The Yoga Escapes Team
Meet the Team
All of us here at Yoga Escapes share a passion for yoga, but also a love for travel and discovering beautiful destinations. Two of us will come on every yoga retreat to make sure everything runs smoothly and to show you all our favorite places. We look forward to having you join us!
Laura Bianchini
Director
Born and raised in Rome with an American mother and an Italian father, Laura grew up taking trips around Europe and has lived in Rome, Washington D.C., New York, and London. She has traveled extensively to many parts of the world, always in search of those special beautiful corners. Her love for travel grew even more when she worked as a tour leader for U.S. visitors to Europe, accompanying guests on their first trips abroad.
After working for many years in banking and media in New York and London, Laura decided to make a change from corporate life to start her own business. Combining her passion for travel and yoga, she created Yoga Escapes, keen on sharing those two passions with others on her holidays.
She is a qualified yoga teacher and has been practicing yoga for over 20 years, enjoying various styles from Vinyasa yoga, Iyengar and Ashtanga, to restorative and Yin yoga. She is continuously learning and discovering how yoga can help people both physically and emotionally.
Laura will join every yoga retreat along with one of the yoga teachers to plan day trips and group dinners, and to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Sarah Scott
Yoga teacher
Sarah has been immersing herself in a variety of yoga styles over the past 15 years, ranging from Hatha and dynamic flow to Yin and restorative yoga.
She teaches a strong Vinyasa flow practice but places as much emphasis on proper breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques as the physical asana practice. Through a series of linked postures, Sarah guides students of all levels to improve flexibility, strength, develop mental clarity, creating positive change to body and mind. She tailors her poses to suit each student, whether new to yoga or looking to develop a deeper practice. She also teaches a very soothing Yin class, encouraging her students to let go both physically and mentally. Her Yin class is heavenly!
Sarah teaches private one-to-one sessions and classes at several well-known studios in London including Yotopia, the Life Centre, Evolve, Yoga Place, as well as at the Third Space gym. She often teaches on yoga retreats across Europe.
Sarah qualified with The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre. Revived by the restorative effects of practicing outdoors, Sarah gets her fresh air fix rolling out her mat in green spaces or by the sea whenever she can.
She will be teaching in Lanzarote Canary Islands in February 2024, in Croatia from the 14-21 September 2024, as well as in Sicily Italy from the 6–13 October 2024,
Tania Brown
Yoga teacher
Tania leads inspirational yoga classes using the breath to open the body and improve postural alignment. She also includes elements of yoga philosophy into her classes and offers up ways to integrate yoga principles into daily life.
Tania’s practice began with her dad as a teenager, and continued with Sivananda Yoga where she experienced the healing power of yoga in dealing with her own back pain and anxieties. As a result, she is now passionate about sharing this with others in a light-hearted and fun way. She teaches Vinyasa flow and restorative Yin yoga classes on the retreats, while at the same time incorporating her learnings from various other styles.
After 15 years of regular yoga practice, she studied with the Amrita School of Yoga to qualify as a Traditional Hatha Yoga teacher. She has also studied Vinyasa yoga with Claire Missingham, Sivananda yoga with Charlotte Bliss, Vini yoga with Janet Evans, Ashtanga yoga with Dan Levitas, Hatha yoga with Nigel Gildersen, pregnancy/baby yoga with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, as well as courses with Christopher Gladwell and Sitaram.
She has taught in several high-end studios in London including Triyoga, Yotopia, and the Third Space gym in Soho, as well as privately and community classes. She was asked by Lululemon as well as Sweaty Betty to be their yoga ambassador in London, a challenge she happily took on!
You can try out one of Tania’s yoga classes online on her Youtube channel here.
Tania will be teaching on our yoga retreat in Croatia from the 21-28 September 2024.
Liz Joubert
Yoga teacher
Liz discovered yoga in 2011 and it has since become her full time job and way of life. With a background in sports, she has always been drawn to coaching, teaching, and to living a more holistic life with a greater sense of purpose and intention – and yoga has allowed her to do this.
Liz’s classes are dynamic, fun, and inspired by her own approach as a student of yoga – constantly learning from those around her, allowing for growth, healing and finding a true sense of self. Her Vinyasa flow classes are quite active and invigorating, but always allowing modifications for all yoga levels. Her Yin classes are soothing and calming, with a deep introspective energy. Liz has a wonderful open outlook on life, and loves to travel and share her adventures and stories with other yogis on retreats.
