Generation NEKST

8/13/2019 Generation NEKST

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YOGA HAS COME a long way,baby.Just a

generat ion ago,devoted yogis had to trave lto

Ind ia or he lp organ ize the occasiona lv isit o f

th e ir master teacher.Thanks to the ir ded ica t ion ,

many ofthem became master teachers them-

se lve s.Maty Ezraty and Chuck Mill er,Patricia

Wa lde n,John Frien d,Rod Stryker,and Shiva Rea ,

to name just a few,have taken the anc ient

practices and made them re levant for the next

generat ion ofAmerican yogis.

Now that next generat ion is start ing to make

its mark.Here,we ve gathered 21 gifte d,w e ll-

studied teachers under the age o f40 who

together represent the incred ibly d iverse and

yet deep ly connected character o fyoga in

Amer ica .Its not an exhaust ive list but a sam-

pling o fteachers who are shap ing yogas future.

We limited our se lec t ion to teachers who are

based in the States (which makes it easier for

you to study w ith them)and who are in the

trenches every day,e ither directing the ir own

yoga studios or teaching around the country.

Some are innovatorsor yogic mutts,ifyou

w illwho have studied many trad itions and are

cra ft ing the ir own unique interpretat ion ofyoga.

Others are met icu lous ly preserving a treasured

sty le in its prist ine form .They may appear to

have litt le in common,but they a llshare an innerca lli ng to pass down a system w hose goalis to

encourage compassion and contentedness,

ease suffer ing ,and aw aken us to our intercon-

nectedness.Were gratefu lto these teachers

and to a llo fthe teach ers and students out

therewho are dedicated to exp lor ing a llthat

yoga has to o ffer and to shar ing the ir d iscoveries

a long the way.

UNDER 40

These t a len ted

young t eachers

are shap ing thefu ture o fyoga.

PHOTO:KENNETHGRAHAM

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2/13

Sianna Sherman is a capt iva ting storyte ller,whose

insp iring and heartfe lt teachings have garnered a

fa ith fulaud ience.With a soothing voice ,she weaves

together Anusara Yogas UniversalPr inc iples o f

A lignment,persona lanecdotes,Hindu mythology,

and Tantric philosophy,occasiona lly m ixed w ith a

few lines from class ic c hildrens literature.Stories

open up our ab ili ty to absorb yog ic teachings by giv-

ing us a lens through which to view ourse lve s,she

says.They a lso insp ire creativity and joy.One ofmy

favorites is Mary Popp ins.She he lps people u n leash

th e ir ima gina t ions and soar to new h e ights.Thats

what Iwant my students hearts to experience.

Sherman ,whose teachers have inc luded Richard

Freeman,K.PattabhiJois,Sa lly Kempton,and Doug-

las Brooks,apprent iced w ith John Friend and was

one ofthe first to be cert ified to teach A nusara Yoga.

Today she trave ls the world,o ften w ith Frien d,lead-

ing teacher tra in ings and workshops.At the heart o f

Shermans message is the importance ofconnecting

w ith others: Ihope peop le find the courage to live

from the heart w ith compassion and love.You can

step into this practice in a w ay that opens you up to

the peop le around you .You dont have to be fluent

in your asana pract ice ,but you do have to g ive it

everything youve got .

WH ERE TO F IND HERIN 2008 Teaching at Yoga

Journals Colorado conference; giving teacher tra in-

ings in Berke ley,Ca liforn ia; and lea ding retreats and

workshops around the world.Visit opentograce.com.

Simon Park remembers how,as

a sma llch ild in rura lKorea ,he

had an image ofbe ing a prima l

warrior.But a llthat changed

when he w as five and his fam ily

moved to Ph ilad e lph ia.Eager

to be an a ll-American k id,Park

played baseba ll ,footba ll,and bas-ketball.It took years for h im to

reconnect w ith the prima lpart of

hims e lf.He found it when,as an

undergraduate at UCLA,he stum-

bled upon Shiva Reas yoga c lass

in the World Arts and Cu ltures

department.It took Park some

t ime to warm up to the practice ,

but once he d id,he found it

he a ling for h is body and h is m ind .

Yoga allowed me to open to

people a lot more,he says.

Sh iva he lped me find the br idge

between the seem ing d ichotomy

ofbe ing a fierce,pr ima lwarrior

and a soft,open-hearted yogi.

Park considers himse lfan

energy-centered pract it ioner

and focuses on he lping students

find the flow ofenergy in the ir

bod ies through movement and

se lf-observation .A lignment is

important ,and the breath is

important ,but Im trying to teach

students to understand en ergy

in order to hea lth e ir own bodies

and find freedom.Yoga is a

method to free yourse lfin the

wor ldto be happier and more

genu ine and more connected

to people.Itry to give that spirit

in the c lassroom .

These days Park ,who has been

influenced by many teachers,

inc lud ing Maty Ezraty,Dharma

Mittra,Joan White ,and Duncan

Wong,teaches w orkshops and

retreats around the world,

spread ing h is own sty le o fyoga

that blends tradit ion a lhathapractice w ith Tha iYoga Massage.

These c lasses,w hich Park has

developed over the years through

his own experimentat ion and

study ofmartia larts,increase

body awareness,encourage se lf-

evolut ion ,and just fee lgood.

