Board of Directors
Natalie HallNatalie is an avid backpacker and gardener and is dedicated to bringing yoga into mainstream medical culture, having attended multiple seminars and symposia on the medical and therapeutic applications of yoga.
Prior to moving to Silver City in 2012, Natalie and traveled around the country and the world for several years as a locum tenens physical therapist. Her travels twice brought her to Silver City, where she was always drawn back for the natural beauty and relaxed, yet stimulating culture.
Lotus Center provides another reason to feel at home in Silver City, and Natalie is committed to the success of Lotus Center and its mission of availing the benefits of the practices taught therein to the community at large.
Katherine FeistKatherine is honored to be a board member of the Lotus Center. The mission of making available some of the multitude of spiritual disciplines, movement, meditation and wisdom is in keeping with her personal mission of conveying love, harmony and beauty.
A meditator for 40 years, Katherine has been involved in the practice of healing for many years. Currently this work takes the form of offering spiritual retreats to individuals and groups in Silver City, and across the US. The healing depth of the retreat process enables us to find – indeed, to remember – the magnificence of our own self and those around us.
Katherine is a licensed social worker, an ordained minister, and a senior teacher in the Inayati Order. She has served as an educator in both pre-school and university, worked as a developmental social worker with families and children with disabilities, and as a play therapist. She offers a sense of warmth, humor and light- all qualities necessary in working to promote understanding of self and others.
Becky GlennBecky brings 32 years of business experience to the board. This includes 20 years in the corporate environment, working for major companies such as, KPMG as a CPA auditor, First Union Corporation as a Financial Accounting Manager, and The Coca-Cola Company as a Director of Information Technology. Since 2003, Becky has owned her own consulting business, focusing on executive coaching and personal development. Becky is passionate about working with individuals and teams to achieve challenging personal and business goals.
Becky currently teaches several yoga classes at Lotus Center and brings her experience as a yoga teacher to the board. She is a registered yoga teacher (RYT) by Yoga Alliance in the vinyasa (flow) style of yoga – receiving her initial teacher training from Stephanie Keach at the Asheville Yoga Center in Asheville, NC, in 2006. From then on, Becky has been consistently teaching multiple yoga classes each week – first at the popular in-town yoga studio in Atlanta, Yoga Samadhi, then in Silver City after moving here in 2009.
Suzanne GershensonSuzanne has lived in Silver City for the last 20 years, raising a family and being a small business owner. She is a licensed general contractor and co-owner of B and S Construction & Design, Inc. along with her partner Bone Ortega. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Southwest NM Home Builders Association and currently serves on the Historic Design Review Committee whose mission is to help preserve the historic architectural qualities of our building structures, commercial and residential.
Suzanne has been personally involved in alternative health practices and spiritual pursuits for more than 40 years, striving for a balanced lifestyle that includes commitment to community as well as self. Lotus Center has been her second home since opening day, where her sense of community is continually deepened. She looks forward to working with board members and all of the exceptional clients of Lotus Center, each helping to create a more peaceful world one breath at a time.
Patricia StonePatricia is a Grant County native who returned home after 30 years, and is looking forward to bringing yoga and other healing arts to the broader community. She had a career with IBM in project management and marketing and then stayed home to raise her two children. She volunteered on her children’s school board throughout their childhood, and taught ESL (English as a Second Language) adult basic education classes for over 6 years at Plano Family Literacy in Texas.
When yoga became part of her life over 11 years ago, she realized that it was more than just the physical practice, it was also a practice for the mind and the spirit! In 2016, she become a RYT (registered yoga teacher) with the Yoga Alliance in order to share yoga with those in her corner of the world.
Patricia and her husband Joe reside in Bayard with their dog Kobi, where they have many on-going projects. She enjoys spending time with her family, oil painting, traveling, gardening and teaching. Her daughter Jordan is a RN, BSN and son Jarod is attending Harvard.
Tina OldknowTina is an art historian specializing in glass who moved to Silver City after retiring from a 30-year career in art museums in Los Angeles, Seattle, and the small town of Corning, New York. Now an independent curator, she plans to continue writing about contemporary art and artists and to explore new interests. She lives with her husband, Peter Herzberg (a yoga practitioner), two large cats, and a Corgi dog named Teddy.
Introduced to meditation and yoga in the 1970s, Tina has practiced these disciplines on and off since that time. On arriving in Silver City in 2015, she was thrilled to discover The Lotus Center, a beautiful place with a meaningful vision where she can pursue her love of yoga and meditation and participate in a community of individuals who value peace, mindfulness, and spirituality. She is honored to serve on the board of The Lotus Center and to support its vital mission.
Teresa Haggerson LuceroTeresa is a New Mexico native and returned home to Grant County in 2000. She is a retired educator of 31 years. She taught eighteen years in Prescott Public Schools in AZ. After moving back to NM, she taught at Cliff Schools for 13 years. Her teaching career included high school and junior high school Health, Phiscal Education, and Family and Consumer Sciences classes. While teaching in Prescott, AZ, she also coached girls track and intramural sports, and sponsored the cheerleading squad. Teresa is married to Steve Lucero. She has two grown children, five grandchildren. She is an avid hiker and loves the outdoors. She has been a devoted student of Yoga since 2002. The practice of Yoga has supported her physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It has provided her with tools to balance and embrace the challenges and joys of life. Teresa is honored to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Lotus Center. She hopes her career and personal life experiences will make a positive contribution to the Lotus Center Board.
Jeff GoinJeff has been teaching and leading secular meditation classes in Silver City, on a volunteer basis, since 2008. His classes provide people with practical ideas and methods for improving relationships, overcoming anger, dealing with stress and, in general, establishing and maintaining a peaceful state of mind.
Jeff is former national budget manager of Greenpeace U.S. A resident of Silver City since 2007, he co-founded Single Socks, a non-profit thrift store that donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to anti-hunger programs in Grant County, New Mexico. He holds an MBA in finance from George Washington University, and a B.A. in economics from University of Northern Colorado.
Monday Morning Dharma is offered in-person at Lotus Center and via Live Stream from 8:30 to 9:00 AM. To register for live stream, please visit 
Come for an hour and a half of free form dance where you can groove however your body wants, by yourself or with others. Bare your soles (and soul), surrender to the music and let your movement be guided by your body’s wisdom. There are no wrong moves. Doors open at 10:30 AM; dance starts at 11:00.
Amita (Amy) Schmidt LCSW is a psychotherapist and meditation teacher. She was the resident teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts for six years and she was the co-founder of Southwest Sangha Retreat Center in San Lorenzo, New Mexico. She is the author of “Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master.” She currently practices and teaches meditation from a non-dual perspective.