Sag Harbor Yoga Teachers in Long Island
Jessica Bellofatto, Co-Director
Co-Director of Yoga Shanti, Jessica was first introduced to the practice of Yoga by Anne Wennerstrand, a modern dance teacher and mentor at New York University. Anne sent Jessica directly to 2nd Avenue and 10th St., up the stairs to the (former) home of the Jivamukti Yoga Center. Jessica's first class at Jivamukti (purely by accident) was Primary Series Led Astanga. She was hooked.
Jessica's first teachers at Jivamukti were Katchie Gaard, Adrienne Burke, David Life, and Sharon Gannon. To these individuals, she is deeply grateful.Upon completion of the Jivamukti Teacher Training Program in 1997, Jessica ran around NYC teaching at Jivamukti, Crunch, Reebok Sports Club, etc., etc., until finally, collapsing in exhaustion, she moved to the country and opened Yoga Shanti with her amazing partner Colleen. Since then, she has studied extensively with various Iyengar and Anusara teachers, as well as with Rodney Yee, who has completely transformed her practice and way of teaching. She also holds a BS in Dance and Dance Education, and Level 1 Reiki and Thai Massage Certifications. Jessica's love of this practice grows every day...Om Shanti.
Jessica will also be teaching classes at the new, revamped Mind/Body Spa at the Reebok Sports Club in New York City, from October 2007 - April 2008. Please visit the classes page more more information.
Colleen Saidman Yee, Co-Director
Colleen’s introduction to yoga was at the urging of a roommate who convinced her to attend a class at a loft space in New York City. It was not long after that first class, that her worn out running shoes, her basketball and her boxing gloves became relics of the past. And in 1994, after enduring back surgery, Colleen’s commitment to her yoga practice deepened.
A graduate of Jivamukti’s Teacher Training program in 1998, she has been teaching ever since. Colleen has been featured in both The New York Times and New York Magazine and in November 2003, was on the cover of Yoga Journal. A consummate student, Colleen has traveled throughout Europe and Asia studying alternative medicine and spiritual healing. Colleen holds a certification in Shiatsu and lived in Calcutta, India working with Mother Theresa at the Home of the Destitute and Dying.
Colleen owes tremendous gratitude for her studies of bhakti and vinyasa to David Life and Sharon Gannon. She also offers thanks to the many other teachers with whom she has studied, as well as to Rodney Yee, who remains her principal teacher. Five years ago, Colleen worked up the nerve to ask Jessica to be her business partner, after following her all over the East End of Long Island in awe of her teaching talents and the fabulous music that she played in her classes. Thus, Yoga Shanti was born!
Colleen also presents the Gaiam Yoga Club online with her husband Rodney Yee.
Nikki costello
has been teaching yoga for 15 years. She is certified in Jivamukti Yoga, Anusara yoga and is currently teaching in the Iyengar method. Her study, practice and teaching reflect the unfolding journey of a yogi inspired and trained by extraordinary teachers such as Sharon Gannon, David Life, John Friend, Kevin Gardiner and Mary Dunn. In 1997, she met Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, the spiritual head and meditation master and teacher of the Siddha Yoga path. For 8 years she taught exclusively for the SYDA Foundation, as a Siddha Yoga Hatha Yoga and Meditation Teacher. As part of the organization she conducted over 100 yoga retreats and events in North America, South America, Europe, India and China. She has a private clientele in New York City. Nikki is delighted to join Yoga Shanti to share the transformative and uplifting power that the path of yoga offers to each one of us.
Tonia D'Angelo
Tonia has been a devoted yoga practitioner for over 12 years. She took the leap to become a teacher herself, and is grateful for the Yoga Shanti 500+ hour teacher training she completed in 2004. She is especially thankful for the teachings from Jessica Bellafatto, Heidi Fokine, Jenna Minardi, Colleen and Rodney Yee who have helped her to deepen her insight, practice and teachings of yoga. Tonia’s classes are a blend of breathing techniques, alignment specific vinyasa and little doses of spirituality to brighten your day. She is a patient teacher who has much to offer all those who attend her classes. Tonia has three wonderful children and is a native to East Hampton. She has a strong belief in the mind body connection and is also a certified Holistic Health Counselor and Iridologist. To find out more please visit www.beyourbesthealth.com.
steve eaton
Steve Eaton has been experimenting with music all his life! He began at the age of 5 with the piano and now plays a number of instruments including the guitar, djembe, harmonium, tambura, melodica...(the list goes on and on). Steve graduated from Princeton University with a Degree (BA) in Music. There he was able to explore many musical forms and ensembles. Steve also began his studies of buddhism and veganism while attending Princeton. It was at a yoga class in Amagasnett where Steve fell in love with the practice. Since then Steve has studied many forms of yoga including Hatha, Kundalini, Iyengar and Bhakti, or devotional, Yoga. In 2008 Steve traveled to India where he immersed himself in the sounds of the country.
