Meet the 2012 BYCspring Instructors – more to be announced:
Prem Prakash
Founder: Green Mountain School of Yoga
Prem Prakash is an American-born yogi who serves as the Director of the Green Mountain School of Yoga in Vermont. He is the author of The Yoga of Spiritual Devotion, Three Paths of Devotion, Yoga American Style, and The Universal Yoga. In 2007, the Institute of the Himalayan Tradition presented Prem Prakash with the Annual Service Award, and in 2008 he was honored by the Institute as a Yogiraj, “An Accomplished Yogi.” For more information: www.gmsy.org.
Devarshi Steven Hartman
Dean of the Kripalu School of Yoga
Devarshi Steven Hartman, RYT, Dean of the Kripalu School of Yoga, has been a yoga student and teacher for 30 years and is a former longtime Kripalu resident. Devarshi is the creator of the best-selling audio series The Essence of the Bhagavad-Gita. He leads workshops and retreats throughout the country and, in addition to teaching yoga, is a healing arts practitioner, a bodyworker, and a teacher of A Course in Miracles. www.stevenhartman.com
Myra Lewin
Founder: Hale Pule, Kauai
Myra Lewin has studied and taught Yoga, Ayurveda, nutrition, meditation, and energy management since the early 1990s. Previously, Myra had a diverse career in the fields of medicine, executive management, and business consulting. For over a decade, Myra has conducted Yoga teacher trainings emphasizing a harmonized approach to Yoga and Ayurveda. Hale Pule, her Yoga Alliance registered school, is located on the island of Kauai in Hawaii.Myra offers individual counseling, meditation retreats, teacher-trainings, workshops, and conference presentations around the globe. She is also an organic farmer, mediator, and minister in The Church of Aesclepion Healing. She works with people in any stage of life, including the elderly and those recovering from addiction. Her in-depth knowledge of human anatomy, physiology and psychology enables her to approach people at their level, encouraging the integration of healthy balanced practices as a foundation for life. With her focus on growth and service, Myra also enjoys world travel, surfing, hiking and playing with her dogs. Student’s benefit from the example of her joy-filled life as much as from her teachings. www.halepule.com
Coral Brown
Senior Teacher Trainer of Prana Flow® Yoga
ACoral Brown, MA, 500-eRYT, is a senior teacher trainer of Prana Flow® Yoga, created by Shiva Rea. She leads retreats, workshops and teacher trainings and is honored to be a Yoga Journal contributor and conference presenter. Coral’s teaching style fuses the energetic, creative energy of Prana Flow® yoga with her experience as a Holistic Counselor. Her integrative yet lighthearted approach invites students to unite mind, body, and spirit to transcend physical asana and create space for conscious evolution. By honoring the breath, students are drawn into the “river of prana,” connecting with the universal life force and increasing their own capacity for compassion and self-revelation. Coral received her Masters of Arts from Salve Regina University’s Holistic Counseling program.http://coralbrown.net/
Shakti Sunfire
Leader of the worldwide Hoop Dance Movement
Laura Blakeman a.k.a. Shakti Sunfire is a leader of the world-wide hoop dance movement and a dedicated student of Anusara Yoga. Shakti teaches dance and yoga workshops and performs internationally. She is currently featured in 2 published books on hoop dance, one instructional DVD, and countless online articles. She was voted ‘best performance group 2008′ and ‘firehooper of the year 2009′ by popular vote in Hooping.org. Shakti is featured in the August 2011 edition of Yoga Journal as a leading light in the fusion of yoga and hoopdance – a marriage of two worlds that is, to her, a spiraling journey into the heart and the basis for her dance philosophy.
Shakti was certified in 2008 in Beginning Hatha Yoga at the Shambhava School of Yoga on the Big Island of Hawaii. She is currently undergoing extensive training in Anusara Yoga with her primary teachers, Sianna Sherman and John Friend, and is studying Tantrik philosophy and the Sanskrit language with Christopher Wallis and Yogasthana, the Foundation for Yoga whose goal is to foster authenticity in western yoga.
