Teachers

Mel Russo (Owner/Director of Yoga High)
mel@yogahighnyc.com Originally from NYC, I began my love affair with Yoga in 1995 while I was living in Los Angeles and working as a casting director. It didn’t take long for me to feel the Yoga high that made me so happy. It was in LA in the late 90’s that I met Max Strom and began to take classes with him. Although I moved back to NYC in 2000 and became a Yoga Alliance certified teacher here, it was soon after that when I realized something was missing and I needed to be trained by Max. So I went back to LA to take his teacher training. It was through his guidance as my teacher, mentor and quite honestly, as someone whom I deeply respected, that I realized the kind of teacher I wanted to be; kind, compassionate, fun, challenging and open to anyone who entered my classroom. All of that I learned from Max Strom and I am forever grateful.I love to use music during my classes in order to help my students find an escape and go deeper into their personal practice. I also try and emphasize that being “good at Yoga” does not mean you can achieve a physically challenging pose. I am so thankful for all the teachers in my life, including my students. I’m especially grateful to Liz. We both are living our dream of offering a beautiful space for people to come and practice their Yoga.

Patricia Milder (Co-Director of Yoga High)
Patricia is the Co-Director of Yoga High and of the Yoga High Teacher Training. She became a teacher under the private mentorship of Charles Matkin and Lisa Bennett during the years she helped them run a retreat-style Yoga Teacher Training in Garrison, New York (500+ hours certification). She is currently enrolled in the formative 108 hour “Anatomy Studies for Yoga Teachers” with Jason Brown. She also holds a B.A. from UCLA and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts. She is inspired by the patterns and movements of the natural world, and the way nature interacts with the flow and beat of city streets. She builds every class around a balance of structure and flow. For her, yoga practice is a playful attempt to bring together the wonder of enlightened awareness with the tangible reality of everyday life.

Abby Kaufmann
Having grown up on the Bowery between Broome and Grand, I am so excited to be returning to my “turf” in a new manifestation! I have worn many hats, restaurant worker, social worker, Reiki master, holistic health coach. Yoga is the perfect compliment to my myriad interests. On a retreat to Kripalu, my desire to deepen my knowledge was sparked by Randal Williams. However, I wanted to explore a more vigorous practice. Yoga High was exactly what I was looking for! What excites me most about Vinyasa yoga and Yoga High is the creativity of the class. Classes are taught thoughtfully and skillfully to allow students to safely explore all that they need from a pose, a breathing technique, and a mediation.At Yoga High every class is tailored to meet the needs of the class, and every class is different and interesting. (Not to mention our now famous playlists!) Although I came to study yoga a little later in my life, I have thrown myself into yoga with dedication and enthusiasm. I completed the Yoga High 200 hr teacher training last November and am currently a 300hr teacher trainee. In addition to the community class I teach here at Yoga High, I bring yoga to fellowship groups at St. Bridget’s church on 8Th and ave B. Everyday I learn from those who teach and those who practice at Yoga High. Liz, Mel and Patricia are supportive, incredibly knowledgeable, giving, open and nurturing. I can’t imagine doing my training anywhere else, and am deeply grateful to them, for helping me to go from the dark to the light.

Ani Weinstein
Ani’s yoga class guides students to explore the interdependence of breath and movement, effort and ease, balance and imbalance. She received her vinyasa yoga teacher training at OM Yoga Center, where she was also a teacher, and is a graduate of the Advanced Studies Program in Anatomy and Breath-Centered Yoga at The Breathing Project. Ani has developed a breath-based core strength training and a yoga series for singers to support full vocalization. She has studied restorative yoga with Judith Lasater, mindfulness meditation with Larry Rosenberg, and is trained to provide specialized yoga for women cancer survivors through Tari Prinster. Ani’s yoga practice is informed by her experience as a modern dancer, the writings of TKV Desikachar and Trungpa Rinpoche, NPR’s Radiolab and off-leash hours in Prospect Park.

Christy Briggs
Christy first wandered into yoga class while studying Political Science at Boston College. Having no expectations apart from a search for inner peace, somewhere between the initial deep breaths and the final resting pose, a permanent change took hold. As an athlete, activist, artist and social butterfly, Christy loves the challenge and deep creativity of yoga. By facilitating a kind and non-judgmental atmosphere, Christy helps her students let go, have fun, and find a place where they can surprise themselves. She loves the sound of the breath as it fills the body and the room, simultaneously creating an intensely personal and joyfully shared experience. Christy graduated from Yoga High’s first ever 200 hour teacher training, and is incredibly proud to continue her training in the 300 hour program under the guidance of Liz, Mel and Patricia who continue to encourage and inspire her to delve deeper.

