Bernadette Birney
Bernadette Birney is a dyed-in-the-wool, freedom-loving tantrika, and a certified
Anusara yoga instructor. When she’s not busy feverishly freelancing, working
on her book, or posting on-line essays, you can find her teaching Anusara yoga in Connecticut,
practicing the art of life-on-purpose--and inspiring others to do the same.
Bernadette is known for knowledge, precise articulation, poetry, and humor. Her classes, immersions and trainings are steeped in a life-affirming philosophy that invites you into the exploration of your own potential. Bernadette was one of the earliest Certified Anusara Yoga
instructors in CT, and continues to mentor the local teaching community, leading trainings
and retreats. She has contributed to Yoga Journal, Fit Yoga, Elephant Journal and Srividyalaya Amrta. She is also a lululemon ambassador, and the author of the quirky, award winning blog www.berniebirney.com
Anusara yoga instructor. When she’s not busy feverishly freelancing, working
on her book, or posting on-line essays, you can find her teaching Anusara yoga in Connecticut,
practicing the art of life-on-purpose--and inspiring others to do the same.
Bernadette is known for knowledge, precise articulation, poetry, and humor. Her classes, immersions and trainings are steeped in a life-affirming philosophy that invites you into the exploration of your own potential. Bernadette was one of the earliest Certified Anusara Yoga
instructors in CT, and continues to mentor the local teaching community, leading trainings
and retreats. She has contributed to Yoga Journal, Fit Yoga, Elephant Journal and Srividyalaya Amrta. She is also a lululemon ambassador, and the author of the quirky, award winning blog www.berniebirney.com
ELENA BROWER
Certified Anusara yoga teacher, founder and co-owner of Virayoga in New York City, and Jonah’s mama, Elena has been teaching yoga for 13+ years. From the MoMA to Wanderlust to the Great Lawn at Central Park on the 2010 Solstice, Elena is honoured to offer larger-scale experiences of yoga, but her true service is in shifting our awareness within the smallest interactions; one family, one household at a time. Her writing can be found at Art of Attention, Huffington Post, and Crazy Sexy Wellness. She’s been featured in the New York Times, Yoga Journal, the Element Yoga for Beginners DVD series, FitYoga, ABC News and NBC News, and soon to be the voice of Deepak Chopra's breakthrough upcoming video game project, which blends meditation practice with game play. Currently she supports Women for Women, and has been honoured to teach to benefit both Akasha Project and Bent on Learning.
Dina Crosta
Yoga began to weave its way into Dina's life during her last year of college when a friend would tell her great stories about her experiences of practicing yoga. Dina was intrigued by the beauty and fluidity of yoga but was hesitant to bring it into her life. It wasn't until she entered "the real world" and befriended a woman aptly named Hope that yoga began to dance into Dina's life. Hope convinced her to attend a yoga class where she met Emily Dubin-Huresky, her first Anusara® teacher. As soon as she tried her first Down Dog and felt both the challenge and the freedom in it, she knew that this was something she wanted to experience again. Ten years later Dina has seen her life expand in so many ways by her connection to practicing yoga - the most profound being the ever-widening circle of friends, teachers and students and the ever-deepening connection to herself. Dina is proud to be a certified Anusara® teacher and is forever grateful to all of her teachers both through yoga and throughout her life. Dina aspires to inspire in others all that yoga has graciously given to her.
Geoffrey DeVaul
Anusara Inspired™ yoga teacher Geoff hails from Miami, swimming distance to the Florida Everglades. Almost 10 years ago he committed to an asana practice as a therapeutic way of navigating some necessary shifts in his life. Geoff embraces the art and science of the Anusara and Rajanaka Yoga traditions; in his experience, major physiological changes are the direct result of the implementation of the principles of yoga. He offers his insight and understanding through challenging sequences infused with levity and precision.
Anusara Inspired™ yoga teacher Geoff hails from Miami, swimming distance to the Florida Everglades. Almost 10 years ago he committed to an asana practice as a therapeutic way of navigating some necessary shifts in his life. Geoff embraces the art and science of the Anusara and Rajanaka Yoga traditions; in his experience, major physiological changes are the direct result of the implementation of the principles of yoga. He offers his insight and understanding through challenging sequences infused with levity and precision.
