Nicole Carrubba (RYT) has been practicing yoga for more than 10 years, although it wasn’t until 2 years ago that she began to really deepen her commitment to her practice.   Inspired to learn more and build a deeper connection with her true self, Nicole completed her yoga teacher training at Starseed Yoga & Wellness in Montclair, NJ.  Nicole has her Masters in Business Administration and is a legal marketing guru/entrepreneur by day and a yoga teacher/student by night.  For Nicole, yoga plays a central role in creating balance and stability in her often hectic, professional and personal life.  
Nicole’s classes blend core strength-building and alignment with creative sequencing and a vinyasa flow to draw students out of their routine and outside responsibilities so they can explore their own journeys to connect with their true selves.  Nicole’s classes provide a fun and challenging atmosphere to practice and include pranayama, asana, and meditation.   Influenced by a variety of yoga styles and teachers, Nicole has an open and eclectic style; teaching from her heart.
Nicole is deeply grateful to Amy Para and Michael Cipriano, owners of Starseed Yoga and Wellness for the deep and rich education she received during her training there.  Nicole is also thankful for the many teachers, mentors and friends who have touched her life and her practice:  Mary Paige Snell, Susan Herman, Julie Margolis, Ali Campbell, Sara Martire, and Lynn Schoorl.

Ali Campbell completed her yoga teacher training at Starseed Yoga and Healing in Montclair, NJ. She has a Masters Degree in Education and has worked as an educator for over 10 years. She came to yoga through her background in sports and has developed a strong personal practice over the past decade. Her recent expansion in yoga has come through a gentler practice and devoting herself to meditation—always a challenge with two young children at home. She has taken time away from her career in the public schools to parent and can be found at home gardening, making pancakes with her kids and husband, or sneaking away to the coffee shop to read by herself. She believes fully in the possibility of everyone finding inner peace through yoga. If there is one thing she knows for sure, it’s that she knows nothing.

Deb Cerruti, MFA, RYT, AAHCC, CD(DONA) loves to harmonize: vocally, spiritually and interpersonally.  She teaches beginner and open levels of Iyengar-based Yoga, Chair Yoga (“Yoga for Greater Mobility”), Pre and Postnatal Yoga and Meditation for Childbirth (“Calm Birth”) with warmth, precision, and good humor.   It was Dr. Jason Martin, Deb’s first true teacher and guide, who encouraged her to take the plunge into the world of yoga teaching and just in time to be taught by the inimitable Jyoti Chrystal here at Starseed Yoga and Wellness. Deb received her Pre and Postnatal Teacher Training from Starseed’s own Kelli DeFLora, Partner Yoga for Couples Training from Ann Greene at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and has been deeply inspired by her teachers (especially Beth Schultz) and all of her students (pregnant and non:)  As a longtime professional actress (AEA,SAG,AFTRA) with an MFA in Acting from CUA, a certified Bradley Method® Natural Childbirth Educator, certified Birth Doula and proud Mother of 2, Deb's creative energies are further enlivened and shared. Her teaching style is careful, clear and encouraging, emphasizing physical alignment and the breath as key to opening and releasing.  Deb often uses poetry to help focus and inspire.  “I’ve been enjoying the yoga very much and find the variety quite exhilarating.  You bring a freshness to each lesson and it remains vibrant.– Norma Corona, student

Kelli DeFlora, RYT, CD trained at the World Yoga Center in New York City and is a graduate of Starseed’s SSYTT. She also has completed several pre-natal teacher certifications and post-partum yoga trainings. She currently teaches a certification program for pre-natal yoga. Kelli is both the director and teacher for the pre-natal and mommy and me classes and specializes in working with women in their child-bearing years. She brings over 15 years of holistic health experience to Starseed. In addition to her work as a yoga teacher, she is a doula (professional childbirth/labor assistant), childbirth educator, Shiatsu and Reiki practitioner, and interfaith minister. Kelli is also a devotee of Gurumayi Chidvilasanada, who has had much influence on her work.
www.motherbirthyoga.com

When Gigi sought to expand her practice, and connect with other practitioners, she was led to Starseed Yoga. There she met Jyoti and was inspired by Jyoti’s energy and acceptance. Taking a pranayama workshop with teacher trainees in 2009, Gigi was even more deeply inspired. She developed an interest in teaching, immersing deeper into her own practice, and sharing the love and knowledge with others.

