Yoga People
160 Montague St. 2nd Fl.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
info@yoga-people.com
718.522.YOGA(9642)

Teachers & Staff ~

Wendy Chanelis ~ Founder
Wendy Chanelis, the matriarch and maha yogini of the Yoga People clan, has been living Yoga since 1989. The nineteen eighties were all about fitness for Wendy; the endorphin rush of running, the low-impact allure of step aerobics, or whatever the workout program de jour was then, with a spirit for adventure she gave it a try. With her finger eternally on the pulse of what’s hot, it was inevitable that she would find herself flowing through her first Sun Salutations.

For two years she explored the various yoga offerings in New York City : Dharma Mittra, Integral, Iyengar, and Sivananda. In 1991 she settled into studying with then new-kids-on-the-block, David Life and Sharon Gannon, of Jivamukti. There her practice deepened. A great deal of sweat and some very sweet pain turned slowly into a labor of love. In 1998 she gave birth to her pride and joy: Yoga People.

Wendy embodies the spirit of Yoga People with her effulgent character and her Cirque du Soleil worthy balancing act of juggling the roles of wife, mother and grandmother, businesswoman and yogini. Each new student who comes to yoga people finds a common ground as we all strive to find balance in our own lives. Each class taught at Yoga People is built in happy energy, and shining through every facet of this loving environment is Wendy's heart and soul.

Ashley Barenz
Ashley was born and raised in the beautiful mountains of Utah. After earning her BFA in dance at the University of Utah she found yoga to be the perfect compliment to her moving life. She completed her 500hr Yoga Teacher Training with Dana Baptiste in 2006. She studied Vinyasa, Anusara, and Ashtanga yoga. After teaching yoga and children's dance in Utah for two years she moved to NYC where she happily resides and continues teaching. She joined the Yoga People family in September 2008. When Ashley isn't teaching dance or yoga, she can be found in class as she believes the best teachers are also perpetual students.
CLASSES WITH ASHLEY: Tuesday 8:15-9:30pm Core Yoga, Thursday 8:15-9:30pm Basic Basic, Saturday 4:00-5:15 Core Yoga

Ashley Barenz Maury Browning
Maury Browning was a yogi from an early age. Born at home, in St. Louis, Missouri, she began her first headstands at the age of three, when she would wake up and do yoga with Lilias Folan, on "Lilias! Yoga And You." on PBS. Her interest in yoga was re-sparked at age 19, when she apprenticed under an advanced Iyengar Certified Teacher in St. Louis. Currently, she is very close to completing her Advanced Jivamukti Yoga Teaching Certification. Her classes, while challenging, are frequently infused with a sense of humor and style that is all her own.

She wishes nothing more than to bow at the loving Lotus feet of her teachers, and give esteem thanks for the opportunity to embody and present these teachings.

*Krishna said," Qualities of enlightened souls include fearlessness, purity, charity, self-control, self-sacrifice, knowledge of scripture, sincerity, non-violence, truthfulness, peacefulness, compassion for all beings, gentleness, humility, vigor, forgiveness, cleanliness, and lack of envy and pride." Bagavad Gita 16.1-3
CLASSES WITH ASHLEY: Wednesday 9:30-11am Vinyasa

Donnalynn Civello
Donnalynn is a certified Yoga Alliance teacher in New York City having completed the Yoga Synthesis 300 hour Vinyasa Teacher Training with Raji Thron in 2004. Her training focused on several yogic disciplines including Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Viniyoga, Classical Hatha and Anusara. She combines her studies in meditation, pranayama and spiritual philosophy with her study of asana to create a challenging and comprehensive asana practice with inspiring words of wisdom for20living in today’s world.