Julie Dohrman
Julie Dohrman is a Certified Anusara® Yoga teacher and deeply playful student of yoga for nearly 15 years. Her classes are dynamic and progressive as she weaves Anusara's technique into an empowering, revelatory and therapeutic experience. Julie is expert at teaching all levels of student to open to their wildest potential using philosophy, stories, and myth to create a layered and inspiring class. She studies and apprentices with Anusara's founder John Friend several times a year, and has been deeply immersed in the philosophy of Anusara Yoga with Douglas Brooks and Paul Muller-Ortega. Julie teaches from her dedicated personal practice, and aims to serve students with the same generosity offered from a community of great teachers.
Julie Dohrman is a Certified Anusara® Yoga teacher and deeply playful student of yoga for nearly 15 years. Her classes are dynamic and progressive as she weaves Anusara's technique into an empowering, revelatory and therapeutic experience. Julie is expert at teaching all levels of student to open to their wildest potential using philosophy, stories, and myth to create a layered and inspiring class. She studies and apprentices with Anusara's founder John Friend several times a year, and has been deeply immersed in the philosophy of Anusara Yoga with Douglas Brooks and Paul Muller-Ortega. Julie teaches from her dedicated personal practice, and aims to serve students with the same generosity offered from a community of great teachers.
Tara Glazier
Tara Glazier, co-owner of Abhaya Yoga Tara is a Certified Anusara® Teacher who resides in Brooklyn, NY. She fell in love with yoga, when she first moved to New York City to dance professionally, over 12 years ago. Her journey on this path has been varied and includes, dance, theater, business, teaching Ballet and Modern Dance, and Directing a Non-profit/ public school for dance. She holds a BFA in Dance Pedagogy and Performance from the Hartt School/ University of Hartford. Before college, Tara attended North Carolina School of the Arts where she trained as a Ballet dancer. In NYC, Tara was a student at Jivamukti Yoga for several years before doing her first teacher training in the Vinyasa Style. She later went on to pursue Anusara® Certification and has studied extensively with John Friend, Zhenja LaRosa and Elena Brower.
Tara has traveled nationally and internationally to teach in places such as Ibiza, Spain, Costa Rica, and Bali, Indonesia. Tara firmly believes in the elegant system of Anusara® that is based on 5 Universal Principles of Alignment, because it has so profoundly shifted her life and healed her body. Her classes are influenced by her love for dance and from the everyday experience, where the divine pulses radiantly. While Tara places great importance on alignment, she also encourages students to listen to their inner guide, a great source of power that is intrinsic and ever present. It is her hope to empower students on and off the mat while bringing them closer to their own hearts encouraging them to live fully. Her approach to teaching is gentle and allowing, yet strong, energizing, and clear. Tara has also taught at Virayoga ( virayoga.com) in New York City and Mala Yoga (malayoganyc.com) in Brooklyn. When not teaching Yoga, or practicing asana, Tara finds meditation in movement through Salsa and Cha-Cha. She offers great gratitude to everyone in her life who has assisted her in creating her dream, Abhaya Yoga.
Tara Glazier, co-owner of Abhaya Yoga Tara is a Certified Anusara® Teacher who resides in Brooklyn, NY. She fell in love with yoga, when she first moved to New York City to dance professionally, over 12 years ago. Her journey on this path has been varied and includes, dance, theater, business, teaching Ballet and Modern Dance, and Directing a Non-profit/ public school for dance. She holds a BFA in Dance Pedagogy and Performance from the Hartt School/ University of Hartford. Before college, Tara attended North Carolina School of the Arts where she trained as a Ballet dancer. In NYC, Tara was a student at Jivamukti Yoga for several years before doing her first teacher training in the Vinyasa Style. She later went on to pursue Anusara® Certification and has studied extensively with John Friend, Zhenja LaRosa and Elena Brower.
