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Teachers

Tracy Walsh

Tracy came to yoga through prenatal classes when she was pregnant with her first child and living in Los Angeles. Gurmukh Khalsa’s classes were so transformative, that Tracy went back to L.A. to do her prenatal teacher training with Gurmukh years later when she was living in Chicago and had a second child. Tracy co-owns and operates Lighthouse Yoga with her husband, Thomas. She is a graduate of Northwestern University where she was a Performance Studies major and is an ensemble member of Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago. She has studied Yoga for the Special Child with Sonia Sumar, who created the program for her own daughter. Tracy and Thomas continue to study with this inspiring teacher whenever they can. She and Thomas teach yoga to adults with developmental disabilities at Progressive Careers and Housing in Olympia Fields. Tracy worked in the Special Education Department at Hubbard Woods School and ran an after school drama club there as well. She now does yearly, week-long yoga residencies at Crow Island School and Hubbard Woods School in Winnetka.


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Thomas Zwergel

Thomas began his yoga studies in Evanston in 2001 with Sonia Sumar, creator of Yoga for the Special Child and long-time student of Sri Swami Satchidananda. Although Thomas began teaching in 2002, he has continued to study with Sonia and develop his own unique approach to the practice and teaching others. Born in Baltimore, MD and raised in Evanston, IL, Thomas attended Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR after graduating from Evanston Township High School. In Portland, Thomas was introduced to the practice through friends and found it very helpful to support his then more traditional fitness regimen and long-distance running. After an injury, he turned to yoga to address the ailment and has since been pain-free.

In addition to the physical benefits of the Hatha Yoga practice, he found that the philosophical teachings helped to explain many of the questions he had been asking since a child. Thomas continually strives to incorporate teachings that speak to life’s greater questions of why we are here, where do we come from, and where are we going into all of his group classes and is a core element in the Teacher Training course of study offered at Lighthouse Yoga.


Rachel Coppola

Originally from New Jersey, Rachel moved to Chicago in 2007, and has happily been teaching yoga since 2009.

Rachel’s classes emphasize clarity of alignment, a steady connection to the breath, and a mindful investigation of what qualities we are truly cultivating in our practice. Rachel challenges herself to weave in as many aspects of all that is yoga into each class. While drawing from her professional dance career to inform her intelligent sequencing and creative movement, her classes are dynamic and inspiring. She allows her intuition to guide her as she watches her students and encourages them to observe themselves with curiosity, beginners mind, compassion and great self-care.

Her kind and gentle manner is well-suited to leading students of all levels. It is her greatest wish that all who share a practice with her feel the transformative powers of yoga both on and off the mat.


Talya Cousins

Born and raised on a Kibbutz, nature-connection and community have always played a big part in Talya's life. 

Her father, who was a Tai Ji (chi) practitioner and martial arts instructor, was the first to introduce her to the healing practices of energy cultivation. In 2004 while working as a journalist and art director in New York City, she began studying meditation and other awareness-expanding practices, but it wasn’t until several years later, when reclaiming of her own health and healing that she decided to leave the high-paced corporate world in favor of supporting others on their healing journey.

Talya has studied QiGong, NeiGong, Interactive Somatic Guided Imagery and breath-work. She loves working with people seeking balance and moving in new ways to support their body’s innate healing process and walk their authentic path.   

Talya moved to Evanston with her family in 2021. 


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Lane Fenrich

Lane first tried yoga twenty years ago as a way to relieve back pain. By the end of his first class, he was hooked! Within months, he was practicing everyday and had never felt so comfortable in his body. His love for yoga has only grown over the years and is evident in his joyful, always evolving approach to teaching. His classes combine close attention to alignment and the breath with a lighthearted athleticism that is never doctrinaire.


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Jenny Kaufman

After practicing for over 25 years and teaching for 20, the conclusion is yoga is a uniquely personal practice. The benefits are endless: from more open hips and hamstrings, greater lung capacity, healing from injury, a catalyst for a healthier lifestyle, to that mysterious yoga glow. Whether in a class or private instruction, I start with my students exactly where they are. My goal is to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable, to give clear instructions and cues that allows each person to safely explore the postures, and to be able to breathe, smile, and feel more open.


Kat Seitz

Kat began practicing yoga while she was in high school to balance the physical demands of rowing and the emotional growing pains of adolescence. While the physical poses of yoga hooked Kat initially, the emotional practices have kept her coming back for over ten years. Kat continued to practice while she was in college and when she graduated from college in 2020, she returned home to Charlottesville. During the pandemic, Kat took her first teacher training at Hot Yoga Charlottesville and is currently working towards her Advanced Teacher Training under the guidance of Jason Crandell. She moved to Evanston in 2022 to work towards a career in Clinical Psychology. Kat loves to teach yoga because it gives people the opportunity to strengthen and stretch their bodies, while also empowering their breath, mind, and spirit.


Ameerah Tatum

Ameerah began practicing yoga nearly 20 years ago during her first pregnancy. With her roots as a dancer and an athlete, she realized she needed to find a kinder gentler way to channel her intense physical energy. Primarily self-taught, she studied Sivananda, Iyengar, and Jivamukti. She spent several years immersed in practicing first Forrest yoga and then transitioning into Ashtanga. Her style of teaching for the past 15 years is comprised of varying combinations of all the modalities she studies. She sets her intention on finding the balance between humility and confidence, with the belief that we are our own teachers, and our own students.


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Daniela Val

Daniela first began practicing yoga while pregnant with her first daughter. Daniela now takes pleasure in creating sequences that help others connect the mind and body through movement linked to the breath. She believes that yoga should be accessible to all and strives to help others find who they are on the mat to help carry them forward on their journey off the mat. Daniela's passion for health and lifestyle off the mat includes food and nutrition. She has completed certificate programs as both an integrative nutrition health and wellness coach and culinary nutrition expert. Her business "re.fresh" combines yoga, nutrition, and cooking to help others reconnect, listen to, and make positive choices for their unique and constantly evolving bodies. She lives with her husband, two daughters, and dog in Evanston.


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Courtney Winkler

While living and traveling in India and Nepal in 1990, Courtney was fascinated to experience yoga in its birthplace. Yoga became a part of her weekly regimen from 1994-96 while she prepared for her first marathon (completed in Sakura, Japan). In 2005, after having had four children, Courtney experienced extremely high blood pressure and was put on a beta-blocker. She felt, in her heart, that there were self healing practices that she hadn't found yet. This inspired her to enter a 200-hour teacher training course with Darren Friesen. After a year of asana, pranayama, meditation, and an overhaul of her nutritional habits, she was able to stop taking her blood pressure medication and has stayed off of it and maintained healthy blood pressure ever since. Courtney completed her 200-hour training in 2008 and is currently finishing her 500-hour training with Sharyn Galindo. Courtney's goal is to help her students listen to their bodies and to find the key to what they need most on any given day. Her classes focus on building strength (body and mind), vinyasa (breath synchronized movement), and fun. She lives in Evanston with her family.

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