Teachers
Alan Finger |
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South African Tantric and Kriya Yoga Master Alan Finger began studying yoga at the age of 16 with his father Mani Finger and renowned swamis of the past century. Alan and Mani created ISHTA Yoga. The ISHTA style integrates breath-based flow yoga with alignment, meditation and healing bodywork. Before creating a home for ISHTA, Alan co-founded Yoga Zone, Be Yoga and Yoga Works. Alan has authored several books and travels the world to share his teachings.
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Mona Anand
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Mona Anand grew up in Bombay, India, where she was first introduced to yoga. A Senior Ishta teacher, Mona has been studying with Alan Finger since 2002. She is a teacher trainer in the 200 and 300 hour ISHTA teacher trainings. She also teaches yoga nidra and restorative chakra workshops at The ISHTA Studio and around NYC. Mona encourages her students to individualize their practice in a group class. Ayurveda and the chakras are integrated into her classes. Mona has a Master’s in International Affairs from Columbia University and lives in Manhattan with her husband and two daughters. |
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Rajiv Arapurakal
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Born in South India, Rajiv is a third generation yogi who left the high-paced world of advertising to share yoga. He is fascinated by the convergence of medicine and yoga and pursues further training to employ yoga for medical and stress-related conditions. Rajiv provides an approachable yoga vinyasa flow and meditative practice for high-performance New Yorkers. Rajiv received his Advanced Training from Alan Finger. Further initiated by Mark Whitwell and trained by Rodney Yee, Richard Freeman, and Dr. Jeff Migdow. He is now a third year medical student.
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Michael Bartelle
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Michael Bartelle has been practicing yoga for nearly a decade. He was a student of both the first 200-hour and 300-hour teacher training programs at the ISHTA Yoga Studio. He continues to draw inspiration from his teachers Alan Finger, Jean Koerner, and Sarah Platt Finger, and from the stillness that he finds daily through the practices they have taught him. He has also studied restorative yoga with Judith Lasater, and Ishta Marma Therapy with Alan Finger. Michael's aim in his teaching is to help students integrate their breath with their minds and bodies, so that they can experience themselves as full and complete in this moment.
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Melissa Brasier
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Melissa is a 500 Hour Yoga Alliance Certified teacher. She began her teacher training in 2000 under the guidance of Jean Koerner and Alan Finger at Be Yoga in NYC. Melissa has a BFA in Modern dance from Marymount Manhattan College and comes from a strong performing arts background. Her ISHTA yoga classes explore athletic, graceful movement while flowing on the breath. She welcomes students of all levels to begin or continue their practice with her.
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Laura Butler
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Laura is an E-RYT 500-hour yoga, meditation, restorative yoga, and pre-natal yoga teacher. She started studying yoga in 2000, taking Vinyasa flow classes in Columbus, Ohio.
She began teaching in 2007, and received her 200-hour certification at YogaWorks, and then her 300-hour certification from ISHTA Yoga. She currently studies and teaches in Manhattan at the ISHTA Yoga Center with her teacher Yogiraj Alan Finger. In 2009, she traveled to India, and went to The Yoga Institute in Santacruz, Mumbai. She has studied many types of yoga including Iyengar, Vinyasa flow, Anusara, and ISHTA. She has extensive training in asana, meditation, pranayama, Ayurveda, Marma points (a form of acupressure) and the healing aspects of yoga. Laura has been featured in both Yoga Journal and Boro magazines. For the past 3 years, she has assisted Summer Solstice in Times Square founder Douglass Stewart at this annual event. She also led part of the 108 Sun Salutations at the worldwide 2010 Global Mala Yoga For Peace Event in New York City. Laura incorporates fun, joy, creativity, alignment, flowing with the breath, mantra, and support into her classes, along with her extensive knowledge of the brain and anatomy. It is a pleasure to challenge her students to reach their full potential, not only in their bodies, but also in their lives. Contact her with questions or to schedule privates at laura_butler11@hotmail.com. |
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Amy Coombs |
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Amy is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) in Yoga Alliance’s National Yoga Teacher Registry at the 500 hour level. She came to Yoga seeking an antidote to the stress of overseeing the opening of a new performing arts center. Certified first in the YogaWorks method, and now proud to be part of the amazing lineage that is ISHTA, she offers a sensibly sequenced, alignment- based, challenging, physical practice that endeavors to promote vitality, relaxation and a sense of well-being. She incorporates ISHTA meditation techniques, and pranayama, and offers numerous modifications to the asana portion to truly make her classes accessible to every level of strength and flexibility. Amy favors light-heartedness over a didactic trudge along the path to enlightenment, and strives to strike the right chord of humor, with music, and real-world philosophy.
