Instructor Bios

Anjali Sunita E-RYT, Baltimore Yoga Village Founder, and Director of Jivan Yoga Teacher Training, has been studying yoga philosophy, North Indian classical chanting, deep breathing techniques, postures, and meditation ceaselessly for the past 13 years and has taught in India, Canada, and the United States in ashrams, private and public schools, embassies, yoga studios, and private homes since 2005. She has been certified to teach yoga and is deeply devoted to the Sivananda organization, Janice Clarfield (prenatal), Yokid (kids), and has continued studies through numerous programs held at Baltimore Yoga Village in Anusara Yoga and AcroYoga. Now the director of Baltimore Yoga Village, 2 locations, she promotes programs which offer opportunities for healing in Baltimore. She has recently begun teaching weekly classes for incarcerated women, alongside BYV teacher Leanora Eubanks, at the Chesapeake Women’s Detention Center. Her personal classes for adults and youth offer yogic postures, breathing, and relaxation as a means to greater physical ease, mental stability, and a simple entry point into meditation practice.

Adhikari Sacha is a Mystery School Teacher most commited to inspiring people to go within themselves and discover they are beyond all measure! She offers group and individual sessions and sometimes intensives on meditation, samyama ( directly experiencing everything without story), and spiritual concerns. As a licensed therapist(LCSW-C), shamanic practitioner, and Quantum Touch practitioner she offers healing sessions, soul retrievals, and shamanic intensives. Her joy is living for the awakening of the planet and she very much feels this shift in consciousness is happening! 2012 is a very exciting year in which everyone has a choice to be part of this shift and end suffering!!! (She can be reached at 410-764-3494, adhikarisacha@yahoo.com or www.betheloveweare.com her website.)

Sara Sheikh began her yoga and meditation practice in the mid-1990′s through the Sivananda tradition and with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh’s trainings in Mindfulness Meditation. Inspired to share the transformational practice of yoga with others, in 2008 Sara traveled to study and become certified at the 200-hour level through the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in Val Morin, Canada. In years since, Sara has expanded her personal practice by studying the Jivamukti method and has dedicated herself to becoming a skilled teacher of Vinyasa yoga. Offering classes for beginning as well intermediate students, Sara integrates yogic chanting, philosophy, the practice of yoga postures, regulated breathing, deep relaxation and meditation into each session. In class she is known for her down to earth, clear and in-depth instruction. Responsive and sensitive to each individual, she is committed to helping students achieve a healthier-balanced life and develop a greater awareness of Self through the practice of yoga. In addition to teaching at BYV, Sara has the privilege to teach yoga to children and families in underserved neighborhoods through Baltimore City recreation centers, schools, and childcare programs. She is also pursuing a degree in Clinical Social Work at the University of Maryland School of Social Work (class of 2013).

Leanora Eubanks (Lea) is a certified Therapeutic Yoga & Kids Yoga Teacher through Yama Studio’s 200 hour Therapeutic Program and YoKid, holds a BA in Urban Studies from Eastern University, works as an Outward Bound wilderness instructor, and is currently earning her Occupational Therapy Assistant degree. Leanora practices and teaches yoga as a moving meditation, cultivating deeper connection to inner wisdom and unconditional Love. Her classes encourage awareness of the physical, energetic and psycho-emotional levels (koshas) within the body-mind; and include energizing and/or gentile yoga movements (asana), breath-work (pranayama), positive affirmations and meditative stillness. She has enjoyed sharing the yoga experience with various Baltimore communities: from city/federal jail detainees to church congregations, yoga studios and corporate employees (i.e. Johns Hopkins & Kennedy Krieger). As a Baltimore Yoga Village teacher, Leanora is delighted to give back to the authentic and inspiring community that has nurtured her personal yoga practice over the years.

