Teachers at the Center

ARPI AYVAZIAN (Nia) has been performing and teaching Ethnic Dance for the past 15 years. She began her dance training in Armenian Folkloric dance, traveling with a troupe throughout the U.S. Canada, and Armenia. She has studied Flamenco under Ramon de los Reyes and more recently with Omayra Amaya. This summer she presented a flamenco workshop to the young students at the New England School of Dance. In June of 2002 she became certified to teach NIA. Building on her background of dance, she has through her NIA classes combined her passion and love of dance with the movement forms incorporated in the NIA technique. It's a great workout for everyone, dancers and non-dancers alike. We celebrate the joy of movement - no matter what our dance experience.
TARA RACHEL CAREY (Yoga For Children) is an advanced student of Barbara Benagh and holds teaching certificates in Sivanada yoga and Hatha yoga. She has studied many styles of yoga and also experiential anatomy. She has a special interest in teaching yoga to children and adolescence and is a certified Zen Shiatsu therapist. I began to practice yoga in 1993 and have studied extensively with Tias Little, Donna Farhi, Arthur Kilmurray, John Friend, David Life & Sharon Gannon, Patty Townsend, and Baron Baptiste. I have also founded my own approach to children's yoga.
CAROLISA Ê(Bellydancing for Women) has over fifteen years experience as a professional entertainer and dance teacher throughout New England, teaching beginner through master classes in dance studios, colleges and community ed programs. She runs workshops for companies, organizations, womensÕ groups & teen programs. She is also an experienced disc jockey with Moonlight DJs of Cambridge, covering Êcorporate events, weddings, theme parties, family & kids' parties. Please contact her at moonlightdjs@aol.com or 978-937-7937 for further info

KIM CHILDS (Kripalu Yoga) is a writer, singer, and award-winningÊpublic radio journalist who left the media in 1999 to study and train at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, where she lived and worked for two years. Today, she leadsÊpeople of all ages and ability levels through group classes and private lessons as a certified Kripalu yoga teacher. Her classes are guided by a spirit of self-acceptance, compassion, and playful exploration of the body. Kim also leads a self-discovery/creative recovery course based on The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron. Visit her at www.kimchilds.com

MARIE FAVORITO (Tai Chi, Chi Kung) is Director of the Boston Healing Tao. She is a Senior Instructor in the International Healing Tao and was Instructor of the Year in 1991. Marie Co-Chairs the Certification Committee for the Healing Tao Instructors Association. She has 15 years of teaching experience that includes Tai Chi, Chi Kung Yoga and Meditation. MarieÕs private practice also includes Chi Nei Tsang and Chi Kung Healing. She has taught workshops Internationally in Canada, Germany and Australia. Marie holds retreats every summer in the Catskill Mountains of New York.


BO FORBES (Elemental Vinyasa Yoga) is a yoga teacher and yoga therapist who has a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, andÊsupplements over fifteen years of clinical experience with a practice in alternative health. Her background at the University of Chicago includes training in Biopsychology and Sleep Disorders, Behavioral Medicine, and Stress Management, which informs her teaching and private work. She has consulted to corporations, schools, and health care agencies for over fifteen years in and around Chicago and Boston. Bo teaches classes, workshops, and advanced yoga trainings throughout the Boston area, and was named "Best of Boston" by the Improper Bostonian. Bo's private practice in yoga therapeutics spans several mind/body domains, including: performance enhancement for athletes;Êinjury prevention and rehabilitation;Êalignment and the physical practice of yoga;Êstress management and general wellness; yoga for anxiety, insomnia, and the emotional body; andÊwomen's health and fertility. Bo serves as a teacher and mentor for many of Boston's top yoga instructors and bodyworkers, and is founder of the Elemental Yoga Mind/Body 200-hour Teacher Training Program, accredited by Yoga Alliance. Bo writesÊabout yogaÊand psychology forÊYoga Journal, and has been interviewed for magazine, radio, and television programs.ÊShe is scheduled to speak at Harvard Medical School's June conference on "Meditation in Psychotherapy," and will be teaching a weeklong mind/body program at Kripalu in July.
TED GOODMAN SENSEI (Aikido) was introduced to Aikido in San Francisco in 1970, but did most of his training in Japan with 3 years under Bansen Tanaka Sensei and 7 years under Steven Seagal Sensei. Since returning to the States, he has studied under Lou Perriello Sensei and Mitsunari Kanai Sensei. AÊblack belt since 1987, heÊhas been teaching Aikido since 1993. In 2002 he became a certified R.A.D. (Rape Aggression Defense) Systems instructor, and founded First Line of Defense for women's safety awareness and self-defense training.
CYNTHIA GRAMER (Yoga For The 2nd Half Of Life) has been joyfully teaching yoga in and around Boston since 2002. For many years she was a single mom of twins and worked as an editor, a free-lance writer and a gardener, but other than parenting, teaching yoga has been the most rewarding work she has ever done. Cynthia has trained in several styles, both rigorous and meditative, and at this point in her practice of teaching she blends elements from Anusara, Yin, Vinyasa, Restorative and Forrest yoga to create classes that serve the needs of students in the moment. Cynthia is a certified Reiki Master and an avid student of the human condition with a special interest in the human energy system and its impact on health and healing. She considers it a privilege to teach and strives to create a space where students feel free, supported and connected to the teacher within.