Steve is very excited to be collaborating with his partner Jennifer by accompanying her class with a number of instruments. His attempt is to deepen the experience of yoga through sound, vibration and chanting. He welcomes all feedback relating to this experimental yogic experience.
Subhadra (Bridget) Fleming
Once a professional ballet dancer, and then a trial lawyer, Subhadra stepped into the amazing world of yoga in 1998 and hasn’t looked back. She received certification from the Integral Yoga Institute in New York City in 2000, where she taught regularly and still maintains close ties. Her classes combine inspiring music with an unbridled joy in movement and an extensive knowledge of the body and breath. Subhadra understands that the body and soul work together and, with a generous spirit and sense of humor, shares insight from her longstanding personal meditation practice. She has studied extensively with her friend and teacher Swami Ramananda, as well as Angela Farmer, Rodney Yee, Jyothi Larson, Swami Jyothirmayandanda, Manorama, and Jai Uttal. Subhadra shares the teachings of yoga with the prayer that all may find the deep peace that resides within.
Heidi Fokine
Born the daughter of an atheist, Heidi’s spiritual awakening happened around the age of 14 when she began to pursue her passion for dance.
The transcendent experience of dancing; moving on the earth with other people, and the rich insights the art form offered was fertile ground for the development of self and sense of community. She received a BFA in dance from North Carolina School of the Arts in 1981.
Somewhere along a happy and always surprising fifteen year dance career, (touring internationally with Mark Dendy, David Gordon, and Susan Marshall), she found yoga. In the first Jivamukti class Heidi attended in 1991 she had the quiet revelation, “this is my future”. Since then Heidi has studied many styles of yoga but finds the teachings of Genevieve Kapuler and Rodney Yee most enduring. She also studies Light Body Meditation with Diane Goldner. Her classes combine precise knowledge of anatomy and alignment, reverence for the intelligence and mysteries of the body-mind- spirit with a quest for freedom and fun.
Yoga stripped away all the extraneous from dance, revealing in new ways what continues to fascinate her: space, light, rhythm, form, energy and the pulsation of the life community on this earth. Visit Heidi's web site
jennifer frasher
Born in Germany and raised in Sag Harbor, Jennifer emphasizes breath and pranayama in a strong yet fluid vinyasa flow. She refines the practice with precise alignment, hands on adjustments and mindful meditation. Believing in the Krishnamacharya lineage in that you "adapt the yoga to the individual" Jennifer strives to develop a unique yoga practice for each person. Forever a student, Jennifer is continually furthering her spiritual knowledge with daily practice both at home and in the classroom. She has taken numerous courses with exceptional teachers such as Angela Farmer, Patricia Walden, Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen, David Swenson, WAH, Genny Kapuler, Gurumukh, Manorama, Rodney Yee and many others. Jennifer has studied intensely with Mark Whitwell, with whom she became certified with as well as completing the 200 hour Nosara teacher training in Costa Rica. Jennifer is also certified to teach children through Universal Force Healing Center. In 2008 Jennifer traveled to India for the first time where she completed the Level 1 course at The Art of Living ashram in Bangalore with His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Jennifer incorporates live music, chanting, pranayama and Iyengar alignment to suit all levels of students. You will find her teachings fresh, inspirational and ever surprising! She would like to thank the many beings that inspire her teachings and her life.
Erika Halweil
Erika Halweil was born and raised in New York City. Her first experience with the yoga practice was close to one decade ago, although, it wasn't until 1997 that she focused her attention on the endless journey into the present moment. Recognizing the importance of a playful spirit and limitless curiosity, Erika tries to challenge herself, and others, through a unique vinyasa practice (inspired by the many traditions to which she has been exposed). She has furthered her knowledge of the human body through the study of nutrition (with a degree from NYU), anatomy and physiology and reflexology. She is, wholeheartedly grateful for all of her teachers; to Manorama D'Alvia and Uma Nanda Saraswati for helping her to find her inner bhakti; to Colleen Saidman and Jessica Bellofatto for their open hearts and thirst for knowledge; to Krishnamurti and Pema Chodron for their insight, honesty and courage. She is also indebted to the many people who have shared their practice with her, as she honors that each student is her guru.