Pursuing different paths and yoga styles, Liz quit her job and lived in Asia for a while in early 2012 before moving to London to continue her yoga studies. She completed her Ashtanga Vinyasa teacher training with The Yoga People in late September of 2012, and subsequently completed her 100hr Advanced Rocket Training with her teachers Jamie Clarke and Dulce Aguilar, always at The Yoga People. She has since trained and practiced with Paul & Suzee Grilley, Lucy Crawford Scott, and Caroline Tautz, as well as trained in Yin yoga with Sebastian Pucelle & Murielle Burellier. Liz is currently studying at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, and assists all year round on The Yoga People 200hr Foundation Teacher Trainings in London and India.
Liz will be teaching in Egypt from the 23–30 November 2023.
She will also be teaching in Corfu Greece in May 2024 and in Mykonos Greece in June and September 2024.
Daniela Olds
Yoga teacher
After graduating from London College of Fashion and working in fashion for a year, Daniela discovered her love for yoga and completely changed her path and began her search for a more spiritual and satisfying way of life. After practicing yoga for several years, she decided to certify as an Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga teacher, and has never looked back.
Daniela teaches powerful yoga flow classes offering challenges for the more advanced students, and adjustments for all yoga levels, incorporating an approachable playfulness into all her classes. Drawing from her knowledge and experience of Vinyasa yoga, Power yoga, Rocket, and Yin, she often brings different elements of yoga together in a creative flow sequence, focusing on careful alignment, and linking breath and movement. Her classes are dynamic and energetic, but also include elements of pranayama breathing, meditation, and a hint of spirituality. She creates a blast of energy with an injection of fun and light-hearted banter into her teachings. Her classes are designed to build heat, and then calm and restore – the perfect balance.
After qualifying as a yoga teacher in Ashtanga Vinyasa in 2012, Daniela trained in Rocket Yoga with The Yoga People. She continued her teacher training in Yin Yoga in 2015, and completed her 500 hours certification in 2016. She has been teaching in London studios for over 7 years, as well as leading corporate and private classes, and mentoring and supporting other yoga teachers. Daniela also runs yoga workshops and events in London and around the world, spreading her love for yoga!
In her own words: “Yoga makes me happy, but teaching yoga allows me to be who I want to be.”
You can try out one of Dani’s yoga classes online on Youtube here.
Dani will be teaching on our yoga retreat in Menorca Spain from the 16–23 June 2024
Alice Trow
Yoga teacher
Alice became a yoga teacher after graduating from drama school where she focused on physical theatre and dance. She completed her 200hr yoga teacher training with YogaLondon in Ecuador, and her 300hr yoga teacher training with Sianna Sherman in Portland, Oregon, in Rasa Yoga. Rasa yoga has had a huge impact on Alice’s teaching style and how to incorporate yoga off the mat. Breaking down barriers, deeply listening to all layers of the body and a constant humble wish to grow have all become mantras for her to live by.
Alice teaches a creative Vinyasa flow class with a strong focus on anatomy, and a slower Yin yoga class allowing the body to soften into deep stretches and inward meditation. Alice offers a yoga practice of playfulness, awareness and acceptance, her classes allow for space and time to clear your mind and ease you into the practice. She teaches creative sequences that focus on achieving fluid movement in the body, whilst toning and strengthening the muscles.
On a personal level, Alice was born and bred in London, she enjoys indie films and creating yoga playlists, vows to see as much of this world as humanly possible, and has an Australian partner in crime who walked into her world and changed it for the better!
You can try out Alice’s free yoga classes online on her website.
Alice will be teaching in Sicily Italy from the 13–20 October 2024,
Erin Dusek
Yoga teacher
Erin is a professional commercial dancer and yoga teacher living in London. She has had a very successful career in the commercial dance industry spanning the last 15 years, traveling the world, touring with artists and also working in TV/Film and fashion.
She turned to yoga around 7 years ago to help her cope with the stresses and anxieties of life as a self employed dancer and it helped her so much that she decided to train as yoga teacher in India 2018 with The Yoga People so she could deepen her own knowledge but also share the practice with others to help them the way she had been helped.
She now teaches in studios all over London and due to the current climate is building a community of students online too. Her main aim and intention in life is to help as many people as she can, but particularly dancers, find some peace in their lives by sharing yoga and mindfulness practices in anyway she can.