CHIP HARTRANFT, PT (Yoga, Insight Meditation, Yoga-Sutra) bridges the traditions of yoga and buddhism. He is the founding director of The Arlington Center, dedicated to the integration of yoga and dharma practice, and has taught a blend of yoga movement & insight meditation in the Boston area since 1978. A physical therapist, Chip maintains a private practice in yogatherapy at the Center. He also conducts yearly seminars on mindbody medicine at Boston University, and leads a weeklong retreat, The Yoga Of Awakening, every February at Pura Vida in Costa Rica. He is the author of The Yoga-Sutra of Pata–jali: a new translation with commentary (Shambhala) and teaches the Yoga-Sutra at teacher trainings across the country.

ANNIE HOFFMAN (Iyengar Yoga) has practiced yoga since 1986. First teacher-trained at Kripalu in 1988, she then studied with Patricia Walden for fourteen years. Annie has taught since 1990 at the B.K.S.Iyengar Center, and was certified in Iyengar yoga in 1994. Annie brings a heartfelt creativity to her work. She feels every class should be a well balanced sequence giving greater clarity, alignment, strength, and ease to the practitioner. All families of postures will be woven into a semester's curriculum, including standing poses, backbends, twists, inversions, balances, forward bends, and relaxation. "Yoga practice unveils the jewel of our inner beauty and allows it to shine forth. Each day I intend to make of myself an offering of surrender, transformation, and peace in order to contribute my love and reverence for life into the world. My practice and my teaching harmonize beautifully to create that vehicle. Namaste."
DEBORAH LOTUS (Bones For Life) Guild Certified Feldenkrais¨ Practitioner/Teacher; Certified "Bones for Life¨" Teacher and 'Pioneer Trainer' began her somatic/movement apprenticeship withÊDr. Moshe Feldenkrais in 1972, at his first USA ATM¨ Training Program at Esalen Institute. Subsequently she trained in the First North American Feldenkrais Professional Training Program under the auspices of the Humanistic Psychology Institute in San Francisco,ÊCA. ÊContinuing her learning withÊFeldenkrais Master Trainer, Ruthy Alon, sheÊÊsubsequently trained in "Bones For Life",ÊÊbased on Feldenkrais somatic learning/teaching principles,Êwhich is designed to stimulate strong bones,Êgood posture and 'biological optimism'. Deborah is one of the first 'Pioneer' "Bones" Teacher/Trainers and is expanding her 'Bones' teaching practice from Cambridge to include Concord and Arlington. She has been a Consultant at Harvard University's WellnessÊand Health Communication Program, is presently Guest Faculty at Lesley UniversityÕs "Bones For Lifeª" accredited Professional Training Program and has herÊprivate "Functional Integration¨" practice at Wellspace Fresh Pond in Cambridge, MA. She is an avid collector of African Art and enjoys travelling the globe. ÊShe is happy to answer queries at deborahelizabeth.lotus@gmail.com
CAROL NELSON (Yoga, Restorative Yoga) has been captivated by the magic of yoga since 1976 when she first met and studied with Mr. B.K.S. Iyengar. Her 30 yearsÕ journey has taken her around the world studying and teaching. She founded one of BostonÕs first yoga centers, the Creative Yoga Studio, in 1977. Creative describes her method, an approach that embodies the artistry and essence of yoga. You can read about Carol in Dan WakefieldÕs book How Do We Know When ItÕs God? (Little, Brown & Co.) and Roanne WeismanÕs book Own Your Health (Health Connections). She is a featured model in two books published by Rodmell Press: Back Care Basics by Dr. Mary Pullig Schatz and Relax and Renew by Judith Lasater PhD, PT, and contributed the yoga section to Margit Esser PorterÕs book Hope Lives (h.ic. publishing). Carol teaches at the Shambhala Meditation Center of Boston, Brookline TÕai Chi, and The Arlington Center. She is yoga teacher in residence at Windows To Sea on MarthaÕs Vineyard.
JULIA NOVINA (Anusara-Inspired Yogaª) became a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher after completing Todd Norian's Anusara Yoga¨ Teacher Training. Julia began practicing yoga in the late 90s as a complement to her dance and legal careers, and was transformed when she discovered Anusara Yoga. She approaches teaching as an honor and a calling, focusing all her attention on the physical and emotional well-being of her students. Her teaching is playful, fun, nurturing and supportive. She encourages students to connect with their bodies and spirits and bring both into optimal alignment with joy. Find out more at www.julianovina.com


