Our Instructors

Studio Owner, Amy Sanford CYT

Amy has been teaching yoga for nearly two decades and is the proud owner of Morning Glory Yoga Studio and Ashtanga Yoga Nacogdoches located in Nacogdoches, Texas. In 2005, she completed her 200 Hour Teacher Training Certificate through the Living Yoga Program in Austin, Texas. Amy has continued to study with a select few teachers over the years to support her personal practice and strengthen her abilities as a compassionate and knowledgeable yoga teacher. She aims to teach in a respectful manner, keeping in mind the traditional roots of yoga while being aware of modern demands. Her disciplined personal practice, studies, and direct work with her students continue to shape her teaching style. Amy takes pleasure in meeting new students and sharing yoga with everyone. She is an attentive listener and observer and supports her students by teaching thoughtful, individualized techniques through asana, pranayama, and rest.

At Morning Glory Yoga, Amy manages a team of five teachers, who offer over 60 classes a month, including weekly online Hatha classes. She also invites guest teachers throughout the year. Her classes are personalized to her students’ needs, and she values the long-term relationships that have developed over time. Amy is most proud of the community of yogis that has formed and grown over the past 18 years, and she acknowledges the contribution of all the past and present teachers and students at MGY.

Amy encourages her students to practice yoga daily, explore the meaning of their practice, and recognize the moments in their everyday lives when the benefits of the practice show up. Her daily practice is Ashtanga Yoga, and she is an Authorized Level 1 teacher. Her teacher, Sharath Jois, bestowed this honor on her in 2016. Since 2014, Amy has been traveling to Mysore, India, to study Ashtanga. In 2017, she established Ashtanga Yoga Nacogdoches, where she holds a six-day-a-week Mysore Program.

Amy is passionate about food and studies nutrition and Ayurveda in her spare time. She enjoys creating healthy meals, fresh juices, and thoughtful presentations to share with loved ones. She loves nature, animals (including her menagerie of dogs, cats, and horses) and spending time hiking, relaxing by the lake, and adventuring with her partner of 18 years.

Lou Vasquez

I started practicing yoga poses on my own while living in the Caribbean. When I moved to Nacogdoches TX. I started practicing seriously at Morning Glory Yoga Studio and have incorporated my Yoga practice into my everyday life. I have now become an student of the yogic lifestyle to include asanas (poses) and the other seven limbs of Yoga. The life experience that I bring with me into my practice include serving as a United States Marine, an educator for CPS (Chicago Public Schools), Legal Aid Para-legal, Entrepreneur, Patient advocate (UTMB) and other miscellaneous service related en devours. I received my certification through the Kingwood Yoga Wellness Center under the B.K.S. Iyengar tradition and am registered with the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT). [/one_half_last]

Glenda Webb, RYT

In my twenties I had a routine yoga practice. When my two daughters were preschool, we did kids yoga. (I still have the book we used 33 years ago)
Then my nursing career came to the forefront of my focus.

Always wanting to share knowledge, I taught many different classes, birthing, sibling, CPR, newborn, pediatric and adult resuscitation.

Knowing the importance of relaxation,<

Around two decades ago I took a 600 hour massage therapist course.

As retirement from nursing approached, I decided to reignite my passion for yoga.

Honoring my nature to teach, I took a 200 hour yoga immersion teacher training at the Yoga Center in Asheville, North Carolina. During the immersion, restorative yoga and kids yoga resonated the most with me.

My background in medicine & massage helps with my ultimate goal, to empower people to relieve stress and restore a sense of calmness in their life.

I am a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and the Yoga Alliance.

Kelsey Carrasquel, RYT-200

Kelsey is a Yin & Hatha Yoga teacher based in East Texas. Kelsey began practicing yoga while attending college at SFASU, and has been teaching yoga since January of 2021. She was drawn to yoga as a holistic method of healing anxiety and depression, and became inspired to share the practice with others when she experienced the benefits of her practice firsthand. In June of 2022, she completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training through Ashé Yoga School with a specialization in Yin Yoga & the Subtle Body. Kelsey considers herself a lifelong student and continues to practice with and learn from her teachers to nourish herself and grow as a teacher. She encourages her students to advocate for themselves in her yoga classes so that they develop a practice that is safe and authentic to themselves.

