TEACHERS
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Alison West
Yoga Union | NY, NY
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Alison West, Ph.D, E-RYT, C-IAYT is director of Yoga Union and the Yoga Union Backcare & Scoliosis Center. She first established Yoga Union in 1996 in SoHo after studying widely and teaching Yoga in NY for ten years, both at the Sivananda center and at Jivamukti. She practiced Astanga Yoga for a number of years, studying in NY with Eddie Stern and in Mysore with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. During this time she continued studying Iyengar Yoga for alignment, working in particular with Kevin Gardiner, the late Mary Dunn, and, later, Genny Kapuler. Alison has also traveled to Pune to study with the Iyengars as well. Her first studies at the Sivananda centers of Munich and NY in the early 80′s have led to a life-long interest in Yoga philosophy and the subtle practices of pranayama, meditation, mantra, yantra and mudra. She furthered her meditation studies with TKV Desikachar at a retreat at Colgate University in 1993 and went on to the Shambhala trainings in NYC. Her spiritual teachers include Ramana Maharshi and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
Prior to her becoming a full-time Yoga professional, Alison obtained her Ph.D in Art History (1985) at NYU’s renowned Institute of Fine Arts under H.W. Janson and Robert Rosenblum. Her now-classic book on French Sculpture, From Pigalle to Prèault: Neoclassicism and the Sublime in French Sculputre, 1760-1840, was published by Cambridge University Press n 1998 and reviewed in all important publications including The New York Review of Books. Alison was born and educated in Europe before returning to the States for university.
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Jason Crandell
Jason Crandell Yoga Method | Online
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Jason Crandell is a natural teacher and author with more than 20 years of experience. Named “one of the teachers shaping the future of yoga,” by Yoga Journal, Jason has been an in-demand teacher at conferences around the world for more than a decade. Considered a teacher’s teacher, Jason has taught on countless teacher training faculties, leads trainings globally, and regularly presents teacher training content at esteemed conferences. Jason’s primary teacher is Rodney Yee—who was kind enough to say, “Jason is taking the art of teaching yoga to its next level.”
For the past 10 years, Jason has honed his approach by looking to peers outside of the yoga community, in the fields of physical therapy,Learn more about Jason orthopedics, traumatology, and sports medicine. These collaborative partnerships have enabled Jason to offer the most up-to-date to asana technique, cueing, injury management, and hands-on adjustments. Jason’s goal is to blend the timeless wisdom of yoga philosophy with evidence-based information to create yoga curriculum that helps modern practitioners grow and evolve.
Learn more about Jason.
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Johnny Gillespie
Empowered Wellness Center | Wilmington, DE
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Johnny Gillespie is a yoga and meditation teacher and personal trainer who fuses personal training, strength and conditioning, yoga, and meditation into one powerful experience. Johnny developed a unique operating system to teach people how to move more efficiently and safely. A 1995 graduate of the School of Physical Education at West Virginia University, Johnny is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and a certified 500-Hour Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. He is also a certified meditation teacher by David Nichtern, senior teacher in the lineage of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche.
Since 2005, Johnny has presented Balanced Athlete at NSCA National conferences. He is the creator of an online video series, “Balanced Runner” through Runner’s World. He has written many training manuals and has served as a continuing education provider for the American Fitness Aerobics Association (AFAA), the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), and Yoga Alliance.
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Neil Taylor
Neil Taylor Yoga | Westborough, MA
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Neil, 200 RYT, is an experienced yoga teacher, musician and a life long committed student of both disciplines. He is fascinated by the potential we uncover through intentional placement, steady breathing and the development of awareness. He emphasizes these tools in his teaching to help students empower themselves to heal and live well both on and off the mat.
Being a musician most of his life, Neil found Yoga the way many people do; looking for some exercise. By the end of his first practice he not only felt better physically but also experienced a deep feeling of peace. This pleasant surprise was the beginning of his journey with Yoga.