Tara has traveled nationally and internationally to teach in places such as Ibiza, Spain, Costa Rica, and Bali, Indonesia. Tara firmly believes in the elegant system of Anusara® that is based on 5 Universal Principles of Alignment, because it has so profoundly shifted her life and healed her body. Her classes are influenced by her love for dance and from the everyday experience, where the divine pulses radiantly. While Tara places great importance on alignment, she also encourages students to listen to their inner guide, a great source of power that is intrinsic and ever present. It is her hope to empower students on and off the mat while bringing them closer to their own hearts encouraging them to live fully. Her approach to teaching is gentle and allowing, yet strong, energizing, and clear. Tara has also taught at Virayoga ( virayoga.com) in New York City and Mala Yoga (malayoganyc.com) in Brooklyn. When not teaching Yoga, or practicing asana, Tara finds meditation in movement through Salsa and Cha-Cha. She offers great gratitude to everyone in her life who has assisted her in creating her dream, Abhaya Yoga.
Holly Horvath
Holly is a Certified Anusara® yoga teacher with more than eight years of experience. What started as a physical practice for rehabilitation of a foot injury soon became a life long journey of inner connection and wholeness. Holly’s passion, fun loving style, sense of humor and deep connection and commitment to the practice is at the core of her teaching and life. She is a master of weaving the philosophy of Anusara yoga with life in the every-day. This spiritual way of being and teaching combines with her sharp eye and kinesthetic awareness, allowing her to connect, engage and help her students.
Holly is a Certified Anusara® yoga teacher with more than eight years of experience. What started as a physical practice for rehabilitation of a foot injury soon became a life long journey of inner connection and wholeness. Holly’s passion, fun loving style, sense of humor and deep connection and commitment to the practice is at the core of her teaching and life. She is a master of weaving the philosophy of Anusara yoga with life in the every-day. This spiritual way of being and teaching combines with her sharp eye and kinesthetic awareness, allowing her to connect, engage and help her students.
Laura Tulumbas Juell
Laura Tulumbas Juell loves teaching; unleashing a quality of playfulness in her students, leaving them empowered, strong and loving themselves. Laura dedicates herself to yoga by creating an environment that allows her students to grow, live their truth, and expand and open their hearts.
A student of yoga for the past 12 years, she is a Certified Anusara® yoga teacher. Coming to the practice of Anusara yoga has allowed Laura to find her voice and develop a teaching style that reflects her open heart. She is grateful to all of the teachers that have played a part in leading her along this path especially John Friend, Dr. Douglas Brooks, Amy Ippoliti, Elena Brower, Naime Jezzeny , Sianna Sherman, Ross Rayburn and Mitchel Bleier.
Laura Tulumbas Juell loves teaching; unleashing a quality of playfulness in her students, leaving them empowered, strong and loving themselves. Laura dedicates herself to yoga by creating an environment that allows her students to grow, live their truth, and expand and open their hearts.
A student of yoga for the past 12 years, she is a Certified Anusara® yoga teacher. Coming to the practice of Anusara yoga has allowed Laura to find her voice and develop a teaching style that reflects her open heart. She is grateful to all of the teachers that have played a part in leading her along this path especially John Friend, Dr. Douglas Brooks, Amy Ippoliti, Elena Brower, Naime Jezzeny , Sianna Sherman, Ross Rayburn and Mitchel Bleier.
“It is all about self-love. It starts by taking care of yourself; nourishing and embracing everything that you are, and moving forward from there. I want to create a place for people to have fun in their bodies, honoring themselves, reconnecting to the light that shines within them,” says Laura of her approach to teaching yoga. Laura is a native New Yorker, and currently lives in Queens with her beloved Christopher and their son Luke.
John Levis
John Levis is a Certified Anusara® Yoga Instructor and began teaching in 2003. He grew up playing ice-hockey and later found an interest in weight training. After discovering Anusara Yoga in 2000, he left the gym for good. The therapeutic benefits of the practice have cultivated a safe way to play the edge, expand the limitations of mind and body awakening a greater perspective of seeing the good in all of life. Discovering The Universal Principles of Alignment™, he no longer suffers from chronic back pain and has actually grown over one inch since the age of 30. Encouraging others to tap into their intrinsic greatness and their ardent desire to be happy and healthy has been the greatest gift to share. John also offers Thai Yoga Bodywork and teaches privately and publicly throughout northern NJ.
