditation or supporting long-time practitioners, she creates a welcoming, supportive environment where students can slow down, quiet the mind, and discover the transformative power of stillness.
Ricki Jean’s gentle, grounded approach makes meditation feel approachable and accessible, helping students develop a practice that can support them both on and off the cushion.
Weekly Classes
Stefanie is an Advanced 800+ Hour Certified Yoga Teacher and holds a certification in Foundational Ayurveda.
A dedicated yoga practitioner for more than twenty years, her path has been deeply shaped by years of study and practice within the Urban Sadhu and Jivamukti Yoga communities. Her teaching honors the depth of these traditions while creating an inclusive space for students to cultivate awareness, resilience, and connection.
In her yoga classes, Stefanie weaves together movement, pranayama, and spiritual teachings to support students in cultivating balance, vitality, and intention—both on and off the mat. She believes yoga is a practice that extends beyond physical postures and into the way we care for ourselves, relate to others, and move through the world.
Through Ayurveda, Stefanie honors this 3,000-year-old healing science by translating its wisdom into practical, personalized guidance for everyday modern living. Her approach is rooted in helping people reconnect with what truly nourishes them, bringing their lives into greater harmony with the rhythms of nature.
Stefanie extends profound gratitude to the teachers, mentors, and fellow students who continue to inspire and shape her journey.
Om shanti shanti shanti.
Weekly Classes
@stefanietelvi
Tara Pesce
@tarayoganyc
Tara is a yoga teacher, Reiki Master, and Pilates instructor who recently returned to Jersey City after spending three years in California. She is grateful to be back home, reconnecting with the local yoga community, and teaching as part of the Devoted Heart Yoga collective.
With more than twelve years of teaching experience and a 500-hour certification through ISHTA Yoga, Tara brings a thoughtful blend of strength, alignment, mindfulness, and compassion to every class. Drawing from her diverse background in yoga, Reiki, and Pilates, she creates practices that help students cultivate balance, resilience, and a deeper connection to themselves.
Tara believes yoga is a lifelong practice that supports well-being on every level. Whether students are stepping onto the mat for the first time or have practiced for years, she strives to create a welcoming space where everyone feels supported, challenged, and inspired.
“I cannot wait to meet you all on the mat!”
Weekly Classes