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Kelly Eudailey
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Kelly began studying yoga eleven years ago in Richmond, Virginia, as a complement to her dance training. After moving to New York in 2001, Kelly had the good fortune to practice at Be Yoga under the guidance of Beverley Murphy, Alan Finger and Jean Koerner. She completed her 500-hour teacher training in the ISHTA Yoga lineage, and has also studied extensively with Leslie Kaminoff at the Breathing Project. Kelly's style is inspired by a deep respect of anatomy, a playful attitude, and the wish to see more city-folk take a deep breath and enjoy the moment! |
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Peter Ferko
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Peter Ferko began practicing yoga more than twenty years ago at Alan Finger's Yoga Works in Los Angeles. He studied there with Rod Stryker and Patricia Townsend. He studied meditation with Yogananda's Self Realization Fellowship where he learned Kriya Yoga techniques. He sampled Iyengar and Ashtanga styles before landing back with Alan upon moving to New York in 1999. After decades of practice, he obtained the Yoga Alliance 500-hour teaching certification from Be Yoga's training program and now teaches both students and teacher trainees. Peter's approach to yoga involves tuning out the voices that tell us what we can't do physically and why we're not "there yet" and tuning in to the inner yoga. We are perfect yogis as we practice the yoga that's perfect for us. In addition to his yoga pursuits, Peter is a multi-media artist and brings creativity, imagery, and a sense of humor to his teaching. "Asana and pranayama are the ways to balance physical and subtle energy, meditation is a chance to fill with understanding, and life full of energy and understanding is just plain better." -P.F.
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Cassandra Ferland
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Cassandra began to incorporate yoga into her life over ten years ago. What inspires her practice and her teaching is space- the creation of space to gain perspective, to find balance, and to reconnect with the joy and beauty of moving through life. Her approach to yoga is informed by her career in the arts, and her classes encourage exploration and experimentation. She currently teaches yoga and art to children and adults in the NYC area, both privately and in group classes. |
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Stephanie Fungsang
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Stephanie discovered yoga ten years ago on an old auditorium stage in Ohio, and has been cultivating that seed of practice ever since. She is continually inspired by the way moving the body can bring awareness inward and unite the body with the breath and mind, leading to a sense of balance. A lighthearted and compassionate teacher, she makes her classes a space where every human being can feel good and practice living joyfully. Stephanie is 500-hour certified through ISHTA Yoga in New York City with teachers Alan Finger, Mona Anand, Sarah Platt-Finger, and Jean Koerner. Stephanie graduated from Wesleyan University, where she studied Dance and East Asian Studies. She has performed domestically and internationally as a professional dance artist and loves all kinds of movement, from climbing to martial arts to deep relaxation.
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Sashi Gollub
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After practicing intermittently for years, Sashi’s practice truly deepened and transformed once she started meditating. She found that by tuning in to the microcosm of her own internal world, she began to understand the external world around her with greater clarity, patience, ease, and joy. No longer was Yoga simply an alternative means to athleticism, or even some good deep stretching; it became a dance between the physical and the energetic… a moving meditation, that could be applied to every moment of the day. |
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Julia K. Haramis
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Julia is an NYC native and has been practicing Yoga for nearly 15 years. She began teaching Vinyasa flow in 2007 after completing her 200 hour training at Yoga People in Brooklyn. She has also studied the Anusara method and completed Immersions 1, 2 and 3. Julia completed her advanced 500 hour training at ISHTA Yoga in 2010 and continues to study there with her mentor Mona Anand as well as Yogiraj Alan Finger and Senior Teachers Sarah Finger, Jean Koerner and Melissa Brasier. Most recently she completed the Marma Therapy Course at ISHTA with Alan Finger and the Relax and Renew Restorative training with Judith Lasater. Julia is RYT 500 and E-RYT 200 certified with the Yoga Alliance. She is active in Off the Mat, Into the World a non-profit organization that bridges the Yoga community with social activism. Her classes are in an alignment based flow style and she strives to make Yoga accessible to student of all levels. Currently Julia teaches children, adults, corporate and senior citizen classes. In addition to teaching, Julia attended the Institute of Integrative Nutrition where she trained to become a certified Holistic Health Counselor and owns her own counseling business called the NYC Nutritionista®. She is a firm believer in integrating Yoga and healthy behaviors throughout all aspects of life. |
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Meaghan Jarensky
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Meaghan began her journey in yoga at a young age. She first became an ACE certified group fitness instructor. With a background in dance since childhood, she tried a yoga class and it soon became one of her favorite forms of exercise. Meaghan later graduated Pace University with a degree in International Marketing. A digestive condition influenced her to study nutrition and the effect food has on our bodies. This led her to become a certified Holistic Health Counselor from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Further study of the self and how emotions and mental state can affect our bodies crossed roads once more with yoga. This path brought her full circle and her journey continued at ISHTA yoga where she received her 500 hr. yoga teacher training certification and continues to study with Alan Finger. Meaghan has found that yoga is the culmination all of her lifelong interests in healthy nutrition, physical fitness, and the mind’s connection to body. Meaghan provides students with a well-rounded and dynamic practice as she brings all of these related philosophies together. She strives to create peace, happiness, and awareness in her own life while helping her students find balance doing the same.