A passionate poet and writer, Shakti dives deep into human experience, exposing universal connection and poignant sychronicity through personal narrative. You can find more of her work on Elephant Journal and in Origin Magazine./www.shaktisunfire.com/
Jovinna Chan
Soul Movement Sanctuary
Jovinna Chan ERYT-500, is the Assistant Dean of the Kripalu School of Yoga, where she also serves as a faculty member for Yoga Teacher Training programs. She is a transformational leader and teacher of the Kripalu Yoga lineage. Her sadhana began at a young age in Singapore when she started practicing yoga, dance and martial arts. Through her practice she cultivated an intimate understanding of the body through creative movement and expression. Jovinna is also trained in Kripalu Yoga Dance, an ecstatic dance to bring alignment of the charkas. and is a trained transformational facilitator for the body of work, “Soul Motion”, movement master Vinn Marti, founder.Visit Jovinna’s website
Megha Nancy Buttenheim
Founder: Let Your Yoga Dance®
Megha Nancy Buttenheim, Kripalu senior teacher-trainer and national presenter, is the creator and founder of Let Your Yoga Dance: Grace in Motion®. Her focus is in healing body, mind and spirit through the joy of yoga dance, meditation, and compassionate yoga. A lifelong singer, dancer and actress, Megha brings great passion, enthusiasm, and love to her work and to her students. She directs Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training, Kripalu Yoga Dance Teacher Training, and Intro to Yoga and Meditation at Kripalu Center, and Let Your Yoga Dance® Teacher Training and Moontides Yoga at the Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. Megha offers weekly classes in Let Your Yoga Dance for Parkinson’s in western Massachusetts as well as on the road. In her work with Yoga Dance and Parkinson’s she brings together people with Parkinson’s and their caregivers to create a deeper understanding of living and moving gracefully with PD – through dancing yoga. www.letyouryogadance.com
Nick Atlas
Yoga Sleep Therapy®
Nick Atlas is a RYT/IYF 500-hour certified Yoga instructor, an experienced meditator and dancer with additional training in Qigong, Tantra, Movement Therapy, Mindfulness and iRest Yoga Nidra. An award-winning visual artist, author, musician, DJ, gardener, wilderness guide, Reiki/Qi healer and avid dream-traveler with over ten years of disciplined practice in the healing arts, Nick is the creator of Yoga Sleep Therapy® and is widely regarded as a teacher’s teacher. To date he’s traveled to over thirty countries and forty-nine US states honoring the work of an overwhelming number of gifted healers, swamis and shamans. In 2010 Nick established The School for Mind & Nature, a research center dedicated to the advancement of contemplative & evolutionary education, and released the popular guided Yoga CD, “Practicing Eternity.” Currently Based in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts, Nick leads programs at Canyon Ranch Resort, Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health and the Omega Institute, in addition to facilitating retreats internationally and finishing his first book detailing his enlightening experiences as a wandering artist and yogi. View Nick’s website.
Sherry Ryan
Founder: Providence Healing Arts
Sherry Vidhya Ryan LMT, RYT is the founder of Providence Healing Arts, a Yoga Studio & alternative healing center in Providence, RI. She has over 20 years of experience in the study of Traditional Five Element Theory and Ayurveda. A Student of Hatha, Kriya & Kundalini Yoga for nearly 40 years, Vidhya is a certified 500 hour yoga instructor facilitating retreats and trainings throughout the world. She received her Sanskrit name Vidhya meaning knowledge or wisdom, in Vyaas Gufa, the 5000 year old cave in the Himalayan Mountains, where the Bhagavad Gita was written. “a brilliant, compassionate & humble teacher!” – Kripalu retreat attendee
Ian Hyman
Yoga DJ HyFi
“Ian’s got his finger on the pulse of what will move the energy of the group in an authentic way to an ecstatic experience!” -Wah! an Hyman (DJ Hyfi) is a Philly based DJ who has taken his art into the yoga studio to create a deep fusion of sound and movement. He spends most of his time on the road spinning for yoga classes, workshops, festivals and conferences around the nation, striving to create a fresh experience for people who love yoga and the movement arts. Finding inspiration from life on the road and the interesting collection of characters along the way, he continues to share his perspective on yoga through his turntables. Ian’s DJ mixes are infused with a wide range of soulful electronic music, from deep ambient tunes to ecstatic rhythms of Jungle/DnB. http://yogadjhyfi.com
Jane Jarecki Lanza
Co-founder of Burlington Yoga Conference & Liberate Music & Yoga Festival
Jane became a certified Kripalu yoga instructor in 2006 and began studying meditation in India prior. Jane has diverse students in all stages and walks of life who resonate with her message of love. Jane’s mission is to connect people with the power of yoga to heal (body, mind, spirit and planet). Jane is inspired by her teachers from throughout the world and in her own backyard, by her students, and ultimately by personal practice which cultivates a sense of connection to all that is. Along with her husband Ben Lanza, Jane creates the Liberate Music & Yoga Festival and the Burlington Yoga Conference for positive change.View Jane Yoga blog.
