Meet the Teachers

Our Teacher Collective: We enjoy being part of a common collective working towards the greater good. Teachers come from diverse backgrounds and bring their unique expression and energy to our space. We offer community workshops and events that cultivate healthy, compassionate, sustainable living and peace in the world.

 
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Ellen Forman

Ellen's work is based on over thirty years of inquiry, experience, practice and study. Her journey towards health and holistic living started when she was 15, after she lost her mom to cancer. She has an eclectic teaching style with a strong focus on the healing effects of the breath on mind, body and spirit. She combines playfulness and positive energy to inspire students to find balance and harmony in daily life. She leads workshops which include conscious nourishment and awakening the creative spirit, through yoga, art and mindfulness. Ellen's therapeutic approach comes from a deep commitment to the ancient healing art of yoga as a vehicle to cultivate awareness and restore balance for the individual and the planet.  She is also committed to a whole food plant-based lifestyle as a way to express love and compassion for all beings. 

E-RYT500, Yoga therapist, holistic lifestyle educator, Level I Gentle Somatic Yoga Teacher, director of PranaMoon Yoga.

 

Brianna Nimphius

Brianna Nimphius is a CYT and certified AcroYoga instructor after completing training with All Yoga in Thailand and AcroYoga International in Argentina. Brianna’s professional background in Recreational Therapy and Health Science influenced her philosophies in holistically treating the mind, body, spirit with fun and play. Currently pursuing her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Brianna creatively weaves mental health and wellness into all her offerings. Brianna believes that health and joy should be made accessible to all. Her worldview informs her belief in the necessity and power of playfulness, humor, gratitude, and community. Brianna is passionate about fostering a warm and welcoming environment for all students based on consent, genuineness, connection, and acceptance. Her teaching style reflects this philosophy by offering students a variety of variations in classes from restorative to acrobatic. 

 
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Sabrina Eyster

Sabrina believes in the power of yoga for self discovery, love and compassion. In her personal practice, yoga has allowed her to shine the light of awareness on the areas in need of healing. Honored to be a part of her students journey and practice, she provides a safe and creative space. Welcoming all to find the fullest expression of their own practice and in doing so, cultivating the love necessary to explore the depths of the universe within. Sabrina completed her 200hr YTT at the Living Seed Yoga Center located in New Paltz, NY. 

 
 
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Lela Damico

For over 20 years Lela’s love of yoga and devotion to her own study and personal practice have inspired her work as a teacher and massage therapist. In 1999 she became a certified Prana Yoga instructor, and ten years later completed her 500 hour yoga teacher training in India with the dedicated and brilliant staff of the Himalayan Institute. Lela continues to teach and pursue her studies as well as lead international yoga meditation retreats combining her love of travel and nature with yoga. Her intention is to support our precious bodies in releasing stress and growing stronger and suppler, while also promoting self-inquiry and spiritual development ~ one of yoga’s greatest gifts! Lela is very grateful to have discovered the yogic path that so enriches her own life and is deeply humbled and honored to share this age old transformational wisdom tradition with you.

E-RYT 500, LMT

 

Danielle Spaeth

Yoga has been part of Danielle’s life for over 20 years and the practice has helped her to grow stronger both on and off the mat. However, her continuous practice really began on a beautiful, sunny day, 9 years ago, in Cold Spring, NY where she met Ellen Forman for the first time. Since then, Ellen encouraged her to become a yoga instructor to further her practice. She completed her 200 hour Vinyasa Flow training with Living Yoga Studio in 2015. Danielle will always be a student of the practice and is deeply grateful for the wisdom her teachers have shared with her. In Danielle’s classes, she loves to combine creative sequencing, mindful breath, forgotten music and some inspiration to help deepen the student’s practice. Her hope is that students will step off the mat feeling refreshed, nourished and balanced.