WH ERE TO F IND HIM IN 2008

Teach ing at the Kripa lu Center

for Yoga & Hea lth and the

Tellur ide Yoga Festiva l,and in

Korea,Ja pan,and Ch ina .Learn

more at wheresimo n.co m.

SimonPark

Home Base

New York City

&Philadelph ia

Age 36

Style Flow Yoga

Sianna ShermanHome Base Berkeley,California

Age 39

Style Anusara Yoga

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3/13

Iwant yoga to be hea ling [for others],because it was for me,says

Mo nique Schubert,a Kr ipa lu-cert ified instructor who took up yoga in

co llege but found her mentor when she began tak ing c lasses at the

home ofKr ipa lu Yoga teacher Maya Breuer.Schubert started w ith

Breuer when she w as 24,and a fter a li fet ime o fbad posture,yoga

fina lly he lped her to stand up straight .It a lso he lped her resolve grie f

and depression ,insp iring her to he lp others,start ing w ith children.

The notion ofteaching k ids came to her in a flash during her tra ining.

Isaw myse lfteaching young peop le,she says.Icant counse l

them ,but Ican offer someth ing to a llev iate the sadness.

Schubert now teach es students allover Ne w York C ity,through

schools and specia lprograms.For three years she taught incarcer-

ated teens.They insp ired me to pract ice harder,because they

wo uld ask these quest ionsand you knew [that]ifyou were fak ing

it,you were going to get exposed ,she says.Her c lasses focus ontraditiona lposes suc h as Tree ,Cobra,Warrior,and Sun Sa lutations

asanas that beginners can do we lland then grow w ith .Iteach the

basics because Iwant everyone to have the rea lto ols they need

to he lp themse lves,she says.Like a llthe yogic scriptures say,

the externa lteacher aw akens the inner teacher.

WH ERE TO F IND HERIN 2008 Teaching at Bronx Community

Co llege,at a free summer ser ies in Socrates Scu lpture Park,

and at Shambha la Yoga & Dance Ce nter in Brooklyn . DarrenRhodes is qu ite litera lly the

poster boy for Anusara Yoga.You

can find him on the Anusara syllabus

poster,de ftly demonstrating more

than 345 awe-insp iring poses.His

mo t iva t ion for achiev ing such a feat

wasnt ego driven; it came from his

be liefthat asanas create more than

just physica lchange.When Icome

Monique SchubertHome Base New York City

Age 36

Style Kripalu Yoga

Darren RhodesHome Base Tucson ,Arizona

Age 36

Style Anusara Yoga

PHOTOSFROML

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4/13

Connect ing to a 5,000-

year-old tradit ion ofsa ints

and sages lends a unique

qua lity to med ita tion

practice .Ive had mo-

ments offee ling as ifIm

in the presence o fthose

who have done these

techniques over centu-

ries,says Kar ina Ayn

M irsky,who in 2002 was

init iated by Rod Stryker

into the Tantr ic trad it ion

ofSwam iRama ofthe

Hima layas,known as

SriVidya .This fee ling o f

unseen support carr ied

her through a d iagnosis

oflymphat ic cancer at

age 27,and she cred its

her surviva lto that sup-

port .Ife lt gu ided and

he ld by the grace ofmy

tradit ion ,its teachers,and

its anc ients,she says.

Her persona lpract ice

informs her teach ing,

but shes adamant that

whats right for one pe r-

son m ight not be r ight for

another.My approach

to teaching is ho list ic and

ind ividu alize d.It draws

from my experience as a

wom an; massage thera-

pist; cancer surv ivor; andstudent ofpsychology,

yoga ,Tantra,and A yur-

veda.Istudy the nature o f

m inds and bod ies as they

fluctuate w ith the t ime

ofda y,season,phases

oflife,says Mirsky,who

is currently pursuing a

masters degree in East-

West psychology.

Classes at her stud io,

ca lled Sangha Yoga ,

start w ith a discussion

ofeverybodys needs

that day

phys ica lorpsycholog ica lfollowed

by a brie fm ed ita t ion or

pranayama .They then

continue w ith chant ing

be fore the asana practice .

A yoga pract itioner for

nearly a decade,M irsky

has studied extensive ly

w ith Para Yoga founder,

Rod Stryker,and Pand it

Ra jma niTigunait,the

head ofthe H ima layan

Inst itute.She has spent

the past three ye ars

develop ing yoga pro-

grams for people w ith

a variety ofa ilments,

inc lud ing obesity and

ea ting d isorders.What

Ihope to impart to my

students is the va lue of

service to others.

WH ERE TO F IND HER

IN 2008 Giving teacher

tra in ings at her M ich igan

studio and teaching work-

shops in Ne w York,C in-

cinnat i,and Ch icago.Visit

sanghayoga.co m.

across a posture Ire a lly want to do,

Iask myse lf,How do Ihave to sh ift

physica lly,menta lly,and in my heart

to be able to do that? He adds,

Iwant to be ab le to do a posture

because Iknow it w ill requ ire trans-

formation on a lllev e ls.

Rhodes grew up in a fam ily o fyogis.