Coby Kozlowski
Founder: Simple Rhythm Coaching
Coby Kozlowski, MA, E-RYT, is a professional life coach, inspirational speaker, yoga and dance teacher, expressive arts therapist, and expert in transformative leadership. She is the founder of Simple Rhythm Coaching LLC, co-founder of Souluna Life Coach Certification training and faculty at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health and Canyon Ranch. Along with her passion for her work, she is a skier, surfer, painter, triathlete, ultimate frisbee player, fire spinner, and lover of adventure. She is the creator of the inspiring yoga DVD: Vinyasa Flow Yoga: Water and book, The Yoga of Living Leadership ™ to be released this year. For more information visit www.cobyk.com
Kalpana Reddy
Founder of Wholistic Care at AHMC, Malone, NY
Kalpana Reddy, RYT 500, owner and founder of Wholistic Care at AHMC in Malone, NY, is a native of India and has made her home in the foothills of the Adirondacks for the past 35 years. Kalpana is drawn to teaching the importance of healing and empowering the individual as a whole; body, mind and spirit. Through her personal experiences and various teachings and trainings, she promotes recognizing one self as part of the whole in one’s own well being and healing. Kalpana is a certified yoga therapist specializing in yoga and cancer care, meditation teacher, hatha yoga instructor – svaroopa style, certified empowerment life coach, certified group facilitator and certified in death, grief, loss and transition studies. She is also a Reiki Master and trained embodiment therapist. Kalpana has offered numerous workshops in the northern New York region as well as Montreal, Canada in hope of instilling the promise of yoga and experiencing the power of grace and living in that grace.
Allison Bransfield Morse
Founder of the Ayurvedic Center of Vermont
Allison Bransfield Morse is an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselor and Panchakarma Specialist, with twelve years of experience as an Ayurvedic Practitioner, she is also certified in massage and yoga therapy. After 5 years with The Ayurvedic Institute, Allison founded The Ayurvedic Center of Vermont in 2006, where she has had the privilege of guiding clients from all over the country in Ayurvedic care and Panchakarma. Allison spent 5 full time years at The Ayurvedic Institute, in New Mexico, under the direct guidance of Dr.Vasant Lad. She completed two years of study under Dr. Lad, before embarking on a four year clinical apprenticeship in The Ayurvedic Institute‘s Panchakarma clinic. In 2005, she joined Dr. Lad in Pune, India, for advanced clinical studies. The prevailing focus of her work is the integration of Ayurveda with conventional medical approaches, to promote healing through the body’s intuitive wisdom. She is experienced in applying herbal medicine, diet and Ayurvedic remedies to a variety of clinical disorders. Allison began studying yoga in 1995 at the Sivananda Yoga Center in New York City and traveled to Kerala, India, in 1999 to complete their Yoga Teacher Training Program. In 1998, she graduated from the Swedish Institute of Massage Therapy in New York City. Allison has a Bachelor of Science from Long Island University in New York.http://ayurvedavermont.com/
Patrick McAndrew
Kirtan
Patrick McAndrew’s world changed when he began meditating in the lineage of Nityananda (“forever in bliss”) in 1997. Devotionally exploring the interconnectedness of everything, he became a regular at yoga classes in New York City while earning his diploma in Theater at The La Guardia High School of Performing Arts. He came to Vermont to study music at Goddard College and taught yoga and meditation to his peers. Upon graduating, he began working in the mental health field. After a year away from the mat, he attended a yoga class in San Francisco in 2006 and experienced his yoga practice as his oldest, nearest and dearest friend. He vowed to never again leave his old friend’s side! Celebrating 10 years of practice, he was certified as a Yoga Teacher at Kripalu in June 2007. At this same time, his life-long love of music began to integrate with his devotional yoga practice and Patrick began leading Kirtan, call-and response ecstatic chanting, satisfying a goal of building community and celebration through music. In 2010, he had the privilege of traveling to India, experiencing yoga at an even deeper level at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar and the Neem Karoli Baba Ashram in Vrindavan. Patrick continues to offer Yoga Instruction, Massage Therapy, Kirtan, and Vocal/Guitar Performance.