Emma Magenta
Director of South Mountain Yoga, Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher
Emma Magenta took her first yoga class in New York City in 1995. "I thought it was really strange and wonderful and fitted me perfectly. When we chanted Om, I thought, 'Yoga has singing--I love to sing!' When we reclined at the end of class, I thought, 'Yoga has resting--I love to rest!' Later, I took an Anusara Yoga class and was blown away to hear the teacher say that Life is Good, that we are all intrinsically Good, and that yoga is a way to experience our Goodness. 'Amazing--I believe that too!' After ten years of teaching Anusara Yoga, I believe it more than ever."
Emma Magenta's background:
"I grew up on a sheep farm in the Flint Hills of Kansas. I attended Bryn Mawr College and the Eastern School of Acupuncture. I received my initial yoga teaching certificate from Anusara Teacher Trainer Amy Ippoliti, who remains a great teacher and mentor for me. (She's the one who first told me, many years ago, that Life is Good!) I've spent many, many hours studying yoga and how to teach it with Anusara Yoga Founder John Friend. I've studied yoga philosophy with Professor Douglas Brooks of the University of Rochester, and meditation with Paul Muller-Ortega."
Emma Magenta took her first yoga class in New York City in 1995. "I thought it was really strange and wonderful and fitted me perfectly. When we chanted Om, I thought, 'Yoga has singing--I love to sing!' When we reclined at the end of class, I thought, 'Yoga has resting--I love to rest!' Later, I took an Anusara Yoga class and was blown away to hear the teacher say that Life is Good, that we are all intrinsically Good, and that yoga is a way to experience our Goodness. 'Amazing--I believe that too!' After ten years of teaching Anusara Yoga, I believe it more than ever."
Emma Magenta's background:
"I grew up on a sheep farm in the Flint Hills of Kansas. I attended Bryn Mawr College and the Eastern School of Acupuncture. I received my initial yoga teaching certificate from Anusara Teacher Trainer Amy Ippoliti, who remains a great teacher and mentor for me. (She's the one who first told me, many years ago, that Life is Good!) I've spent many, many hours studying yoga and how to teach it with Anusara Yoga Founder John Friend. I've studied yoga philosophy with Professor Douglas Brooks of the University of Rochester, and meditation with Paul Muller-Ortega."
"I love the yoga of cooking, eating, laughing with loved ones, singing, being outside, walking, reading, seeing movies, going swimming, being married, and that great feeling you get after all your chores are done."
This year Emma is proud to be one of the Ambassadors for the lululemon Showroom in Summit.
Cat McCarthy
Catherine "Cat" McCarthy is a Certified Anusara Yoga® Instructor who splits her time between NYC and her native New Orleans. Her love of yoga and her playful approach makes learning accessible and fun for all. Through the transformative and therapeutic technology of Anusara Yoga, Catherine encourages students to radically affirm their vast potential with strong bodies, open hearts and curious minds. Inspired daily by her students and over the years by her teachers John Friend, Amy Ippoliti, Elena Brower, and philosophy scholar Douglas Brooks, Catherine is thrilled to share all that she has learned both on and off the mat. Her website is www.nolayoga.com and her email is cat@nolayoga.com.
Catherine "Cat" McCarthy is a Certified Anusara Yoga® Instructor who splits her time between NYC and her native New Orleans. Her love of yoga and her playful approach makes learning accessible and fun for all. Through the transformative and therapeutic technology of Anusara Yoga, Catherine encourages students to radically affirm their vast potential with strong bodies, open hearts and curious minds. Inspired daily by her students and over the years by her teachers John Friend, Amy Ippoliti, Elena Brower, and philosophy scholar Douglas Brooks, Catherine is thrilled to share all that she has learned both on and off the mat. Her website is www.nolayoga.com and her email is cat@nolayoga.com.
Marjorie Nass
Marjorie is a Certified Anusara® yoga teacher who discovered Anusara yoga’s life affirming philosophy, universal principals and supportive community when she sought stress relief after a decade working in corporate environments. Her life dramatically shifted for the better as she explored and intensified her yoga practice. The path of teaching followed to offer others the gift of yoga.
She offers gratitude to Amy Ippoliti, Elena Brower, Julie Dohrman and Zhenja LaRosa for their encouragement and support, and is honored to teach at Virayoga where she experienced her very first Anusara yoga class.
www.marjorienass.com
Marjorie is a Certified Anusara® yoga teacher who discovered Anusara yoga’s life affirming philosophy, universal principals and supportive community when she sought stress relief after a decade working in corporate environments. Her life dramatically shifted for the better as she explored and intensified her yoga practice. The path of teaching followed to offer others the gift of yoga.
