Teachers
J. Brown 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 essays have been featured in Yoga Therapy in Practice, Yoga Therapy Today, and the International Journal of Yoga Therapy. 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 herself with the therapeutic approach that AYC represents.
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
In 1976, Tamara Gonzales was initiated into Kriya Kundalini Yoga by Yogi S.A.A Ramaiah. She lived and practiced in his ashram in Imperial California for several years before returning to NY. In 1996 she began practicing at Jivamukti and in 2000 became a fan of J. Brown’s teaching style at Go Yoga. In 2001 she became a certified Sivananda instructor in Kerala India and taught for three years at the NYC center. Tamara was thrilled to find out that Abyhasa was J. Brown’s inspiration and completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in spring 2009. A breath centered gentle approach is the foundation of all her instruction. During the summer Tamara teaches in Walton, N.Y. and at Phoenix house in South Kortright. The rest of the time she spends making art, walking her dog Bear, and cultivating beginner’s mind.
Nikki Poirier Koch moved to NYC and began studying yoga with J Brown in 2003. Although her background is in theater and dance, she has admittedly always been more passionate about the emotion behind the movement,rather than the shapes created by the body. She carries this philosophy into her teaching practice,encouraging students to find their joy in the asanas, rather than thinking of alignment as a goal. She completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2009, and is thankful to have the opportunity to teach, learn and grow at Abhyasa Yoga Center.
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. Today he is excited to share his practice with others. www.candersonmiller.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.
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. Areni feels grateful and fortunate to teach others an authentic, individualized approach to healing.
Alicia Balocco came to yoga after practicing tai chi and Klein-Mahler technique. She was attracted to the therapeutic approach that J. Brown teaches and ultimately graduated from the AYC Yoga Teacher Training. In yoga, she has discovered the profound benefit of conscious breath and the power of practice to affect positive change. She loves sharing in this with others. Alicia is also a practicing architect.
Jeremy Pope discovered yoga in 2006 and has been practicing ever since. He completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2009. He is honored to be part of an ancient system, and deeply grateful for all his teachers and students.
Talia Weisz discovered yoga in 2004 on a backpacking trip through New Zealand. She and her practice have been evolving ever since. After moving to New York, she gravitated toward J. Brown’s therapeutic approach, which taught her that joy can be found in something as simple as breathing. She completed the AYC Teacher Training Program in 2011, and is honored to learn from and share her practice with others at Abhyasa. In addition to teaching adults, she is a certified children’s yoga instructor through Bija Kids.
Courtney Novak is a Yoga teacher, Artist, Health Coach and owner of Dandechick, LLC. She started her Yoga practice with a deck of Yoga cards at the age of sixteen, to be followed by a beginner’s series with her Grandmother. She took her first Teacher training in NYC in 2010 and was left baffled, sore, and wanting more. She found Abhyasa and completed the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2012. She is grateful to be able to share this slow, gentle and loving approach to Yoga that continues to transform the way she lives and treats her body.
Mark Wali is a Yoga teacher and healing facilitator currently living in New York City. Upon completing the AYC Yoga Teacher Training in 2008, Mark had the privilege of spending over three years living with a self-realized yoga master in a small Balinese village and teaching throughout Asia. Along with the classical teachings of Yoga, Mark is a student and initiate of Kala Cakra Tantra. All of the teachings he has studied and shares with others are centered in the principles of the Universal Dharma and offered to his Teacher, Family, and for the benefit of all beings. Mark is pleased and privileged to return to Abhyasa Yoga Center to teach the fundamentals of a breath-centered, therapeutic practice of Hatha Yoga.
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 trained 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. She is currently completing her certification s a labor support doula through DONA International. Adele also continues to dance professionally. www.yogadele.com
Christina Reich has been practicing Ashtanga yoga for the past eleven years and began teaching in 2004. Since her early teens, she has been devoted to deepening her understanding of the healing arts, studying herbalism, energy work and meditation. That same passion brought her into the heart of yoga. She began studying with Sri.K Pattabhi Jois and R. Sharath Jois in 2003. She became certified to teach Hatha and Prenatal Yoga at the Integral Yoga Institute of New York. She has had the pleasure of teaching Ashtanga Yoga in Mexico, Sweden, Thailand and Goa, India. She continues her lifelong yearly pilgrimage to Mysore, India to study with R.Sharath Jois at the K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute.