Melissa Capezzuto
Dharma Yoga
Senior Dharma Yoga teacher, Melissa Capezzuto, is known for her devotional teaching style. She encourages students to connect with their spiritual hearts finding their inner truth and self. Yoga has become her life’s duty after meeting her teacher Sri Dharma Mittra. Melissa has been fortunate to fully immerse in yogic life through Dharma Mittra’s advanced 500 hr. teacher training. She is extremely grateful to be a student and an assistant of a living yoga master. Melissa currently assists Sri Dharma as a mentor and teacher during the 200hr and advanced 500hr teacher trainings. Her classes are filled with advanced Asana, scripture, chanting, Pranayama, Dharana, and Dhyana. She reminds students that the true purpose of Yoga is Self-realization.http://melissacapezzuto.com/
Lyn Sellars
Dharma Yoga
Lyn Sellars is a 500hr certified instructor. She received her certification through Sri Dharma Mittra. Dharma Mittra is a true yoga master and is known as the teacher’s teacher. Dharma yoga integrates true classical yoga through the form of hatha-raja yoga leading you to the ultimate goal of yoga, self realization. Hatha the union of physical mastery. Raja the union of mental mastery. Since receiving her certification, Lyn has been devoted to sharing her teacher’s knowledge with her students by guiding them, as instructed by her guru, to go within and make every action an offering.
Anjali Budreski
Founder of Yoga Mountain Center
Anjali is passionate about sharing her love of yoga with others and has been immersed in the study of Anusara Yoga since 2004, when she met her first Anusara Teacher, Todd Norian. She completed a comprehensive 200-hour Anusara Yoga Teacher Training with Deb Neubauer in 2006, and has trained and practiced with a wide variety of Anusara teachers, including Anusara’s Founder, John Friend. Anjali has had the honor of assisting Todd Norian’s Teacher Trainings and Immersions as well as Deb Neubauer’s Immersions. She has studied Rajanaka Tantric Philosophy extensively with Douglass Brooks and has also studied with Paul Muller-Ortega. http://yogamountaincenter.com/
Margaret Pitkin
Anusara Yoga
Margaret has been a dedicated student of Anusara Yoga for over ten years, a yoga teacher for over six years, and Vermont’s first Certified Anusara Yoga teacher since January 1st, 2011. She has spent over 1000 hours studying with her teachers John Friend (founder of Anusara), Deborah Neubauer, Todd Norian, and others. Margaret is a practitioner of Neelakantha deep tantric meditation and a student of the esoteric traditions of the Hindu Tantra under the guidance of world renowned scholars Paul Muller-Ortega and Douglas R. Brooks. Margaret is a national Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher. For Margaret, yoga is an exquisite tool with the power to reveal the wild freedom and outrageous joy that is the birthright of every human heart. In each of her classes Margaret’s intense love of life, sharp wit, and precise understanding of Anusara’s elegantly simple principles of biomechanical alignment blend together to create an experience that is uplifting, transformational, and healing, whether it’s your thousandth time on a yoga mat or your first!
Visit Margaret’s website for more information.
Lorrie Conglose
Sivananda and The Energetic Body
Shivakami (Lorrie Conglose) studied with and received the title of Yoga Siromani by Bharata, a senior disciple of Swami Vishnu Devananda. She has studied yoga at the Sivananda Ashrams in India, the Bahamas and New York. After a severe back injury which had left her with extensive nerve and muscle damage lorrie used her yoga practice to heal both physically and emotionally. Lorrie is also a licensed massage therapist, certified in Reiki, Thai Yoga, and experienced in aromatherapy, relaxation imagery and pain management through breath work. She has worked as a Holistic Therapist for hospice, and has taught yoga extensively to children, adults, seniors and individuals with disabilities. She founded and co-directs the Vastu School of Yoga with her partner Lal, with whom, she has trained students from many diverse backgrounds. Lorrie approaches her teaching with reverence both for her lineage and her students. She believes that in order to be a good teacher you must first be a dedicated student. She teaches her students to first control the breath, then the mind and body. Her passion and deep commitment to her practice, both on and off the mat , is inspiring and encouraging to others.
