Meet the Retreat Team

 

  • Monica created Wanderwild Family Retreats in 2021 during her maternity leave with her daughter. She envisioned a space for both mothers and children to come for a rejuvenating, eye opening, and transformational experience that they would take with them far beyond the retreat. Monica is originally from New Jersey, an engineer by education, and has worked in engineering, operations management, career development, and talent management over the last decade. She has lived abroad in the Middle East, Sub Saharan Africa, and Scandinavia and held roles such as an Operations Manager for 13 countries in Sub Saharan Africa and Career Development Manager for over 700 engineers and specialists across Continental Europe and Scandinavia. She continues to work full time while growing the Wanderwild Family Retreats community which allows her to proudly fully fund her small business herself. Her unique professional background, her own holistic transformational journey, and her experience of living abroad as an Expat have given her skills to create a one of a kind retreat and bring together an incredible group of women as a part of the retreat team.

 

  • Prior to motherhood, Veronica spent her days in corporate America working for a public accounting firm and then internal audit. It wasn't until she became a mom and found Montessori teachings that she realized how precious childhood truly is. She started to slowly implement small changes at home and started to see a shift in both herself, her daughter, and her life. Countless books and courses later she now has a community of thousands of parents from all over the world who also lean into the belief to follow your child. Veronica knows first-hand the best investment you can make as a parent is in yourself. Educating yourself, self-care, and creating healthy habits not only is beneficial for yourself but for your entire family. Veronica brings to the retreat a fresh perspective on Montessori activities for your children but also a shift in perspective on how to handle those big emotions and tough days as parents. She currently resides in Austin, Texas with her daughter Harper and their Mini Aussie.

 

  • Ana Gioia, MA is an Earth and Birth Worker in the Hudson Valley of New York. Her work is rooted in a Mama Glow Doula Training with NYC Master Doula, Latham Thomas which emphasizes Activism and Advocacy in the birth world and beyond. She combines Birthwork offerings with ten years of experience as a Kundalini Yoga Teacher (500hr) and a certification as a Radiant Child Yoga and Meditation teacher. She has specialized in serving birthing people and families through Pre-Natal, Post-Natal, Family and Children’s Yoga. Ana has a Masters in Eastern Classics and studied Sanskrit at St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM.

    Ana specializes in ceremony as medicine in hopes of guiding new parents through the massive change that having a child brings on. She also hopes to help others heal through time spent grounded in the natural landscape by working with the elements of water, earth, air and fire. She is also a student of native medicine, rewilding as therapy, ancestral skills and wildcrafting. Ana hopes to bring her 10 years of experience as a mother combined with her studies and life experience to this gathering to offer connection, healing, movement, intention, and perspective.

 

  • Emily Kriner is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach passionate about supporting and elevating ambitious women and mothers. After pregnancy and the birth of her daughter she experienced first hand how little support there is for women on the motherhood journey. She understands deeply how challenging self-care can be for mothers. With a holistic approach, she helps women to create vision and strategy to step into their most aligned, healthy and fulfilling lives. Emily is also a professional violinist with over a decade of teaching experience working with children of all ages and adults. She currently lives in New Jersey with her husband, her daughter (who attends a Montessori school), and dog.

  • Kristin’s favorite part of each retreat is the one on one time she is able to spend with the moms and their kids. She strives to make sure all of the mothers and their children have everything they need to make their stay the most comfortable possible. Working as a Holistic Health Coach when she is home, she is no stranger to wanting to help people be and feel their best. After becoming a mother to her 2 year old son, Kristin learned first-hand that relearning who you are and what your body can do after pregnancy can be a difficult yet beautiful journey, and she is inspired to help moms navigate through these times. She has her MBA in Healthcare Management, has a certificate in Nutrition and Healthy Living from Cornell, and is a Certified Holistic Health Coach specializing in Stress Management and Emotional Eating. She currently resides in New Jersey.

  • Samantha is both a yoga teacher with over six years of teaching experience and a high school chemistry and forensic science teacher. After many years of ballet, she started practicing yoga in college for physical benefits, but learned to love the complete mind and body wellness that yoga cultivates. Samantha hopes to provide space for all to explore and find comfortability in their bodies. She teaches vinyasa, yin, and restorative yoga. Her classes incorporate functional movement and yoga to bring more meaningful movement into our modern, more sedentary lives - as well as an opportunity to pause and prioritize self. She is eager to help women find balance between connecting with themselves and connecting with their children. She and her husband live in the mid-Hudson Valley. They enjoy hiking locally and traveling internationally.

 

  • Kayla has a strong passion for helping others through whole body health, wellness & movement. Her approach has always been to hold space for people to feel comfortable in their own skin, but also challenge them to see their own highest potential and strength; physically, mentally, and spiritually. She has been fully immersed in making her dreams her reality and sharing her passion with others, when at just 23 years old she made the decision to pursue a full-time career in the health & fitness industry. Now at 27, Kayla is a proud mompreneur and loves to inspire and guide other moms to discover their highest potential through health, wellness, & movement. Instead of separating motherhood from her career, she incorporates it. She has published multiple ePrograms designed especially for moms and moms-to-be. She also offers babies and toddler friendly movement practices at her wellness center so moms can come workout with their children. Kayla is the proud owner of Elite Nation Wellness, a transformative wellness center on Cape Cod which offers a wide variety of fitness classes, wellness services, and international wellness retreats.

