Lotus Yoga Montclair

	Erin has been practicing yoga for 7 years and comes from a professional dance and performance background. However, she became more focused on the teachings when she completed her 300 hour Teacher Training Program this year with Jennifer Kohl at Lotus Yoga. Now, in addition to being a High School Teacher and behavioral therapist for children with developmental disabilities, she teaches yoga at an intensive outpatient therapy center. She is forever grateful to Jennifer Kohl, who gave her the tools to gain this powerful and life-changing knowledge. She continues to study and practice for personal growth in order to become a better teacher to those around her.

	Jodi has been practicing yoga for 9 years. Coming from a dance and theatrical background, her teaching style is both fluid and dynamic. She has taught students at Devotion Yoga in Hoboken, NJ and Universal Force and The Laughing Lotus in Manhattan. She is actively replenishing her inspiration with music, aromatherapy, asana, pranayama and alignment. Jodi is trained by The Bright Spirit Teacher Training headed by Carrie Parker senior teacher at Yoga Zone/Be Yoga NYC.

	Shannon has been practicing yoga seriously for the last 5 years. She has her 200 hour Yoga Alliance Certification and is currently working towards her 500 hour. She is trained in Integral Yoga, Soul Sweat, and Vinyasa through Lotus Yoga. She is also certified in Kids Yoga through Lotus Kids at Lotus Yoga and Prenatal yoga through Mia Borgotta's Ma Yoga in New York City. She follows the teachings of Swami Satchidananda and has recently been drawn to Buddhism through Geshe Michael Roach. She is grateful to all her teachers including Bryan Kest, Kelly Morris, John Friend, Erich Schiffman, Baron Baptiste, Sharon Gannon, David Life, and Jennifer Kohl. Her classes are a Vinyasa Flow that weaves in a strong emphasis on alignment. She is a full time yoga instructor and is so thankful for all of the inspiration and knowledge she gains from each of her students. "Be the change you wish to see in the world" (Ghandi).

	Andrea Evans has been studying yoga for over 5 years and had completed two teacher training programs through the Integral Yoga Institute in New York City. Andrea teaches Vinyasa Flow infused with practices from the Integral Yoga tradition. Andrea strongly believes in adapting the practice to the individual, allowing students to have a meditative, personal experience in her class. Andrea continues to study and practice in order to continue her growth as a student and teacher of yoga. Andrea lives in Montclair with her husband, Eddie, and her two sons, Christopher and Tom.

	Kanan Kapila holds a Masters Degree and a License in Social Work and has extensive experience providing psychosocial counseling to women and children. Kanan is certified in hypnosis and received her training in childbirth education and birth doula with Debra Pascali-Bonoro, LCCE. Kanan's training in prenatal yoga and meditiation includes beneficial information on nutrition, breastfeeding, baby massage, and natural remedies. The home birth of Kanan’s daughter was transformative and liberating. It was during her pregnancy that Kanan studied prenatal yoga with Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa and learned to trust the innate wisdom that resides within every woman. During Kanan’s own birthing process, she grew to respect her instincts; she experienced an intensity in the connection she shares with her husband and the relationship with her doula. For Kanan, her doula was the source of comfort and energy during labor. Kanan is certified in pregnancy yoga through Gurmukh's Khalsa Way training and especially loves teaching yoga to mothers-to-be and kids of all ages, both privately and in group settings. Kanan embraces a natural lifestyle which includes a yoga practice, homeopathy, essential oils, whole nutrition, and wellness care. Kanan is passionate about creating art and parenting with the intention of pure joy.

	Ciru Karanja, RYT, is certified Yoga Siromani through the International Sivananda Ashrams. She is also a certified Fitness Trainer through Marymount Manhattan College, and is currently studying Nutrition at Montclair State University. From 11 years of studying with diverse yoga teachers, and 20 years training and performance in dance, Ciru has developed a vibrant and graceful approach to Vinyasa. In addition to both traditional and creative sequencing, her classes have become known for the musical backdrop, which includes familiar, foreign and funky selections from across the globe. In her 7th year as a yoga instructor, it is Ciru’s hope that her students will experience yoga’s transformative energy through a combination of vigorous practice and lighthearted attitude, and that the peace she receives from teaching is felt by the students she teaches. OM Shanti!

