our current teaching team.


  • Founder + Teacher

    I started practicing yoga at fourteen, and it touched and changed my life profoundly and in ways I can probably never quantify. I started my first training as a teacher a few years later. I learned ashtanga yoga from my first teacher, Jonny Kest. I later learned ashtanga from Lisa Lalér, Stan Woodman, and many other excellent teachers around the world. At eighteen, I sat my first 10-day Vipassana meditation course. Together ashtanga yoga and Vipassana and anapana meditation are at the core of my practice and teaching. I teach the way my teachers taught me and am grateful to continue sharing the knowledge they have passed to me through this teacher-student lineage. Yoga is a deeply transformative practice, and its teachings unfold continuously if approached with curiosity, discipline, and joy. I try to practice and teach with that simplicity and practicality. 

    I made New Haven my home in 2019 when I started my MD/PhD training here. I started the Shala in 2024 to teach Ashtanga yoga in New Haven and create a space of learning and healing through yoga. The sense of place and family that comes with belonging to a yoga community is very meaningful to me, and something I have yearned for while traveling and living away from home. I hope our Shala is that place for many students in our community. 

  • Teacher

    Yoga has been one of Elizabeth's guiding lights since she was 16. In 2019, she deepened her practice through certified Yoga Teacher Training (RYT 200) and is set to complete her additional training for her RYT 500 certification in April 2025. Elizabeth is also a certified Reiki Master Level III Practitioner, Meditation Guide, and Sound Healing Practitioner, weaving these healing techniques throughout her teachings to create a holistic and transformative experience.

    Over the years, she has had the honor of guiding students in a variety of yoga styles, from the gentle stillness of yin and restorative to the dynamic flow of vinyasa. Her classes emphasize the importance of balance—both on and off the mat—by embracing the interplay of yin and yang, effort and ease, movement and stillness. Through this approach, she encourages students to cultivate harmony within themselves, recognizing that true well-being comes from integrating both strength and surrender.

    When we find balance within, we align with the natural rhythms of the earth—the ebb and flow of the tides, the cycles of the moon, the changing of the seasons. In this alignment, we step into a dance with nature, becoming co-creators of our own reality. From this space of harmony, we can manifest a life rich in health, abundance, creativity, love, and wisdom. We open ourselves to receiving all that is meaningful to us, living in flow with the infinite intelligence that surrounds and resides within us.

    Time and time again, Elizabeth is reminded of the profound healing power that resides within each of us, and she is honored to help others awaken to their own inner light.

  • Rob Palmer is a Yale Psychiatry resident and researcher on mindfulness meditation and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. He has keen interests in Internal Family Systems therapy and other body-oriented therapeutic approaches. 

  • Teacher

    I have been practicing yoga for 25+ years and teaching for 20 of those years. I started my journey with a seated meditation practice in North Carolina, then California, before returning to the East Coast. After exploring forms like Bikram for 8 years, I found vinyasa and have been boundlessly exploring its depths since. I formed and led an outstanding yoga studio, Balanced Yoga, in Westville for years and then found Costa Rica. I balanced my time between the studio and the playa, teaching between the two before focusing more on Costa Rica for a spell. After the world changed in 2020, my family did too, setting me on a new journey to incorporate the practices and teachings towards more empathy, grief, and perseverance.

  • Teacher

    My yoga journey began during a challenging period in my life. Struggling with my own mental health, I turned to movement practices and discovered the transformative practice of yoga. Experiencing profound changes to my physical, mental and spiritual well-being, I was inspired to share this practice and advocate for mental health on a broader scale.

    I embarked on my teaching journey by completing a 200-hour Baptiste Yoga-inspired teacher training. Driven by a desire for deeper knowledge, I pursued additional training with the Baptiste Institute.

    I continued to expand my expertise by completing a 300-hour yoga teacher training led by Davina Davidson with the Melanin Yoga Project. Here, I delved into Rocket Yoga, which is rooted in Ashtanga Vinyasa. This training also showed me that I could connect my passion for advocacy, social justice and accessibility to my yoga practice and teachings.

    Wanting to gain more knowledge and tools to better support the underserved communities struggling with mental health and addictions I was working with, I decided to complete a 200-hour Mindfulness Facilitation Training, Integrative Somatic Trauma Practices Training, and Trauma Informed Yoga Certification. I empower my students through practices that foster self-awareness, mindfulness, and somatic movement that can help in finding balance and navigating life on and off of the yoga mat.

    My love for Rocket Yoga led me to training an additional 120 hrs under David Kyle’s guidance. Additionally, I trained in traditional Ashtanga Vinyasa with David Swenson giving me a better understanding and appreciation for the practice that Rocket is based on.

    I hope to inspire and support my students, integrating my extensive training and dedication to making all practices engaging, accessible and trauma-informed.