 
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Kellen Knight

Kellen finds deep fulfillment in co-creating a space aimed at cultivating personal empowerment so as to promote self-discovery and inner growth. She leads her classes with compassion, authenticity, awareness, and intention, and is dedicated to creating a space where students feel nurtured, challenged, supported, and safe. With emphasis on breath and body-awareness, her approach to asana is that of a moving meditation, supporting us in connecting with our Highest Self and the Greater Whole.

A lifelong endurance athlete, her love and connection to yoga began in 2016, while recovering from severe trauma sustained in a bicycle versus auto accident. Crediting yoga for immensely supporting and shaping her recovery, she chose to dedicate her life to studying Yoga and Ayurveda. She has studied with teachers from around the globe, and continues learning from the students in her classes every single day. She is humbled and honored to practice alongside you. 

 

Kristi Gione

Kristi became curious about the untapped strength within her body as she prepared for the birth of her daughter. She discovered that yoga afforded her a way to appreciate the journey toward the goal of a healthy baby. As a mother and story-teller Kristi offers classes that challenge beginner yogis and seasoned practitioners alike.  She embraces a student-centered philosophy which puts the goals, needs, and development of her students ahead of any prescriptive method of instruction. She is committed to sharing the full experience of a complete practice rather than limiting her teaching to just the physical poses. Her high-energy classes will take you on a journey of self-discovery using music and movement to stimulate the outer body and connect students to a deeper inner awareness. 

 
 

Sarah Calandra Fine

Sarah Calandra Fine has taught yoga for over 10 years. On top of her love for yoga, she is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Birthworker. Her teaching style is ever evolving as she integrates Ayurvedic principles and healing touch into her practice. Sarah unites her intuitive understandings of many modalities of alternative medicines into her yogic style to create a truly unique experience during her classes. She is dedicated to facilitating healing through yoga.

 

Robin Palmer

Robin is profoundly grateful for the opportunity to practice and share yoga. His early path led him to pursue his degree in Philosophy, which is where he found eastern and non-traditional spirituality. It wasn’t until many years later that he found yoga, seeking healing from a self destructive and chronically unhealthy lifestyle. A 200 hour certified yoga teacher since 2019, he is passionate about teaching yoga as mindful movement and combining yoga with meditation. Also a lifelong musician, Robin hopes to share sound and music to deepen and uplift your practice. A builder and tinkerer at heart, his day job is providing fiber optic and wireless RF technology for pro sports broadcasting.

 

Lauren Barrett, L.Ac (s/her/s)

To Lauren, healing means movement toward feeling more at home in our bodies and on the planet, recognizing and honoring our own inner wisdom, and living our true nature. Guiding people to feel more at ease in their bodies and being a witness to the inherent wisdom and innate healing potential in each of us are the greatest intentions in her work. 

Lauren considers her role as a partner with the honor of supporting people on their healing paths and believes that each of us are deserving of compassionate and whole-person-centered care.

Before settling in the Hudson Valley, Lauren practiced in Manhattan and Brooklyn, specializing in fertility and reproductive care. She treats a range of conditions, including anxiety, stress, and depression; gastrointestinal conditions; natural fertility and ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) support and reproductive healthcare for people with uteruses; and physical pain.

She believes healing is interconnected. When we heal ourselves, we heal each other, and we heal the Earth.

 

Julia Zern

Julia is a Somatic Release BreathworkTM practitioner as well as Vinyasa and Yin yoga teacher living and working in the Hudson Valley. She has a background of practicing and studying many different styles of yoga, learning from both local and international teachers since the year 2000 and teaching since 2011. Julia is a Somatic Release Breathwork practitioner certified by founder Steven Jaggers. Thismodality became an incredible source for healing trauma and grief and create expansion in her own life.

Julia is honored to share the healing power of breathwork with others through the alchemy o Somatic Release and NLP to truly bring us back to homeostasis and live a more authentic life, to connect back to our intuition, purpose and creative life force. You can find Julia leading classes, workshops and trainings around Hudson Valley and sometimes in her home country Sweden.