Neil has trained extensively with Master Baptiste teachers Gregor Singleton, Claire Este-McDonald, and Coeli Marsh and has also had the opportunity to be mentored closely by Masaaki Okamura. Neil has also served as a classroom assistant to his teacher Natasha Rizopolous, and has deepened his understanding of the craft through his apprenticing with Chiropractor and Yogi Dr. Tom Alden. Neil is an active member of the Boston chapter of the Teacher’s Study Project and in his steady commitment to teaching has completed additional trainings with David Nichtern (meditation), Theresa Murphy (yoga and anatomy), and Johnny Gillespie (Balanced Athlete). Today Neil continues to mentor closely with Tom.
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Riley Cote
Empowered Wellness Center | Wilmington, DE
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Since retiring from professional hockey in 2010 with some concussion related collateral damage, Riley has embarked on a quest of holism, healing and alternative/natural medicines. Riley decided to take a different approach with his own personal wellness and began using plant medicines like cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms with intention and then mindfully integrated them into his healing journey.
Riley became a student of life, committed to personal development and spiritual growth. He began attending classes through the American Institute of Holistic Theology which opened his mind to massive change. Riley studied different philosophies and perspectives on nutrition, exercise, recovery, plant medicine and overall wellness – all of which he uses in his Cote Culture Mindfulness Practice that helps people become more aware and in tune with themselves and ultimately increasing quality of life.
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Larry Milburn
Charym Yoga Studio | Litchfield, Connecticut
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Larry took his first yoga class at the esteemed Center for Yoga (Yogaworks) in Los Angeles in 1996 and has been practicing ever since.
Drawing from the inspiration of the many teachers over the years, Larry hopes to share his love of yoga with the community.
Larry says, “I love teaching yoga because I have experienced first hand the amazing effects of a regular practice, and I want to share that passion with others. Students in my class can expect to have fun, build confidence in their practice, learn proper technique, and come away feeling at peace.”
Larry’s podcast Follow Your Drishti is a yoga podcast that includes recordings of all of his weekly yoga classes. He was also interviewed as a guest on the podcast Guys Talking Yoga, which discusses the many benefits of yoga for men.
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Geoffrey Roniger
Yoga Unbound | New Orleans, LA
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Geoffrey Roniger is the founder of the acclaimed Freret Street Yoga in New Orleans. Roniger’s unique approach to yoga emphasizes sound biomechanical alignment principles, intuitive movement, and the eloquent use of metaphor to translate this ancient tradition into our contemporary cultural vernacular.
After graduating from Vanderbilt University with a degree in European Studies in 1998, Roniger moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, where he helped renovate a 19th-century church into Europe’s largest yoga studio. Soon after his return to the United States, he graduated from Piedmont Yoga Studio’s 18-month Advanced Studies Program, where he apprenticed with Richard Rosen and Rodney Yee.
From 2005 to 2010, Roniger was the on-site yoga teacher for Salesforce.com, Amyris Biotechnologies, Beverly Prior Architects, Juice Design, and Urban Revision. Through this experience, he created Workplace Wellness, an accessible program that uses modified yoga techniques to counteract the negative effects of sitting at a desk all day.
Roniger has served on the teacher training staff at The Yoga Loft in San Francisco since 2006. After volunteering for the Urban Zen Foundation at both their V-Day and the Special Olympics events, which successfully implemented therapeutic yoga techniques for evacuees of Hurricane Katrina and athletes with disabilities, he was appointed to Urban Zen Foundation’s faculty for the Integrative Therapy Program in New York.
Geoffrey Roniger has been featured in Yoga Journal as well as in a Gaiam video, Yoga Now.
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Frank Mauro
New York Yoga | NY, NY
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As a very young boy growing up in NYC, his father introduced Frank Mauro to some of the basic principles of Hatha Yoga. In 1990, Frank began a more in depth exploration of Yoga postures as well as the philosophical underpinnings that support them. Taking yoga classes at the few studios through out Manhattan from 1990 to 1998, his dedication to asana practice blossomed into a stable element in his life.
In 1998, he took his first teacher training in Canada at the Sivananda Yoga Center. With the thought of teaching others becoming more of a reality, Frank began attending additional workshops and retreats under the guidance of Richard Freeman, Rodney Yee, Judith Lasater and several other world-renowned Teachers. After reading “The Practice of Moving Into Stillness” in 2000, Frank was inspired to attend a second teacher training with Erich Schiffmann.