LIZ OWEN (Iyengar Yoga) has been studying yoga since 1984 and teaching since 1990. She was drawn first to the Iyengar system because of its systematic exploration of alignment and form of the poses and received Iyengar yoga teacher certification in 1996. In the past few years Liz has become engrossed in yoga as her life's complete path. Her personal practices of asana, pranayama, meditation and devotional chanting deeply inform her teaching as well as her life. She has brought fullness to her understanding of yoga by studying with world-renowned teachers of many differing styles, including B.K.S. Iyengar, with whom she studied in India; Patricia Walden, Erich Schiffman, Judith Lasater, Kali Ray and John Friend. She is greatly inspired by Buddhist meditation teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. In addition, Liz has trained in Feldenkrais Awareness through Movement. Classes are dynamic and challenging, yet always respectful of students' individual abilities and needs. Liz draws inspiration from the deep well of yoga literature to bring mindfulness and broadness into each class experience. See more about Liz's philosophy, classes and workshop offerings at www.lizowenyoga.com
JOSH SCHREIBER (Awareness Through Movement) has been a student of the Feldenkrais Method since 1997, when chronic tendinitis forced him to stop playing the cello. He is a member of the Feldenkrais Guild of North America, having become Certified as a Feldenkrais Practitioner in 2001. His teaching is also informed by studies in the Alexander Technique, Tai Chi, Chi Gung, and Jewish spirituality. He has recently begun playing again, and is currently studying viola da gamba and voice at the Longy school of music.
LAUREN WORSH (Anusara-Inspired Yoga, Yoga For The 2nd Half Of Life) is a licenced Anusara-Inspired Yoga Teacherª. She has been a yoga instructor since 1997, and a yoga student since 1991. She has studied with John Friend, Sarahjoy Marsh, is currently completing an Anusara Teacher Training with Todd Norian, and has completed the Anusara Mini Therapeutic Training and a four-year Teacher Training program with Leslie Temple-Thurston. Her teaching is influenced by her studies of the world's great wisdom traditions particularly systems of tantric and classical yoga, Buddhism, and integral theory. Lauren's teaching style is warm and accessible and is infused with respect for her students and the elegance of yogic practices and philosophy. Her intention is to empower her students to integrate the practices of physical alignment, self-awareness, an attitude of celebration, the cultivation of kindness, and the unfolding and opening of the heart. Her philosophy is that life is a practice on and off the mat.
WYOMA (African Healing Dance), star of the bestselling DVD African Healing Dance, has been teaching and performing the dances of Africa and the African diaspora for more than twenty years. She received a degree in dance from The Naropa Institute and has studied with Baba Olatunji, Rose Marie Guiraud, C.K. Ganyo, and many other experts in African, Caribbean, Brazilian, and healing dance. Wyoma has also performed jazz, Middle Eastern, East Indian, improvisational, and modern dance. Her first performance group, which she cofounded, was People of the Sun, a jazz theater workshop.