Reclaiming pregnancy/childbirth as a sacred rite of passage is Nilajah Brown’s life work and passion. She has been serving women and families as a Sacred-birthing consultant for over 10 years. She brings a wealth of traditional birthing wisdom from African, Caribbean and Native American midwives. She is a professionally trained mother, pregnancy yoga therapist, childbirth educator, doula, reiki practitioner, and lactation consultant. Her focus is on supporting women in tuning into their innate wisdom as they transition from pregnancy through labor and into motherhood. She is currently working on her first book Birthing in the Spirit.

Vivian Campagna, a certified yoga instructor since 2002, Vivian is celebrating 10 years of teaching and 16 years of immersing herself in the many facets of yoga practice and tradition. After earning full certification in the Anusara method, an advanced certification that is the equivalent of the Yoga Alliance ERYT 500 designation, Vivian has chosen to evolve these teachings into her own unique teaching style. She feels super blessed to have trained thousands of classroom and apprenticeship hours with her main teacher Susie Hurley to whom she offers full pranams of gratitude. Always a student, Viv is grateful for her opportunities to study with leading scholars including sanskrit studies with Vyaas Houston, yoga philosophy with Dr. Douglas Brooks, Dr. WIlliam K. Mahony, Dr. Carlos Pomeda and Dr. Paul Muller-Ortega, and Ayurveda with Kate Stillman. Vivian’s primary asana teachers are Sianna Sherman, Noah Maze and Christina Sell who continually inspire her through their brilliant teaching. Vivian loves living in Baltimore and being a part of the Baltimore Yoga VIllage community. She wishes to express gratitude to every student she is fortunate to encounter, and most of all, deep appreciation and love goes out to her husband John and daughter Lila for their boundless love and support.

Erin Gahan has been practicing yoga since 2000 and teaching since 2007. Although trained in the Vinyasa style of yoga, Erin has studied and infuses her classes with multiple styles of movement including Vinyasa, Bikram ,Kundalini, traditional Hatha yogas and dance. Every class includes pranayama. All levels are welcomed in Erin’s classes. Expect to breathe, move and smile. All you will need to bring to classes is an open mind and an open heart.

Miles Gannett began his yoga practice in 2003, after meeting his teacher, Helen Heffer (affectionately known as “Heffer”). In 2008, after being encouraged to teach by Heffer, he attended the 200 hour teacher training at the Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in Honesday, Pennsylvania. Since 2008, Miles has taught regular classes on hatha yoga, ayurvedic yoga, and ayurvedic cooking. Miles completed the Ayurvedic Wellness Coach training at yama studio, where he studied with Diane Finlayson. Miles is also a musician, a cook, a lover of cats, and of people.

Marley Keller, E-RYT 500, has an extensive background in dance and psychology helped set the foundation for her career as a yoga instructor to children and adults. In 2006, Marley received her 200 hour yoga teacher training from the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and spent the next 3 years dedicated to completing both a 200 and 500 hour teacher training program with an emphasis on yoga therapeutics at Golden Heart Yoga in Annapolis MD.Since 2006, Marley has been teaching both private and group classes to children and adults. Although mainly influenced by Anusara and Parayoga and her teacher and mentor, Rod Stryker, Marley brings elements of various styles of yoga into her yoga sessions. She is trained in prenatal yoga, yoga for athletes, mommy and me yoga, kids yoga, preteen and teen yoga, and yoga for special conditions. She specializes in one-on-one yoga therapy for people with chronic and acute medical conditions. Emphasizing breath, alignment, and body awareness, her goal is to help all students foster a better sense of self by finding the connection between their body, mind and spirit.

Becca Klein is a Hatha Yoga teacher trained in the Anusara tradition. She finds yoga to be an ideal medium to engage the mind and body in discovering and honoring one’s truest Self. In 2000, she began studying various styles of yoga and took her first Anusara Yoga class with Moses Brown in 2005. She was immediately hooked–drawn to Anusara Yoga because its life-affirming Tantric philosophy of intrinsic goodness, paired with its clear instruction and alignment principles, offers students the opportunity to cultivate a radical shift toward knowing and expressing themselves fully. Becca has studied with many deeply knowledgeable, inspiring teachers, including Suzie Hurley, Sianna Sherman, Martin Kirk and Sue Elkind. Becca classes focus on being present and authentic on the yoga mat in order to do the same in life, all while embodying her grandfather’s advice to, “not take yourself seriously, at all!”

