Teachers

ANNA (Amba) WINKLER, DIRECTOR of Shakti Yoga & living arts, 

E-RYT500, YACEP, LMT

Anna has been practicing and teaching yoga since 1989. She was originally certified through the Sivananda Yoga Organization, where she served as a volunteer staff member for over 6 years. Among many other things, she assisted in the Yoga Teacher Training courses and modeled for 2 yoga books during her time there: Yoga, Mind and Body and 101 Essential Tips: Yoga.

Anna began practicing Ashtanga Yoga in 1997 with Eddie & Jocelyn Stern, as well as other authorized teachers, including Pattabhi, Saraswati, Manju and Sharath Jois, Nancy Gilgoff, Tim Miller, and others. She began teaching Ashtanga in 2002. Anna began sudying and practicing Iyengar Yoga at Studio Yoga (now Santosha Yoga) in Madison (and with other Senior Iyengar teaches) in 2007. She received her second 500 hour teaching certificate from Theresa Rowland of Studio Yoga in 2014. 

Anna teaches an Alignment Based Hatha Yoga class. She has been teaching in the Maplewood area since 2001, She is the founder and director of Shakti Yoga & living arts since June 2005 (formerly the Yoga Room in Millb

urn). 

Anna graduated from Nalanda Institute's Contemplative Psychotherapy Program (Compassion Module) in May, 2021. In March, 2022, she became a certified Compassion Based Resilience Training (CBRT) teacher, also with the Nalanda Institute. She is currently enrolled in their first Embodiment Module of the CPP, which is Tantra based. She thoroughly enjoys sharing these teachings with the community.

Anna is honored to serve on the Board of Directors and as a teacher at the Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing, a retreat center in Cragsmoor, NY (near Ellenville/Pinebush), founded by her teacher, Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche.
 

Anna's teaching style is both challenging and nurturing.
With a dash of humor, a focus on alignment and sometimes
just going with the flow, her classes will leave you
feeling worked, yet tranquil and energized.
 

Anna is available for Private Yoga Lessons,  Ayurveda Lifestyle Consultations, Therapeutic Integrated Massage, Myofacial Release Massage, Thai Yoga Bodywork, Thai Abdominal Massage,  and Raindrop Techinque sessions.

ANNA VIRGO

Anna’s interest in yoga came very early on in life. From her story it is easy to believe that it was meant to be. Growing up in a home that emphasized wellness both physically, mentally and spiritually, yoga was always a part of her life unbeknownst to her. Anna began practicing breathwork regularly during her childhood to overcome her battle of social anxiety. Since then her interest in pranayama grew.

At the age of 18, Anna’s mother began yoga teacher training with Anna Winkler. During her mothers training Anna would practice with her mother and was now formally introduced to Hatha Yoga. Anna became devoted to her own personal yoga practice and now had a solid foundation to build upon. In the last four years of yoga practice, Anna trained under her teacher Sadhguru and completed Levels 1 & 2 of Inner Engineering which largely focuses on pranayam and Hatha Yoga.

In 2021 Anna knew that she wanted to share her love for yoga with whomever she could and decided to get certified as a yoga teacher. She completed her 200 HR YTT with Anna Winkler and Donna Davidge this year (February 2022) at the Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing, and is now teaching Hatha Yoga as she continues to learn and grow in the yoga community. 
 

AIMEE LALLY

ARI SILVA

Ari was introduced to yoga in the early 1980’s to better understand breathing and relaxation techniques in preparation for the birth of her daughter. Soon after, she located the only yoga studio in the city of San Diego (before yoga became as popular as we know it) and became immersed in Asana practice. Despite several relocations, including a few stints living overseas, Ari continued to practice while working in luxury management in NYC. While coaching her husband on some stretches and postures to help with his injuries, he suggested that she teach yoga.

Ari completed her teaching certification in 2013. Throughout her yoga journey she has practiced various methods, such as Hatha, Iyengar, Anusara, Shivananda, and most recently, since 2015, has been dedicated to the Ashtanga Yoga method. She has participated in workshops and classes with Tim Miller, Eddie Stern and Kino MacGregor.