Sarah Halweil
Sarah Halweil graduated from the Yoga Shanti Teacher Training Program in 2004. Previously she had practiced Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Jivamukti Yoga, but knew that she had found something special when she moved to Sag Harbor and started practicing at Yoga Shanti. "I was in awe in every class," she remembers. "The chanting. The intelligent sequencing. The focus on anatomy. The spiritual education and guidance. It satisfied all of my yoga expectations, and all in a tiny, whaling town."
Sarah strives to push the yoga practice beyond the classroom and into everyday life. "I feel grateful to be able to study with Colleen and Jessica, Rodney Yee and Manorama, and to share this powerful practice with others," she says.
Sarah holds a BA in Environmental Science and Latin American Studies from the University of Colorado in Boulder and a BSN from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. She is a labor and delivery nurse at Southampton Hospital.
Kari Harendorf
Kari discovered yoga in 1996 while recovering from a knee injury suffered during the Off-Broadway production of "Tony 'n Tina's Wedding". Inspired, Kari has been practicing ever since, becoming certified through the Integral Yoga Teacher Training Program in 2002, the Bhava Teacher Training program in 2003, and founding her own studio, East Yoga Center in New York City’s East Village in 2004. (http://eastyoga.com) Kari’s passion for yoga continues through her continued study with John Friend in the anusara tradition of yoga and Rodney Yee, who never fails to change her practice again and again.
Kari is also an accomplished dog trainer, having merged her passion for yoga and dogs with a monthly Dog Yoga class at East Yoga. This has led to features in numerous publications, including Yoga Journal, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as well as the 2005 Animal Planet television series, “K9 Karma” which followed Kari and her dog Charlie both in and out of the yoga studio.
Kari hails from Toronto, holds a BFA from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, and splits time between New York City and Sag Harbor with her husband, baby daughter, and 4 dogs. She would like to thank Jessica and Colleen, her primary teachers and constant source of inspiration.
Shana Kuhn-Siegel
In high school, Shana Kuhn-Siegel found mentorship from a beloved theater teacher whose mantra of instruction remains indelible in her mind, “Do the work”. Through improvisation and movement, a yoga practice was born, one that started as self study outside the asana classroom. It was not until college, that Shana began to explore yoga more traditionally, beginning with her early visits to the Sivananda center in Manhattan. Her passion for the physical practice, however, did not fully ignite until she found Astanga. Disenchanted with the monotony of the treadmill that she was on, she renounced her shoes and began Mysore classes at a local Crunch gym. This experience led to a daily practice and more in-depth study with such teachers as Richard Freeman. Shana also had the great fortune of working privately with Rebecca Menashe, a Jivamukti certified teacher, who introduced her to the philosophical teachings found in such texts as the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. In 2003, Shana took her practice on the road when she enrolled in the Peace Corps. Each morning, her practice of the Primary Series became the most watched program in her small village in Paraguay, South America. Returning prematurely from service to care for her dying grandmother, Shana found the true power of sangha at Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor that has helped her to become the teacher she is today. There Shana enrolled in a year long teacher training program to receive her certification. Shana is endlessly grateful and bows humbly to her teachers Jessica Bellofatto and Colleen Saidman who believed in her potential and offered instruction from a place of the utmost compassion and sincerity. Their lessons remain the force behind Shana’s asana instruction and her spiritual inquiry.
Shana also offers pranams to the many teachers who were also part of the year long process: Manorama, Rodney Yee, Stan Woodman, Heidi Fokine, Anna Holder, Kate “Lalita” Rabinowitz, John Seelye, Leslie Kaminoff, and the nineteen other amazing students who were part of the first Yoga Shanti Teacher Training program. Shana bows to the support of her family, her friends, and most especially to the students that she learns from every day. Shana’s classes are mindful and playful; combining focused and integrated asana sequencing, philosophy and chanting. Inspired by Krishnamurti’s expression, “life is a movement in relationship,” Shana hopes to convey her amazement in life’s endless possibilities to her students. In addition to being a yoga teacher, Shana’s commitment to the moral precepts of satya and ahimsa have led her to pursue a Masters degree in Social Work, working toward the enhancement of educational opportunities for young people so that they too may have the opportunity to walk the path of self-realization.
Leah Kinney
Leah began a regular yoga practice during her last year of college, finding that savasana provided the perfect respite from the brain overload of thesis writing. While home for Thanksgiving, Leah took a VERY crowded class at Yoga Shanti! Not sure what to expect and totally nervous about falling on someone, she unfolded her mat onto the uneven, creaky, wood floor and took her seat. As the first OM reverberated throughout the room, she was wholly intrigued.
In 2003, during an extended winter vacation in Costa Rica, Leah completed the Nosara Yoga Institue’s 200 hour teaching training program. Upon returning home, she enrolled in Yoga Shanti’s teacher training program where her heart grew full of love and gratitude for this practice and her truly wonderful teachers.