Trish Magyari, MS, CGC, MS, LGPC is a psychotherapist, senior MBSR teacher, retreat leader, and genetic counselor based in Baltimore, MD. She has a Master’s degree in Genetic Counseling (1981), a second Master’s in Clinical Community Counseling (JHU, 2009), and is a licensed graduate professional counselor in the State of Maryland. She has 35 years of meditation experience, has taught the MBSR 8-week series more than 50 times, and is trained in MBSR, MBCT and mindfulness-based psychotherapy. Trained in MBSR in 1987, she completed the UMASS MBSR Teacher Development Intensive, their highest level of training, in 2000; since then she has facilitated MBSR groups in 6 successful clinical trials at NIH, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and University of Maryland Center for Integrative Medicine. Besides Trish’s academic credentials, she has studied both Eastern and Western forms of contemplative practice since childhood and has been a longtime student of mind-body medicine. She has extensive training in many forms of meditation, yoga, guided imagery/visualization, bio-energetics, chanting, and authentic movement. Trish completed the LifeForce Yoga Level 1 Practitioner training in January 2011 and completed the Jivan Yoga 200-hour Teacher Training program at Baltimore Yoga Village. She is a practicing Quaker as well as a teacher with the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW) through which she has led a weekly mindfulness practice group for six years as well as local retreats. Trish herself has sat many lengthy retreats, including six-week retreats in 1995 and again in 2007. Retreat teachers include Jon Kabat-Zinn, Tara Brach, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Sylvia Boorstein, Sharon Saltzberg, Larry Rosenberg, Ajahn Amaro, Lama Surya Das, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and Thich Nhat Hanh–who gave Trish the dharma name “Reverent Teaching of the Heart”.

At the age of eight, Claudia Neuman attended her first yoga class with her Mother in 1966. As a native of Santa Monica California, Claudia was in the right place at the right time for the opening of a studio called Yoga Works. Prior to this she studied with the Integral and Sivananda Yoga Societies, as well as her beloved first real teacher, Ragavan, who inspired her to begin teaching. Claudia continued to teach and train at Yoga Works, completing several teacher training programs there; studying with Rod Stryker, Eric Shifffman, Anna Forrest, and the honorable Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, the creator of Ashtanga Yoga. In 1991, Claudia was faced with loosing the used of her left arm when she encountered a car head on, on a Los Angeles freeway. She sought an alternative to surgery by embarking on a mission to rehabilitate herself through the Pilates method, which was beginning to gain popularity at the time. While interning with Siri Dharma Galliano of Live Art in Los Angeles, she became a Pilates Instructor. After a teaching assignment in Istanbul, Turkey, where Claudia was among the first to bring Pilates and Yoga to that city, she was lucky to find her real teacher, John Friend, the creator of Anusara Yoga. At the suggestion of fellow yogini, Claudia went to Austin, Texas to take her first class with Mr. Friend at the Southwest Yoga Journal Conference. Her immediate dedication to Anusara Yoga has resulted in passionately completing many hours of level one and two Teacher Training’s, Therapy Training’s, Intensives and Workshops with John Friend and some of the other top Anusara teachers in the country.

Deborah Quirk, ERYT 200 and Registered Dance/movement therapist has devoted her life to teaching dance, movement and Yoga. This began with her father who was a jazz/tap dancer and owned dance studios in Dallas, TX. She teaches Vinyasa flow Yoga, Zumba and Zendance at Baltimore Yoga Village and is a Dance/movement therapist at Sheppard Pratt Hospital and Springfield State Hospital. Deborah has studied with Shiva Rea and Seanne Corn finding the Vinyasa style most compatible with her extensive professional dance training. A lover of many types of music and poetry, Deborah’s classes include both creating an experience rich with imagery to promote body awareness, mindfulness and the joy of embodied movement whether Yoga or dance.