His mother took up the pract ice

when he was in utero,and h is father

is an avid meditator.He rem embers

entertaining h is parents friends

by doing poses in the living room .

In h igh schoo lhe began pract icing

in earnest,us ing a Richard Freeman

video and go ing to loca lstudio

classes.But it wasnt untilh is early

20s that he met A nusara Yoga

founder,John Frien d,and had one

ofthe most shakti-fi lled experiences

ofh is li fe.John turned my yoga

practice into a radica l,rock in life

ce lebration ,he says,wh ich is what

Istr ive to share in my c lasses.

As a resu lt o fh is own fire and

passion for the physica l,Rhodess

classes at both ofh is Yoga O asis

studios in Tucson,Ar izona ,are

play fulyet intense.Iask students

to be w ith the asana as a mode o f

transformat ion .The most beaut iful

th ing about yoga is that it a llows

anyone and everyoneno matter

what the ir lev e lto find the ir b liss.

WH ERE TO F IND HIM IN 2008

Lea ding workshops in Lou isv ill e,

Kentucky; Northampton,Massachu-

setts; and Ashev ill e,North Carolina .Learn more atyog ao asis.co m.

Kar ina Ayn MirskyHome Base Kalamazoo,

Michigan

Age 32

Style Para Yoga

PHOTO:DAVEKAMM




5/13

Kino MacGregor had been

practicing Ashtanga Yoga

for less than a year when

her guru came to her in a

dream: K.PattabhiJois

saved her from a raging-

mad Lord Shiva and put her

on a boat to Mysore,Ind ia.

Iwas th is American girl

w ith very litt le know ledge

ofEastern iconography,and

sudden ly there Iwas in the

Hindu version ofLord ofthe

Rings.With in two weeks,

MacGregor had a p lane

ticket to Ind ia.With in sec-

onds ofmeeting Jois,she

knew he wou ld influence

her li fe.Be fore my analyt i-

ca lm ind could t hink ,Ikn e lt

down and touched h is

fee t.From that moment

on ,Iconsidered him myteacher,she says.

Ten years later,MacGregor

is the co founder (w ith her

fianc,Tim Fe ldmann)o f

M iam iLife Center,w hich

offers yoga and nutrition

classes as we llas work-

shops on sp iritua lity,body-

work,and life coach ing.A

PhD candidate in ho list ic

he a lth ,MacGregor be lieves

that yoga is a catalyst for

huge li fe changes and that

students need commun ity

and support.Miam iLifeCenter see ks to provide

sp iritua lgu idance for those

who w ish to integrate les-

sons ofh igher conscious-

ness into the ir da ily lives.

There are group Ashtanga

Yoga classes at the Center,

but MacGregors true devo-

t ion lies in keeping the tra-

ditiona l,se lf-paced Mysore

sty le a live .Gu ided classes

can be cha llenging and frus-

trating for people,she says.

But Mysore gives you as

much time and space to do

as many mod ificat ions and

take as much t ime as you

need .Wherever her stu-

dents are on the ir path,MacGregor seeks to sup-

port them w ith openness

and empathy.My presence

as a teacher is to ho ld a

space ofpossibili ty for my

students,respect the tra-

dition and lineage that I

teach,and offer a beacon

ofsp iritu a llight for those

who w ish to look deep

w ith in themse lve s.

WH ERE TO F IND HERIN

2008 G iv ing one-week

intensives at the M iam i

Life Center and in Co pen-

hagen,Denmark,and

teaching workshops in

Washington,DC; P itts-

burgh; and Europe.Visit

miamilifecenter.co mand

ashtanga-awareness.co m.

Jason Crande llcares about the

placement ofyour collarbones,

th ighbones,and arches o fyour

feet ,but not for aesthetic rea-

sons.Im a techn ique-or iented

teacherbut not for techniques

sake,he says.The detailis

there to he lp focus the mind ,go

ins ide ,and have a rich ,ca lming

experience.It was that ca lm ing

e ffect that kept Crande llgo ing

dur ing h is early days o fyoga

practice .As a former ice-hockey

player and skateboarder,he had

an athletes t ight body and a

competit ive drive .Both qua lities

made yoga d ifficult.The poses

never came e asy to me,and I

experienced a lot ofd iscomfort

for a long time ,he says.But

afterward Ia lways fe lt c lea r,

grounded,and content.

Kino MacGregorHome Base Miam i,Florida

Age 30

Style Ashtanga Yoga

JasonCrande llHome Base

San Francisco

Age 33

Style Alignment-

Based Vinyasa

PHOTO:TOMR

OSENTHAL




6/13

A lanna Kaiva lya usua lly begins

class w ith a guitar in hand or s itt ing

in front ofa harmonium .She o ffers

a Sanskrit chant re lated to a spe-

cific theme or perhaps turns her

students on to a creat ive riff such

as Buffa lo Springfie lds For What

Its Worth,transform ing it into

a lead-in for a mantra like Om

namah shivaya.

The music and chant ing capt ivated

her wh en she took her first Jiva-

mukt iYoga c lass six years ago.

Ka iva lya has a lways be lieved that

music has great power to influence

pos it ive change in peop le.Born

w ith a hearing imped iment,she

says music has given her a pro-

found vehicle for se lf-expression .