Donnalynn applies a nurturing hands-on approach to alignment and aromatherapy massage to further nurture and relax the soul. Donnalynn has been a practitioner at the Jivamukti Yoga School, New York City for over 11 years and more recently a practitioner of Yoga Works in New York and L.A. for the last 3 years.
CLASSES WITH DONNAYLYNN: Monday 8:15-9:3pm Basic, Wednesday & Friday 4:30-6:00pm Vinyasa, Saturday 10-11:30am Vinyasa

Casey Duncan
Casey was raised in southwest Missouri. She comes from an artistic background; singing, dancing, and acting from a young age. She moved to New York City to attend acting school which is where she first discovered yoga. She continued her yoga practice outside of school as tool for dealing with the stress of auditioning and performing as well as living in New York. After practicing Bikram yoga for years, a friend introduced her to the Laughing Lotus Yoga center. She fell in love with the studio and completed her yoga teacher training through Laughing Lotus in the Fall of 2008. Her seven year journey as a practitioner sparked her desire to teach, and so she teaches from the love of her personal practice.

Casey teaches primarily vinyasa, linking movement with breath, in a creative cosmic dance meant to awaken the heart, inspire, and bring vitality, flexibility, strength, and awareness to her students. She believes in the transformative power of yoga and that yoga is a state where the impossible becomes possible. She would like to thank the laughing lotus community and her teachers for their constant inspiration and support. Jai Ma! .
CLASSES WITH CASEY: Weds 12:00-1:00pm Lunchtime Yoga, , Sat 8:15-9:45am Vinyasa

Rachel Feinberg
Rachel Feinberg started out as a dancer, dance teacher and choreographer. She holds a BFA in dance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. She was certified by Yoga People to teach vinyasa in 2004, and has been teaching full-time ever since. She’s taught in private studios, corporations, and hospital settings in addition to maintaining a private practice. She’s led workshops on the effects of stress, and stress reduction through yoga, for the Legal Aid Society and Group Health, Inc. She has experience working with individuals suffering from chronic illness, disease and mental health issues. Rachel studies and teaches Iyengar Yoga, and is enrolled in a two-year, intensive teacher training program at the Iyengar Institute in NYC. She graduates in 2011.

Rachel’s love of yoga and passion for teaching is evident. She gives clear, dynamic instructions and demonstrations. She emphasizes healthy alignment, attention and breath awareness. Her students range in age from 12 to 78, and Rachel believes that people of all ages, levels of fitness and body types can practice and deeply benefit from yoga.
CLASSES WITH RACHEL: Tuesday 6:30-8pm Basic Iyengar

Julia Haramis
Julia K. Haramis is an NYC native and has been an avid student of Yoga for more than 12 years. Her practice has transformed her body, mind, health and view on life. Several years into a high pressure Wall Street career, she had little time for anything else beyond work, and it took a big toll. Julia decided it was time for a big change. She shifted from occasional to daily Yoga classes, changed her diet and made happiness a high priority. This is when things started to transform. Her love of Yoga and improved health, renewed her zest for life. Since then, she has never left the mat.

Wanting to deepen her Yoga practice, Julia completed her 200 Hour RYA Teacher Training in the spring of 2007 at Yoga People in Brooklyn Heights. Immediately after that she started teaching and fell in love with it. Since then she has also completed all 108 hours of Anusara Immersions 1, 2 and 3 through Yoga People. Julia has also studied with Seane Corn and completed her Yoga, Purpose and Action Intensive with Off the Mat, Into the World. In March of 2010 Julia completed her 500 Hour RYT at ISHTA (Integrated Science of Hatha Tantra and Ayurveda) Yoga with Alan Finger, Jean Koerner, Mona Anand and Sarah Platt-Finger. Her training and continuing studies at ISHTA have deepened her understanding of Meditation, Pranayama and Kriya techniques from the Tantric lineage. Julia's classes are a blend of all of the teachings she has enjoyed and benefited from over the years.