	Jennifer Kohl, E-RYT 500, is the founder and director of Lotus Yoga and the Lotus Yoga Community Outreach program. Jennifer has received certifications in general hatha yoga, advanced vinyasa, pre natal, restorative, and kids yoga and is the director of the lotus yoga 300-hour and 500-hour teacher training programs. As the director of the Outreach Program, Jennifer leads a team of tremendous yoga teachers who offer yoga and meditation to adults and children of all cognitive/mobility abilities in detention centers, inner city schools, hospitals, drug rehabilitation centers, shelters for victims of domestic violence, community centers and an orphanage in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Jennifer teaches straight from her practice, which is informed primarily by the sacred teachings of the Buddha, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Jennifer is deeply grateful to her teachers; Lama Marut, Kelly Morris, Reverend Jaganath Carrera, Manorama, Genny Kapuler, and to her students. Lotus Yoga is dedicated to the happiness and freedom from suffering and the causes of suffering for all beings.

	Micki Krueger is a dedicated practitioner of Hatha Yoga, and a Certified Yoga Synthesis instructor, having completed the Yoga Synthesis Teachers' Training program with Raji Thron in December 2002. In May 2004, she earned her Prenatal Certification with Kelli DeFlora, R.Y.T., of Wise Woman Birthways. Micki is also a registered member of Yoga Alliance. Micki continues to study and practice with Raji, and has participated in workshops with such inspiring teachers as Sharon Gannon and David Life(Jivamukti), Rodney Yee(Iyengar), Kofi Busia(Iyengar), Doug Keller(Anusara Yoga), John Friend(Anusara Yoga), Ana Forrest (Forrest Yoga) and Mukunda Stiles(Structural Yoga Therapy). Micki's classes incorporate a creative synthesis of different yoga styles emphasizing breath and movement integration, proper alignment, meditation and relaxation. Micki teaches Vinyasa - Basics at Lotus Yoga on Monday nights.

	Stacy’s introduction to yoga began at age 12 when she picked up an old asana picture book in the local library with wide eyed admiration. A mysterious thirst for something in that book led her to take classes here and there at the local YMCA during her teenage years. Later she found herself captivated by the required reading for a yoga college course -- Iyengar’s introduction to Light on Yoga. Once again, an inner pull made her long for more, and she embarked on a path of gently and slowly exploring different yoga paths and traditions. Inspired always by the philosophy of yoga, she is drawn to teachers and students who embody Truth. This is how she arrived at Lotus Yoga, which she happily and gratefully considers her yoga home (with deep gratitude to Jennifer Kohl). Stacy believes that yoga is a way of living, and a true and honorable path towards the peace and unity that we all seek. She honors all the teachers past and present who have passed on the sacred teachings, and also gives reverence to the mysterious teacher within.

	DALIEN is a RYT and percussionist/sound explorer. Dalien (Daniel McBride) is a graduate of the Starseed Center for Yoga and Shamanisms' teacher training, a Yoga Alliance recognized program. A devoted student of 11 years, teaching 5, he currently serves as an adjunct professor at Montclair State University, NJ, instructs and creates programs/pilot programs for grade schools while teaching local classes and workshops that focus on the healing relationships between asana and sound. He continues his studies in various yoga styles and philosophies, Native American Shamanism experiences and as a typical Gemini seeker, always innovating within various approaches to balance the physical and emotional. He's had the privilege to speak on a panel with Gary Null and other noted health professionals discussing the synergistic connections between yoga, nutrition, energy and vibrational healing. He's also a graduate of the Hippocrates Institute, a living foods nutrition program.....an experience that he credits as strengthening his commitment to the yoga path. Dalien's teaching style, which he dubs " NOMADYOGA" , has been able to achieve a unique balance between various styles of Hatha yoga and sound healing. Dalien has developed quite a unique perspective on the immune system, having gone through severe adversity himself. He recorded his journey in his memoir, " How To Become A Rock And Roll Jedi Knight In Just 20 Years. " He also spent 2 1/2 years facilitating and co-training teachers in therapeutic chair yoga and music/sound therapy at the Turning Point, a center for drug and alcohol rehabilitation and currently provides music for Musicians On Call , by bringing music and song to terminally ill people in hospitals and HIV centers. As a multi-instrumentalist and performer, he's released four independent records, toured and shared stage with artists Paula Cole, Marjorie Fair, Ours and Run DMC and has had his music licensed to TV. This 18-year musical background served as the catalyst to combine and explore the world of sound healing with asana.......or what he likes to call PINK FLOYD SAMADHI. "Experiencing Dalien's Nomadyoga is like Lance Armstrong and Pink Floyd all wrapped up into one thorough Yoga experience!"

