Teachers

J. Brown (E-RYT 500) is a yoga teacher, writer, and founder of Abhyasa Yoga Center in Brooklyn, New York. A teacher for 15 years, he is known for his pragmatic approach to teaching personal, breath-centered therapeutic yoga adapted to individual needs, including chronic or acute conditions. His writing has been featured in Yoga Therapy Today, the International Journal of Yoga Therapy, Elephant Journal and Yogadork. He is studied in the Ashtanga-Vinyasa, Iyengar, Sivananda, and Desikachar/Krishnamacharya forms of Hatha Yoga practice. His teachers include Alison West (Yoga Union Certified), Richard Freeman, Swami P. Saraswati (Rishikesh-India), Katchie Ananda and Mark Whitwell (Heart of Yoga Certified). Member IAYT. J’s blog and essay writing is also featured at yogijbrown.com.
 
Leah Thomas has been practicing yoga with J. Brown since 2000. She trained with Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews at The Breathing Project in NYC, she is a graduate of the inaugural AYC Yoga Teacher Training and, in 2010, completed prenatal yoga teacher training at Integral Yoga Institute with Beth Donnely Caban and Lara Kohn Thompson. In her teaching, Leah aligns with the therapeutic approach that AYC represents. yogawithleah.com
 
Salvador Martinez began his practice and training in 1995, exploring a variety of disciplines including Ashtanga-vinyasa, Iyengar, Bikram and Shadow. Salvador received teaching certification from Sonic Yoga in NYC and through the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2009. He believes that yoga practice is a process and each day, each moment is unique. Salvador feels grateful to practice, study and teach at AYC. www.martinezyoga.com
 
Gigi Boetto came to a dedicated yoga practice with the need to heal herself while assisting a loved one through a very long and life-threatening cancer treatment. J. Brown’s personal, therapeutic, breath-centered, and non-dualistic approach to yoga, not only taught her safe asana practice for physical and mental health but also helped her develop the vital necessity of self-compassion. Gigi graduated from the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2012. She continues her advanced studies of anatomy and yoga with Leslie Kaminoff of The Breathing Project, and Andrew Sugerman from the American Viniyoga Institute. Member IAYT. Gigi provides her students with a space that helps them learn to listen to themselves so that they may become their own best allies in sickness and in health. www.gigiboetto.com
 
Narisara Vanichanan received her initial yoga teacher training from OM Yoga Center, Pre-Natal Yoga certification from Janice Clarfield, and Restorative Yoga training from Judith Hanson Lasater. She is also certified in yoga for breast cancer survivors, has practiced vipassana (insight) meditation for over ten years and completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2010. Narisara blends poetry, the visual arts, anatomy studies & dharma into her classes and draws inspiration from everyday urban life. For Narisara, teaching yoga is an opportunity to help others, and she offers a creative but structured environment where the present moment is honored. Outside the studio, Narisara works in the arts and nonprofit management. She has a master’s in arts administration from Columbia University and is a graduate of Coro Leadership NY.
 
Anderson Miller started a regular yoga practice in early 2009 and found that the “present-ness” of it fit nicely into his life. Prior to turning said life up a notch, Anderson just specialized in building digital and electromechanical things, which lacked a certain physicality and ritualistic study. Wishing to deepen his practice, he took his yoga practice to its next logical conclusion and completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2010. Today he is excited to share his practice with others. www.candersonmiller.com
 
Brooke Insley found yoga in 2000. She is grateful to her first teacher Bonnie Slifkin for introducing her to mindful meditation which led her to developing a regular hatha yoga practice. She began practicing with J. Brown in early 2007 and was immediately drawn to a breath-centered, non-achievement-based approach. Brooke completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in Spring 2008 and is honored to be able to share with others.
 
Areni Agbabian came to yoga as a vocalist looking to improve breath support, strengthen her body and nurture her mind. She completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2010 and Heart of Yoga Teacher Training with Mark Whitwell in 2011. Areni feels grateful and fortunate to teach others an authentic, individualized approach to healing.