Julia is also a Certified Holistic Health Counselor. She is certified though Purchase College of SUNY, the AADP and the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (IIN). She completed her training in Health Counseling at IIN in 2009. She firmly believes that no single lifestyle or way of eating works for every person. She works closely with her clients to find accessible and sustainable ways to increase their energy, health and general well being through improved nutritional and lifestyle choices. Julia also leads workshops on nutrition and health-related topics. www.nycnutritionista.com
CLASSES WITH JULIA: Monday & Friday 12:00-1:00pm Lunchtime Yoga, Wednesday 8:15-9:30pm Vinyasa

Jessica Klaitman
Jessica found yoga in 2002, and immediately appreciated it as a salve to her profession of social work. After maintaining a regular practice through her pregnancy and the birth of her son, this year life provided Jessica with the opportunity to realize a long-time dream of becoming a yoga teacher. She completed her 200-hour training at Yoga Works, an alignment based mix of several yoga styles, with Jodie Rufty and Sarah Bell. Pursuing a passion for yoga as a path to a quiet mind and a better world, Jessica completed Restorative yoga training with Jillian Pransky and Prenatal, Postnatal and Baby and Me yoga training with Mary Barnes. Jessica will continue learning as she pursues her 300-hour certification at Yoga Works in January 2010. In addition to teaching yoga, she is a social worker and teaches social work in a master's degree program. Jessica is honored to be teaching at Yoga People, her home studio.
CLASSES WITH JESSICA: Thursday 11:30-12:45 Prenatal, and Friday 6:30-8:00 Restorative Vinyasa

Sarah Locke Sarah Johansson Locke
Born and bred in Brooklyn Heights, Sarah lived in Massachusetts, Oregon, and France before coming back to the source. She is a teacher of yoga, dance, and anatomy; a performer, choreographer, and dance company artistic director. In all these forums she is devoted to sharing and celebrating the transformative power of movement, stillness, and breath. Her classes cultivate awareness, intention, and creativity by integrating a precise attention to alignment and body mechanics with an open and encouraging spirit of exploration. She welcomes students of all levels to tap into the innate wisdom of the body and to discover the limitless potential within.

As a prenatal teacher she creates a nurturing space for women to find a dynamic balance of strength, clarity, and peace during this time of deep connection and new experience. Sarah is certified as a teacher of Embodied Anatomy and Yoga by the School for Body-Mind Centering, and completed an Anusara teacher training at Vira Yoga with Zhenja LaRosa. She is certified as a teacher of Prenatal, Postpartum, and Mommy & Baby Yoga by Mary Barnes’ Yoga for Two. A longtime student of Genny Kapuler in Iyengar yoga and Embodied Anatomy, she also holds a certificate in Kinesthetic Anatomy from Irene Dowd, and has extensive modern and ethnic dance training. She is endlessly inspired by yoga's invitation to deepen and empower our experience, and by the community of students and teachers around her who embody this invitation.
CLASSES WITH Sarah: Sunday 3:30-4:45 Prenatal

Rebekah Morin
Rebekah was guided to the practice of yoga by older, wiser dancers who promised increased strength and flexibility and fewer injuries. When she found that those benefits extended to strength and flexibilty of mind and emotion and in general made her less irritable she decided it was an important thing to share. Rebekah received her certification to teach vinyasa style hatha yoga from Laughing Lotus in 2002. Since then she has been bringing the practice to studios, schools, businesses, and parks all around the city. She currently teaches public classes at Yoga People in downtown Brooklyn and Levitate Yoga in midtown Manhattan. Rebekah continues to dance with both Jody Oberfelder Dance Projects and The Equus Projects.
CLASSES WITH REBEKAH: Lunchtime Yoga 1:00-2:00pm Tuesdays & Thursdays

Naoko Morita
Naoko Morita, a native of Japan, brings love, fun, and passion to her teaching and encourages students to develop a rich innate sense of freedom and self-empowerment. Naoko shares the powerfully affecting principal of Anusara yoga that deepens ones level of practice and brings about therapeutic benefits.

Naoko completed the Atmananda Yoga Teacher Training in 2004 and then completed the Anusara Teacher Training at the World Yoga Center in 2008 under the guidance of Rudrani Farbman and Jackie Prete.Â She continues to study with John Friend, the founder of Anusara and many amazing Anusara teachers.
CLASSES WITH NAOKO: Thursday 9:30-11am Anusara

Rachel Page
Rachel, originally from Newmarket, England began studying yoga in 2001 after returning from the Peace Corps in Africa. Rachel feels blessed to have studied with Sharon Gannon and David Life, Dharma Mittra, Manju Jois, Doug Swenson, Desiree Rumbaugh and Swami Asokananda; she continues to study with these and other great teachers.