The 27-ye ar-old seems both exub er-

ant and w ise .She says she be lieves

that w ith in each student lies a vast

we llspr ing o flove and potent ial

and its her job as a teacher to draw

that out.Her classes blend rigorous

poses and sooth ing adjustments

w ith bursts ofyoga ph ilosophy.

And the e ffect is a contemporary

understanding o fan cient know l-

edge that can insp ire even the most

stressed-out type A New Yorker.

Her oft-repeated advice to a llis,

Dont m iss the vibrat ions !

In 2007 Jivamuktico foundersSharon Gannon and Dav id Life

asked Ka iva lya to move from her

hometown ofDenver to Ne w York

City.They fe lt that her be ing c loser

to them and the ir centers was

the next step in her evolut ion as

a teacher.She happily oblige d.

Ido what Ilove,and Ido it w ith

great love.Any time you act in

accordance w ith that pr inc iple,

good things w ill come.

WH ERE TO F IND HERIN 2008

Giving c lasses in Manhattan and

at Yoga Journals Colorado Con-

ference ,and sing ing on her new

a lbu m ,Shine.Visitjivadiva.co m.

Crande ll s influences have

inc luded Iyengar Yoga teachers

Richard Rosen and Ramanand

Pate l.He apprenticed w ith Rod-

ney Yee be fore taking on the ro le

ofyoga director at the San Fran-

cisco Bay C lub (an ath let ic c lub

w ith a popular M ind & Body Cen-

te r).He leads his own w orkshops

and retreats and is a contribut-

ing editor for Yoga Journal.Cran-

de ll s we ll-crafted sequences

combine the prec ision ofIyengar

Yoga w ith the steady rhythm of

vinyasa flow.Beneath the asana,

his message to students is con-

sistent: Focus on the process

ofse lf-d iscovery rather than the

goa lofpe rfec t ing poses.Iwant

my students to be rea lly curious

about who the y are and to be

accepting o fwhoever that may

be on a part icu lar day.Iwant

them to see that everyth ing

ins ide and outside is incredi-

bly mysterious .Iwant them to

use the pract ice to just check

in,see w hats unfo lding,and

learn to dea lw ith it sk ill fully.

WH ERE TO F IND HIM IN

2008 Teaching at h is annua l

retreat at Feathered P ipe

Ranch ,a t Yoga Journals

Co lorado Conference,andat the Asia Yoga Conference .

Visit jasonyoga.co m.

A lanna KaivalyaHome Base New York City

Age 27

Style JivamuktiYoga

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:J

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7/13

Marla AptHome Base Los Angeles

Age 37

Style Iyengar Yoga

Ma rla Apts c lasses at the Iyengar Yoga Inst itute ofLosAnge les are packed.But she doesnt let the popular ity

go to her headshe stays focused on transm itt ing

the tradit ion that she ho lds so dear.Asana and prana-

yama are understood in Iyengar Yoga as a m eans to

practice the yama sand niyama s,ga in emotiona lstabil-

ity,connect w ith your subt le anatomy,and steady the

m ind ,she says.Ihope to convey this to the best o f

my abili ty to students.

Her mother took her to an Iyengar class in Los Ange les

17 years ago,and Apt was immediat e ly hooked.It

was the first yoga class where Isaw the techn ique

was able to embody the philosophy.Ihad the sense

that the teachers rea lly knew a lot .A fter complet ing

her teacher tra ining in 1995,Apt headed to Ind ia to

spend a year tak ing c lasses w ith B.K.S.Iyengar.Eventu-

a lly,she began assist ing c lasses taught by Iyengar,

his daughter,Geeta,and his son,Prashant.She returns

regular ly w ith her husband and fe llow teacher,Pau l

Cabanis,to study w ith the Iyengar fam ily.

Apt has he ld many leadersh ip ro les w ith in the Iyengar

organ iza t ion: She served as pres ident ofthe Iyengar

Yoga Associat ion ofSouthern Ca liforn ia (IYASC)for

four years,and she was pres ident ofthe nat ion alasso-

ciat ion for two years.She has a lso worked as an orga-

nizer ofthe Iyengar Yoga Nat iona lConvent ion .

Recently,she has pulled back from her public ro les

In the Buddh ist tradition we

practice for the benefit o fothers,

Chandra Easton says.Yes,Ican

be happy and better myse lfon th is

path ,but Ican a lso be ofservice .

Serv ice is one ofthe themes that

shapes Eastons work as a yogaand medita t ion teacher.

A lthough her mother began pract ic-

ing Tibetan Buddhism when Easton

was five,it wasnt unt ilher 20s

when a hea lth scare put her in a

ta ilsp inthat she began to take her

sp iritua lpract ice more serious ly.

Fortunate ly,she found solace in the

teachings ofa v isit ing Tibetan

lam a,w hich eventually led her to

spend a year studying in Dharam-

sa la,Ind ia.She then enro lled at

the University o fCa liforn ia,Santa

Barbara,studying comparat ive re li-

gion and work ing under Buddh ist

scholar B .A lan Wa llac e.In 2001,

after her daughter Tara was born,

Easton began her teacher tra ining

w ith Sarah Powers and fe llin love

w ith Y in Yoga .