Ari is grateful to Anna Winkler for introducing her to Ashtanga. “It’s my fountain of youth,” says Ari.

BOB BLANTON

Bob has over 40 years of
experience in the martial arts,
25 of which have been dedicated
to the study and practice
of Tai Chi & Qigong.

For over 10 years Bob has devoted his time to a
deeper study of the principals and forms of this Art.

BOB HUDAK

Bob had an interest in yoga long before he ever stepped on a yoga mat. But, as we all know, sometimes life gets in the way. By the time he began practicing yoga at the Yoga and Healing Center in Scotch Plains he was already in his early 50’s. But, he immediately knew that yoga was something that he enjoyed and he took whatever classes that were offered and he often took multiple classes in a day.

After a few years at the Yoga and Healing Center Bob found Shakti Yoga, discovering that he really enjoyed the variety of classes offered. He sampled Ashtanga, Kundalini, Iyengar and Hatha yoga classes. When he found out that Anna was offering a Teacher Training course he enthusiastically enrolled. Bob graduated from Shakti’s Teacher Training course in October of 2020 and currently teaches Hatha yoga every third Sunday night and is excited to be taking on the Tuesday morning Sunrise yoga class that he was participating in for so many years.

Besides yoga, Bob is also really interested in pranayama, meditation and chanting. He studies pranayama with Robert Moses and meditation with his Buddhist teacher the Venerable Duhk-Song Sunim. He is enrolled in a daily course chanting the Yoga Sutras with Andrew Hillam.

Bob lives in Clark with his wife Susan and their two cats. He has a son who lives in California. Bob has now entered his 60’s and hopes to continue practicing AND teaching yoga for a long time to come...

C-RAY MANKOWSKI

Christopheray (C-Ray), having grown to 80 years young, brings four decades of study rooted in the teachings of Swami Satchitananda and the practice of Iyengar yoga. Fueled in Buddhist sensibilities he teaches with heart, humor and clarity.

You can ALL ways be sure to have fun in C-Ray's classes, and be taught discipline, self-study and surrender. He also includes breath work and yoga philosophy in his classes, as well as copious amounts of props...

Cynthia has been studying yoga for over 20 years. She is a 200 hour certified yoga instructor and a registered member of Yoga Alliance. Cynthia completed a teacher-training program for children with a concentration in babies through 5th grade, children with disabilities, and managing anxiety in children. She is currently working on her 500 hour certification, as well as Yoga Therapy training.

Cynthia has also obtained certifications in Trauma Sensitive Yoga, Restorative & Yoga Nidra and Reiki 1 & 2. Her overall approach is focused on creating a safe and accessible environment for all and encouraging a deep awareness of the mind/body connection. Cynthia is also involved with Exhale to Inhale, an organization that provides weekly yoga classes to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

Cynthia is honored to introduce tools to folks who are completlely new to yoga, that can bring more health, happiness and ease into thier lives.

 

DEBRA BERNATH

Debra’s first yoga class was over 40 years ago. It was Sivananda style. Since that time she has practiced many types of yoga from Hatha to Ashtanga, Iyengar, Kundalini and more. 

 

After a year traveling in Asia throughout Thailand, China, Bali and Singapore, she was exposed to Buddhist and Taoist philosophies as well as some of the healing practices in Asia. She had acupuncture and Chinese body treatments for the very first time in Northern China with profound results. When she returned to the states eventually ending up in NYC, she found a Qigong and Taoist school in Chinatown. For over 20 years she studied with GrandMaster Lu at the “Tao of Healing.” She has taught, “The Dragon’s Way Qigong®” and “ Wu Ming Qigong for Breast Health” at Shakti.

 

Debra recently completed a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training through Shakti Yoga & Living Arts with Anna Winkler! She also just completed a training with Lynne Nicole Smith in Massachusetts who is the creator of, "Qigong Infused Yoga™ ." This is a beautiful integration of both Qigong and Yoga. 
 