  • Teacher

    I am a Michigan native and trained in Ashtanga yoga with Jonny Kest at the Center for Yoga. I have been practicing and teaching yoga for over a decade and my favorite styles to teach are hot vinyasa and yin yoga. I enjoy teaching because it allows me to not only help my students strengthen physical attributes like endurance and flexibility, but also improve their mental and spiritual fitness. Currently I find myself in New Haven training as a resident physician in anesthesiology with an interest in chronic pain medicine. I hope to tie together my holistic yoga background and my clinical training to help my future patients suffering from chronic pain disorders improve their quality of life. In my limited free time I have many hobbies I enjoy, including rock climbing, fishing, and playing all the sports!

  • Teacher

    Zechara, artistically known as Zaaqqara, began her journey into yoga as a way to slow down and reconnect with herself while balancing the demands of work and academia. Drawn to the relationship between movement and rhythm, she discovered parallels between her work as a professional musician and composer and the way yoga invites presence and creativity into each moment.

    She earned her RYT-200 in Vinyasa Flow through Yoga in Our City’s Happy Warrior program, a trauma-informed training rooted in accessibility, and holds a specialty certification in Yin Yoga. In her classes, Zechara creates a space for students to cultivate both curiosity and strength, encouraging exploration through engaged connection between mind and body.

    Off the mat, she blends holistic healing and sound through modalities such as Reiki and vibrational therapy, continuing to explore sound as a pathway to self-discovery and personal growth. 

  • Teacher

    Yoga has been a part of Sophie’s life for the last 10 years. She completed her 200 RYT in 2019 to deepen her practice.  She has years of experience working at yoga studios throughout the East Coast in various administrative and hands-on assistant roles. She is passionate about the connection that yoga allows for the mind and body, and looks forward to continuing nourishing this connection with the East Rock Shala community. 

         During her 9 to 5,  Sophie works at a local non-profit, GreenWave,  which focuses on climate solution strategies involving regenerative ocean farming.

  • Khushi is a mother of one and a world traveler, spending her time between Indian Himalayas and the US. Khushi has been teaching yoga & meditation for over 18 years, conducting teachers’ trainings in combination with her Master’s in Clinical Social Work and a Master’s in Public Health. Khushi received her training and initiation from the Himalayan Institute under the tutelage of Tantric teacher Pandit Rajmani Tigunait. She has also completed advanced Vinyasa Krama teachers training with Srivatsa Ramaswami, a longtime student of Sri Krishnamacharya. Khushi’s teaching style is rooted in the classical texts, hatha yoga, tantra & Ayurveda. Her background in Vipassana meditation makes her a unique teacher, combining both the teachings of the Buddha and those of Patanjali. Khushiloves teaching a combination of subtle body energetics, strong alignment of all the koshas/bodies, and focus on the higher limbs of Yoga. Her skill is in Yoga Chikitsa, or Yoga Therapy geared towards the individual even within public classes.

    Internationally, she serves as a guide through her mindful tourism company Simply Himalaya, taking people on deep immersions into the Himalayas, Guatemala, Europe and other places of strong energy to practice, serve the community and transform through meditation & connection to nature. These retreats serve as a platform to generate funds for APV School, a mindful and holistic primary school in the rural Himalayas of India, where she has been teaching for over a decade.

  • Teacher

    I've been teaching yoga + movement for about 10 years now. My teaching style is a strong + playful vinyasa with a focus on helping students to connect to their intuitive body-mind. I am an E-RYT 200, lead retreats and have a passion for my own personal practice. I love helping others discover their inherent strength + peace. My goal as a teacher is to offer students what yoga has given me; a safe place to land + explore their inner world. I believe once the practice of yoga is in your heart, you have it for life. The more awareness + intention we give to our physical practice the bigger benefit to our heart, mind + soul. 

  • Teacher

    I grew up around yoga and have been practicing on and off for many years; I rediscovered it in my early 20s when I needed a way to shake off stress and feel good in my body again. Through meditative movement, I found relief and peace, which led me to become a 200-hour Baptiste-certified teacher. As a former ski racer and outdoor lover, my practice blends strength, fluidity, and breath awareness with a playful, restorative approach. My goal is to help students move, reset and reconnect - whether that means finding deep relaxation or just having fun on the mat. I’m looking forward to flowing with you!

guest teachers & shala alumni.

  • Guest Teacher

    Stan began a dedicated Ashtanga practice in 1998 with his first teacher Beryl Bender Birch who helped Stan develop the basis of his practice and teaching today.  Stan eventually went to the source in Mysore India in 2003 and 2004 to study with Pattabhi Jois. Since then, he has made seven more trips to Mysore to study with Sharath Jois including the summer of 2016 Stan completed a two month teachers course in Mysore with Sharath. His practice and teaching has also been greatly influenced by his studies with David Swenson, Eddie Stern and Aliya Wise.