Now her ph ilosophy is coming to

li fe w ith the severa lprojects she

has in the works.Togeth er w ith

Powers and yoga teacher Jan ice

Gates,she co founded Metta Jour-

neys,w hich offers trips that com-

bine yoga and medita t ion w ith a

ph ilanthropic component.This year

they w ill take students to Rwanda

to ra ise funds and awareness for

the organ iza t ion Women for Women

Internat ion al,w hich financia lly

and emot ion ally supports wom en

who are survivors ofw ar.On the

tr ips,students w ill have a chance

to interact w ith the women there

as we llas to do yoga .Future jour-

neys inc lude a return to Rwanda in

2009,and trips to Ind ia and Bosn ia.

Easton is a lso team ing up w ith

her husband,Scott Blossom ,and

a group o fexperts in the Tantrictradition to teach Samavesha

Yoga,an approach that b lends

asana w ith philosophy,mantra,

pranayama ,and med ita t ion .

WH ERE TO F IND HER IN 2008

Teaching in the San Francisco

Bay Area,at the Esa len Inst itute,

and at th e Te lluride Yoga Festiva l.

Chandra EastonHome Base

Berkeley,California

Age 35

Style Yin Yoga,

Vinyasa Yoga

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8/13

Scott BlossomHome Base

Berkeley,CaliforniaAge 38

Style Vinyasa Yoga

A typica lc lass w ith Scott Blos-

som inc ludes mantra,ph iloso-

phy,asana,and pranayama .

Ifee llike yoga is a r itu a lone

where you bring a llthe e le-

ments into it,a k ind ofa lchem i-

ca lm ix,he says.His asana

teaching is based on Shadow

Yoga,a style deve loped by

Hungarian yoga teacher Natan-

aga Zhander (a.k.a .ShandorRe mete),w hich blends the

Ayurvedic pr inc ip les o fenergy

flow w ith Tantra in the hopes

oflea ding to e ffort less and

spontaneous medita tion .I

want to give people the asana

they know and love,but Ia lso

want to nudge them toward

me dita t ion .My vision is that

people are go ing to fa llin love

w ith med ita t ing and w ill then

do it by cho ice .

Blossom began his love affair

w ith med ita t ion 16 years ago.

A fter a silent medita tion retreat

in Tha iland w ith his t w in brother,

Michae l,Blossom returned w ith

a new perspective .When Igot

back Ico u ldnt take the physica l

practice as serious ly,he says.

For me,it became a veh icle

to medita t ion .

A fter years o fstudy w ith Ay ur-

ve dic scho lar Robert Svoboda

and yoga teachers Zhander

and Erich Schiffmann,Blossom

(and his w ife,Chandra Easton;

Tantric philosopher Christo-

pher Tompkins; and Sanskrit

scholar Christopher Wa llac e)

has deve loped a Tantric yoga

immersion program ca lled

Samavesha that is be ing taught

in the San Franc isco Bay Area .

Blossom is a cofounder ofHe a l-

ing Opportunities,Inc .,a Santa

Barbara,Ca liforn ia,nonprofit

that offers yoga,massage,acupuncture,and stress man-

agement to peop le who have

li fe-threaten ing ill nesses and

to those who provide care

for them .Peop le are looking

at the b igger picture,at how

the yoga commun ity can he lp

the larger community through

seva[se lfless service ],he says.

Down the line Isee peop le rea lly

defin ing yoga as serv ice .

WH ERE TO F IND H IM IN 2008

At Kripa lu Center for Yoga &

He a lth ,Feathered Pipe Ranch,

and O jaiYoga Crib.Learn more

at shunyatayoga.co m.

to focus more deep ly on her practice and to beg in

teaching around the United States and internat iona lly.

Ibe lieve that yoga is for a llpeople,so Im constantly

try ing to expand my fie ld o fpractice ,know ledge,

and experience to be ab le to he lp as w ide a range o f

students w ith as w ide a range o fissues as possib le.

WH ERE TO F IND HERIN 2008 Teaching workshops

in Los Ange les,Japan ,and Istanbu l.Visityog anga.co m.

PHOTOS(

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9/13

Yoga is a fam ily a ffa ir for Charles Matkin,

who w as born in Canada and ra ised in a

transcendenta lm ed ita t ion community

in Iow a ,where e ven Grandpa did Down-

ward-Facing Dog.But as a teenager

Matkin rebe lled aga inst his sp iritu a l

roots,re fus ing to med itate and eventu-

ally moving to Manhattan ,where he

worked three jobs ,took premed c lasses,

and dabbled in actingthe period he

now lov ing ly re fers to as h is jerk years.

Eventua lly Matkin returned to the mat

and studied many styles ofyoga,tr ying

to build h is own context .

No dogmais how Matk in sums up h is

current approach to teach ing.Itry to

teach a range ofpr inc iples rather than

ru les,he says.From the many disc i-

plines he has studiedFe ldenkra is to

Iyengar Yoga to Jivamukti,and more

he now fee ls equipped to use whatever

method or too lhe be lieves w ill best

reach his students and he lp them on

th e ir path.He keeps classes play fulby

injec ting quirky observat ions and jokes.