She offers gratitude to Amy Ippoliti, Elena Brower, Julie Dohrman and Zhenja LaRosa for their encouragement and support, and is honored to teach at Virayoga where she experienced her very first Anusara yoga class.
www.marjorienass.com
Lois Nesbitt
Before teaching yoga, Lois was a professional writer, editor, and internationally exhibited artist. She holds degrees from both Harvard and Princeton universities. She has studied extensively with Sharon Gannon and David Life of Jivamukti and spent a decade practicing Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga under Eddie Stern of Patanjali Yoga Shala in New York and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India.
In 1997, she met John Friend, founder of Anusara Yoga. Lois credits John with transforming her yoga practice and entire outlook on inspired living. She is now a Certified Anusara® yoga Teacher serving on the Anusara Yoga Teacher Training Committee, where she helps shape the path toward Anusara certification.
Lois also studies yoga philosophy under Professor Douglas Brooks, a world-renowned scholar of Hindu Tantra. Lois travels to offer workshops, retreats, and programs for teachers, weaving vinyasa-style yoga into the exquisite alignment of Anusara to invigorate and uplift her students.
Sara Neufeld
A certified Anusara teacher and Abhaya's program coordinator, Sara is proud to be a third-generation yogini. Her mother is a yoga teacher in Connecticut, and her grandmother is her mother's most loyal student. Sara has been practicing yoga for more than a decade. She tried different styles before discovering Anusara in 2006. It has helped her to relieve years of back and neck pain and guides all of her personal interactions. A former newspaper reporter with a background in urban education, Sara is committed to making yoga accessible to everyone and is particularly passionate about working with youth and families. She teaches teens, parents and young children at the nonprofit Groundwork through classes sponsored by the Akasha Project, and she is on the board of the Lineage Project, which offers yoga to at-risk and incarcerated youth. Sara completed her 200-hour teacher training at Willow Street Yoga in Maryland in 2007 and has accumulated 1,000 Anusara credit hours. She is a regular contributor to YogaCity NYC. www.saraneufeldyoga.com
Jackie Prete
It is Jackie's greatest joy to introduce students and teachers to the path and teachings of Anusara yoga and the philosophy of Shiva/Shatkti Tantra that is at the root of this tradition. Since 2001 she has taught Anusara Yoga based Teacher Training Programs, workshops, retreats, and Immersions in NYC, the Catskills, Japan, London, Costa Rica and Mexico. She is honored to be invited by John to serve on the Certification Committee of Anusara Yoga. Jackie's passion for therapeutics led her to getting a massage license in 1996. She combines her knowledge of Anusara therapeutics with her experience as a body worker to help her students with their therapeutics issues. She is looking forward to bringing her therapeutics training and teaching mentoring programs to the US soon.
Jackie has been teaching Hatha Yoga in NYC since 1991. Her style of teaching evolved from Power Vinyasa Flow that was deeply influenced by Iyengar Yoga, having received her first two certifications from the White Lotus Foundation and Om Yoga Center. Jackie and Rudrani Farbman Brown bring their special karmic connection to their shared programs- co-teaching teacher training, retreats and immersions in the New York area. Jackie currently sees 200 students every week in her NYC classes at the World Yoga Center, Pure Yoga and Equinox Fitness clubs.
ROSS RAYBURN
Ross is a certified Anusara yoga teacher from New York City. Formerly the owner of Yogainsideout, Ross now travels internationally teaching some of the most fun and inspiring yoga classes around. Ross started teaching in 1999 and was certified by John Friend in 2003. His classes are known for their clarity in the principles of Anusara woven into a challenging class that seeks to connect all levels of students to their highest potential. For more info, please visit www.rossrayburn.com.
Susan Rubin
Susan Rubin Certified Anusara instructor and founder of Sage Yoga in Westchester, New York
Susan found yoga in 1996. "Its been a incredible journey.. I am passionate about the gifts and expansiveness of yoga." "My first teacher, Nevine Michaan taught me about the abundance of the Universe and this shifted my thinking about life"
Susan teaches classes, workshops, and retreats with humor and depth. She met John Friend and Douglas Brooks in 2001. She is forever grateful to the many teacher's in the Anusara community that have shared their commitment and understandings of Shri.
