Katonah Yoga Center - Teacher Profiles

Abbie Galvin Contact Teacher
My yoga instruction is informed by my own creative process as a filmmaker and from my exploration of the therapeutic process from psychoanalytic training. I have learned over and over that truly participating in any formal process of self-exploration leads to transformation whether it be physical, psychological or intellectual. My goal is to engage students of yoga in the dialogue between their conscious and their unconscious selves. It is through that effort that we potentiate ourselves. It is my intention as a teacher to cajole each student in that most rigorous effort to be grounded, to grow upwards, and to open one's heart in order to create their best self.
Beth Mendoza Contact Teacher
I was introduced to power of yoga while working in the corporate world. It was so inspiring that when I came back onto the mat about 7 years ago at the Katonah Yoga Center I knew that I wanted to share my experience of yoga with others. Through my practice and teaching, understanding, compassion and a sense of humor are encouraged and nurtured.
Carol Offman Contact Teacher
Carol has been an ongoing student of Katonah Yoga for the past 10 years and has been teaching for 5 years. She began practicing yoga 10 years ago as a way to manage symptoms she was experiencing from Multiple Sclerosis. A continued practice of Yoga, meditation, and pranayama in combination with living a healthy life style has proved extremely helpful in coping with and managing her symptoms. Teaching others is her way of giving back the gift that was given to her.
Cathy Eising Contact Teacher
Cathy has been practicing since 1980 and teaching in this area since 1995. Her main influence is the Iyengar tradition which she uses as a basis to guide students in an experience of yoga, exploring and enjoining mind, body and spirit. She has a masters degree in Social Work and worked as a psychotherapist prior to teaching yoga. "Yoga is a great equalizer and each of us find challenges and places of ease. We all learn together and from each other."
Celia Hirsch Contact Teacher
I do yoga because I love it. I teach yoga because the dimension that it adds to ones life is endless. The excitement and reward of passing on the expansiveness is the gift.
Chris Chen Contact Teacher
I started studying yoga with Nevine at the age of eight. During my first class with Nevine, the goal of the entire class was to learn how to move my big toe away from the other four toes. I remember thinking that I would never be able to do that, even if I practiced for 10 years. 20 years later, I find myself sitting at my desk willing my big toe to hold ground. Life is full of truths both big and small, all of the "big" truths that I have ever discovered can be related and assimilated into my yoga practice. Studying yoga with Nevine has opened the door to a more advanced understanding of anatomy and physiology than a traditional academic education could make possible. Being trained in the art of interacting with the universe formally and through archetypes has advanced my knowledge of yoga and bodies and grown into a lifelong dedication. Into this practice I also bring a formal study of Taoism and associated Taoist Martial Arts, Healing and Longevity techniques. I love to share this knowledge and it is through teaching it that I get a deeper understanding of the material I am presenting.
Colleen Breeckner Contact Teacher
COLLEEN BREECKNER has been a student of Yoga for more than 16 years. She received her 200 hour Teacher Training Certification in 2005 from Lotus Gardens in Sherman, CT. Since having received her RYT certification she has continued her Yoga in the Anusara tradition. She is currently pursuing Anusara certification. She feels Anusara Yoga aligns with her highest intention; to serve all beings on their path toward their own awakening. Her fluid, yet focused style of conducting her classes seems to evoke the ideal atmosphere for yoga. They are freeing, but at the same time disciplined. She continues to pursue learning in all areas of the practice including: meditation, pranayama, philosophy and other forms of movement. It is evident she deeply enjoys the art of yoga, and is a passionate and caring instructor. Colleen is proficient at teaching all age levels. She leads workshops and classes for adults, teens and children throughout Connecticut and in New York. Colleen extends heartfelt appreciation to all her teachers past and present. She feels her work is intended to help others find their own personal path and invites you to experience the inward and outward transformations that Yoga can offer.
Gail Greenstein Contact Teacher
Gail Greenstein has practiced yoga since 1969 and has taught since 1984. She taught elementary school for 20 years (first grade), is a trained dancer and actress as well as body worker, Tarot reader and leader of spiritual ritual and ceremony.
Genevieve Boulanger Contact Teacher
Genevieve Boulanger is a classically certified Pilates Instructor, who has been teaching for over five years. As a ballet dancer with scoliosis, she was encouraged to practice Pilates and found an engaging means of assessing and improving posture, muscular imbalances and movement patterns. Genevieve loves to practice yoga as well, continuously seeking knowledge and insight into the never ending intricacies of the human body and mind. She passionately and enthusiastically teaches Pilates and recently yoga, encouraging her students to find their fullest potential through mindful movement.
Gina Sharpe Contact Teacher
Gina Sharpe is a co-founder and a Guiding Teacher of New York Insight Meditation Center. She has been studying and practicing meditation in the Zen, Tibetan and Theravada traditions of Buddhism for over 30 years. She trained at the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, is a graduate of the first Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leaders Program and is currently mentored by Jack Kornfield. She has taught at New York Insight, Asia Society, Tibet House, the New York Open Center, Hunter College, Mid America Dharma, the Garrison Institute and elsewhere. She has been teaching at the Katonah Yoga Center for more than 10 years.
Harriet Schreger Contact Teacher
As a former long-distance runner the transition to yoga was a life-changing decision. Yoga has added insight, awareness and balance to my life.
Jennifer Hill Contact Teacher