Jason Orrell
I came to yoga in search of new sensations. I was attracted to the discipline, the encyclopedic breadth of techniques, and the introspection. Knowing I wanted to teach, I spent a few years practicing, working at studios and seeking out mentors. My first training was in 2009 with Elizabeth Neuse from B Yoga and YogaWorks, and in 2011 I completed an advanced training with Schuyler Grant at Kula Yoga.I try to impart the deep, therapeutic aspects of yoga in a down to earth way. My class is fun, challenging, and informative. I encourage commitment, curiosity and confidence in my students, giving them a foundation of practical knowledge on which they can build their skill, strengthen their body and enrich their mind.

Jessica Goldberg
Jessica had practiced yoga at gyms and at home on and (mostly) off for almost a decade and was definitely not able to touch her toes when she finally walked into an ashtanga class in a tiny studio in Chicago in 2008. Drawn initially to this style of yoga because it was rigorous but “didn’t feel like exercise,” she quickly learned to appreciate the physical and–to her initial surprise–mental benefits of a variety of yoga styles. She began practicing regularly and has since completed teacher trainings at Chicago Yoga Center, Om Yoga Center, and YogaWorks. Along the way she quit at least one office job to focus on teaching. Originally from New York, she is glad to be home and to be teaching at one of her favorite studios in the city. She continues to be amazed at the profound effects of her own yoga practice and grateful for the many wise and wonderful teachers who continue to inspire her. Jessica feels compelled to teach because she wants to help people move a little bit more mindfully through the world–while of course having fun and getting a little sweaty. And while she can touch her toes now, she is glad to have learned that that’s not necessarily the point.

Julie Peacock
After spending most of her life as a competitive athlete, Julie Peacock was relieved to discover, now nearly 15 years ago, the ease and joy that yoga brought to her life. In 2004, she quit her job in public health as a Dietitian and moved to New York City to complete her 200 hour yoga teacher training at Om Yoga Center. There, she deepened her understanding of alignment, mindfulness, intelligent sequencing and breath. Julie teaches classes in the vinyasa style while bringing particular attention to precise movement, focused breath and anatomical alignment. Her challenging choreography, juxtaposed with her generous instruction, encourage students to fully inhabit their bodies and discover the balance – both physically and mentally – that she herself has been so transformed by.Julie is also certified to teach prenatal yoga, having studied with Janice Clarefield in 2006, and she continues to offer her services in integrative and holistic nutrition.Julie is honored to teach classes infused with her thorough understanding of the body and what it needs to feel nourished and alive. She extends gratitude to her many teachers, notably Barbara Verrochi, Kristin Leigh and Margi Young, and her dedicated and vibrant students. Also, special thanks to her yogi husband Rusty and three young children Isabel, Dashiel and Sabine for their continued inspiration.

Kate Sortino
Kate was introduced to Vinyasa Yoga in Key West, Florida while taking a break from her acting and singing career and life in NYC. What first started out as a hobby quickly turned into a regular practice. Amazed by the physical and mental transformation yoga had created in Kate’s life, she decided to head back to New York and deepen her practice even further. After seeking out several studios, a friend suggested she check out Yoga High. A year later, Kate completed her 200-hour teacher training at Yoga High in 2010. Kate’s classes combine deep attention to breath, setting positive intentions, and creative sequencing. A huge music fan, Kate incorporates music in all her classes. She hopes that through Yoga her students can find an openness to positivity in their own lives, creating more focus, love, and joy in everything they do. Kate thanks Liz and Mel for their guidance and knowledge that continues to inspire her everyday as a teacher and as a student.

Kristina Pugh
Kristina, known affectionately at Yoga High as Tina, The Mayor of Clinton Street, or Beanie– took her first yoga class in high school after her cello teacher introduced Alexander Technique to help prevent tendonitis. In 2005 Tina moved to NYC to finish her degree in photography & music. She spent a couple of years looking for a Yoga studio to call home until she found Yoga High. It was one day while working at the cafe below the future site of Yoga High that Liz and Mel walked in and found their future Manager.Tina graduated from Yoga High’s very first 200-Hour and 300-Hour Teacher Trainings in 2009 and 2010.Her background in music, love of movement, and obsession with metaphors informs each of her classes and hopes to yield to her students, and to herself, a natural intelligence and exploration of one’s own body. She finds the human body completely fascinating and the human experience even more magnetizing and inspiring. Kristina is also working on her M.A. in International Affairs and Media Studies and teaches pre-teens and teens photography as a form of self-empowerment and community development through ICP in the South Bronx. She is forever grateful to Mel and Liz for creating a beautiful and accepting environment and truly loves every minute she spends with the Yoga High community.

