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A ROAM Yoga Retreat will give you the experience of travel with the perfect mix of yoga, wellness and adventure. Have time to recharge and renew and find inspiration while exploring beautiful locations all over the world.
ROAM Yoga Retreats was founded by Laurel Van Matre out of her love for travel, adventure and yoga. Each trip reflects her appreciation for the inspiration we get from travel and her commitment to creating new travel experiences that are transformative and uplifting. Laurel has taught students in hundreds of classes and led over 50 retreats worldwide.
Laurel Van Matre
A yoga teacher, world traveler and business owner, Laurel Van Matre brings her authenticity, sense of humor and the wisdom gleaned from her lifelong wellness journey to ROAM Yoga Retreats.
Laurel spent years living in London and traveling through Europe and Asia before starting her own garden design business at the age of 22. Soon, she began practicing yoga as a student. Then she began teaching classes and has since become a teacher of teachers in her Northeast Minneapolis studio, YOGA Garden.
Her experience has given her the ability to make all students feel comfortable and meet them at their level of practice, helping them find a way to access poses that elude them, whether they are beginners or advanced. While many people think of yoga as meditative, making it fun is equally important to her.
As her yoga practice evolved, Laurel began sharing her experience with corporate clients as a motivational speaker and strategic consultant. Using themes from yoga, she helps people improve themselves both personally and professionally. She recently sold her garden design business to focus on her passion for yoga and innovation.
When Laurel is not traveling the world or in her studio she enjoys time as a gardener, cyclist and in the company of good friends around a campfire in her backyard.
Yoga Style: alignment-based vinyasa flow, yoga nidra, yin inspired restorative and individual coaching sessions.
Inspiration: gardening, sunshine, the ocean, traveling the world and listening to people’s stories, meeting new people, spending time with her family and an appreciation for moving through the world as an individual with a fantastic and fun group of adventurous people.
“As a lifelong student of yoga, I’ve had many instructors—some good, some great. Laurel is amazing. She keeps things fresh and challenging, and somehow finds a way to teach to every imaginable level at the same time. It can’t be easy, but Laurel manages to be one of the best instructors in the city, and we are fortunate to have her.”
Dr. Hannah Strom
Dr. Hannah Strom is a passionate yoga instructor, physical therapist, and founder of the thriving Awake Pelvic Health & Wellness (pelvic floor physical therapy) clinic in Woodbury, Minnesota. Combining her expertise in pelvic health with her deep love for holistic wellness, Hannah is dedicated to empowering individuals to live vibrant, balanced lives.
Hannah’s journey has taken her across the globe, studying yoga in India and traveling extensively through Europe. Her immersion in diverse cultures and participation in multiple wellness retreats have shaped her unique approach to teaching. She brings mindfulness, adventure, and joy to her teaching, creating transformative experiences for her students.
As a leader in her field, Hannah has built a successful pelvic floor physical therapy practice focused on helping clients achieve whole-body healing. Her retreats reflect her holistic philosophy, blending therapeutic movement, yoga, and self-discovery in a supportive environment.
Outside of her practice, Hannah is an avid traveler who finds inspiration in exploring new places, connecting with others, and deepening her own wellness journey. With a warm and compassionate approach, she meets students where they are, empowering them to grow both on and off the mat.
Yoga Style: Alignment-based vinyasa yoga, therapeutic and restorative practices, mobility and functional strength
Inspiration: Traveling the world, hiking and exploring the outdoors, good coffee, holistic health and wellness practices, meeting new people and hearing their stories, any athletic venture such as skiing, biking, running, and strength training.
Zoë Foat Naselaris
Zoë Foat Naselaris's background reflects a rich blend of experience and passions that come together in her approach to teaching yoga and supporting others on their wellness journeys. Her early foray into eco-friendly apparel with her twin sister laid a foundation of creativity, environmental consciousness, and entrepreneurship. This entrepreneurial spirit seamlessly transitioned into her yoga career, where her diverse life experiences, including teaching in various parts of the U.S., have allowed her to connect with a wide range of individuals.
Her studies in psychotherapy and art therapy reflect a deep desire to understand and help others, making her an even more compassionate and holistic teacher and therapist. The integration of mind, body, and spirit is a core element of her work, offering a unique and personalized approach to each student or client.