Theres humor in my c lasses so peop le

can laugh at themse lve s,he says.Its

supposed to be en lightenment, notenheavy-ment .

Today he and h is w ife,Lisa Bennett-

Matkin,own Matk in Yoga in Garrison ,

New York,where they conduct teacher

tra inings and workshops.Theyve a lso

created a teach er training program in

therapeut ic yoga and a v ideo series

ca lled He aling Yogaa result o fth e ir

interest in integrative medicine .This year

they plan to launch a new stud io in Man-

hattan.Ifee lthat the teacher is ins ide

ofeach ofus; it is so easy for people to

look outside for an answer,Matkin says.

Ch allenge yourse lfto look ins ide .

WH ERE TO F IND HIM IN 2008 Teaching

at Matk in Yoga Stud io and the Omega

Inst itute.Visit matkinyoga.co m.

Study asana w ith Kate Holcombe and you llget p lenty ofpersonalattention ,as she

ma inly teach es one-on-one.She was steeped in th is approach while studying w ith

T.K.V.De sikachar,who fondly c alls Ho lcombe h is American daughter.

Were trained in t his lineage to see the who le person,she says.We view the

human as a who le system w ith different dimensionsthe body,breath,m ind ,

personality,and emot ions .Itry to prov ide support in whatever way is go ing to

work best for the ind ividua l.

Two events conv inced Ho lcombe to ded icate her life to yoga .The first was a

bad bike acc ident during a semester abroad in Ind ia .Her yoga teacher at the

t ime,Mary Lou ise Ske lton,took her,broken ribs and a ll ,to Desikachar,who gave

Ho lcombe a powerfully hea ling yoga pract ice .A coup le o fyears later,Ske lton,

diagnosed w ith breast cancer,was dying w ith clar ity and grace: It was very c lear

to me that th is was from studying w ith Krishnamacharya for 35 years,Ho lcombe

says.Now ,a fter six nonconsecutive years ofstudy in Ind ia,Ho lcombe has a

th riving pract ice ofpr ivate c lients and sma llgroups.Her burgeoning nonprofit,

the Hea ling Yoga Foundation ,works w ith home less women,people w ith HIV/ AIDS

and cancer,and other groups; nat ion a lteacher trainings are in the works.HerYoga Sutra c lasses,taught in sma llgroups w ith a focus on chant ing the Sanskr it

verses w ith proper pronunc iat ion ,are anything but esoteric.Shes known for using

personalexperienceboth as a yoga teacher and as a busy momto revea lthe

meaning o fthe sutras.Ho lcombe says shes grate fulthat her yogic lineage is

deep ly sp iritu alas we llas pract ica l.My teacher ca lls h ims e lfthe postmaster

that he just de livers,she says.And Ire ally fee lthat way,to o.

WH ERE TO F IND HERIN 2008 Teaching in San Franc isco and Seattle,and tra ining

teachers in Ne w York C ity and e lsewhere.Learn more at he alingyoga.org.

Kate HolcombeHome Base San Francisco

Age 37

Style Yoga in the tradition of T.Krishnamacharya

Charles MatkinHome Base

Garrison ,New York

Age 36

Style Hatha Yoga

PHOTO:J

ESSEGOFF




10/13

In the Mysore room o fYogaWorks in Santa

Mo nica ,SimiCruz moves from student to

student ,offer ing them gu idance as they

silen tly move through the se lf-paced Ash-

tanga Yoga pract ice .As she scans the room

for m isa lignments and energet ic b lockages,

Cruz,w ho has graced the cover and pages of

th is magaz ine many t imes w ith her stunn ing

poses,w ill reach for a block or a strap to

mo dify a pose ifa student needs it.Props

work we llfor people who have injur ies,and

theyre good for preventing injur ies,she

says.Ifyou see someone push ing too hard

or moving too fast ,you have to pu llthem

back somet ime s.Cruz studied Ashtanga

Yoga in Ind ia w ith K .PattabhiJois but

learned to mod ify poses from her primary

teachers,Chuck M ill er and Maty Ezraty.

As a sma llgirl,Cruz learned Sun Sa lutations

from her mom ,and she began tak ing

yoga c lasses at 18.When she found Mill er

and Ezraty in her early 20s,she spent the

next 10 years at YogaWorks in Ezratys c lass

six days per we ek .To th is day she calls

Ezraty her second mom .

Cruz cherishes the ind ividu alattention shes

ab le to o ffer in her Mysore room .Ido some-

th ing d ifferent w ith every student ,she says.

Iget one-on-one t ime w ith a llofthem ,

and Iget to design a pract ice thats good for

them ind ividua lly,w hich is how yoga was

meant to be taught.And she hopes to give

her students the too ls to practice in a way

thats safe and hea ling for them .Thats my

job as a teacherto nurture students unt il

they can go out and fly on the ir own.

WH ERE TO F IND HERIN 2008 At Yoga-

Works locat ions in C ali forn ia and Ne w York.Visit simicruz.co mand yog aw ork s.co m.

Sim iCruzHome Base

Los Angeles

Age 33

Style Ashtanga Yoga

For more

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unde r 40 ,

turn to

pa ge 130 .

