Innerlight

Kim Chandler: Kim is the founder and director of Innerlight. A former resident of Kripalu Center, Kim directed Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training and was Associate Director of the Kripalu Yoga Teachers Association. She has since been influenced by a variety of traditions; for several years her interest has been focused on the practice of Anusara Yoga. She continues at Kripalu as an adjunct faculty member and returns to direct programs there several times a year.

Kim is also a certified Proprioceptive Writing® (PW) teacher. PW is a method for deepening attention and heightening awareness through writing. The practive of PW fosters integration of emotional and intellectual experience, builds self trust and frees creativity and intuition. Kim's experiences with the highly synergistic and complimentary practices of PW and yoga have culminated in her program, Mind in Motion.

Kim's teaching style combines structural alignment principles with contemplative aspects of yoga. She finds the power of yoga is the practice in the middle: a fully engaged participation that celebrates integration. When all parts of ourselves are breathed into we soften and strengthen. Through this devotional effort, we find our most empowered expression. In service to this adventure, Kim methodically guides each student to fully embody their unique whole and radiant being.
Judy McClain: Judy practices and teaches yoga through the lens of bhakti, devotion to the divine. Her classes include elements of classical hatha format: chanting, pranayama, asana, and meditation. She appreciates the balance between restorative and vinyasa yoga, between a yin and a yang approach, and encourages students to vary their practice for balance.

"An authentic yoga practice is an intimate experience: we sink into ourselves just as we are. Both restorative and vinyasa yoga can be canvases for Self-study. A yin/restorative approach allows a deep somatic experience, releasing the burdens imposed upon body and mind by time and habit and the demands of the world. A yang/vinyasa approach uses internal heat and repetitive movement to free up adhesions in the body and mind. Whatever the practice, with intention our yoga can reunite self with Self, allowing us to step fully into our own, true lives."

Judy was voted "Best Yoga Instructor 2008" by Newport Life Magazine.
Janne Sahady: Janne (pronounced Yanna) is a senior teacher at Innerlight Center for Yoga, co-director and co-developer of the Innerlight Yoga Teacher Training program, and a yoga teacher for the Newport Hospital Enough Is Enough program. She is a Yoga Alliance E-RYT 200 with 1000 hours of teaching experience. Her training includes a 500-hour course at Innerlight (1998) and a 400-hour Anusara-based course with Todd Norian (2003). She has assisted in many programs at Kripalu and elsewhere, including Introduction to Yoga and Meditation, Rebalancing Body, Mind and Spirit, Ashtanga Yoga, Anusara Yoga, Chakra Yoga, Partner Yoga, and Snow Shoe and Yoga.

"My experience with yoga is that it is a life changing force. Yoga develops strength and flexibility, focus and confidence and a sense of connection with a spirit greater than just me. Yoga grounds me and at the same time opens possibilities. My intention in teaching is to pass that on, that sense of living life to the fullest, vibrant, strong, and open."

Janne is currently working on getting her leg behind her head, and expects that in about five lifetimes from now, she may be close.
Katherine Carbone: Katherine is a certified Kripalu and Prenatal yoga teacher with additional certifications in Yoga of the Heart, Shake Your Soul! Kripalu DansKinetics and DanceMeditation. A Reiki Master and Expressive Arts Facilitator, her work is renowned as a celebration of creativity and healing.

Katherine's classes focus on developing awareness of the breath and encouraging slow, deep full breathing. This promotes relaxation in the body and in the mind and counteracts the effects of everyday stresses. Each class includes basic warm-ups, movements and simple asanas that help relieve backaches, shoulder tightness and neck tension. The slow movements also lubricate stiff joints. Students are always reminded that they have permission to take care of their bodies, do what feels good and modify any posture or flow as needed. Deep relaxation is an essential part of any yoga class. She especially enjoys guiding the process of deep relaxation through the various physical and energetic stages to allow for maximum healing benefit. She carefully chooses music for relaxation with an ear and heart toward the subtle healing benefits of sound. Her classes are gentle, subtle, deep and profound with an occasional sprinkling of humor and light heartedness.
Maggie Martin: Maggie began her regular practice of yoga in her fifties. She received her yoga teacher training at Innerlight Yoga and Meditation Center. She has been privileged to attend workshops with Donna Farhi and with Jack Kornfield. Recently Maggie has received her facilitator certification in "Creating Culture of Peace" workshops with Janet Chisholm. Maggie invites her yoga students to "breathe with her." She encourages asana practice as a moving meditation, quieting the disturbances within. She works with her students on the development of open-hearted compassion for self. Maggie brings humor and life experience to her instruction. of life.
Priscilla Szneke: Priscilla is a certified yoga teacher who integrates her 30 years experience in the health care field with her commitment to meditation and yoga. In her classes, she incorporates aspects of Buddhist philosophy with a variety of yoga disciplines and techniques to nurture mindfulness and develop metta or loving-kindness.
Rachel Balaban: Rachel is a certified instructor in Kripalu Danskinetics/ Shake Your Soul. She has been a clothing designer under her own label, Potjandozie, for almost 20 years. When she isn't designing, she's dancing. She has danced with the Arabella Project in Providence since 1999. In addition to her recreational dance, Rachel has taught creative movement residencies in the primary schools in Middletown, R.I., as well as to pre-school children in the same school district. Based on these experiences, she also lectures to students in the teacher certification program at Roger Williams University on "integrating the arts into the curriculum." Since receiving her certification in Kripalu Danskinetics/ Shake Your Soul, Rachel has led classes for school faculty, foundations, adults and youth.