Debra has experienced profound transformations from both Qigong and Yoga. These two ancient practices, one primarily from China and the other from India, have influenced her life in body, mind and spirit. It is integral to her bodywork and wellness practice. Her goal is to share in a simple way the many benefits of both with her students and clients.

EMILY RAMOS

Emily came to her mat ten years ago to add variety to her workout routine and ease the aches and pains caused by a decade of avid running. After leaving her first yoga classes feeling renewed, calm and truly happy, what began as a physical practice soon blossomed into so much more. During her pregnancy (which was an easy, beautiful experience because of Shakti’s prenatal classes), Emily’s commitment to her yoga practice intensified.

Soon after the birth of her daughter in 2010 she decided to take her love of yoga a step further and train to become a yoga teacher. Emily  graduated from ShaktiBody’s 200-hour Teacher Training program and is thrilled to share yoga with her community!  A former NYC school teacher, Emily loves the art of teaching as much as she loves the practice of yoga.

Emily infuses her classes with energy, enthusiasm and humor. She loves sharing how the practice of yoga is also the practice of being kind, courageous, confident, happy and patient.

IRES WILBANKS, CD (DONA)

Ires teaches Ashtanga, hatha, pre and post natal and yoga for labor and delivery. She received her certifications from New York's Integral Yoga Institute, where she also has taught. Ires has been a devoted student of Yoga since 2001 and started teaching in 2005. Her prenatal yoga classes are guided by her own childbirth experiences—she attributes the practice to helping her achieve a vaginal birth after caesarean, or VBAC.  She is also a certified birth doula (DONA International) and received her training with Debra Pascali-Bonaro in NYC. Ires has been attending births since 2011.

Ires practices Ashtanga yoga and studies with Anna Winkler and Eddie Stern. She completed Tim Miller's Primary Series Ashtanga Yoga teacher training. Ires has also studied with David Swenson, Nancy Gilgoff, Kino MacGregor, and members of the Jois family including Sharath and Saraswathi.

Ires is committed to sharing her knowledge of how yoga can help women release fear and have a safe and peaceful childbirth experience.  Her classes draw upon her studies at Integral Yoga as well as the meditative intensity of her Ashtanga practice.

JACKI ROUTHENSTEIN

Jacki began taking yoga classes in the 1980's. Over the years she has been influenced by the many teachers she has studied with, including Theresa Rowland, Matt Dreyfus, Amy Hamilton, Kofi Busia, HS Arun, Stephanie Quirk and Abhijata Iyengar.

Jacki graduated from Studio Yoga 500 hour teacher training program learning Iyengar yoga from Theresa Rowland. She has been learning there since May 2015.
 

Jacki loves bringing the peace and joy of yoga yoga to her students.

JENNIFER DUDEK

Jennifer was first introduced to yoga while pursuing her BFA in theater at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. She fell in love with the connection of the breath to the movement and began teaching a yoga warm up for actors and crew before rehearsals and performances. Her formal hatha yoga teacher training began with Lex Gillan and Stan Hafner at the Yoga Institute of Houston. She completed her advanced teacher training in Allahabad, India with the Himalayan Institute under Rolf Sovik, Sandra Anderson, Mary Cardinal, DC Rao, and Pandit Rajmani Tigunait.

Jennifer is also certified to teach prenatal yoga, baby and me/postpartum yoga and exercise, children’s yoga for preschoolers, and Pilates mat. Her yoga classes are hatha based vinyasa with an emphasis on flow and her Pilates mat classes focus on finding length, balance, and stability.

The guiding mantra for all of Jennifer's classes is “Let’s make the practice a moving meditation.”  

When not teaching or practicing yoga and Pilates, she enjoys cooking, creative writing, traveling, and taking care of her three sons.

KATI WALKER, E-RYT, YACEP, CHTP, CSHP

Kati was introduced to Yoga as a teenager and loved the physical aspects of the discipline. As her practice developed she appreciated the subtler qualities including the spiritual aspects and stress management. She completed her 200 hour certification in 2009 and continued her certifications with Yoga for Scoliosis, Principles of Restorative Yoga and Cancer Survivor Teacher Training. Kati expanded into Ayurveda, Healing Touch, Reiki and Sound Healing.  