In her personal life, Zoë embraces the very principles she teaches, from staying active and present with activities like paddle-boarding and gardening to nurturing relationships with friends and family. Zoë’s yoga practice is not only something she teaches but something she lives, drawing inspiration from nature, art, laughter, and meaningful connections.
Zoë's yoga style—aligning her teachings with both the fluidity of vinyasa and the restorative qualities of yin—speaks to her belief in balance, mindfulness, and listening to the body. Whether guiding a class through the dynamic flow of vinyasa or helping students find stillness in restorative poses, her expertise in alignment ensures that her students feel both grounded and supported.
As an empathetic teacher, Zoë offers her students not just a physical practice, but a pathway to greater connection with themselves and the world around them.
Yoga Style: alignment-based vinyasa flow and yin/restorative.
Inspiration: travel, art, nature, laughter, gardening, sunshine, swimming in the ocean, and reconnecting with old friends while making new ones.
Kaja Foat
A lover of maps, memories, and mishaps, Kaja Foat started traveling to foreign countries at age 15 and hasn’t turned back since. In fact, some of her best creative inspirations and life experiences have unfolded a journey away from her homeland.
Kaja has a background in Art and Psychology and began her career in the Arts when she left Minnesota for New York City shortly after college. Kaja’s jobs landed her in the fashion world where she rubbed shoulders with top photographers and producers of the industry. Her stressful jobs brought her to a small yoga studio just blocks from her dingy but loved apartment on Bedford in Brooklyn, New York. Most evenings she could be found here along with her twin sister, Zoe, sweating off steam from a hard days work. It was this small Yoga studio (Go Yoga) that after years of practicing launched her love of Yoga and encouraged her to get training.
Seven days before 9-11 Kaja left the big city to go home to Minneapolis to figure out her next adventure. In 2002 the creation of Foat Design was launched, an eco-friendly Yoga and Dance wear company co- owned with her twin sister, Zoe. The company stemmed from the need for a clothing line for active people that cared about where the garments were made and the fabrics used to make them. It was truly a conscious effort to create a company within the fashion industry that ran things with care and intent. When the company was a year old, Kaja decided to get training in Yoga in Rhinebeck, NY at the Omega Institute and returned to Minneapolis to teach. It was at this time where Kaja met Laurel Van Matre and began teaching with her along with her twin sister.
Today, Kaja Foat currently runs her company, Foat Design, is an Art Therapist specializing in couples and families, and a world traveller under ROAM alongside old companions Zoe Naselaris and Laurel Van Matre. Kaja has been teaching yoga for 22 years.
Yoga Style: Kaja teaches vinyasa style classes that are carefully constructed to help increase flexibility, strength, clarity, and balance.
Tricky Miki Mosman
Miki has always loved exploring and believes the best way to experience a new place is on foot, with comfortable shoes, an open mind, a healthy dose of curiosity and a never-ending answer of "YES! Let's try it"!
A dedicated Pilates practitioner for more than 15 years, she loves helping people discover how good it feels to move with strength, balance, and confidence. Her mat classes are thoughtful and approachable while still challenging, and designed to leave you feeling energized for whatever the day has in store, whether that's exploring a new city, hiking a scenic trail, or lingering over a great meal with new friends.
When she's not on a Pilates mat, you'll likely find Miki chasing her next adventure and experience. An avid traveler, DJ, and community builder, she's happiest wandering local markets, finding neighborhood cafés, discovering hidden gems, and connecting with people wherever she goes. She believes that movement, laughter, and curiosity are universal languages.
For Miki, retreats are about more than exercise. They're an opportunity to slow down,experience a place more deeply, and create memories with people who quickly become friends. She hopes every guest leaves feeling stronger, refreshed, and inspired to keep saying "yes" to whatever adventure comes next. flexibility, strength, clarity, and balance.
Ali Certain
Ali Certain is a yoga and functional movement teacher, community builder, speaker, and lifelong student. Since 2004, she has offered yoga education, postural awareness, meditation, and movement therapy through weekly classes, workshops, online education, studio co-ownership, and guest teaching on retreat.