 
 
Lindsey Sedlack‘s life long appreciation for strength, flexibility, and movement stem from her training as an athlete, dancer and outdoor enthusiast. While dancing at Connecticut College, Lindsey found herself drawn to yoga. Using courses in Anatomy/Physiology, Biology, Dance, Psychology, and Philosophy, Lindsey designed her own major called “Mind Body Connection: Healing Through Movement.” Her yoga journey developed further while studying abroad in Bali in the spring of 2009 and continued to grow as a volunteer at Kripalu Center for Health and Healing. Over time, her yoga practice, paired with a sense of wonder, curiosity, and determination, led her to try different styles of yoga including Bikram, Anusara, Yin Yoga, and Hatha Vinyasa. Upon moving to New York City in 2010, Lindsey studied at ISHTA Yoga with Sarah Platt-Finger, Mona Anand, Peter Ferko, Kelly Eudaily, and Jean Koerner. Currently, she completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2012. Lindsey provides a safe space for students of all levels to find their own authentic movement.
 
Christie Roe became a devoted yoga student at a young age and started teaching in 2005. Christie shares yoga as a creative self-healing modality, utilizing holistic practice, basic principles and the quality of breath to embrace the entirety of being. She has had the great fortune to train with beloved teachers, such as Erich Schiffmann (Freedom Style Yoga) and Mark Whitwell (Heart of Yoga.) Christie completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2012 and is honored to be part of the AYC staff.
 
Brie Huling found her breath and yoga at AYC with J. Brown a couple of years ago. Between fluttering from this island to that forest, back home to Oregon to spend time with her family and mother living with terminal cancer, Brie came to the realization that the peace she was seeking was already inside of her. Through a slow, ocean breath-centered yoga practice Brie discovered the intimacy and strength to be present for herself, her family, and community. After completing the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in Spring of 2012, Brie is so happy and grateful to be teaching yoga and continuing her studies and growth as both teacher and student at AYC. She is also a poet and writing teacher at Sarah Lawrence College High School Writer’s Program and curator of a reading and music series in Williamsburg. www.yogawithbriezer.com.
 
Since Shara Harad began practicing, Yoga has been a vital staple in her mind-body investigations both in relation to her dance studies and overall life. When she moved to Brooklyn, Shara found her Yoga home at Abyhasa Yoga Center. She completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2013. Shara is also a performer, schoolteacher, and soon to be social worker. Guided by J Brown, colleagues, and the beautiful complexity of the world, her therapeutic Yoga practice teaches her to precisely connect breath with movement, asana with light-heartedness, and Yoga with practical life. As a teacher, it is her objective to share these corner stones with you. www.sharajoyyoga.com
 
Sarahmay Wilkinson came to yoga through meditation. In 2007, Sarahmay began studying Tibetan Buddhist meditation under the guidance of Venerable Thupten Phuntsok at the Three Jewels NY.  Suffering hip pain due to extended sittings, Sarahmay was happy to discover AYC in 2009. J. Brown’s breath-centered therapeutic yoga practice resonated deeply with her. Following two years of practice at the center, Sarahmay completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training and soon thereafter took up a regular spot on the schedule. Her practice and teaching are grounded in a tradition of pragmatism that promotes healing and fosters love for self. In addition to teaching at AYC, Sarahmay runs a breath and movement program at Rivington House NY, a residential facility that offers clinical services to those living with HIV/AIDS. 
 
Adele Loux-Turner began teaching in 2001 (certified Integral Yoga Institute.) Since then, she has taught extensively to both adults and children. In 2006, Adele completed training in prenatal yoga at New York Yoga. She studied yoga for labor and delivery with Beth Donnelly Caban and “mommy and me” yoga with Jyothi Larson in 2007. Adele trained as a labor support doula through DONA International in 2008 and has since had the pleasure of assisting several of her students through their labors. Adele completes a two-year program in Embodied Developmental Movement and Yoga with Amy Matthews and Roxlyn Moret in February 2013, through the School for Body Mind Centering. She plans to continue her studies of BMC to certify as an Infant Developmental Movement Educator. Adele also continues to dance professionally. www.yogadele.com