Outside of her yoga practice, Kelsey enjoys cooking, reading, writing, art, and studying esoteric practices such as tarot and astrology, as well as holistic health practices such as Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda. She is passionate about the interconnectedness of humanity and nature, and this inspires her teaching.

Marshall Woods Bio Pic

Pinia Branson

Pinia is a mother of a daughter and son, and a grandmother from Lufkin, TX. She was introduced to yoga by her daughter in 2018 after a 5K race, and instantly fell in love with the practice. In 2020, Pinia received her RYS® 200hrs from G.O.L.D. Yoga Institute in Houston, Texas. Her personal motto is “JUS Move Something,” and she enjoys teaching Vinyasa flow classes in Lufkin and Nacogdoches, Texas. She focuses on developing strength, energizing the body, and empowering her students to embrace self-love and self-care. Pinia was introduced to Fascia Stretch Therapy in 2023 and studied it at Stretch to Win Institute in Chandler, AZ. She completed practices of level 1&2 and is certified as a Fascial Stretch Therapist.

Grace Sterken

Grace Sterken

I began practicing yoga when I was 16, and I have been in love with the practice since. I first started attending yoga classes as a way to spend time with my mother, and it blossomed into my life’s greatest joy and passion. In 2018, I was able to fulfill my dream of attending yoga teacher training, and I began teaching shortly thereafter. I completed my teacher training at beFree Yoga in Tyler, Texas, where I was trained in vinyasa, yin, and Forrest yoga. My classes are crafted to meet the needs of all bodies and fitness levels, while simultaneously inviting students to meet their appropriate edge. I believe that yoga is a practice in self-compassion and self-acceptance, and also a powerful conduit for physical and spiritual growth. I teach each class from this foundational framework. I believe that yoga is a mechanism for connection to self and an effective tool for feeling better. My hope is that after each class, my students feel that they’ve connected to themselves through the union of breath and movement, and that they honored their bodies through the compassionate and deliberate practice of yoga
Marshall Woods Bio Pic

Marshall Woods

Originally from Nacogdoches, Marshall is a certified mindfulness coach and has spent a decade traveling the country, studying Eastern philosophy, and learning the true nature of consciousness. His meditation practice focuses on understanding and clearing away the ignorance that causes suffering and practicing mindful awareness in every aspect of life. He is grateful for the opportunity to lead meditation classes at MGY and share his journey with our community.

Khris Hahn

After suffering an extremely traumatic situation in 2015, Khris turned to energy healing to overcome debilitating anxiety and severe stress. In 2017 she was introduced to sound bowls and found that she would come away from each session feeling calmer and more peaceful. After attending several sessions, she purchased a set of crystal sound bowls and began to teach herself how to use them.

In 2018, Khris enrolled with the Sound Healing Academy and became certified as an integral sound healing practitioner. Khris uses a variety of instruments including crystal sound bowls, Tibetan bowls, Koshi chimes, rattles, tuning forks, and a rainstick when holding a sound healing session depending on the needs of those in attendance.

What is a sound bath and sound healing?

Sound baths are when certain instruments such as crystal and Tibetan bowls are played to create various frequencies and vibrations in order to help heal the mind, body, and spirit. As different emotions are held at different states of frequency, the instruments are tuned to those emotional frequencies and, when played, help bring about a state of peace and tranquility. The bowls also emit a vibration which is absorbed within the body. Since the body is about 60-75% water, these vibrations are able to work deep into the cellular level.

As these vibrations and sounds wash over the mind, body, and spirit, they induce a sense of deep relaxation and a release from stress, anxiety, depression, and fear. Some students even go into alpha and theta brainwave states where they find deep insights and an inner awareness that helps them overcome obstacles on their paths.