Instructors:
Sondra Loring, Sasha Chermayeff, Marianne Courville,
Krishna Kumari, TJ Macchiaroli, Robert Manenti, Paramananda,
Melissa Parsons, Josh Potter, Gordon Scarritt, Terry Schaff

Sondra Loring, E-RYT

Sondra Loring fell in love with yoga while dancing professionally in New York City. She traveled to India to study Ashtanga yoga with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and continued to study Ashtanga in New York City with Eddie Stern and Iyengar yoga with Genevieve Kapuler. She currently studies regularly with senior Iyengar teacher Carrie Owerko. Sondra opened Sadhana Center for Yoga and Meditation in 2003, and is the co-director with Jessie Lee Montague of Satya Yoga Center in Rhinebeck and Catskill. She co-directs the teacher training programs at both studios. In 2008, Sondra returned to India to study vedic chanting with M.A. Jayashree and yoga therapy at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. Her classes are loved for their graceful flow of movement, their quality of devotion, and their sense of community. Sondra teaches Yoga Mix Wednesdays 8:30–10:00am, Vinyasa Fridays 8:30–10:00am, and the Sunday morning All-Levels class, 10:00–11:30am.

Sasha Chermayeff, RYT

Sasha Chermayeff is an artist who lives with her family along the Catskill Creek. She is a painter, piano player, and a student and teacher of Yoga. In 2009, Sasha completed the Satya teacher training course, receiving her certification from Raghunath and Sondra Loring. Wishing to incorporate Chinese philosophical roots with Yogic study, Sasha received a second certification in Yin Yoga, a Taoist form, after studying with Biff Mithoefer at Omega Institute. Sasha currently teaches Yin Yoga here and at the Coxsackie YMCA, as well as Basics classes in the Catskill Community Center and ETSY Hudson. Visit www.sashachermayeff.com for more info. Sasha teaches Yin Yoga on Sunday evenings 5:30–7:00pm and Basics for All Levels on Mondays from 9:00-10:30am.

Marianne Courville

Marianne Courville has been studying yoga for more than 20 years. Besides being a photographer, gallery-owner and mother, she has been a firmly committed student at Sadhana Yoga Center since 2006. She completed her 200 hour teacher training at Sadhana with Sondra Loring and Raghunath in 2009. Marianne has studied with a variety of teachers since then, concentrating on yoga philosophy and Buddhist meditation. Cultivating gratitude and its potential for healing, she guides students in a vinyasa style class, with emphasis on sun salutations and balancing sequences with strength and flexibility. Her classes help people connect more deeply to themselves, to open their hearts, and to realize more energy, focus and passion.

Krishna Kumari

Krishna Kumari completed Satya Yoga Center´s 200-hour Teacher Training course, which was a life changing experience. She is an I-ACT certified Colon Hydrotherapist, a Reiki practitioner and a mother of three. Throughout her life, she has struggled with weight and physical limitations, but has found peace in the exertion of downward dog. She remains firmly established, through yoga, on her personal journey toward health and well-being. She finds joy in community, peace in kirtan, honesty in meditation, faith in pranayama, and realization in asana. Krishna Kumari teaches "Yoga for Every Body" Thursdays 9:00–10:30am.

TJ Macchiaroli, RYT

TJ earned his 200-hour Yoga Teacher's Certification from the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and his 500-hour Yoga Teachers Certification from Sri Dharma Mittra at the Dharma Yoga Center in NYC. He has a deep interest in Bhakti Yoga (the Yoga of devotion), and he and his wife Melinda have journeyed to India where they studied yoga and visited many holy places. TJ's classes cultivate concentration and a meditative mood in the classical style of Hatha Yoga as taught by Sri Dharma Mittra. He has dedicated himself to share with others the wisdom and knowledge he has received from his teacher. TJ leads Dharma Mittra Vinyasa Thursdays from 6:00–7:30pm and Beyond Basics, Saturdays, from 9:30–11:00am. For more information please contact tmacchi@gmail.com.