John Baker Contact Teacher

Jong Hon Contact Teacher
Born in Hainan, a small island in the South China Sea, Jong Hon is dedicated to helping people become fit and strong. Jong is a fifth degree black belt in Shotokan Karate and has studied with the martial arts for over 30 years, including Wing Chun, Tai Chi and Judo. Fundamental to all his athletic pursuits is his practice of Chi Kung, utilizing breath and energy control to achieve optimal strength and balance.
Mauri Cramer Pioppo Contact Teacher
Mauri Cramer Pioppo has been teaching yoga for many years. She is an former professional Modern dancer.
May Kirk Contact Teacher
May has spent her life learning to cultivate both sides of her brain, architecture and computer science, but her true passion was revealed to her in 1996 when she stepped into her first yoga class. She has studied and practiced a variety of yoga styles including Iyengar, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, and Bikram yoga. However, Nevine Michaan at Katonah Yoga was by far the most intelligent, structured practice that appealed to her inquisitive mind and made her carve her busy schedule starting in 2001 to include regular training for certification. May sees yoga as the absolute union of the physical, spiritual, and intellectual realms that she has spent her life exploring. She brings her love for yoga and boundless energy to her classes.
Meryl Yoss Contact Teacher
I began my yoga practice twenty-five years ago when I was invited, on the spur of the moment, to attend a class in NYC with Nevine. Not really knowing what to expect, I dove in and have been doing downward dogs ever since. Personal experience has taught me that the body is not always ready or willing to respond to ones mental demands. Hence, perseverance has paved the way toward a life and teaching approach of patience, compassion, and respect.
Nevine Michaan Contact Teacher
I feel that Katonah Yoga represents an achieved synthesis of my work. I am grateful for all the things that Yoga has given me, and hope that as many people as possible may share in the blessings that a Yoga practice bestows on those who study it with diligence and faith.
Osi Mizrahi Contact Teacher
Osi Mizrahi is a certified yoga teacher with 18 years of yoga experience. She has been teaching since 2001, and offers retreats, workshops and on-going classes at Yoga Without Walls in Chappaqua, N.Y. She is a certified Anusara teacher under John Friend and after a five-year-long study at the Shambhala Meditation Center in New York City, she has become a Shambhala Guide.
Sandra Lee Perlow Contact Teacher
Sandra began her introduction and study of yoga with Nevine over 15 years ago, where she earned her teaching certification and taught hatha yoga. Five years ago, after experiencing a 3-hour Kundalini Yoga workshop, she went on to earn her certification in Kundalini. She has studied extensively with Gurmukh of Golden Bridge Yoga, has traveled to India a number of times to continue her studies and is trained in Vipassana meditation. She feels honored to have worked with Nevine, Sharon Gannon, Rodney Yee, Shiva Rea, Sean Corn and Sally Kempton. Sandra is full of gratitude to be able to share these uplifting teachings which have transformed her life. Katonah and Kundalini Certified
Tracey Pagan Contact Teacher
Tracey Pagan E-RYT 500, B.A. Psychology, M.S. Org./Comm. Development. Tracey has been educating people in the art and science of Yoga since 1994. She began her practice 25 years ago but it wasn't until a car accident in 1989, leaving her with severe spinal injuries, that Tracey learned the practical and profound healing power of Yoga. She received her teacher's training under the exceptional guidance of Bobbi Goldin, founder of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Miami, first generation Iyengar Yoga teacher and personal friend of Mr. Iyengar. Tracey had studied with Rodney Yee, David Swenson, Bobbi Clennel (1st gen. Iyen. ), Joan White (1st gen. Iyen. and director of Teacher Certification Iyengar Assoc. US) and of course, our own Nevine Michaan. A well-rounded class, Tracey incorporates years of study of holistic nutrition, world theology/philosophy and the human body.

Indicates teachers who have completed the Katonah Yoga Certification Program.