Andrew Barrett
To me, yoga is a reductive process. It burns through the shackles of physical asymmetry and psychological stress and creates balance. Yoga brings integration by harmonizing strength with letting go, and builds a bridge between mind and body in a way contrary to many of our culture's assumptions. A teacher once told me that our musculature is our memory’s hard drive, and my experience releasing memories, burning away traumas and resentments through asana practice (yoga poses) has solidified this idea. My personal practice is one of adjustment and readjustment in each pose to release the physical and psychological tensions stored in my muscles, and to ultimately be liberated from them into deeper states of balance. The shape of my life is indeed the shape of my body, and yoga is my vehicle towards freedom.
Barb Ehlers
Barb has been a certified personal trainer for nearly 10 years and a Pilates mat instructor for over 5 years. She is pre/post natal certified and has many years of experience working closely with physical therapists. She fully embraces Joseph H. Pilates' principles of body awareness and thorough physical development. Her particular goal is to teach her students to really connect to their bodies in class, and start to apply the feeling of strength and length to their daily lives.
Carrie Martens
Carrie teaches a calm, quiet, challenging vinyasa class inspired by Ashtanga, meditation, her teachers, and ever-evolving life. In class, she provides careful guidance to properly align body, mind and breath, and space for students to discover the beauty and strength of the practice within themselves. Carrie was certified through Laughing Lotus in 2007 and apprentices with Kristin Leigh at The Shala.
Chintamani Kansas
Chintamani is an experienced yoga teacher, body worker, and yoga therapist. Her yoga classes are a playful blend of creative sequencing, intelligent alignment, mindful presence, and body-awareness meditation. The mixture of structure and joyful movement encourages safety and skillfulness, as well as freedom and expression. Chintamani's "MO" is to get us all to move, have fun, find our joy, and feel connected and smart. Chintamani continues to study meditation and other styles of yoga and yoga therapies, including Embodied Anatomy in Yoga, Prenatal Yoga, Yoga Therapy for Specific Conditions, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy and Thai Massage. Teachers who have particularly touched her heart are: Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Amy Matthews, Roxlyn Moret, Cyndi Lee, Genny Kapuler, Erich Schiffmann, Shiva Rea, Dharma Mittra, Mukunda Stiles, and Ellen Saltonstall.
Danielle Gregan
Love at first sight – that is how Danielle's relationship with yoga began. She has been practicing for seven years, and like any truly great relationship, the connection has only gotten stronger over time. After spending five years in a very fast-paced corporate job, Danielle decided to turn her passion for yoga into a profession and became a Registered Yoga Teacher, certified at Laughing Lotus Yoga Center. She wholeheartedly believes that happiness is a choice. And for her, yoga is happiness. In her teachings, Danielle incorporates asana flow with pranayama and meditative techniques. The goal, first and foremost, is to move in harmony with your breath, while tapping into a deeper awareness of your self to provide a balance that will bring you to a peaceful, happy place.
Dhyani Purswani
A native New Yorker, Dhyani discovered the benefits of yoga as a confused and stressed out teenager, and it sparked a huge transformation in her. The poses were uncomfortable, and she resisted many of them. But she showed up nonetheless, and always left class feeling better than when she walked in. "Yoga has given me a stronger sense of self, the ability to overcome fears and the capacity for acceptance -- of myself & others." She practiced a variety of styles over the next 10 years. She wanted to be a Yoga Teacher when she grew up. Finally, in the summer of 2007 Dhyani found herself at Yogaville Ashram in Virginia, where she studied Integral Hatha Yoga through the lineage of Swami Satichidananda. She synthesizes her experience to offer a class that is a no-rush, Hatha/Vinyasa Flow with a strong focus on alignment, and a little humour. Dhyani reminds students to stay grounded in the present moment, and connected to the deep longing that has led to them to self-exploration. She favors simplicity and dedication: you are called to be here now with your whole body and all of your senses. "Yoga is the relationship you have with yourself," she says. Therapeutic and Restorative Yoga are her specializations. Dhyani is in her second year of Yoga Anatomy studies at The Breathing Project, and recently completed Yoga for Two, a prenatal certification at Pure Yoga this fall. Daily practice of Vipassana Mediation, Pranayama, Uzazu, Mindfulness, and Buddhist studies are also part of Dhyani's ongoing journey to live in Joy and Abundance! And thankfully she hasn't grown up yet...