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Jean Koerner
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Jean Koerner began practicing yoga in New York City in 1988 and is now a senior teacher of ISHTA (integrated sciences of hatha, tantra, and ayurveda) yoga. Jean has used yoga to recover from a back injury, and avoided surgery in 1993 with the help of her daily yoga practice. Formerly a co-owner of Be Yoga Studios in Manhattan with her teacher Alan Finger, Jean has been exposed to every aspect of running a yoga business as well as teaching yoga. Jean developed and implemented a teacher training program for 2 major yoga studios in New York (Be Yoga and Yoga Works) which both gained a solid reputation among yoga teacher trainings. Jean currently teaches in NYC and has been featured in many magazines highlighting her yoga career and in over 30 television episodes called Yoga Zone which were broadcast nationally and are currently available as retail videos. She is also featured on www.iyogalife.com as a yoga authority. For more details on Jean's experience & practice go to www.jeankoerner.com
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Kristin Leal
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Soon after moving to New York City in 1993 to pursue her dance career Kristin’s friend dragged her to her first yoga class at the old Jivamukti yoga school. While she had no idea what anyone was talking about she immediately fell in love with the poetry of meditation in movement. She studied with her first teachers Sharon Gannon, David Life, and Katchie Ananda for many years trying to discover and understand herself and this transformative practice she stumbled upon. She hungrily went to every workshop and studied with every teacher that passed through town and completed several teacher trainings with Adrienne Burke (a senior Jivamukti teacher), Rodney Yee, and Betsey Downing PhD.
In 1995, she graduated from the Swedish Institute for Massage Therapy and became a Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki practitioner. She has additional certifications in Thai massage, Neuromuscular and Myofascial release. She has been honored to lead many workshops and teacher trainings around the world and in 2005 Kristin created the Kaya yoga 200 and 300 hour teacher trainings and advanced anatomy series to share her passion for the miracle of the human body and the liberating potential of movement.
In 2006 her life changed yet again when she met her teacher Yogiraj Alan Finger. She is beyond thrilled to have been able to work alongside this yogi master helping him to further translate his teachings in the ISHTA Yoga 200 and 300 hour teacher trainings and to help create the ISHTA Marma Point teacher training.
She is a co-author of the book “The Yoga Fan” and is currently working on her second book with Alan Finger drawing correlations between the physical and energetic anatomy. www.kristinleal.com
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Cathy Lilly
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Cathy teaches to share gratitude, and help others discover the healing aspects of yoga. She encourages exploring yoga as the gateway to let go of the tense mind, body, and breath, so freedom that is our birthright can flow in. This was not apparent when Cathy took her first yoga class in 1976 as it appeared so easy due to her gymnastics training. Though fifteen years later, medical practitioners and friends insisted she focus on yoga to treat physical injuries, and unresolved grief. Once filled with recovery and renewed spirit, Cathy eagerly explored styles of asana, pranayama, and meditation, and today is a Senior ISHTA yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance E-RYT500 certification. Also, her B.S. degree in medical sciences plus perfumes/essential oils background allow her to readily describe how the ISHTA system integrates ancient Indian wisdom with today's modern science.