Her classes have a fiery and dynamic energy to them but also help to bring peace and clarity to the mind through a moving meditation. Erin has also furthered her training since her initial 200hr and offers classes in Power, vinyasa flow, Rocket, Yin & Mandala Vinyasa.
You can try out one of Erin’s gentle yoga stretch for beginners class online on Youtube here.
Erin will be teaching on our yoga retreat in Sicily Italy from the 15-22 October 2023 and in Morocco from the 25 February–3 March 2024.
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Karen Francis
Yoga teacher
Karen teaches mindful, accessible, non scary yoga for real people. Having had tight hamstrings and hips for most of her life, she understands just how challenging the practice can be for most. Drawing from her wealth of experience in Vinyasa Flow, Restorative, Pregnancy and Yin Yoga, she teaches intuitively with warmth and humor. She is passionate about the therapeutic benefits of yoga and the intrinsic connection between body and mind, having witnessed them first hand for herself.
Karen believes that yoga is for everyone – you don’t have to be a dancer, an acrobat or a 21 year old crop top model to enjoy it. By practicing yoga and mindfulness, we can create the space and time that we all so badly crave in our day to day lives and start to pay attention to the little things within ourselves and around us. Fundamentally, we start to feel good!
First stepping onto a yoga mat almost 20 years ago at the Glasgow Buddhist Centre, Karen decided to pursue her love of yoga and interest in spirituality further by enrolling in a Vinyasa Flow teacher training with Yoga London following a trip to India. She gained her second Vinyasa Flow 200hr certification with Claire Missingham and completed her Pregnancy Yoga teacher training with Nadia Narain of Triyoga. She studied Restorative Yoga with Judith Hanson Lasater and has also studied with David Williams, Sarah Powers, Naomi Absalom and Kathryn Budig.
Karen will be teaching in Sicily Italy from the 21-28 April 2024, in Crete Greece and from the 28 September-5 October 2024, and in Egypt on the Red Sea from the 21-28 November 2024.
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Lolo Lam
Yoga teacher
Lolo has been involved in the world of health and wellbeing since 1998 when she started working as a nurse in neurosurgery and critical care. In 2005, while working in intensive care, Lolo became interested in a more holistic approach to healthcare and embarked on her training as an ayurvedic and yoga practitioner. Lolo was particularly drawn to the therapy of yoga, using it to great effect with her clients.
Lolo’s classes combine a powerful yet nurturing energy with a mischievous sparkle. The more dynamic Vinyasa flow sessions have a strong emphasis on the breath and aim to balance out strength with flexibility, and hard work with playfulness. In all her classes, Lolo encourages her students on a journey of self-enquiry to find a deeper level of connection and a more embodied practice.
In 2010 Lolo moved to London and discovered the dynamic Ashtanga-based Rocket Vinyasa style. Lolo has trained with many wonderful teachers and school including The Yoga People, David Kyle and Sarah Powers. As well as Vinyasa flow and Rocket, Lolo teaches a range of classes, including Yin yoga, specific focused-based classes and workshops, and meditation practices, such as yoga nidra and pranayama.
Lolo teaches in some of the top studios in London, including Indaba Marylebone, Yogarise Peckham, Union Station Clapham, Yotopia Covent Garden and the Life Centre Islington, and she can now also be found online with Udaya yoga.
Holly Warren
Yoga teacher
Holly has been practicing yoga for over 20 years and teaches mainly Vinyasa flow classes – a challenging practice combining active postures, meditation and deep relaxation. Her classes focus on linking movement with breath, proper alignment, postural strength and vitality. She’ll start everyone at the same base, and will then modify each class for all yoga levels in the group, allowing everyone to practice at their own pace.
Holly also teaches a wonderful Yin yoga class – a much softer restorative class, holding a handful of poses for longer, deepening the stretch and allowing the body to gently relax and let go, ending with a longer savasana.
Holly started her career as an international contemporary dancer and soon discovered yoga and the benefits it has on both body and mind. Working throughout Europe teaching yoga, she played a lead role in designing leadership development courses, helping people strive for excellence while at the same time reduce stress and overcome personal barriers.
Holly now teaches people to become yoga teachers. She’s been the primary yoga teacher at the Yoga London teacher-training school, and also teaches classes in several high-end yoga studios in central London. As many describe her – Holly has the laid-back energy of a California beach girl, the nurturing patience of a wise teacher, and a free-spirited heart.