Born and raised in Montauk, Leah has a deep appreciation and love for the East End. She is so pleased to be sharing and participating in the practice of yoga within this community. Leah graduated from Georgetown University in 2001 with a BA in Women’s Studies and Spanish.
Stephanie Livaccari
Stephanie first experienced the healing power of movement at an early age while leaping across a dance studio. The need for movement - as a way to heal, release, express and communicate - simply became a natural part of her "being." To have the opportunity to bring yoga into children's lives and awaken this part of their "being" is a deeply gratifying experience for her.
Although she has practiced yoga for over 10 years, her interest truly deepened when she became pregnant with her daughter Miachesca in 2004. In the "Prenatal," "Mommy & Me" and "Toddler" classes at Yoga Shanti, she observed the natural link between yoga and children. Watching them slither like snakes and jump like frogs around the studio, she was inspired to learn how to share this wonderful experience with others.
Stephanie is certified to teach children's yoga through Neney's Yoginis and through the Karma Kids yoga studio in Manhattan. Stephanie also teaches Dance and Creative Movement for the After School program at the Ross School. She is deeply grateful to Sheryl Hastalis, Subhadra Fleming and Ann Fristoe for their constant encouragement and advice and to Jessica and Colleen for giving her the opportunity to play in their incredible space. She brings a light-hearted and playful approach to each class and is an encouraging teacher who believes in a respect for all students . . . no matter the age.
Alexandra McLaughlin
A native to Sag Harbor, Alex fled to New York City to pursue a degree in fashion at FIT. It was not long before she became exasperated by the endless whirlwind and began to search for more meaning. She knew that she needed to slow down and become more present. Her love of yoga and dedication to her own practice awakened a desire to further her study and humbly pursue the possibility of teaching. And once she began, there was no turning back!
Alex has received certifications from Sivananda, Jivamukti and most recently at Yoga Shanti, in a 10 month residency program. Blending the many traditions that she has studied, Alex brings flowing sequences, chanting and mindful instruction to all of her classes. She is grateful to all of her extraordinary teachers: Sharon Gannon and David Life, Manorama, Patricia Borrego, Mary Buffo, Jessica Bellofatto and Colleen Saidman, her family, as well as the many others who bring inspiration to her life daily.
Geoffrey Nimmer
Geoffrey Nimmer has been practicing yoga for 15 years and teaching for the last 5. He received his teaching certification at Om Yoga in NYC. He uses a playful style to teach alignment and mindful movement connected to the breath.
Lois Nesbitt
Lois Nesbitt, Certified Anusara Yoga teacher, credits her teachers John Friend and Douglas Brooks with transforming not only her yoga practice and teaching but her whole outlook on inspired living. Lois also practiced Ashtanga Yoga for a decade under Eddie Stern of the Patanjali Yoga Shala in New York and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India. Her teaching combines the flow of vinyasa yoga with the alignment and heart quality of Anusara Yoga. Voted one of New York City's top five yoga teachers by New York Magazine, Lois is known for her engaging and informative style. She has devoted herself to teaching students in New York and the Hamptons for over a decade.
Mitten Wainwright
Rodney Yee
Rodney Yee has been curious about the mind and body for as long as he can remember. He was a gymnast, a ballet dancer, and a philosophy and physical therapy major. Following the thread of curiosity about mind and body, he took his first yoga class in 1980. He went to yoga in search of flexibility and found a practice that would turn into his life-long passion and career. In 1981, Rodney began to study yoga full time at the San Francisco Iyengar Yoga Institute and at The Yoga Room in Berkeley. In 1987, after becoming a certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher, he opened the Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, CA, with Richard Rosen and Claire Finn.
Presently, in addition to teaching at Yoga Shanti, Rodney leads teacher trainings, workshops, and retreats nationally and internationally with Colleen. In Spring 2007, Rodney and Colleen were co-chairs and panelists for the Urban Zen Initiative, a forum dedicated to integrating eastern healing arts into the western medical paradigm. They are now helping to run the Health and Wellness branch of Urban Zen, a world-wide initiative of Donna Karan’s. Rodney has also been featured in over 30 video titles and numerous audio recordings with Gaiam. He has written two books, Yoga: the Poetry of the Body and Moving Toward Balance: 8 Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee, both in collaboration with Nina Zolotow.
Most importantly, Rodney and Colleen are raising and being raised by four awesome children, Evan, Adesha, Rachel, and Johanna. At this point in his life journey, Rodney realizes that Colleen and the kids are the real source of all of his yogic growth.
Rodney and Colleen also present the Gaiam Yoga Club online.