All of these modalities have sustained Kati throughout her life and are incorporated in her gentle yoga classes.

LINDA COCHRAN

Linda's first experience with yoga happened to be an Iyengar class in London in the late 90s. Later, now living in the US, she started attending classes at Studio Yoga Madison in 2009 and became a regular Iyengar yoga practitioner. She joined Teacher Training with Theresa Rowland and Amy Hamilton and has received both her Iyengar Yoga Certification, Introductory level I & II and her 500-hour teaching certificate. Linda also gained knowledge of therapy work assisting Theresa for 3 years in her one-on-one sessions. Throughout the years she has studied with many Senior Iyengar Teachers from around the world and most recently taken workshops on the subject of scoliosis with Deborah Wolk in NYC.

Linda has taught yoga since 2015 and has also had the joy of teaching movement and body awareness to developmentally disabled adults for the last two years.

Linda’s teaching style is kind, explorative and grounded in alignment, attempting to give her students a better awareness of their movements, as well as a comprehensive experience that both challenges and nurtures. Her students will learn how to modify safely for various poses that may be challenging to them.

LORI SMITH

Lori first encountered yoga in a class at the gym in 2001, where she loved it. Yoga gave her a greater sense of flexibility as an athlete, and since that first taste of it, she has taken classes from many teachers in the NY and NJ area. In 2012, Lori became a dedicated practitioner and student of yoga when facing some major life transitions. In September of 2015, Lori received her RYT 200 hour hatha yoga certificate from South Mountain Yoga under the guidance of Emma Magenta. Yoga has been and continues to be a source of solace and refuge for her, and cultivates buoyancy in her breath and body. For over 20 years, Lori has also been a student of Vipassana meditation, having attended meditation retreats at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and group sittings at the NY Insight Meditation Center, The Rubin Museum, The Tibet House and other places. Lori is grateful to all of her teachers, past, present and future, from whom she continues to learn, grow and be inspired by. For her, yoga is a heartfelt endeavor and she is grateful to share it with her students.

Lulu has been involved in studying yogic sciences since the age of 18. She has received her certification as a kundalini teacher from Kundalini East in New York City and is also a certified hatha yoga and reiki from Heartwood Institute in Sarasota Florida.She also comes with vast knowledge in the arts of tantra.

 

MADALINA BLANTON

 

Madalina is a Reiki Master and an Integrative Health Counselor who brings gentle care, compassion and deep attention to her work and her clients. Through her personal healing journey, Madalina learned that lasting transformation happens when we bring awareness to all aspects of our being and fully engage our soul energy. In her work, Madalina’s goal is to help people reawaken their own source of creativity, expanded energy and ultimately their well-being. She uses aromatherapy and crystals to enhance the energy flow during sessions, as well as chakra balancing techniques. Madalina is a former Children’s Book Designer, a long-time student of natural health and an advocate of green living. 

 

Since 2016, Madalina has been studying Family Constellations with Suzi Tucker. She is now bringing this modality into her practice.
 

 

MARY STEUART DYER

 

A devoted yogi practitioner for over 15 years, Mary Steuart has extensive experience in many different types of yoga including vinyasa, yin, kundalini, and gentle yoga. Coming to the practice through vinyasa flow, Mary Steuart loved the mind - body connection she received from asanas and began to incorporate yoga into her daily life. As her personal practice progressed, she became drawn to the spiritual aspects of yoga and meditation which led her to discover Kundalini Yoga and her beloved teacher Trish O’Gorman at Bhakti Barn Yoga Studio in 2019. The effects of this profound practice left her with an immediate inner knowing that she now had the capacity to create a true home within herself.
 

