Amanda took her first yoga class when she was 12 years old. She didn't think much of it at the time, but the seed had been planted. Amanda returned to yoga in 2005 for its physical benefits at a hatha/vinyasa class offered in her local gym. Eventually, a friend brought her to an Anusara class where she immediately fell in love with the heart-centered theme woven throughout the practice. With much encouragement and support from her teacher, Emma Magenta, Amanda enrolled in her first Anusara Immersion in March 2008, then Teacher Training in June 2009, both led by Emma and Christy Burnette.

Through her never-ending learning experiences, Amanda has had the privilege of studying under many truly amazing teachers, including Anusara Founder John Friend. Amanda strives to create a playful and supportive environment for her students on many levels. She believes that yoga practice extends from the mat into everyday life and hopes to help others cultivate that experience for themselves.

Cindy remembers clearly back in 1999 writing in her journal...goals for the New Year: 1) becoming physically fit 2) experiencing a strong spiritual connection. A year later she took her first yoga class and from then on her life began to change. She quickly became a dedicated student, and developed an intense meditation and asana practice and began taking workshops with John Friend and other wonderful Certified Anusara yoga teachers. Cindy completed a 200-hour Anusara Teacher Training with Vishali Varga in 2004. Purely out of her love for this practice and a strong desire to give back, she began teaching 4 years ago. As a physical therapist, Cindy brings to her teaching a strong working knowledge of the body and an excellent application of the Universal Principles of Alignment. In addition, it is her enthusiasm, warmth, and true love of the spiritual aspect of life that make her classes both fun and uplifting.

Cindy enjoys sharing close connections with family, friends, and nature. She is blessed with a loving family; her husband Jerry, her three sons Brad, Matt, and Christian, and their beautiful goldendoodle, Shiva.

Donna is an Anusara-Inspired yoga teacher, registered through Yoga Alliance and the former owner of Grace Yoga. She completed her 200 hour teacher training with Vishali Varga at Yoga Montclair in 2004 and has been teaching yoga ever since. Donna has also participated in teacher trainings with John Friend, Ross Rayburn and Amy Ippoliti. This past spring Donna had the honor of being a part of a mentoring program with Zhenja La Rossa and is currently on the path of becoming an Anusara Certified Teacher.

In addition to her yoga teaching and training, Donna was on the dance faculty at Montclair State University for over ten years, teaching and inspiring dance majors. She has been a professional dancer for the past twenty years and is the Artistic Director of Freespace Dance, a bold and vibrant contemporary modern dance company. Her classes flow with an understanding of movement and kinetics. She is fascinated by the divine marriage of body, mind and heart as she continues to find the integration of dance and yoga, choreography and philosophy. Donna holds a deep gratitude to all her teachers that she has been so blessed to study with.

Julie has been a dedicated student of yoga for 15 years, and is a native New Yorker. She is a Certified Anusara Yoga¨ teacher and studies regularly with Anusara founder John Friend and did her first training with Amy Ippoliti in 2002. One of the most sought after Anusara teachers in New York for her dynamic teaching style, Julie teaches classes with clear instruction of Anusara's Universal Principles of Alignment and the therapeutic aspects of the practice. Supporting her knowledge of asana and the principles, Julie has spent the last 8 years immersed in the Tantric traditions of South India.

Teaching publicly in Manhattan and Brooklyn, Julie's experience includes serving as an adjunct professor at NYU teaching yoga for Tisch, leading local and international yoga retreats throughout the year, and supporting the growth of the kula in the tri-state area on the board of creators of Trikula News. Proud to be a 2009-10 lululemon Ambassador, you can also find Julie teaching or hanging out at all of lululemon's stores.

Julie teaches from her experiences both on and off the mat and views yoga as a guide to life, and life-long practice. She is committed to serve students with the same awareness, generosity, and love she has been offered from a community of great teachers. She gratefully acknowledges the love and support received from John, Amy, and Douglas, as well as Sianna Sherman and Paul Muller-Ortega. Their words and actions continue to brighten her path of service.

Julie Margolis has been teaching yoga since 2004. When she took her first Anusara class later that year, she felt a strong, immediate connection and her heart and mind opened wide. Julie's love of yoga is contagious, and she strives to create a warm, compassionate environment in which to practice. Her classes are characterized by careful attention to flowing sequence, precise alignment instruction, always accompanied by laughter.

Julie believes that our yoga practice is a metaphor for the way we live our lives and that the vast and varied knowledge we gain on the mat through the Universal Principals of Alignment and Shiva Shakti tantric philosophy have a direct application to our everyday lives.

One of Julie's students recently wrote of her: "Her knowledge, kindness and inspiration are felt throughout the entire class and shared individually with each and every student. She shares openly and honestly with her personal practice in each and every class. She absolutely makes one fall in love with yoga and eager to get back to the next class."

Julie's study of yoga has made her aware that she is always practicing, whether in the capacity of a student, teacher, or mother to her three young girls. She is grateful to all of her life teachers both on and off the mat. Julie lives in Montclair, NJ, with her husband, daughters and a cat named Hanuman Lotus Yustein.

Katie Stephens joins us this week from Washington DC! She is an Anusara Inspired instructor and has completed over 1,200 hours of study with many of the method's leading teachers including John Friend, Jordan Bloom and Amy Ippoliti. Her classes enthusiastically affirm life and encourage students to savor the full range of human experiences. She believes a yoga practice should and can enhance every aspect of your life, as it hones your ability to better navigate your world. Most importantly, she endeavors to ensure each student leaves class feeling better than when they arrived, with a deeper sense of connection to themselves and a delightful lightness of heart.