Lal Maharajh
Sivananda and The Energetic Body
Growing up in Ramrick Sadhu Sewala,(temple) Yoga was a part of Lal’s life from a very early age. He received initiation and mantras from his guru Pujya Sat Gurudev Pundit Lutchmee Persad, who ardently followed Swami Sivananda`s teachings of karma service. In 1964 Lal received Janeau (sacred thread). When his daughter, Isis, passed at the age of 22 from cancer, meditation and Yoga quieted his mind and emotions. Lal immersed himself in a Yoga Teacher Training Intensive and received the title of Yoga Siromani from Bharata, a senior disciple of Swami Vishnu Devananda. His commitment to the healing properties of Yoga prompted him to open Vastu School of Yoga. Together with his partner, Lorrie, they have trained hundreds of individuals including doctors, law enforcement officers, teachers, pilots, military personnel, hospice patients, business professionals, pundits, lawyers, etc. Lal believes that we never finish learning and that each student in turn is also a teacher. Spreading the teachings of Yoga has taken him to many different parts of the world, fulfilling his passion.
Will Duprey
Knowledge of Spirit
Will Duprey teaches Sadhana. He was initiated by Sri Dharma Mittra and studied with him one-to-one until receiving his blessing to teach then began a similar course of study in Siddha Medicine. Will attends to many practices including chanting with Dr. M. A. Jayashree. He integrates his studies of yoga, medicine and mantra with life experience and traditional Hatha Yoga to emphasize a system of personal transformation that encourage students to discover inner awareness and reach new heights. His teachings are based on his own practices, methodology and studies with his teachers to present a complete holistic system that promotes positive feelings and stability in body, mind and spirit. His dry sense of humor and love of pranyama and meditation as a child have lead him to lecture, teach and design for many training programs around the globe; most particularly on breathing, energy and the Hathayogapradipika. The emphasis in all of his work is for the student to develop their own way – their perfect path of yoga. Will holds an E-RYT 500 and Will Duprey Yoga is an RYS at the 200 and 500 levels. While not teaching, Will is an avid hiker and is fond of beekeeping, waterways and growing food. Will lives on Miami Beach with his wife, Susan and their daughter, Mela.
Jill Campbell
Acro Yoga
Jill Campbell and Costa Koutrokois are based in Montreal. Certified Acroyoga and Yoga teachers, their classes are fun and engaging. Their experience combines acroyoga with yogic knowledge, circus techniques, creative exploration and body work to promote play, exploration and communication is a safe environment. Get ready to fly!
Costa Koutrokois
Acro Yoga
Costa Koutrokois and Jill Campbell are based in Montreal. Certified Acroyoga and Yoga teachers, their classes are fun and engaging. Their experience combines acroyoga with yogic knowledge, circus techniques, creative exploration and body work to promote play, exploration and communication is a safe environment. Get ready to fly!
Skanda Vel
Babaji’s Kriya yoga Grace
Skanda Vel (Ed Nichols) was introduced to esoteric teachings at a young age by his mother. Inspired by Yogananda’s Autobiography of a Yogi, Skanda was initiated into Babaji’s Kriya Yoga by M.G. Satchidananda in 1998, and has practiced with increasing intensity ever since. Then, he received the 2nd Level initiation in 1999, and the advanced training in 2005. In 2006, he attended the Hatha Yoga Teacher training intensive led by Durga Ahlund, and teaches hatha yoga weekly. Upon invitation to become an acharya, he met certain intense requirements with discipline over the course of one year. Skanda has participated in both the North and South India pilgrimages as well as traveled on his own personal Himalayan adventures. Skanda feels “the degree to which one surrenders to the divine is directly proportional to how beautiful one’s life unfolds”. He looks forward to helping sincere seekers unlock their potential through the grace of Babaji’s Kriya Yoga. Skanda lives in the small mountain town of Nederland, Colorado, where he hosts and conducts Kriya yoga initiations from his home. He also co-founded SAMBAZON, pioneering the introduction of acai to North America.
Sukha Pandavas
Babaji’s Kriya yoga Grace
Sukha Pandavas (Stephano) was initiated in 2005 by Marshall Satchidananda Govindan, a student of S.A.A. Ramaiah, a great indian yogi who was directly initiated by Babaji Nagaraj himself. Sukha has been practicing kriya yoga ever since and, in 2011, he has completed all of the 144 kriyas and the teachers training, taught by Satchidananda and Jan Durga Ahlund. Sukha lives and work at Babaji kriya yoga center in Quebec Canada since several years. He has also just finished building a music studio there and is currently working on different spiritual musical projects.