Gigi graduated from Starseed Yoga & Wellness in Montclair in June 2010. She continued her training by taking a week-long Pranayama Immersion & Teacher Training at OM Yoga in New York. Gigi continues to train, for her own sake and her students' sake, hoping to bring peace & happiness to everyone, regardless of any physical or mental limitations.

Gigi aspires to grow in the areas of meditation, pranayama and therapeutic yoga, bringing it to communities where English and Spanish are spoken.

Susan Herman Ph.D, ABPP is a Psychologist and a Yoga Teacher. As a psychologist in private practice she works with depression, anxiety, and trauma survivors. She has been practicing yoga for 15 years and teaching for 5 years. She has been trained by many different teachers in different traditions; White Lotus, Yoga Synthesis, Om Yoga, Anusara, Restorative, Yoga for Cancer Survivors, and Prenatal Yoga. She is a certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist. She has also studied with Jyoti Chrystal for all of her yoga years. She combines her knowledge of human conditions with the love of yoga in helping her students develop more positive views of themselves and their potential regardless of their limitations.

Susan Hagen - RYT 200 - found yoga in 2007 in the midst of a challenging transitional time in her life.  She initially started taking vinyasa classes twice a week at her gym as "just another form of exercise".  It wasn't long before she realized that yoga provided her with so much more - including a welcome sense of calm and deep emotional release.   When she entered the teacher training program at Starseed Yoga & Wellness in 2009, her intent was really just to learn more about the yogic philosophies and lifestyle and to deepen her own practice.  Along the way however, under the caring guidance of many, she discovered her confidence for teaching and her desire to share what she continues to learn along her path with others.  Susan is very grateful to Starseed for opening her heart, mind, and spirit to new ways of thinking and experiencing the world. 

Christine Heye is a Starseed Yoga Teacher Training graduate (2010) and a Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher.    Introduced to yoga years ago, the light ignited, but practice was not consistent.  Then, as a milestone birthday approached, unbidden the universe asked “if not now, when?” and Christine walked into Starseed and knew immediately she was right where she was meant to be. Inspired by Yoga Sutras study with Jyoti Chrystal and asana with the incomparable Starseed community ….with particular appreciation for the wisdom and generosity that lights Susan Herman, Lynn Schoorl and Beth Schultz….the clear next step was Starseed Yoga Teacher Training.

 In each class, Christine aims to create a spacious environment that encourages each student to open to their authentic energy and a deeper sense of self.  Influenced by Iyengar, vinyasa and other hatha styles, Christine’s classes focus on imparting the fundamentals of alignment and the ease of breath initiated movement to connect to the peace that is yoga.

Christine’s additional yoga training includes Kids’ Yoga, Chair Yoga and Embodied Anatomy.   Inquisitive by nature she is currently reading in Buddhist psychology and registered for a plentiful schedule of yoga-related workshops, the teachings of which she looks forward to sharing.

 

Elizabeth is a graduate of Starseed's 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training program. She studied for several years under the late Jyoti Chrystal, who inspired and awakened her yoga spirit. She also studied Gentle and Restorative yoga regularly over the last several years with Susan O'Brien and benefited from her generous mentorship.  Besides working with Jyoti and Susan, she also frequently practiced with other teachers and styles, and has explored a variety of energy and healing modalities such as Reiki, flower essences, TTouch, and mediumship.  She encourages students to be open to the unique gifts given by any teacher, in yoga and in life.  

Elizabeth feels that yoga is for everyone and that it is important to honor your own journey, no matter how long it takes or whatever you perceive is lacking, and encourages her students to accept themselves exactly as they are.  While inspired by and open to many forms of practice, she is especially interested in sharing Gentle and Restorative Yoga, thereby making yoga available to those who are not drawn to a physically vigorous practice. She also encourages those wishing to cultivate relaxation in their lives, or just taking a time-out from a stressful day.  When not teaching Gentle Yoga, she also teaches yoga to caregivers, survivors of domestic abuse, and the transgendered community. She enjoys being open and creative, and often includes in her classes whatever happens to bring inspiration, from poetry to sacred sound.  Her students are drawn to her warm and gentle approach, and she feels blessed to share these gifts as her teachers have done.