After a 7 year bout of severe depression, Joshua Rothschild met his spiritual mentor who helped him to wake up. He teaches yoga and meditation as processes for spiritual transformation to support people to live more fully and more peacefully.

Stephanie Snyder infuses a wide spectrum of Life experience with her love for yoga into each session. Her classes are peppered with yogic philosophy and specific alignment guidelines to encourage you to step into the bright Light that already exists within your heart. In this uplifting, heart-centered practice, be inspired to engage in an extraordinary experience honoring the wonder of the ordinary both on and off the mat. Stephanie has been teaching from the heart since she fell in love with Anusara yoga 4.5 years ago but she has been practicing, in constant awe of yoga’s gifts, since her mother practiced with her in utero! She is filled with gratitude to be a part of the awesome Baltimore Yoga Village community and to teach you!

Neeru Takiar is a certified Yama Therapeutics yoga instructor. Practicing yoga for nearly eight years, Neeru has a rich knowledge of yoga and ayurveda. Neeru’s interests in yoga focuses upon a combination of vinyasa asanas, ayurvedic philosophy, guided meditation, visualization and pranayama. Her strong dedication to ensuring the health of the mind and soul allows her to be inspirational as she guides her students to release the physical, emotional and mental tensions that block the numerous energy pathways of the body. She encourages her students to be mindful of the yoga they practice – in particular understanding the intention and purpose, or bhavana, for each asana. Neeru also loves to cook and teach about healthy ayurvedic vegetarian food – she is always in search of new dishes that are good for a yogi!

Pamela has been practicing the Sheng Zhen system of qigong since 2002, and she’s been teaching it since 2004. Sheng Zhen means “Unconditional Love.” She is certified to teach by Master Li Junfeng, the founder of Sheng Zhen Qigong. She has studied with Master Li for ten years, and has taken many 10-day teacher training sessions with him all over the world—Germany, Norway, Croatia, Hawaii, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, California, Texas, and Baltimore.For Pamela, qigong is a beautiful practice that brings a sense of well-being, deep relaxation, and a feeling of connection to Oneness. But she believes it’s important not to be too serious about it either! The phrase, “Enjoy your practice, enjoy your life” is a cornerstone of the Sheng Zhen Qigong philosophy. Pamela’s classes place an emphasis on having fun and doing the movements in a way that feel good to your body.

“Mira” Mary E.Tessman has been practicing yoga off and on for over twenty years and started teaching yoga in 2007. Currently, she teaches seven classes a week at four studios and offers private yoga instruction in the Baltimore area. Mira views her yoga practice as the most consistent and potent source of spiritual, mental, and physical strength and support in her life. Besides teaching yoga, Mira is a holistic psychotherapist and uses a mindfulness-based and body-oriented approach in her private practice. She suggests to her clients: “Try yoga before Prozac; it really helps stabilize mood.” Mira has been facilitating expressive arts, healing, meditation, and spiritual growth workshops, retreats and groups since 1994. She supervises Master’s level psychology students and has also been an adjunct professor at CCBC in the psychology department. Mira was co-founder and co-director of the Heart’s Journey Wellness Center in Towson for many years. Mira loves to plan yoga routines, travel, dance, hike, kayak, bicycle, and hang out with her husband, children, and good friends.

For over 12 years, Yoga Christy has dedicated her life to helping others through the profound gifts of Yoga, Reiki, and Thai-Yoga Bodywork. She is a well-loved traveling teacher and healer with thousands of grateful students and clients throughout the Southeast. Yoga Christy teaches Vedic Conservatory Thai-Yoga Bodywork Training Courses, as well as her own specialty workshops in Therapeutic Yoga, Yoga Assisting, Partner Yoga, and Reiki, and is a featured instructor in Yoga Teacher Trainings. Christy started practicing Yoga in her early 20′s for scoliosis, and has always focused her practice on yoga as therapy for structural imbalances and injuries. She has become an expert in helping others through her own deep healing journey, over 4000 hours of teaching experience, and her studies with biomechanical geniuses, physical therapists, Iyengar teachers, and Angela Farmer and Victor Van Kooten. Christy received her initial Yoga Teacher Training at the Ahimsa Yoga Centre, in the same room that is now the BYV Hamden studio. She has also studied the hands-on healing art of Thai-Yoga Bodywork since 1999 with Vedic Conservatory Founder/Director “Mukti” Michael Buck, and has been teaching for the Vedic Conservatory since 2008. Christy is also certified to teach Usui and Karuna Reiki and Pilates. Learn more and see Christy in action at www.yogachristy.com.