Robert Manenti, RN

Robert Manenti has studied authentic Yueng Style Tai Chi from his teacher John Conroy for greater than 20 yrs. John Conroy is a diciple of Gin Soon Chu and continues to train with Yueng Ma Lee, daughter of Master Yueng Sau Chung. Robert has also accompanied his teacher and studied under the supervision of Yueng Ma Lee in Hong Kong. Additionally Robert is also a registered nurse working at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson NY. Robert leads the Up State NY, Hudson Tai Chi Club, Saturdays, 4:30–6:00 PM.

Paramananda

Paramananda has been traversing the yogic path for over 15 years, incorporating yoga, meditation, ayurveda and bhakti into his daily life. He completed his 200 hour teacher training at Sadhana Yoga with Sondra Loring and Raghunath and has been enthusiastic to share it with others ever since. Teaching a vigorous vinyasa style class, he adds chanting, meditation, breathing exercises and yogic wisdom to give a well-rounded class steeped in what he calls “the culture of yoga”. “In my studies in various ashrams throughout India, I've come to learn that besides being a great workout, yoga really is a holistic lifestyle that brings together the material and the spiritual. I'm interested in teaching people what they can achieve off the mat as well as on.” Join Paramananda for All Levels on Mondays, 6:00–7:30pm and Tuesdays, 8:30–10:00am.

Melissa Parsons, RYT

Melissa Parsons, RYT is a certified Svaroopa® yoga teacher and an Embodyment® therapist. Due to an illness at age 15, she began exploring various forms of Hatha yoga and meditation on her journey to health. She also studied Reiki, and more extensively Tai Chi and Chi Gong. Svaroopa® yoga became her path of choice in 2000, after experiencing profound inner openings during a workshop with Rama Berch. Melissa, who has a masters degree in education, worked as a middle school teacher and a yoga teacher in the Boston area as she trained with Rama. She has completed over 900 hours of training, including advanced teacher training in pre-natal and deeper yoga, and is continuing her studies in Svaroopa® yoga therapy. Melissa now lives in Hudson, NY and teaches yoga fulltime throughout the Hudson Valley. Her classes combine her enthusiasm for teaching with an abiding love of yoga. Melissa teaches Svaroopa Yoga Tuesdays, 6:00–7:30pm.

Josh Potter

Josh began practicing yoga long before he learned there was a name for the postures and techniques that draw the body and mind into alignment. To him, yoga is the original state to which everyone somewhat unconsciously longs to return; the practice is the process of removing the individual's particular set of obstacles. Having practiced in the Jivamukti school for four years and explored many tributaries of the great hatha yoga tradition, he completed his 200-hour teaching certification at Sadhana in 2011 with Sondra Loring and Raghunath. Combining pranayama and meditation with a vigorous sequence of asanas, Josh feels honored to pass on the wisdom of his many teachers in the Vinyasa class Thursdays from 6:00–7:30 PM.

Gordon Scarritt

Gordon Scarritt is a meditation teacher with thirty years of teaching experience. He works in private practice assisting his clients with spiritual and temporal awareness-based guidance. He is also a storyteller and author of children's wisdom adventures and is about to publish the first of the stories in the Han Shan Chronicles: Wisdom Adventures of the Dragon Wand. He lives in Claverack and works both there and in NYC. Gordon teaches Meditation at Sadhana on the second Saturday of each month.

Terry Schaff, RYT

Terry’s love for yoga arises out of a personal practice spanning three decades. Her classes are both engaging and informative, founded in her belief that we learn by doing. Terry provides a warm and supportive environment to promote health and spiritual growth through yoga, in the tradition of BKS Iyengar. Classes are attuned to the needs of the individual with the goal of taking you deeper into your practice, opening your mind and body to the possibilities of meaningful physical and spiritual self-study. Terry’s clear and careful direction and attention creates an environment for you to work on aligning and strengthening the basic structure of your body. Terry is a registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance. She continues her ongoing studies at the Iyengar Institute in New York City. In addition to her classes at the Sadhana Center for Yoga and Meditation in Hudson, New York, Terry teaches at the Hudson Department of Youth, and at Bard College in Annandale, New York. She also offers private classes for those with physical or scheduling challenges. Terry teaches the Community Yoga class at Sadhana on Wednesday evenings.