She is Yoga Alliance Certified at the 200-hour level in Hatha and Integral Yoga and is also a member of the Integral Yoga Teachers Association. She will soon be certified at the 500-hour level. In 2006, Rachel studied Nuad Bo-Rarn (traditional northern Thai massage) in Thailand under Chongkol Setthakorn. She earned advanced certification from the ITM Massage School which is accredited by the Thai Ministry of Education.

Rachel firmly believes in the purity of the original yogic philosophy and tries to stay true to that in both her classes and her everyday life. Her classes reflect her diverse background and always include chanting, pranayama (breath control) and dhyana (meditation) in addition to a flowing asana practice. Rachel’s love of practicing and sharing yoga shines through in her creative and inspirational classes.
CLASSES WITH RACHEL PAGE: Sunday 2-3:15 Gentle Restorative Yoga

Tamar Samir
was born in Michigan, but grew up in Israel, with the dual cultural influences of an Israeli father and Scottish mother. She moved to New York in 1997 to pursue a career in fashion design and later, broadcast design. It was in New York, at the Jivamukti Yoga School, that she discovered yoga as an all-encompassing system of transformational practices for spreading happiness and freedom to all beings.

Tamar has been blessed to study with Jivamukti Yoga founders Sharon Gannon and David Life, and Advanced Certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher Narayani (Nicole Nichols). Tamar is an Advanced Certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher with over 800 hours of training. In her classes, Tamar aims to pass on the teachings she has received through practical insights, compassion and humor. www.tamarsamiryoga.com.
CLASSES WITH TAMAR: Tuesday 9:30-11am Vinyasai, Saturday 12:00-1:30pm Basic

Matthew Seidman
My yoga practice has followed a familiar NYC trajectory – starting in the mid-90’s in my generation’s Ground Zero of yoga, Jivamukti, where the ex-junky, artist, ex-ex began to revive … and the logical progression through Mysore ashtanga practice to presently a more creative self-practice, maintaining ashtanga’s gaze & breathing principles along with intelligent alignment and acceptance of time’s impact on the physical … My present teaching hopefully sets my students upon a similar path, ultimately to a place of self-created practice … Yoga practice heals, brings into balance and reflects. My classes are physically challenging – the physical practice as a means of accessing the other human realms; my hands-on assists are fine-tuned and my speech precise (usually) and sparse. It’s your time. I don’t use recorded music. I see a yoga practice as a media-free space – a refuge. Unmediated/immediate experience, rarer and rarer.

I was certified to teach yoga in ’98 through Cyndi Lee at OM Yoga Center; I ran the Ashtanga Yoga Limb there until it was dismantled. I taught monks & laity at Dai Bosatsu Zendo in the Catskills for three years in a row; I’ve taught free groups for High School students, and I’ve led yoga & theater-studies workshops at NYU and in Trinidad, the West Indies. I’ve also taught at various studios & gyms around the city, and teach privately.

I’m an experimental/margin artist, with a number of means of expressing my inner world: theater, prose, visual art & music, separately and at times simultaneously. I’ve performed in Europe, Japan, and here in NY. (atravelingyeshivasideshow.com) The ferocious reflected tension that is the collision of yoga & our current strain of terminal global capitalism interests me more and more of late.

I will be directing the Yoga People Teacher Training come the fall in ’08; my extra-yogic interests will be a part of the flavor of the training. For instance, a question: ‘Unmediated/immediate experience, rarer and rarer.’ But isn’t the practice itself a mediation?
CLASSES WITH MATTHEW: Monday 6:30-8:00pm Vinyasa, Sunday 5:00-6:30pm Ashtanga