Mary Steuart earned two yoga teacher training certifications in 2020: a 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training certification in Vinyasa Yoga and a 30 Hour Yin Intensive Training under the guidance of her dear teachers and mentors, Christina Helms and Sarah Bodner of Three Birds Yoga Studio in Florham Park, NJ; and she earned a third certification in 2022, a 220 Hour Level One Kundalini Yoga and Meditation Teacher Training certification under the expert guidance of Angad Kaur Khalsa and Simran Kaur Khalsa of Kundalini Yoga East in New York City. 

Mary Steuart is extremely grateful to her teachers and mentors and overjoyed to be able to share these transformative forms of yoga with others.

Tailoring each class to the needs of her students, Mary Steuart provides numerous modifications throughout each class. She encourages students to link their breath to movement to become more grounded in the present moment, while also receiving the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual benefits of strengthening and stretching their body and mind.

 

MILENA-AMBIKA RUBINSTEIN

Milena first became interested in yoga when she took a yoga class in college.  The class offered her the opportunity to learn about both the physical and the philosophical aspects of this ancient science. After that experience, she became devoted to exploring the many elements of yoga, developing her personal practice. After returning to yoga classes regularly, she decided to receive training in order to have a deeper knowledge and better understanding of the discipline and to become a yoga instructor to share the benefits of yoga with others. As a professional community college language teacher, she also wanted to be able to pass on the knowledge she had acquired to her college students and fellow workers. Now recently retired, she continues to find her personal practice and teaching of yoga especially rewarding and fulfilling.

Milena believes yoga has made her life fuller, more balance and peaceful, and that’s what she would like to share with others who decide to explore the beauty of yoga. 

Milena holds more than 500 hours in yoga training, mostly from Integral Yoga Institute. Basic, 200-hour yoga teacher training in asanas and pranayama from Integral Yoga Institute, NYC in 2011 Intermediate, 170-hour yoga teacher training in asanas and pranayama from Integral Yoga Academy, Satchidananda Ashram, VA in 2018 Gentle and Chair, 100-hour yoga training from Integral Yoga Institute, NYC in 2015 15-hour chair yoga certification from ShaktiBody,Maplewood, NJ in 2012 Restorative/Therapeutic 63-hour yoga training taught by Cheri Clampett and Arturo Peal at Integral Yoga Institute, NYC, in 2012 Deepening into Therapeutic 28-hour yoga training taught by Cheri Clampett and Arturo Peal at Integral Yoga Institute, NYC, in 2014 3-day Essential Somatics Hanna Somatic exercise coach training – Level 1, Maplewood, NJ in 2017

SCOTT ANTHONY

Scott began studying Kundalini yoga in 1999 in NYC with Ravi Singh. His spiritual name is Arjan Singh, signifying the soul of a Teacher, and also Warrior and Artist. He is a music producer, engineer, musician, and artist, binding his yoga teaching with the creative arts to help others access and express their own souls. 

Combining his work in music and his yoga practice, Scott has recently moved into the field of public art. His sculpture/performance space “An Experience of Monism Based on ‘Within You Without You,’” was named a finalist design for the George Harrison Woodland Walk, launched during 2020 by the city of Liverpool and estate of George Harrison.

SEN SHERMAN

Sen is a New Jersey - based Hatha & Trauma yoga instructor, reiki practitioner, and writer.  Her yoga journey began shortly after finishing her undergraduate studies, but as her healing journey began, she found yoga to be an essential tool in her life.

Sen was called to do her 200 hour training with Yoga Blue Fitness, which has certified a shocking number of Black Yoga instructors all over. Those few months impacted her practice for the better, and she discovered that not only could she focus on Trauma-Informed Yoga, but even Trauma Informed Yoga with a focus on survivors of sexual assault and race-based trauma, which she studied with the Trauma Conscious Yoga Method. After making friends and forming a community of like minded individuals, she was encouraged to pursue her 300 hour training with My Vinyasa Practice and Reiki 1& 2 with Reiki for Reparation. It's a humbling journey and she is so thankful to have been given the opportunity to connect and learn from these amazing teachers.

Sen's goal is to share experiences, to tell stories, and to share what she knows and learns with her community.  She hopes as she continues to study and explore that she can provide a real treat that empowers you to harness your magic.  

TRISH O'GORMAN