Elizabeth Tunkle: Studying yoga since February 2000 and teaching since 2004, Elizabeth brings fun and joy to even the hardest poses. Her class challenges you to go deeper both physically and emotionally as you come into a deeper life balance through breath. Twice she has traveled to India to study yoga and meditation and is inspired by the traditional teachings of yoga . She teaches a powerful flow focused on the breath. Like life, yoga can make us laugh and cry. It can stretch us to our edge and soften us into experience. Elizabeth challenges you to go deeper into that experience of life through deep breath and commitment to practice.

Laura Sicari received her 200-hour teacher training from the Sivananda ashram in Neuville-aux-Bois, France. She has been practicing for eight years and incorporates into each of her classes relaxation techniques, pranayama (breathing) exercises, meditation, and asana for a balanced and rejuvenating practice. Laura’s practice is influenced by her study of Vipassana meditation, Qi Gong and Chinese medicine She weaves her experience of these energy modalities into her teaching. Laura is a licensed acupuncturist. Her practice is located at Ancient Arts Wellness in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore.

Maura Roth-Gormley is passionate about encouraging people to dive into the flow of an embodied yoga practice. A Registered Yoga Teacher at the 200 hour level, she completed her teacher training through the Samudra School of Living Yoga, where she studied with master teachers Shiva Rea, Maria Garre, Shani Stevenson and others. Maura believes that there is a yoga for every stage of life and loves exploring the relationship between music and movement both on and off the mat. Her Prana FlowÒ: Energetic Vinyasa classes incorporate intelligent sequencing, safe alignment, and graceful movement and words to help all students feel embodied and empowered. She feels strongly that yoga is for everybody and every body and loves to see a diversity of movement among students. Come to her class to listen to groovy music, be part of a supportive community, and get down with your True Self.

Kathy Fahey’s students describe her as attentive, creative, and nurturing. Through poetry, song, breathing exercises, and asana, Kathy leads her students to a place of connection within the self and with others. She’s a strong believer in the power of yoga and meditation because it has helped her on her own path of healing. Her love of teaching comes from her desire to share a practice that has changed her life. Kathy is also an artist, musician, and lover of Ayurvedic cooking.Certified through the Jivan Yoga Teacher Training at Baltimore Yoga Village, RYT 200. Kathy is grateful to be teaching at a studio full of integrity and filled with a community she loves, a place she considers to be home.

Jenny is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 200) and professional modern dancer. She completed her yoga training at the Yoga Center of Columbia in 2011. Holding a B.A from Goucher College in Dance Therapy, Jenny infuses her yoga instruction with in-depth knowledge of anatomy, bio-mechanics, and kinetic therapeutic applications. Jenny found yoga when she was searching for alternative ways to cross train in hopes of alleviating the ever present pain from stressed joints and muscle aches which accompanied the longs hours of dance rehearsal. Now, Jenny contributes her success at leading a 5 year professional dancing career injury free to Yoga. Realizing the transformative impact yoga had on her life and dance career, Jenny is passionate about sharing her knowledge of Yoga with others in order to help people find their own path to leading an integrated and injury free active life

Changa Bell brings enthusiasm, light humor and rigor to an Intermediate practice. A graduate of the Jeevan Yoga Teacher Training at Baltimore Yoga Village, Bell grew up in a “Yogic” household during the 70′s when yoga was not as en vogue here in Baltimore. However, Changa, always had Yoga as part of his life and used his life long experience in Yoga and exercise for improved mental clarity, health and spirituality. Always a student himself, Bell looks to deepen and master his own practice by teaching others.