PHOTOS(

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11/13

LISABLACKAVOLIO

Home Base Seattle

Age 38

Style Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga

When Lisa Black Avo-

lio teaches asana, she

hopes to convey more

than just the physical

shapes of the poses. I

focus on empowering

students to be the best

they can be and to step up to the edge of

transformation, she says.

Black, one of a handful of teachers with

the title of Senior Master Baptiste Power

VinyasaYoga teacher, practices what she

preaches. In addition to teaching yoga in

the style of Baron Baptiste, Black has cre-

ated her own flowing style called Shakti,

which combines principles shes learned

from Baptiste, Shiva Rea, and Ana Forrest

with her own philosophy and life experi-

ence. As a teacher, its important to be

authentic and not to try and be anyone

else or teach like anyone else, she says.

Black travels to assist Baptiste at work-

shops and teacher trainings, teaches her

own retreats, and runs two bustling Seat-

tle-area studios: Shakti East and Shakti

West. I enjoy the directing and manag-

ing, but teaching is the thing that I really

love and am passionate about.WH ERE TO F IND HERIN 2008 Teaching at

both Shakti studios; at her annual retreat

in Maya Tulum, Mexico; and around the

country at Baptiste yoga trainings. Learn

more atshaktivinyasa.com.

JARVISCHEN

Home Base Boston

Age 35

Style Iyengar Yoga

Certified Iyengar Yoga

teacher Jarvis Chen

challenges his studentsto look beyond the su-

perficial workings of

the mind and into the

intelligence of the body.

When I started yoga I was a very ratio-

nal, scientific-minded person, says the

Harvard scientist and yoga teacher. But

yoga helped me discover my bhaktiquali-

tiescompassion, love, and a connected-

ness to something bigger.

Chen is a social epidemiologist who

conducts research at Harvard School of

Public Health and brings his yoga to work

every day. I study health disparities in

poor and disadvantaged communities,

and my yoga helps me approach the sub-

ject with compassion. Even if you havent

lived in poverty, you can understand the

want and fear that comes with depriva-

tion because, as the Yoga Sutra teaches,

fear is universal.

In the yoga room, Chen, whose primary

teacher is Patricia Walden, loves working

with beginners. He specifically enjoys the

process of showing students how going

from gross alignment instructions to sub-

tle instructions brings greater fullness to

the breath and focuses the mind. The

transformation from disintegration to

integration happens over time, but even

beginners can get a taste of it.

WH ERE TO F IND H IM IN 2008 Teaching

at B.K.S. Iyengar Yogamala in Boston and

at workshops in Middletown, Connecti-

cut, and Charlottesville, Virginia. Learn

more atjarvischen.com.

CHANDRAOM

Home Base Raleigh,North Carolina

Age 37

Style ClassicalYoga in the

Style of Dharma M ittra

Chandra Oms pur-

pose as a teacher is

crystal clear: to carry

on traditional yoga

through the method

of Dharma Mittra, a

yog a maste r in New

York, whose teachings are infused with

reverence for chanting, meditation, the

gur u, and the bel ief tha t asana is per-

formed as an offering to God. Today Om,

who has studied with the Brazilian-bornDharma Mittra for 14 years, holds the

high honor of being the only person to

whom he has given permission to teach

his advanced practices.

This teacher-of-teachers runs the

thriving North Carolina School of Yoga

and travels to New York once a month

to study with her guru. At the core of her

teaching are yogas ethical guidelines:

Withoutyama andniya ma , there is no

yoga, she says. I myself love the postures

and a strong asana practice. But holding

both legs behind your head and standing

on one finger inverted doesnt make you

a nice person.

WH ERE TO F IND HERIN 2008 Teaching

at her school in North Carolina. Check

out her recently published book,Dharma

Mittra: A Fr iend to All, a biographical

account of the life of her teacher. Learn

more atncschoolofyoga.com.

KIRARYDER

Home Base Ojai,California

Age 34

Style Vinyasa Flow (Form less)

If years ago you had

suggested to Kira Ryderthat she would someday

be leading a magical lit-

tle yoga community in a

wild Western town, she

wouldnt have bought it.

Growing up on the East Coast in a driven,

ambitious culture, Ryder was hardwired

to believe that numbing your feelings was

superior to facing them. If anyone had

told me that yoga was spiritual, I never

would have signed up.

After 12 years of yoga practice Ryder is

the director of Lulu Bandhas, a thrivingyoga studio in Ojai, California, and her

core value is compassion. With classes

ranging from Strong Vinyasa to Sweet

Vinyasa and Yoga Siesta to Yoga for Stiff

White Guys, Ryders mission is to give

people the skills to create a yoga practice

that meets them where they are. Ryder,

who names renowned yoga teacher Erich

Schiffmann as her main asana influence,

encourages students to feel their way into

poses, inviting a sense of formlessness

within the forms. The hope is that there

will be a sense of self-assurance that theyknow whats best, she says. The house

rule is Youre in your body, not me.

After six years Lulus has a devoted

community of locals, and a national com-

munity is building as well. Last October

more than 250 yogis from around the

country flocked to Ryders fifth annual

yoga conference, the Ojai Yoga Crib. PHOTOS(

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Throughout the year she communicates

over the Web with a blog on Channel Yoga

and by posting videoshighlights of her

classes as well as workshops led by other

teacherson LuluVu. I love community

when it allows people to discover them-

selves. Thats the most important thing.