As a teacher and mother of three, Ali has spent nearly a quarter-century with a front-row seat to the complexity, beauty, and possibility of the human experience. Her depth of practice, continued studentship, and personal story of healing fuel her passion for bringing people together in pursuit of greater harmony. At the heart of her teaching is a constant invitation to begin again—to return to the body, rediscover connection, and remind each other that we were never meant to do it alone.
Known for clear, nuanced, and articulate instruction, Ali helps people reside in their bodies with greater awareness, strength, and ease. Her integrated approach combines yoga and functional movement with postural alignment, fascial release, and repatterning.
Ali is a lover of deliciousness, adventure, coconut date balls, and going for the joy. She believes travel is one of the great invitations to begin again and a chance to refresh our self-awareness.
For more, visit alicertain.com
Yoga Style: alignment-based, restorative, fascial tone and movement therapy
Inspiration: nature, markets and makers, textiles and creatives, communal joy, family, cortados, sourdough, and ninjas
Dr. Erin McFerson
Dr. Erin McFerson believes that healing deepens when we learn to recognize the patterns that shape our lives. Whether those patterns show up in the body, our relationships, or the stories we tell ourselves, bringing awareness to them creates the opportunity for meaningful change.
For the past eleven years, Erin has owned McFerson Chiropractic, helping people better understand the patterns influencing their health and well-being. Through AlignWell Astrology, she has expanded this work into astrology as another lens for reflection, awareness, and alignment.
A lifelong traveler, Erin has lived abroad as an au pair in Italy and worked on farms across Ireland. These experiences deepened her appreciation for slowing down, staying curious, and seeing the world through different perspectives—values that continue to shape her teaching.
When she's not working, you’ll find Erin tending her big garden (a double Taurus, after all), exploring with her two young kids, spending time with her dog and two recently adopted kittens, sewing, dancing, singing, or sharing long conversations over good food.
Erin’s astrology classes are welcoming to all levels of experience. Rather than focusing on prediction, she teaches astrology as a reflective practice—one that helps us notice the patterns unfolding in our lives and discover how to move forward with greater intention.
During retreat, as you explore physical alignment through yoga and Pilates, Erin invites you to explore alignment within your emotional and inner life. Together, we’ll create space to pause, reflect, gain clarity, and reconnect with the part of yourself that already knows the way forward.
Shannon Svensrud
Shannon Svensrud loves to get curious. As a Minneapolis based creator and content partner, producing both photo and video for her business, Storied Life Pictures, she believes collaboration is the key to making moving imagery. “I want you to see your life with curiosity, not critique.”
She has had the privilege of photographing stories from inside the home, the board room and across the globe. She has documented once-in-a-lifetime moments. She has photographed bands and artists as they do what they love. She has chased the awe of place, developed imagery for brand campaigns and worked alongside research teams documenting “real life” in projects from power sport vehicles to patient experiences in a Cancer ward.
For Shannon, storytelling can be frivolous, occasionally heartbreaking, but always full of curiosity, love and respect for this crazy life and she wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Alongside photography, Shannon enjoys having adventures near and far, following the unpredictable flow of helping to raise three now big kids. Her favorite moments include hosting family and friends, practicing yoga, reading books and leaning into lifelong learning to continually explore new ideas.
I have attended several yoga retreats led by Laurel Van Matre and each was an unforgettable experience. From the moment we arrive, Laurel creates a warm and inviting atmosphere that ensures all feel like they were in capable hands for the week.
Each yoga session is masterfully crafted, blending physical postures in a way that is accessible to all levels of yoga practice. Laurel’s deep knowledge and passion for yoga is evident, and I leave feeling both physically rejuvenated and mentally inspired.
The excursions are a highlight of every retreat! We explore breathtaking natural landscapes, from serene hikes to tranquil beaches. Each outing is thoughtfully planned and organized, making it easy for retreat goers to be as adventurous as they wish to be.
What truly sets Laurel’s retreats apart is her personal touch. She connects with each participant, offering tailored guidance and support. I always feel encouraged to explore my limits while honoring my body in a safe and nurturing environment.
I highly recommend Laurel for anyone looking for a transformative yoga experience. I leave every retreat feeling empowered, inspired, and deeply connected to both myself and the wonderful community we build together.
Meredith H
Minneapolis, MN
Testimonials