Nurturer by nature.  Her search for yoga began in 2000 at the age of 16 in a beginner yoga class with the Montclair Adult School.  The seeds of change and love were then planted in the wide open field of her mind.  The seedlings developed through the passing years as breath and self awareness were the forefront of the journey.  It was working on farms, in greenhouses, and for garden centers where Jess discovered the tools of nurturance.  Watching plants grow taught her the importance of change and the reality of cycles.  In 2008, Jess left NJ to work on a farm in California under the guidance of a shaman and the seedlings developed into many buds spreading through the open field.  Learning to choose love and not fear was the catalyst for beginning her yoga teacher training in 2009.  In 2010, Jess graduated with a 200-hr teaching certificate from Starseed Yoga in Montclair, an accredited studio with the Yoga Alliance.  During this period of growth and change, a metamorphosis took place, revealing the blossoms of Jess’s heart, opening her to the love of the world.  Love is appreciating all things and beings for their natural glory.  Jess is currently enrolled in a meditation teacher training with Guruji Rev Jaganath Carrera.  Come to Jessie Sunshine’s Sunday’s Level One class to flex the mind with modern day mysticism, stretch the body with asana, and open the heart with meditation.  Learn the principles of pranayama while playfully exploring the realms of the soul.  Discover a mind-body-soul connection with breath as your guide and joy as your goal.  Find rhythm.  Share love.  Be happy. 

Julie Margolis has been teaching yoga since 2004, when she graduated from the Starseed Teacher Training program. When she took her first Anusara class later that year, she immediately felt she was on to something big. Anusara provided her with a method to heal her body, open her heart, and stimulate her mind. Julie's love of yoga is contagious, and she strives to create a warm, compassionate environment in which to practice. Her classes are characterized by careful attention to flowing sequence, precise alignment instruction, always accompanied by music, and laughter.

One of Julie's students recently wrote of her: "Her knowledge, kindness and inspiration are felt throughout the entire class and shared individually with each and every student. She shares openly and honestly with her personal practice in each and every class. She absolutely makes one fall in love with yoga and eager to get back to the next class."

Julie's study of yoga has made her aware that she is always practicing, whether in the capacity of a student, teacher, or mother to her three young girls. She is grateful to all of her life teachers both on and off the mat. Julie lives in Montclair, NJ with her husband, daughters and a cat named Hanuman Lotus Yustein.

Mary Paige Snell, RYT has been practicing yoga for over 15 years. Her upbeat style is a blend of Hatha and Vinyasa with an emphasis on breath and rejuvenation. Modifications are given, making her challenging classes suitable for all levels. From studios to corporations to privates she brings with her a sense of humor and empathy.
She completed her Yoga Teacher Training with Jyoti Chrystal, via the Starseed Center's yoga teacher training program.

As an actress she has performed at various locations such as Lincoln Center, The Guggenheim Museum, and the Vienna Theater Festival. She can be heard on the Philips Classics recording of a modern opera with Iggy Pop, and often uses music- live and recorded- in her class. Her short stories have been published in various literary magazines and her novel is in the process of finding a publisher.
Developing an artistic spirit and clearer focus is what she hopes for her students- empowering them, through the discipline of yoga, to do more than they thought possible.

Amy began her yoga practice 13 years ago and found it to be an integral part of creating balance and reducing stress in the midst of a hectic corporate career.  Her practice has grown over the years from a strong physical practice to a more inward focused practice infused with awareness, kindness, and authenticity. Amy graduated from the 500-hour Starseed Yoga Teacher Training in 2004, and very soon became a regular teacher on the schedule and mentor in the training program.  She also holds a certificate in kid's yoga from Neney's Yoginis (Jeannene Levinson).  With deep gratitude to her teachers Jyoti Chrystal and Madelana Ferrara-Matthias for the path and practice, Amy is committed to giving her students confidence and skill. Her belief is that yoga is available to everyone no matter what limitations exist.  Regardless of what level class she teaches, she works to create a safe and sacred space where her students are gently encouraged to accept their own grace and light .  Having studied with many teachers and traditions (Vinyasa, Anusara, Restorative, and Viniyoga) her classes are an eclectic mix and compassionate exploration of style and tradition balancing pranayama, asana, and meditation.

Lisa began practicing yoga in 1994 and has taught since 2003.  She is certified through Om yoga center in New York City.
Shortly after completing her training at Om, she began studying Iyengar yoga with vigor and dedication. Her commitment to the method has led her to study with many senior teachers and credits James Murphy as her primary teacher and mentor. 