Rachel’s class allows you to access your own power, joy, freedom, vitality and connection to others through movement and world music. The class takes you through a dynamic repertoire of energizing, healing, and stress-reducing movements using modern and African dance movement therapy. Additionally, there is a spiritual component inspired by yoga and Qi Kung, an ancient martial art. Kripalu Danskinetics/ Shake Your Soul offers participants the opportunity to connect with others and to engage in the fundamental challenge: how do I stay connected to my own body experience as I connect with others? This is the balance we struggle with in our lives, between honoring our own needs and meeting the needs of other people.
Sarah Mermin: Sarah Mermin, LICSW, has been teaching yoga since 1997, with 200 hour certifications from Kripalu Center and Integrative Yoga Therapy. Emphasizing yoga as a tool for cultivating mindfulness of mental and emotional states, Sarah brings her experience as a body-oriented psychotherapist to her teaching.

In her classes, there is an exploration of different yogic themes, integrating theory with physical practice. We practice yoga through asana, pranayama, meditation, and occasionally chanting. Inspirational readings, intention creation, and/or visualization are a part of each class. Students are encouraged to participate exactly as they are, to make the class their own. We leave practice feeling connected to our essential natures, more able to fully experience the richness and wonder of life.

For Sarah, yoga is a tool for cultivating a sense of peaceful vibrancy and contentment in our individual lives and in the world. Through practice on the mat, we can strengthen our ability to pay attention to the details of physical sensations, emotions, and thoughts. As we become more experienced at cultivating awareness through practice on the mat, we become more skillful in being mindful of experiences off the mat. As we notice how things are, rather than how we want them to be, we become more peaceful and content. This isn’t always easy. Sometimes, we will notice that we haven’t been practicing at all, just spending a lot of time suffering and/or judging. These moments can be challenging to notice, watch, and allow compassion. But if we choose to stick with it, we can improve not only the quality of our own lives, but also contribute to a more compassionate world.
Dina Abbondante: Dina Abbondante, E-RYT has studied natural medicine for 10 years. Her studies include Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic science, Reiki Master level and yoga. Dina's initial teacher training, in both yoga and mat Pilates was established through Soma Yoga in 2003. She has studied with Patricia Walden, an Iyengar master teacher, and continues learning through the 8 limbs of yoga and Iyengar's approach to detailed alignment. She also teaches pre & post-natal yoga, Yogalates, and mat Pilates.

Her teaching focus is through Vinyasa Krama, the linking of breath and movement, to enhance internal flow with effective technique. Each of Dina's classes center ontraditional breath observations and on cultivating an intelligent practice that will heighten clarity and connection with the Divine. She invites her students to move from within and to nourish an open mind.
Elizabeth Bessette: Elizabeth has a 35 year yoga practice, many of those years teaching. Certified in Sivananda Yoga, her experience as a massage therapist and a Zen shiatsu practitioner enhances her teaching with knowledge of anatomy, meridians, and Chinese Medicine. Elizabeth is currently enrolled in an 18-month course of Mindfulness Yoga and Buddhism at Spirit Rock. This program is designed to bridge the historic gap between yoga and Buddhism. Her classes focus on helping students find their centers, their own source of peace and strength within themselves. We observe the breath and play mindfully in the postures. Her classes are filled with humor, insight and inspiration.
Jane Maguire: Jane is an adjunct teacher who has lead several recent workshops at Innerlight including, "The Yoga of Compassion" and "Awakening in this lifetime -- Another look at Patanjali's Sutras."

Jane has spent most of her adult life balancing her careers as psychotherapist, hospice director and yoga teacher with the daily lessons of parenting a multitude of children. She says that learning compassion for herself and others has been a necessity, but also a path to joy.

Jane has been a student and teacher of Patanjali's Sutras for more than 30 years. She is eager to share her knowledge and fresh perspectives on Patanjali's teachings.
Kathleen McKeough: Kathy is a Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance and has her 200 Hour Certification from Innerlight in Middletown, Rhode Island. She teaches Restorative, Beginner, and Moderate Yoga classes at Innerlight Yoga Studio and Curves as well as a private class. She combines a gentle style of teaching with visualization and pranayama to create a learning experience that teaches and relaxes her students to optimize their health and practice. Her focus on alignment, combined with gentle assists guides her students to deepen their asana experience and practice. Kathy loves teaching and finds energy and learning from working with her students. Her background and training is in Sivananda and Kripalu Yoga and she has studied most recently at InnerlightYoga Studio in Middletown, RI. Kathy has practiced yoga for over 20 years.

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summer 2008

Teachers