    In addition to his work as a yoga teacher, Stan’s education includes intensive coursework with special needs children through the Son-Rise Program at The Autism Treatment Center of America. Formerly licensed as a massage therapist, he has extensive knowledge in eastern and western philosophies and practices in anatomy, physiology, kinesiology, myology, and neurology. Stan has served on the board of directors of several not-for-profits including Odanadi and The Give Back Yoga Foundation for empowering individuals through the gift of yoga.

    An avid extreme sports enthusiast, Stan loves a good challenge, especially when snowboarding or skateboarding. Stan has been featured in numerous magazines including Fitness, More and Organic Spa.

    He is the co-founder of Kaia Yoga studios from 2006-2018. He continues to live in Connecticut teaching Private Yoga and Mysore Program in Greenwich, CT.

    Stan teaches led primary & ashtanga workshops at the Shala.

  • I was born and raised in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and moved to NY at 16. My upbringing in Theravada Buddhism and meditation illuminated my path to yoga. In Lombok, Indonesia, I completed my yoga teacher training in hatha vinyasa, sound healing, and Ayurvedic practice. As a registered nurse, I approach my yoga practice with the intention that yoga is for every body and all ages, to help one stay grounded and calm through all the emotions of life. I use my nursing knowledge to help students reach proper alignment and my classes are sequenced to sync breath with movement.

    Sachi taught warm vinyasa at the Shala.

  • Teacher

    I have been practicing yoga for over 20 years, a discipline I discovered during my psychology studies at the University of Lille (France) in 2003 with Jean-Marc Scalecki, a two-time world champion in French boxing.

    Since 2012, I have traveled annually—over ten extended trips—to the source of Ashtanga Yoga at KPJAYI/SYC Mysore (India) to train in the traditional teaching of Ashtanga Yoga under Sharath Jois. In 2016, Sharath Jois granted me authorization (blessing) to teach the first and second series of Ashtanga Yoga. I assisted him from 2017 to 2024.

    In addition, I continue to deepen my practice with teachers like Petri Räisänen, Kino MacGregor, and Eddie Stern. I enhanced my understanding of physical adjustments through an intensive course in Toronto with David Robson. I also trained in supporting pregnant women in Ashtanga Yoga with Arielle Nash (a physiotherapist and authorized Ashtanga Yoga teacher) and completed studies in Indian history and literature at the University of Lyon III ( France).

    I have been teaching Ashtanga Yoga for over 15 years and have been mentoring and training assistants on their path to becoming teachers for many years. Committed to honoring the uniqueness of each body and mind, my goal is to create a space of silence that fosters breathwork, physical care, meditation, clarity, self-discovery and personal growth.

    Aurelie is now teaching Mysore in Paris, France. Find her teaching schedule here.

  • Teacher

    I began practicing yoga in my 20's during a time of great transition and found that it was a rich portal to self discovery, awareness and healing. I hold two 200-hour certifications in Kripalu and Anusara yoga and have taught yoga, meditation and contemplative practices for years in community-based settings.  In my classes, I emphasize physical and energetic alignment with attention and detail, while grounded in a heart centered and life affirming approach. As a nurse practitioner, I am passionate about health and have a deep respect for the body's wisdom.

    Ifeoma taught yoga basics at the shala in the spring of 2025.

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our studio team.

  • Studio Manager

    Sydney was introduced to yoga by her dad as a child, but intentionally explored the practice starting in 2020. She began by attending vinyasa & community recovery classes at a neighborhood, queer-owned yoga studio in Buffalo, NY where she sought an affirming, warm (literally as it was hot yoga) space to heal her relationship with her body and family & friends. She fell off her yoga practice when returning back to school at UConn, & upon graduation started her 200 HR YTT to deepen & provide more knowledge & community around her practice. After her YTT she started opening classes at numerous studios in New Haven exploring all different types of classes, & began teaching free outdoor community yoga classes through a program called Yoga in Our City. Now, she is delighted to join East Rock Shala, opening the studio & working the desk, with her interest in learning more about ashtanga, & incorporating her yoga more deeply into her recovery practice.

  • Estella Dieci is a first-year Master of Environmental Design student at the Yale School of Architecture. She began practicing yoga seriously this past year and completed a 200-HR teacher training course in the spring. Her interest in yoga grew after sitting her first 10-day course in Vipassana meditation three years ago, and her commitment strengthened in seeking lifelong physical activity and personal healing for herself and her loved ones. She is grateful for the community fostered in yoga studios, the inherent bond between like-minded individuals with common goals, and the strength of sharing practice and meaning with friends and strangers.