Lisa's teaching style is clear, challenging, and passionate. Her classes are focused, inspiring, and vibrant. She guides students towards their own direct experience of the practice and the wholeness yoga brings to one's life. 
Currently, Lisa is enrolled in the teacher training program at the Iyengar Institute of New York City.

A longtime practitioner of yoga, Lynn completed her 500 hour teacher training at Starseed Center for Yoga and Wellness in Montclair and also holds a 300 hour advanced certification through Yoga Synthesis. With a background in alignment and a love of vinyasa, her classes are a blend of meditative movement and precision. Students are guided through a challenging vinyasa flow which facilitates the movement of energy in the body resulting in a feeling of being connected to yourself in a more authentic way.  Classes frequently include breath work and chanting honoring the broader teachings of this ancient practice.  Lynn is sincerely grateful to her early teachers Jyoti Chrystal and Madelana Ferrara-Matthias and is currently studying vinyasa with Raji Thron. 

Beth Schultz teaches Iyengar-inspired yoga, focusing on alignment and breath work, building strength, flexibility, and balance in both body and mind. As creator of the Seedlings program, she enjoys welcoming first-timer yogis to the mat. As an instructor of both Level 1 and Advanced Beginning classes at Starseed, she encourages students to deepen their physical practice and develop their meditative awareness. Beth believes that "yoga is for every body," and offers multiple variations on poses and propped support to encourage each student to discover their highest potential. She is a graduate of the Starseed Yoga Teacher Training Program and a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher (500-hour level)
Student Testament: "Something I really admire is how you are able to reach each student-regardless of their level. Your cues are always so clear. Often times, it was as if my body just did the poses if I followed your clear instruction." -A.C.

Sonia Sequeira has been teaching yoga since 1997. She is a certified Instructor in Hatha, Kundalini, Naam Yoga and a practitioner of Harmonyum Healing. Having trodden many paths, she is infinitely grateful and humbled by the guidance and Grace of her teachers and students.
With a background including a Ph.D. Neuroscience, she has found particular joy and meaning in the teachings by Joseph Michael Levry, and the scientific hypothesis that self-healing is the most effective form of medicine through the Yoga of Sound (Mantra) and Light (opening the heart)

Elisa Stearns, RYT, has nine years experience as a yoga teacher.  Her interest in yoga began in college after taking her first class with Dr. Rob Gilbert at Montclair State University. After earning a BA in philosophy and humanities at the university, Elisa studied yoga and herbology with Esther Lambert, who encouraged her to become a teacher.  After raising her two children, she returned to yoga and trained with Raji Thron.  She received her certification in Yoga Synthesis in 2002.  Elisa is now studying Core Strength Vinyasa with Sadie Nardini in New York City and has recently received her certification.  She is also a Reiki practitioner (Level I and II).

Elisa teaches a Vinyasa-based class, which focuses on alignment, breath and the bandhas (core energy).  Her classes are stimulating and uplifting, reflecting a passionate devotion to teaching.  She encourages all students to integrate yoga into their daily lives through the practice of awareness, balance and strength.

Joni Wellness (Jill Yecalsik) has been in the field of Wellness and practicing and teaching yoga for over three decades. She has relocated back to the east coast from Redmond (Seattle), Washington where she ran a popular and expanding yoga program.
Based in Manhattan for over 20 years, Joni taught classes and Teacher Trainings at the top NYC yoga studios, including four years at Jivamukti Yoga Center, where she served as a bridge between the Iyengar and other styles of hatha yoga, and gleaned a broad exposure to many aspects and branches of yoga. Joni began practicing and teaching yoga when, at age 13, while considering topics for a school report, yoga chose her. Researching through reading, attending yoga classes, and experience, she began and continued a personal practice. With the yoga and genuine Consciousness Raising of the early 70s Women's Movement, her personal and spiritual journey began. She endured many hardships and learned through many struggles about balancing all aspects of Living for greater happiness. From the science of yoga to nutrition, to living our Life Purpose, Joni trains others with shortcuts about how to form a great Spiritual and practical toolbox. She shares how to tap into ones Inner Guidance for the best possible mentoring.
She attended Rutgers University, passionate about Political Science and especially Women's Studies. Joni has had the unique privilege of having several precious apprenticeships: in the 70s with her main massage teacher and mentor, Gael Parks; with Master Shiatsu teacher Wataru Ohashi; and most recently, a 7- year intensive apprenticeship with Indian Yoga Master Aadil Palkhivala.
For more detailed information on Joni and her work, please visit her website at www.joniwellness.com