Katelin Sisson
In 1999 I took my first Yoga class taught in the library of my high school. The class was taught by my comparative religions teacher, Mr. Madison. It wasn't another 6 years until I found her way back to it, but that class still resonates with me as a formidable exprerience. Years down the line I began practicing Yoga at Jivamukti Yoga school in NYC after leaving Rhode Island to work for Americorps in Boston and . As a natural athlete growing up in Rhode Island, physical activity was integral to my daily routine whether it was running with my family or my high school cross-country team. Until finding my way to Jivamukti, I lived and believed in a strict exercise regime that consisted of lifting weights and running. What guided me to Yoga was an overwhelming curiosity towards what role the Mind played in that aspect of my existence. Jivamukti deepened my understanding of the Mind-Body relationship and instilled an understanding of yoga not as an intermittent practice but a lifestyle that encourages happiness and freedom for all beings.

I completed the Jivamukti 350+ hour teacher training this past spring in May 2008, taught by my Holy Teachers and founders of Jivamukti Yoga Sharon Gannon and David Life. Currently I am enrolled in the apprenticeship program at the Jivamukti Center in NYC, working towards my 800 hour certification, under the guidance of my beloved mentor and advanced certified teacher Rima Rabbath.

CLASSES WITH KATELIN: Thursday 6:30-8:00pm Vinyasa, Sunday 12:00-1:30 Basic II

Eddie Teboul
Eddie was born in Paris France, and grew up between there and Geneva Switzerland. His Mother is French-Vietnamese and his father French Mediterranean. He moved to New York from London, in 1997 where he soon discovered Jivamukti Yoga, back on 2nd. Ave. when it was a small NYC center.In 2001 he began a serious practice of (Vinyasa) Jivamukti Yoga and ethical vegetarianism with David Life and Sharon Gannon as his main teachers and was also blessed to have practiced Ashtanga with Sri K. Patthabbi Jois, when the master was teaching in New York. In 2007, he was mentored by one of his first beloved teacher (Narayani Nicole Nichols) and graduated at the 800-hour Jivamukti Teacher Certification level.He learned all he knows from all teachers who have opened his perception along the way, and was really grounded by a long period in India where he was able to dive into the culture of where it all came from.

Most of Eddie's classes are focused on even breathing for the conscious placement of an ordered sequence. The yogi individually establishes a relationship with the true inner teacher and through practice, overcomes unnecessary attachments and finds equanimity of mind. They are consistent in a fine-tuning of body, mind and spirit and the emphasis is on a high intention toward other beings so the process leads the yogi in re-absorbing troubling thoughts into the inner source of consciousness from where perceptions arise. He regards asana sequences as doorways to spiritual reconnection to practice daily towards transformation beyond expectation. The attitude of the practice is to be free of competitiveness and to accept all emotions in order to let go of illusions and disconnectedness.

Eddie has been working as a hairstylist in the fashion industry for quiet sometime and shifted his direction toward a yoga teacher. He believes that Yoga is a way for anyone to channel universal cosmic compassion and to transmit it to others for a better life in harmony with the earth for future generations. He still works on some projects and private clients as a hairstylist. www.eddieteboul.com
CLASSES WITH EDDIE: Sundays 10:00 - 11:30am Vinyasa

Jennifer Whitney
After four years of practicing vinyasa yoga in New Orleans, and then Hawaii, Jen had the good karma to attend the Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training in 2007. In the fall of that year, Jen left Hawaii to study in India, and subsequently with the many masters living and teaching in New York. She has taught at Yoga Hawaii, Kaimuki and Jivamukti Yoga School, New York.

The integral tenets of Jivamukti yoga are the foundation of her classes and personal sadhana. In addition to vigorous uplifting flow, her classes include chanting, meditation, yoga philosophy, and stories, She believes the beauties of vinyasa are its creativity, its dance with breath, and the space to explore and sink into a pose and oneself.

She continues her studies with Alanna Kaivalya (Jivamukti Yoga), Manorama (Sanskrit and Yoga Philosophy), and teachers in the Alignment Based Vinyasa, and Iyengar traditions. She loves each chance to pass on the joy and peace of the teachings.
*Lokah Samasta Sukinoh Bhavantu*
CLASSES WITH JENNIFER: Weds 6:30-8:00pm Vinyasa