 

  • Tommie`s go-to style of yoga is a vinyasa or power flow, but she also loves to teach and take restorative and yin style classes. When taking Tommie's classes, moms can expect a thoughtful warm up and cool down with an energizing flow in between. Her classes incorporate not just physical practice, but a spiritual intention to focus on mental and emotional health. She is a yoga alliance certified 200-hr registered yoga instructor and also has an 85-hour prenatal yoga and a barre fitness certification. She became a first-time mom to a baby girl in fall of 2022, and is excited to bond and grow with other new moms through an empowering yoga and fitness program at Wanderwild Family Retreats. She believes that a yoga practice has the power to empower women, boost confidence, and revive self-love so that moms can show up as their best for themselves and their families. She has a history in event planning and coordination, runs her own traveling yoga business, and works in the real-estate industry. Outside of her practice, Tommie lives in Schenectady, New York and loves to read, travel, and spend time with her family and friends.

 

  • Jessica spent over 15 years teaching and supporting children and families in the early childhood field. Through connecting with other moms and being a full-time working mom herself, she began feeling called to shift her focus toward working primarily with moms. Jessica is a certified professional coach and certified yoga teacher, focusing on supporting and empowering moms to reconnect with themselves and prioritize their own well-being so they can live a balanced and fulfilled life. She enjoys bringing coaching, yoga, along with other modalities together to best support moms on their journey through motherhood. Jessica brings all of this knowledge and experience to Wanderwild Family Retreats to create a safe and nurturing environment for mamas to reconnect with themselves and their little ones. Jessica grew up on Cape Cod and now lives in Plymouth, MA with her husband, Matt, and twelve-year-old daughter, Mya.

 

  • Norah Bourbon incorporates seven crystal singing bowls that each correspond to a certain chakra, creating sound bath sessions that realign and bring balance back into the body through the vibrational tones played. Over the years she’s played the bowls for yoga classes, holds her own sound bath sessions, and alongside reiki practice. Norah currently resides in Cape Cod.

 

  • Vinny Colandrea is a sound practitioner and yogi from Hudson Valley, New York. Vinny has studied under gong master Don Conreaux and has been producing music for over 20 years. He is a practicing meditator, trained by yogi and mystic, Sadhguru. As a student of all religions, spirituality and awareness are the foundation for his guided meditations and conscious gatherings in sound. Vinny provides an experience to relax and connect with your breath on a journey of sacred instruments and sounds. Through guided meditation and immersion in the soothing vibrations of gongs, crystal bowls, and chimes, the intention is to create space to find a deeper state of calm and self-care.

 

  • Cory Nakasue is a consulting astrologer, writer, and teacher who lives in New York. She is the creator and host of The Cosmic Dispatch, a live radio broadcast and podcast. Cory draws upon her experience working in the fields of somatic therapy and performing arts to deliver creative, embodied consultations that are deeply resonant. Her experience offering adjunct therapies with psychologists and neurologists has uniquely prepared her to offer consultations that are useful for deepening relationships to self and other. She especially looks forward to providing mother and child synastry readings during the retreats. The readings look at two or more natal charts to understand the dynamic between two people, looking at ease, connection, and growth; places of disconnection, friction, and creativity; and the best ways of nourishing this unique relationship.

 

  • Erin is a resident of Cape Cod and a practicing reiki master. She began her journey in 2015, after the birth of her daughter, and received her Master attunement at Kripalu in 2018. Soon after, she felt called to work deeper with other mothers, those who have experienced trauma, and those who are seeking. This led her to continue her education and become an iRest Yoga Nidra teacher. This practice provides a meditative form of self-inquiry and complements Reiki beautifully. Erin continues to deepen her knowledge with various indigenous healing modalities through her travels to the Amazon jungle. She incorporates the teachings that have illuminated her journey into her sessions with others.

 

  • Beth Rennig was first introduced to the benefits of Reiki energy healing in 2003. By 2016, she had completed Reiki Master and Teacher certifications. That same year she decided to leave a successful corporate career and since then, has been a practicing Reiki healer and teacher with both in person and virtual sessions, while continuing advanced level studies. With her natal chart pointing directly to a vocation as a healer, she has dedicated her work to the healing arts and helping others attain better health and well-being. She lives full time in the northern Catskills with her husband, two teenage daughters, and two rescue dogs - all of whom enjoy Reiki. Beth is so happy to be offering Reiki and holding space for mamas and children. It is through her own experience of disappointing labor and deliveries that she finds much compassion to be a part of creating space for connection, joy, and healing.

 

  • Ashley Miller has been practicing as a Licensed Massage and Bodywork therapist for eight years. She currently owns and practices out of her studio, Moon and Wind Massage Therapy in her hometown of Warwick, New York. Her studio is shared with a Yoga Studio where they bring workshops, women circles, and events to the community. Her mission is to help people who are experiencing pain, through movement, massage and bodywork, breath, and sound with the highest intention. She loves using each of these approaches to work through tension in the body. She started her own practice after working in a spa for many years and felt that she couldn’t help them in the way she'd like to - it was a quick in and out experience and back-to-back clients - not enough time for her to really understand where they were in their bodies. Each service she provides is completely tailored to your specific needs and she loves that each massage session can be completely different from the previous one.