	I have been practicing law for 18 years and love what I do. I practice yoga to be a better lawyer and, I practice law to be a better yogi. It’s all about balance. The scales of justice symbolize the balance of severity and mercy. For the yogi, balance fueled by compassion is a key step toward enlightenment. For most of us, living in the Himalayas and mediating for years in not a realistic option to further spiritual growth. I aim, through yoga, to guide those like me, to live a more Spiritual life in this world. In their everyday life, to live more consciously. I began Spiritual study at a young age fascinated with the commonality of religions, and not their differences. It is in these common precepts that I discovered what I believe in my Soul to be the Spiritual Truths. For many years, I practiced and continue to practice, meditation with my Spiritual Teacher to whom I AM eternally grateful for the Blessings and precious Teachings. Through the Teachings, I continue to learn to liberate from the body ethereally, energetically, mentally and emotionally. I became a certified pranic healer and continue my study of this healing modality. Through my studies, I am humbled and empowered in times of strength and struggle. I began a more serious physical yoga practice during a time of struggle, when I was embraced by an old friend and renown yoga teacher, Seane Corn. In her grace and wisdom, she guided me to enable the movement of my body to express the essence of my Soul. I AM eternally grateful for her kindness, love and generosity. I continued my physical yoga practice and completed my yoga teacher’s certification with Raji Thron at Yoga Synthesis in 2005. I was then blessed to meet Jen Kohl and to find a place at Lotus. It is my goal to pass my teachings to those who wish to receive and to support those on the Spiritual Path in times of strength and struggle. We are all saints in the making.

	A mother of two, artist, performer, and former litigator, Jessica was introduced to yoga in 1998, and began practicing regularly in 2002, as well as teaching. After being introduced to the Yoga Sutras and the teachings of Geshe Michael Roach by dear friend and teacher Jennifer Kohl, Jessica found a greater connection between her life and her yoga practice, and decided to participate in the Lotus Yoga Teacher Training. Jessica feels blessed to be an instructor at Lotus, where she feels very much at home.

	Mary Paige Snell (RYT) has been involved with Yoga for over ten years. Her work with Jennifer Kohl, and the Lotus Yoga Community Outreach program, is an unexpected and exciting journey. She completed her Yoga Teacher Training with Jyoti Chrystal at Starseed Yoga; and has been influenced by David Life and Sharon Gannon. As an actress she has performed at various locations such as Lincoln Center, The Guggenheim Museum, and the Vienna Theater Festival. She can be heard on the recording of The Manson Family Opera, with Iggy Pop. Chanting with her harmonium is a source of great joy.

	Shana has been practicing yoga for over 10 years. She recently completed her Teacher Training at Lotus Yoga and holds certifications in Vinyasa, Kid’s Yoga and Prenatal Yoga. She received her prenatal certification through MaYoga Prenatal Yoga with Mia Borgatta in NYC. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Studies Education and has been a public high school teacher for 8 years. Shana became interested in the physical asana aspect of yoga and it has changed her life forever. She is interested in the power of a yoga practice that makes people see and trust who they are under the exterior while at the same time making them feel good in their physical bodies. Her interest in prenatal yoga and pregnancy was sparked when she was pregnant with her first child. She feels that it is vital for women who are embarking on the life-altering journey of childbirth and motherhood to feel the power of their bodies and to learn to trust their own connection to the universe. Shana is also interested and trained in prenatal nutrition, breastfeeding and other natural childbirth techniques. She is grateful to Jennifer Kohl and Lotus Yoga for providing a supportive and incredible learning environment.