Erica Schweer Whalen
Erica has been teaching yoga in studios, gyms, and living rooms throughout New York City since 2005. In 2007, she became the proud owner and creative director of mang'Oh Studio. She received her yoga teacher training at Laughing Lotus Yoga School, under the direct instruction of Dana Flynn and Jasmine Tarkeshi. In addition to teaching yoga, Erica dances professionally for various dance companies and theatrical productions. She holds a BFA in Ballet and Modern Dance from Texas Christian University. Erica's classes celebrate the tradition of expressive and ecstatic hatha vinyasa. While maintaining a strong commitment to structural alignment, the focus of her class is discovering the breath and opening the heart. Because of her extensive training in dance, the choreography of the asanas is creative, fluid, and exciting. Erica hopes to bring peace, freedom, and relaxation to her students that directly translates into their everyday lives off the mat.
Felice Romero
Felice is a professional dancer who received her BFA in Ballet and Modern Dance from Texas Christian University. She also is Pilates mat and apparatus certified through the PhysicalMind Institute. In her mat classes Felice challenges her students to bring a full mental awareness to what their bodies are doing so as to gain a more well rounded body/mind connection. Her classes also focus on teaching and maintaining proper body alignment and form. Once the students have achieved proper alignment they will begin to notice an increased range of motion in their joints, improvement in their posture, and an overall awareness of one's own body and how it functions.
Heidi Kristoffer
Heidi’s teaching comes straight from her heart and her personal practice. It was love at first vinyasa when a Google search for gyms in her new neighborhood led Heidi to a yoga studio. Practicing everyday since, Heidi is immensely grateful to have the opportunity to learn from the plethora of amazing teachers NYC has to offer. Looking to deepen her spiritual practice, Heidi enrolled in Teacher Training at Laughing Lotus, where she discovered a great passion for teaching and sharing the many benefits of yoga. Inversion obsessed, and addicted to sweaty vinyasa flows, Heidi maintains an intense focus on core integration and alignment stemming from her desire to use yoga as a tool to heal and strengthen the body. As an old accident left her with broken vertebrae and multiple herniated discs in her spine, Heidi is a true believer in the powers of Yogic Healing. In her classes, expect to breathe, to laugh and to sweat.
Justin Ritchie
Justin is trained in two schools of Vinyasa yoga. He first studied at The Yoga Sequence and later at Laughing Lotus. Early in his path, Just was taken under the wing of some of NYC's most established yoga teachers for his ability to sense and work with energy as well as his calming presence. He has begun to rapidly rise within the yoga community. Justin now teaches regularly and leads workshops for beginners, master classes, partner yoga and much more.
Lisa Bermudez
Born and raised in Queens New York, Lisa found the yoga practice through her love for dance, theatre, and the creative arts that have been surrounding her all her life. As a graduate of the Laughing Lotus College of Yoga, she infuses her classes with playful sequences, syncing the breath to movement, and acknowledging the self-discovery that comes up within each pose. She is always excited by the way the practice varies each time we come to the mat and breathes right into the experience. She bows down to, and is continuously grateful for all of the inspirational teachers and students who have entered, and continue to come into her life.
Lisa Iannacito
Having been introduced to it as a supplement to her dance training, Lisa Iannacito has been practicing Pilates for more than half her lifetime. The benefits of a regular Pilates practice were quickly evident and she is happy to now share this with her students. She was certified in 2007 by the Kane School of Core Integration to teach mat, reformer, cadillac, and chair exercises. She chose this program for its emphasis on anatomy and biomechanics. Her classes focus on strengthening the core to facilitate clarity of movement with supported breath and proper alignment. She received her BFA in Dance from Purchase College in 2001. She continues to perform with Lydia Johnson Dance and Riedel Dance Theater for which she also serves as the Associate Artistic Director. She is thrilled to have received her yoga certification through mang'Oh in their inaugural teacher training and is enjoying sharing her love of yoga through teaching the mang'Oh community.
Randi Zinn
When Randi Zinn found yoga, she found the fusion of physical movement and spiritual connection, something she always felt inside, but had never been able to articulate. When yoga helped Randi handle a personal crisis and ultimately experience healing, she knew she had to share this practice with the world. In 2008, Randi completed her 200-hour Vinyasa Teacher Certification through Laughing Lotus Yoga Center and in 2010 she completed a Restorative Yoga Certification with Judith Hanson-Lasater. With stories, humor and movement, Randi loves bringing this sacred practice to the mang'Oh community. She commits herself to transforming the trials of life into journeys of learning, and encourages her students to do the same!