WH ERE TO F IND HER IN 2008 Teaching

at Lulu Bandhas, at her annual Ojai Yoga

Crib, and on her blogs and videos. Learn

more atlulubandhas.com .

EMILYLARGE

Home Base West Palm Beach,

Florida,and Atlanta,Georgia

Age 36

Style Viniyoga

As a physical ther-

apist, Emily Large

helped people find

ease in their bodies,

but it wasnt until

she discovered Vini-

yoga that she found

her lifes true passionblending physical

and spiritual healing. Yoga has a profound

influence on my body and empowered

me to heal myself, she says. I wanted

to share that with other people. Thanks

to her extensive background in anatomy,

physiology, and rehabilitation, Large

knows the nuts and bolts of how injuries

happen and how to heal from them. That

foundation gives me the confidence to

guide students through a yoga practice

while keeping them safe.

Large has completed the four-year,

1,000-hour yoga therapy program of the

American Viniyoga Institute and is now a

certified yoga therapist. Her classes cater

to students with specific health issues,

such as low-back pain, chronic head-

aches, and neck and shoulder tension.

Her teaching style reflects the mantra

of her primary teachers, Gary Kraftsow

and Mirka Scalco Kraftsow: If you can

breathe, you can do yoga.

Large also introduces church groups to

yoga. A devout Christian, she has credibil-

ity among people who may be skeptical of

yogas spiritual implications, a skepticism

she admits she once shared. I was ner-

vous Id have to give up things in my diet

or adopt different spiritual beliefs, but I

found out that yoga isnt about dogma

its about nourishing the individual.

W HERE TO F IN D H ER IN 2 0 0 8 Teach-

ing yoga at her surf retreat in Costa Rica.

Learn more atlivinglargetherapy.com.

HEIDISORMAZ

Home Base New Haven,Connecticut

Age 39

Style Forrest Yoga

Heidi Sormaz

knows about

body issues.

Growing up as

a ballerina, she

battled eating

disorders. She also knows the harm result-

ing from pushing to overachieve. While

working on her PhD in psychology at Yale

University, she realized that her body was

in pain. She practiced Iyengar and then

Ashtanga Yoga to get in shape, but she

pushed too hard and found herself with

more injuries. During a teacher training PHOTOS(

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program with master teacher Ana For-

rest a light bulb went on. I asked myself,

Why am I working so hard? In order to

achieve somethingwhether it was yoga

teacher training or my PhDI was willing

to push myself too hard. I was willing to

stay in a pose that wasnt comfortable.

After Sormaz had this intellectual real-

ization, she began cultivating the same

wisdom in her body and bringing it to her

studio, Fresh Yoga, which she opened in

2002. Her mission: Yoga should always

be healing for the mind and body. Sormaz

recognizes the value of different paths

and offers a variety of styles at her studio,

but she wants all her teachers to impart

the importance of breathing and feeling.

Her own classes focus on providing an

experience that is physically, mentally, and

emotionally transformative. For example,

if shes teaching someone with scoliosis,

the main focus may be to lessen the curve

in the spine. But if shes working with a

student whos overweight, she tries to

help them reframe their negative thought

patterns. Its less about the body and

more about the thoughts, she says. Our

thoughts are our biggest barrier. And we

are all dealing with our healing.

WH ERE TO F IND HERIN 2008Teaching at

Fresh Yoga. Learn more atfreshyoga.com.

BRIAN LIEM

Home Base New York City

Age 39

Style Om Yoga

During class youll

find Brian Liem

telling stories and

engaging with his

students. A sense of

humor and openness

lies at the founda-

tion of his philosophy. Im not afraid of

being the class clown, says Liem, director

of programming at Om Yoga. Rather than

lecturing directly from texts, I try to pass

on the teachings in an accessible way.

Twenty years ago, Liem faced a bundle

of challenges all at once. Those tragedies

helped him realize that hed better make

the most of his precious time on earth. He

decided to become a yoga teacher. Today,

Liem sees himself as a link in the great

yogic chain. Hes been taught by Cyndi

Lee, founder of Om Yoga; Judith Han-

son Lasater, teacher of Iyengar Yoga; and

Eric Spiegel of the Shambhala tradition of

Buddhism. Liem draws from them all to

teach sweet asana classes with an overlay

of Buddhist meditation practices.

Liem sees yoga as a great community

builder. He represented Om Yoga in 2004

at the Gay Spirit Culture Projects con-

ference. I find through yoga practice

theres a language that can transcend

differenceswithout denying the di-

versity of any individualand initiate a

dialogue, he says.

WH ERE TO F IND HIM IN 2008 Instruct-

ing at Om Yogas 2008 teacher training

program in Manhattan and leading a

weeklong retreat in Morgans Rock, Nica-

ragua. Learn more at omyoga.com.

By Diane Anderson, Samantha Dunn, Andrea

Ferretti, Catherine Guthrie, Nora Isaacs, Lauren

Ladoceour, Valerie Reiss, and Kelle Walsh.PHOTO:J

ANNACOKER

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