Liz Buehler Walker
Liz completed her Vinyasa Yoga teacher training in 2001 at the legendary East Village Yoga center Bhava Yoga with Peter Rizzo. The value of teaching Yoga as a way to serve others at Bhava was contagious, and since 2001 Liz has been teaching group and private classes in Brooklyn and Manhattan and loving every minute of it. She continues to study pranayama and meditation techniques with Alan Finger of the ISHTA lineage. Her passion for movement, both energetic and physical, motivates Liz in her teaching. Liz is also known for her specialty classes on the chakras, and she served as a content consultant for Deepak Chopra’s groundbreaking chakra video game “Leela”. Being a mother herself, Liz enjoys working with women pre- and post-natal who are maintaining their regular Yoga practice or discovering Yoga through pregnancy and childbirth. She completed her Prenatal Yoga certification with renowned Prenatal teacher Mia Borgatta of Ma Yoga, who guided Liz through her pregnancy and prepared her for a conscious and empowering birth experience.

Moira Brennan
Moira began studying yoga with Chuck Miller and Mati Ezraty while living in Los Angeles many years ago. She was hooked by the Mysore practice, which allowed her to investigate her own body’s encounter with asana at her own pace, and was thrilled by the precision of the Ashtanga sequence. After moving back to NYC, Moira broadened her yoga studies with frequent classes at Jivamukti, Om Yoga, Iyengar Yoga NY, and YogaWorks, where she received her 200-hour training certification. She is now a 300-hour teacher trainee at YogaHigh, where she loves the combination of warmth, welcoming and serious practice. She’s grateful to all of her many teachers through the years. Moira teaches to learn, and is learning to teach.

Ruth Tranter
For me, the path to the divine begins with the vibrations of the heart, and my heart burst wide open the moment I sang my first OM; I’ve been chanting ever since. With Bina (my harmonium) by my side, my classes reflect the journey my practice has led me on: a soulful, fluid path filled with chances to discover and explore inner adventure, stillness, and breath. Steeped in flow and alignment yet peppered with Bhakti, my teaching shares what moves me and, I hope it inspires you, too.

Sara Hubbs
Sara took her first Vinyasa Yoga class in her native Arizona and immediately knew there was something to it. After years of playing competitive sports (and wear and tear on the body), she was in search of something to unite her desire to move with a sense of camaraderie and community. She not only found what she was looking for, but also soon discovered the range of experience Yoga offered, from the playful to the spiritual. As she gradually made her way out East in pursuit of a career as a visual artist, she dabbled at various studios, until landing at Yoga High, where she was introduced to her practice and her community. Since then Yoga seems to be filling her life, as she finally realized that Yoga isn’t something she has to ‘figure out.’ Sara graduated from Yoga High’s very first 200-hour teacher training with the guidance and inspiration of Mel and Liz, and she is so grateful to them for bringing out her desire to teach.

Sara Little
Yoga found Sara years ago, while working in Italy: a very enlightened friend introduced her to Warrior II on a Tuscan beach, and that undeniable connection between the physical practice of yoga and learning to live peacefully with yourself became apparent. She returned to the U.S. to finish her degrees in Journalism and Italian at Syracuse University (go Orange!), eventually finding herself in a regular yoga practice. She finally settled in the Lower East Side (you might see her walking Bella, a very large German shepherd around the ‘hood) and became certified to teach through YogaWorks under wonderful senior teachers Chrissy Carter and Jodie Rufty. A lifelong athlete, Sara’s teaching style is heavily influenced by the meditative, fluid movements of Ashtanga yoga. Her vision is to make yoga accessible and enjoyable, and is committed to teaching by the words of Judith Lasater: “Practice can be understood as a willingness to return to the reality of this very moment, to observe with dispassion and clarity exactly what is—right now.”

Susan Breslaoukhov
I received my certification to teach Vinyasa Yoga at the 500-hour level after completing multiple trainings with Elizabeth Neuse in New York City. My curiosity about yoga and meditation led me to study in India, where my travels taught me as much about myself as they did about the different people and cultures of the country. Having majored in Biology in college, I combine my knowledge of anatomy with creative sequencing, verbal and physical adjustments, and relaxing guided meditations to create a class environment in which my students can learn more about their practice and themselves. I continue to be amazed by yoga and its ability to influence and improve every aspect of living.

Teachers

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