Throughout this period of intense and involved study, Frank began a steady practice at the Om Yoga Center. After studying for two years with Cyndi Lee and her staff of teachers, Frank decided to take the Om Yoga teacher training in 2001. As a teacher at Om for 11 years and member of the teacher training staff for eight years, Frank has learned from Cyndi Lee and the rest of the Om community the importance of finding the relevance of practice in everyday life.
Frank has taught hundreds of trainings and workshops in the U.S., South America, Europe and Asia
As a Yoga Alliance E-RYT 500, Frank co-founded Now Yoga in 2012.
Frank Currently teachers in NYC, privately, in person and online. As well as being the current acting director of teacher training in Nagano, Japan’s Poco-Yoga.
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Dominic Stanley
SWEAT Yoga Studio | Albuquerque, NM
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Dominic found yoga during his deployment to Iraq. He started his journey taking classes to improve anxiety and flexibility and found the inner work to be profound. This experience motivated him to want to share the practice and become a teacher. Dominic’s training consists of Barkan Yoga (Bikram Lineage), Ashtanga/Rocket, Level 1 Warrior & Ease, Level 1 iRest Yoga Nidra, and MsFRC mobility coaching.
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Andi Wirz
Samamkaya Yoga | NY, NY
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Andreas (Andi) Wirz, a native of Switzerland found his way to yoga through dance and creative movement. He has been studying and teaching the Iyengar method for the last 20 years. Teachers that have influenced him most are Kevin Gardiner, Robin Janis, Donald Moyer and Genny Kapuler. He also studies yoga with the BMC ℠ approach with Roxlyn Moret and travels every summer with her to Switzerland to teach workshops in Basel and Lucerne.
Andi holds a physical education diploma from the University of Basel, Switzerland. He moved to NYC to pursue a career as a modern dancer. He performed with many modern dance companies and spent half a year in Japan performing with the Swiss mime group "Mummenschanz".
He has been teaching privately to all different age groups for the last 20 years.
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Leon Barnett
Empowered Wellness Center | Wilmington, DE
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Leon completed his 200 hour teacher training at Empowered Yoga in 2017. Leon says, "I work during the day because I have to, and teach yoga in the evening because I love to. My yoga journey began at EY’s Brand New Beginner class and I have never looked back. The sense of community and connection I feel in the rooms of Empowered Yoga keep me coming back."
You will be challenged but, you can expect Leon’s easygoing and upbeat personality to cross over into his class. Leon has completed The Transformation Yoga Project’s teacher training. TYP takes yoga into the community to teach trauma victims, and institutionalized practitioners. Leon currently teaches a weekly class for a local halfway house. He loves to witness the profound effect that breath and movement has on everyone that gets onto their mat.
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Steve Safrit
SoFul Yoga | Salisbury, NC
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Steve has been in the fitness field for more than 30 years, serving as an ambassador for many people. His story began in 2001 when he earned certification from Energy Quest and Teri Reeves, his mentor. He then acquired a level 1 and 2 Karate background from SideKick Karate of Salisbury, and his journey into yoga progressed. After leading classes at Gold's Gym and The Forum of Salisbury and Lexington, Steve began to teach yoga at pediatric centers, health fairs, schools, and churches to share with others what he had learned. He is certified through Expert Rating and enjoys sharing his knowledge, time, and new experiences at SoFul Yoga.
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Dave Johnson
SWEAT Yoga Studio | Albuquerque, NM
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David has been a top athlete all his life, participating in varsity sports, long distance races, triathlons, crossfit and cycling. He was first introduced to yoga in 2013 by Marisa, while vacationing in Tulum, Mexico at a resort where yoga was offered in an outdoor palapa at the beach. That was the first time David had ever taken a yoga class, and he was immediately hooked. He returned from that trip and dove head first into his home yoga practice. He taught himself in his Placitas garage studio for a year before venturing out to the best commercial hot yoga studio in Albuquerque – SWEAT!