About Alyssa

Alyssa Norwood, a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) through the Yoga Alliance, has studied and practiced yoga for more than a decade. Using the system of yoga as a way to create more space in our bodies, minds and hearts, Alyssa facilitates opportunities to experience our Divine nature and enliven Jewish practice (or any faith tradition).

Alyssa is also an INELDA-trained end-of-life doula, a compassionate partner who supports individuals and their loved ones through the emotional, physical and spiritual dimensions of dying. She serves on her community’s chevra kadisha, which performs ritual preparation of bodies for Jewish burial, as a shomeret in her community’s Mikveh (, and organizes community-building and learning opportunities in her Modern Orthodox synagogue. Alyssa lives with her remarkable husband and children in Greater Hartford, where she also runs, hikes, bikes, kayaks and lets paint and poetry flow.

In her related professional life, Alyssa is a social entrepreneur, public health leader, policy expert and attorney. She currently directs the Connecticut Age Well Collaborative, a statewide initiative to foster inclusive communities for every age and ability. She previously led Connecticut’s livable communities initiative at the former Legislative Commission on Aging. She earned her Juris Doctor with honors and her Master of Public Health degree in Health Law and Policy from the University of Connecticut. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude in Biology from Harvard University, where she conducted and published research on Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment.

Alyssa, standing on top of a mountain