 

Anthony Purdy

Anthony Purdy (E-RYT 200) grew up on the edge of Kenya’s Great Rift Valley where its rich primordial beauty engendered in him a profound sense of life’s interconnectedness. He received his first classical guitar at age nine which began a life-long passion for music. Years later the discovery of yoga felt like reuniting with an old friend whose ideas and philosophy meshed perfectly with his own.

Anthony received his certification in 2014 from the Birchwood Center in Nyack, NY and has taught adult classes in yoga and meditation at studios in Nyack, White Plains, the Bronx and Manhattan. He’s also a certified children’s yoga teacher and has taught children’s yoga and mindfulness at studios and schools in Manhattan and the Bronx.Anthony always incorporates live music at the end of each class and has had the honor and pleasure of creating and performing sound baths using a variety of acoustic instruments and crystal bowls.He recently moved to Cortlandt Manor from Riverdale and is excited to become involved in the local yoga community.

 

Chrissy Braun

Chrissy discovered yoga over 20 years ago, initially to offset her marathon training and then at a deeper level when she began to understand how transformative it can be. She obtained her YTT200 through Westchester Yoga Arts in New Rochelle and continues to deepen her practice by sharing her love of yoga with others. She has experience teaching various styles to a wide range of age groups and fitness levels. She cares deeply about creating positive experiences to help people connect with themselves and the world around them. She aims to facilitate welcoming, fun, and accessible yoga classes where students feel empowered to explore, grow, embrace their authenticity, and simply find joy in movement. 

 

Erin Bedenbaugh

Erin was drawn to yoga in her mid-20’s due to the yoga “buzz” in the fitness world…she stayed because the benefits she had begun to unlock went way beyond the physical body; illuminating a path of growth, self-discovery, and self-love. After several years of practice, desiring to share her love of yoga with others, she completed two separate teacher trainings in 2017. Erin’s teaching style has been described as thorough, confident, inspiring and compassionate. She has a strong understanding of and love for anatomy, and places a strong emphasis on the importance of safe alignment before moving deeper in any pose.  She asserts that how a student feels in a posture is more important than how the pose might look from the outside. With a deep respect for the differences between each student, she is able to hold space for all bodies, and encourages students to observe themselves in their practice with playful curiosity and without judgment. 

 
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Betsy Egan

Betsy is a seasoned yogi who teaches to share the love and benefits of yoga.  She is certified through the Kripalu School of Yoga, Pranotthan School of Yoga, and Yoga Alliance. She is grateful to have trained with Yoganand, Devarshi, and teachers who learned the Kripalu lineage directly from Swami Kripalu.  She also enjoys and teaches a variety of styles including vinyasa, gentle, restorative, yoga nidra, and has studied with teachers Sharon Gannon and David Life (Jivamukti) Jovinna Chan, Seane Corne, Coby Kozlowski, Ragunoth, and many other deeply inspirational teachers. A multi-faceted approach coupled with her compassionate heart will help you to flourish in your yoga practice. Her positive nonjudgmental approach fosters classes where students can enjoy an uplifting class that brings benefits to all layers of your being.

E-RYT500

 
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Alexa Wolkoff

Alexa Wolkoff's first introduction to yoga was in 1998 in a tiny New York City community yoga studio- it was there that she discovered a connection not only to her own body, but a deeper connection to the world around her. A Yoga practitioner and teacher, Psychotherapist, sometimes Professional Actress and creator of Yoga Sol, Alexa has found a way to let her passions each give an intrinsic value to the other. She believes that emotional healing and transformation are possible through a committed yoga practice that includes working with all eight limbs. Alexa continues her life-long journey studying how yoga affects the brain, body and emotions- from both psychological, and yogic perspectives. Alexa creates classes that help guide students to find acceptance and expansion their bodies, hearts and minds and increase the ability to discover, cooperate with and explore their own individual “edges.” Her classes are a combination of Hatha yoga, Restorative yoga and Yogic philosophy- with a focus on the breath, embodiment, releasing physical tension, building strength and healing- all while quieting the mind.