Susan is a mother of three wonderful children and after practicing law for 20 years, she chose to be closer to home to share what she loved, so Sage Yoga was created. (2001) Susan loves to ski and hike and read and travel and cook ..."there is so much to love".
Susanna Harwood-Rubin
As a visual artist and Certified Anusara® Yoga teacher, Susanna divides her time between her art studio and the yoga studio. Her classes interweave myth, poetry and philosophy, offering a multiplicity of ways for students to experience their inner beauty. She has spent the past decade studying with John Friend and Dr. Douglas Brooks, with whom she has traveled several times to South India to delve into the traditions of Rajanaka Tantra that infuse her teaching. She is based at NYC’s Virayoga.
Susanna has exhibited internationally and is represented in many collections, including the UCLA Hammer Museum and the Addison Gallery of American Art. For years, she lectured and wrote for MoMA, including co-authoring "Looking at Matisse and Picasso." She wrote a weekly column called “Finding Beauty” for SocialWorkout for over a year, and currently writes for Elephant Journal and Origin Magazine. She has been profiled by FIT YOGA magazine, YogaSleuth, and SocialWorkout. Susanna on
elephantjournal articles
socialworkout blog
Ellen Saltonstall
Ellen Saltonstall is a certified Anusara yoga instructor based in New York City. She met John Friend in 1992 and sponsored his teaching visits to NYC for many years. Ellen’s earlier career in dance and bodywork laid the groundwork for her specialty in anatomy and the therapeutic applications of yoga. She teaches nationally and internationally, offering Anusara yoga Immersions, Teacher Trainings, Anatomy and Therapy Trainings as well as specialty workshops and private sessions. She is known for her clarity and depth of knowledge, and her enthusiasm in encouraging students of all levels to find inner joy and freedom through yoga.
Ellen serves on the Certification and Curriculum Committees for Anusara yoga. She has co-authored two acclaimed books with Dr. Loren Fishman: Yoga for Arthritis, March 2008, and Yoga for Osteoporosis, March 2010. She offers teleseminars through www.yogatherapyweb.com on various therapeutic topics, and she is a co-author of the upcoming book to be published by Anusara Press: Yoga Anatomy: the Biomechanics of Anusara Yoga.
Ellen Saltonstall is a certified Anusara yoga instructor based in New York City. She met John Friend in 1992 and sponsored his teaching visits to NYC for many years. Ellen’s earlier career in dance and bodywork laid the groundwork for her specialty in anatomy and the therapeutic applications of yoga. She teaches nationally and internationally, offering Anusara yoga Immersions, Teacher Trainings, Anatomy and Therapy Trainings as well as specialty workshops and private sessions. She is known for her clarity and depth of knowledge, and her enthusiasm in encouraging students of all levels to find inner joy and freedom through yoga.
Ellen serves on the Certification and Curriculum Committees for Anusara yoga. She has co-authored two acclaimed books with Dr. Loren Fishman: Yoga for Arthritis, March 2008, and Yoga for Osteoporosis, March 2010. She offers teleseminars through www.yogatherapyweb.com on various therapeutic topics, and she is a co-author of the upcoming book to be published by Anusara Press: Yoga Anatomy: the Biomechanics of Anusara Yoga.
SIANNA SHERMAN
Sianna is an internationally recognized Anusara Yoga teacher who delights in the flow of Shakti through the many paths of Divine Love. She began her studies of yoga in 1989 and subsequently had the great blessing of meeting her primary mentor John Friend in 1995. Sianna apprenticed with John for 4 years, during which she traveled with him widely, and has continued to study with him extensively ever since their first auspicious meeting. In 2008, she was featured in Yoga Journal as one of 21 talented young teachers shaping the future of yoga world wide. Sianna playfully weaves alignment, therapeutics, and creative sequencing with mythic-inspired storied, poetry and Tantric philosophy that embraces the fullness of life. Her passion is assisting the sacred activation of community and serving in the way of collaborative gatherings. She bows to the light and wisdom of all her teachers on this path of the heart awakening, especially to John Friend, Paul Muller-Ortega, Douglas Brooks and Bill Mahony.