Continuing education includes teaching yoga as a form of physical therapy with Dr. Loren Fishman, plus restorative and yoga the rapy trainings and certifications: Yoga Of The Heart™ - yoga for cardiac, cancer and other life threatening diseases - Nischala Joy Devi. Yogaworks Restorative Yoga Teacher Trainings levels 1 & 2 - Jillian Pranskey, Relax and Renew Restorative Yoga Training - Judith Hanson Lasater, and Applied Breathing Concepts of Yoga courses- Leslie Kaminoff. Karma yoga includes serving as Screen Actors Guild's National CoChair of the National Health Care Safetynet committee since 1999. |
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Ben Lombardo
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Ben Lombardo found his passion for teaching yoga after many years of exploring the body through fencing and ballroom dance. Synthesizing a lifelong interest in psychology and self awareness with his love of movement, yoga instantly became a tool to unify his life and find peace of mind. The integration of body, breath, and mind is fundamental to Ben's classes. His teaching style encourages a strong practice that yields to the natural intelligence of the body as a means to expand awareness of the subtle body. His goal as a teacher is to challenge students within their limits and help them find more grace and ease in their practice. Above all, he hopes to inspire his students to never stop exploring-- using the physical body as a gateway to the subtler dimensions of the self and a heightened understanding of the interconnectedness of all life, within and without.
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Kumiko Mack
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Kumiko began studying yoga with Alan Finger more than a decade ago. Mesmerised by the world of tantra, she endeavors to live yoga every moment of her life. With Alan's blessing, she opened Be Yoga Japan in the year 2000. Since then she has been leading many trainings in Tokyo, Japan. ERYT 500. |
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Gina Menza
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After close to twenty years practicing and teaching ISHTA yoga, Gina Menza has learned the importance of balancing the active side of one’s yoga practice and the quiet solitude of a restorative yoga sequence. She has learned to balance the frenetic and exquisitely fun energy of living in New York City with the refueling and relaxing rest necessary to survive. She is a Senior teacher at ISHTA and holds advanced certification as a Relax and Renew Restorative Yoga Trainer. Presently, Gina teaches two weekly restorative classes.
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Shell Merrill |
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Shell Merrill has always enjoyed expressing herself physically; from her career as a modern dancer to her later adventures as a zany Spinning instructor and cycling trainer. While cycling made her feel strong, Shell soon realized that she still had a brain that was moving far too fast inside a body that was quickly getting too stiff and inflexible. A friend offered to take her to yoga class, and Shell has been learning to slow down (in mind and body) ever since. For Shell, yoga is all about the knowledge gained through trying new things, learning to practice rather than trying to be perfect, and most of all being able to laugh through the whole experience. She brings a sense of fun, joy and compassion to all of her classes for both adults and children. Shell is an E-RYT 500 hour certified teacher. She is also a RCYT (children’s teacher), a RPYT (prenatal teacher) and teacher of restorative yoga. She has studied to teach yoga to kids at Karma Kids Yoga, Little Flower Yoga and Street Yoga which brings the benefits of yoga to homeless and at-risk youth. Shell is an ISHTA Yoga Senior Teacher trained at Be Yoga and calms her own “bouncing off the walls” energy by continually reminding herself to "be happy where you are and breathe."
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Jason Morris |
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As a yogi and former ballet dancer and martial artist, Jason has worked within the body-mind/fitness industry for more than 16 years and has been recognised as a leader in his field. His sessions focus primarily on empowering the breath, connecting that breath to fluid movement, and then focusing that union towards the infinite possibilities yoga opens for its practitioners. Though primarily influenced by his teacher, Yogiraj Alan Finger, Jason's classes are always a synthesis of the various teachings of the amazing yogis, swamis, and teachers he's been blessed to study with worldwide. Recognized as an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) by the Yoga Alliance®, he is sought-after and travels internationally to teach the healing and rejuvenation of body-mind and Yogic practices to Corporations and Yoga studios. At present, he is broadening his knowledge of Traditional Healing Practices, by completing a Masters of Science in Traditional Oriental Medicine (Chinese Acupuncture and Herbology). For more information, visit: www.namaste-jason.com. | |
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Puy Navarro
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500 hour ISHTA Trained Born is Spain, she is an actress and a producer of theater about Social Issues and Human Rights in NYC since 2005. Since last September she has been teaching Yoga for Executives at the US/Spain Chamber of Commerce at the Empire State Building and also to at the Hispanic Society. She is very joyful to be teaching at ISHTA.