In addition to her hatha yoga practice, Katie also studies Srividya (a trantric practice of auspicious wisdom) with Dr. Douglas Brooks. Douglas teaches how to use yoga to infuse your life with more intoxication (saumya), sweetness (madhurya) and beauty (saundarya.) And when practiced in this way, yoga is pretty sweet!

A Certified Anusara¨ yoga teacher, Lisa has been teaching since 1999. She teaches to inspire conscious participation in the ever-expanding universe and to rejoice in the diversity of artistic expression. Endless thanks to John Friend, Lois Nesbitt, Elena Brower, Amy Ippoliti, Jonathan Gordon and all of the truly exceptional teachers in her life, yoga and otherwise.

Mindy believes that yoga should be exciting, challenging, and full of discovery. She strives to create a meaningful connection to body, emotion and spirit and respects each person's individuality. An athlete and fitness enthusiast, Mindy sought yoga over 13 years ago. After a damaging knee injury, she was looking for an alternate form of exercise. She immediately realized yoga was not just another workout. The effects of yoga, from the very first class, seeped into her life. In 1999 she was introduced to Anusara Yoga. She found teachers who encouraged physical and spiritual awareness. The alignment system fit with her bodyÕs needs. Mindy looks to her yoga practice to help balance her personal life and her demanding career as a Corporate Meeting Planner.

Mindy's studies of Yoga include; multiple Teacher Trainings and Therapeutic Trainings with John Friend, 200-hour Yoga Alliance Certified Training at Yoga Mandali, studies with Tantric scholars Douglas Brooks and Carlos Pomeda, as well as extensive meditation and pranyama studies. In addition Mindy has over 1000 hours of study with John Friend and his Senior Certified Teachers in the Anusara Community. Mindy also continually studies with many other nationally recognized teachers like Dharma Mitra, Sharon Gannon, David Life, and Rodney Yee and the extremely talented teachers around NYC. She is grateful for the lessons and inspiration she continually receives.

Nicole was immersed in yoga from her very first class. In 2000, she was literally dragged to the Ananda Ashram by friends to help deal with stress. Being a very spiritual person she was both scared and intrigued by what yoga had to offer her. She has studied religion and philosphy, and at one time attended Union Seminary in NYC. In 2003, after practicing with a tape at home and attending random classes in NYC, Nicole began taking Anusara Yoga classes where she began to transform physically, emotionally and spiritually. That personal transformation was so profound that it led her to complete a teacher training in 2006 with Vishali Varga.

Since completing her training, Nicole teaches classes in hopes of making people feel more comfortable with who they already are -- letting yoga enhance their inherent beauty (inside and out). She continues her studies with such teachers as John Friend, Emma Magenta, Ross Rayburn, Sianna Sherman, Naime Jezzeney and Noah Maze. Nicole is an Anusara-Inspired teacher who lives in Montclair, NJ with her husband, Jared.

Phil carries the love and joy of the yoga tradition with him in his life as well as in his teaching. He feels that all students can experience the spiritual and energetic awakenings that are brought forth through the yoga practice. He wants all students to feel welcome, whatever their background or ability, and seeks to guide students to an experience of universal acceptance.

Phil's teaching is informed by knowledge gathered from both his infinitely wise teachers and his dedicated personal practice. His fun, loving classes, with a kick of spiritually awakening humor, are known for bringing students to places they didn't think were possible. Phil has a specialty in working with therapeutic issues.

Phil has studied yoga intensely since 2000, receiving his first Hatha yoga teaching certification in 2002 and his 500 hr certification in 2003. He has since become a dedicated student of Anusara Yoga, and achieved Anusara-Inspired status in 2009. He has received Teacher Training from Anusara Founder John Friend and Certified Anusara Teacher Zhenja Larosa. Phil is also Director of Yoga Harmony Studio in Randolph, NJ.

Sarah began practicing yoga in 2003 and found it transformative. She completed her 200 hour teacher training at Liv Yoga in January 2007 and has been teaching as a Yoga Alliance Reigstered Teacher ever since. She has spent time studying with Dharma Mittra, Max Strom, Todd Norian, Simon Park, John Friend, Sianna Sherman, Desiree Rumbaugh, Naime Jezzeney, Raji Thron and Edward Clark. Sarah focuses strongly on alignment and the importance of the breath. Her classes are challenging, but accessible for all levels. Sarah believes that yoga is not just about the physical postures, but that the practice should also incorporate spiritual lessons that can be applied to everyday life. Sarah feels truly blessed to be able to fulfill what she believes is her purpose of sharing the gift of yoga with others.

Initially Sheila came to yoga for the exercise aspect of the practice. It quickly evolved into a journey for inner connection and wholeness changing her world. An inner calm was found that has helped Sheila in all aspects of her life. She proceeded to enroll in every workshop she could find to further her practice on a physical and spiritual level. She completed her 200 hour Anusara Teacher Training with Christy Burnette and Emma Magenta.

Sheila creates a playful and challenging environment for each student to develop and enjoy their own experience. She has been fortunate to study with Christy Burnette, Emma Magenta, Amy Ippoliti and Ross Rayburn among many other amazing teachers. She is grateful for the inspiration and knowledge instilled upon her by so many wonderful teachers. Each one brings a different light to her practice and teaching style.