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Wendy Newton |
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After studying yoga informally since age 16, Wendy was introduced to Alan Finger and ISHTA Yoga in 2001 and completed the Be Yoga ISHTA teacher training in 2004. She teaches classes and teacher training. She is also certified in Polarity Therapy, a form of energetic body-work grounded in principles of yoga and ayurveda. Wendy creates a spacious and nurturing environment in her asana classes, which are strength-building while encouraging a spirit of non-competition and introspection in which the student can begin to understand the effect of the asana on the energetic system. She strives to make both the physical and meditative yogic practices accessible to all her students, including those new to yoga and those with physical or other challenges. Wendy lives in New York with her husband, fellow ISHTA teacher Peter Ferko.
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Sarah Platt-Finger
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Sarah Platt-Finger was introduced to yoga while living in Taiwan as a dancer, choreographer, and English teacher. Her curiosity of both Eastern philosophy and physical wellness led her to the ISHTA lineage, where she received her 500 hour yoga certification in 2004. Sarah helped to create the ISHTA Yoga studio with Alan Finger and Julie Wilcox. She is currently the director of the Ishta Yoga Teacher Training program as well as a lead trainer. Sarah teaches an intelligent flow class that caters to the wisdom of the breath and inspires the reconnection of the individual to the true Self.
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Kara Sekuler
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Kara V. Sekuler grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a child, she danced with the opera companies and performed in musical theater. She moved to NYC after finishing high school to pursue a career in ballet. In 1995, Kara was inspired by Alan Finger, co-founder of Yoga Works, Yoga Zone and Be Yoga, to discover a new path as a yoga teacher. Kara has also studied extensively with Kevin Gardiner (Iyengar Institute), Leslie Kaminoff (Advanced Anatomy at the Breathing Project) and Glenn Black. Her classes combine a lively flow on the breath, detailed alignment and a lighthearted sense of humor. Kara graduated summa cum laude from CUNY with a degree in Anatomy and Human Movement. She teaches Anatomy and Physiology for Yoga Works and ISHTA Yoga.
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Aino Siren |
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Aino grew up in Finland and moved to New York in December 1999 to pursue dancing at several dancing schools in NYC. She included yoga as a compliment to her dance training, and was stunned with the healing benefits and has been a devoted practitioner since. She has been taught by these teachers who are filled with grace and knowledge: Jean Koerner, Alan Finger, Sarah Platt-Finger, Thea Frey, Chrissy Carter and Jodie Rufty, to name a few. Aino is beyond happy and pleased to have the priveledge to teach this wonderful science at ISHTA Yoga, and to share it with as many as possible to create balance and harmony in the mind, body and soul. As our bodies get stronger and more flexible so does the mind, allowing us to move through life with ease and joy. Hari Om, Om Tat Sat. |
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Douglass Stewart
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Douglass has been practicing yoga for nearly half his life. He's been teaching for 10 years and continues to be inspired by the art and science of yoga. Douglass is the co-founder of Yoga in Times Square celebrating the Summer Solstice by uniting the community of yoga enthusiasts across the country. He has received the Community Center Service Award for volunteering his yoga classes at the Lesbian and Gay Community Center for 9 years. He is inspired by the notion that if peace is our goal, then it is also the means to it. Douglass is an ISHTA Yoga senior teacher.
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Lisa Tatham |
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After 20 years spent competing in equestrian events and completing her M.A. in International Politics from American University, Lisa took her first yoga class in 2003. Awakened to both new possibilities and a new reverence for her body and all that lay within, 2 years later she completed her 200hr yoga certification at Laughing Lotus with Dana Flynn and Jasmine Tarkeshi. Teaching full-time for the last 5 years, Lisa continues to grow as a teacher through her own daily home practice and ongoing study with the people who inspire her most within the different yogic practices (Glenn Black, Peter Ferko, Alan Finger, Jean Koerner, Isaac Pena, Rusty Wells) and has earned her certification in Thai Yoga Bodywork, as well as her 500hr certification from ISHTA Yoga. Lisa teaches an intelligent flow inspired by the wisdom of the breath, guiding people to new possibilities through movement with awareness and helping students to go beyond perceived limitations while working with the natural intelligence of the body.
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