Adaptive Yoga Series for Students with Special Needs or Disabilities
Online and In-Person!

In-Studio AND Online, Mondays 2:30-3:30pm
March 6, 13, 20, 27, April 3, 10, 17, 24, May 1, 8
Next Series: May 15, 22, June 5, 12
Cost: Free or by donation
Register: Please email info@samamkayabackcare.com to register.

Samamkaya is pleased to announce we have received grants to fund a weekly yoga class for students with disabilities. Non able-bodied individuals include people with neurological conditions such as  Cerebral Palsy (CP), Parkinson’s, and CVA as well as other conditions that may impact movement such as Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Spinal Cord Injury, and amputee’s among others. Individuals who use wheelchairs or other forms of assistive devices are welcome to attend.

This is a 10-class series which can be attended in full or in part. Please specify which session(s) you are planning to attend when registering.

The class is taught by experienced yoga therapists and PT/OTs including Julie Brandwein, Carolyn Hitzler, Roxlyn Moret, Laura Staton, Aditi Dhruv, Frank Ricci, and Deborah Wolk.

Our program accepts tax deductible donations through a fiscal sponsorship with Democracy at Work.

Email: info@samamkayabackcare.com for information and questions about attending.

Julie Brandwein, MSPT, LMT, came to yoga seeking help from a back injury and found her way into her first Iyengar yoga class with Kevin Gardiner in 1992. In this technique she found the answer she was looking for to heal her body, and began a lifelong study and practice of Yoga.She has extensive training in Iyengar Yoga, in addition to studies in the Alexander Technique, Somatics and Pilates. She has taught yoga since 1997 both here and abroad.
She has earned her Masters in Physical Therapy from Columbia University, completed training at the Swedish Institute of Massage and has certification in a Pilates for Rehab Professionals training from Polestar Pilates, Inc. Licensed in both physical therapy and massage therapy, Julie has worked in a variety of clinical specialities, including pediatrics, orthopedics, sports injury and dance injury.Her massage training includes myofascial unwinding, integrative deep-tissue massage and neuromuscular repatterning. She has a private practice in Manhattan and Brooklyn offering services in therapeutic bodywork, stress-reduction massage, and  yoga privates. For more information, you may contact Julie at j.yogi@hotmail.com or call 347-832-7973

Aditi Dhruv first came to yoga through her study of classical Indian dance forms, and has been practicing for over 20 years. She completed her yoga teacher training in 2006 with Yoga Union NYC with Alison West. She also completed Prenatal training in 2012 and Therapeutics training in 2013 from Integral Yoga Institute, NYC. Aditi has studied with respected teachers including Alison West, Deborah Wolk and Jonathan Fitz-Gordon. Her light-hearted classes are informed by her extensive ongoing dance training (in the US and India) and continued practice in the Vinyasa, Iyengar and Ashtanga traditions; and focus on teaching students a series of poses while integrating the physical, subtle and spiritual bodies, through precise alignment and breath-focused movement.

Carolyn Hitzler: My dream is to make yoga accessible to all! I am constantly inspired by how many of us overcome our struggles, both physical and emotional, on our mats. Yoga continues to help ease my pain and improve my movement throughout my day. Yoga for me is like a navigation system, giving me direction, and stability.

My classes are rooted in Hatha and Iyengar style yoga and are taught in-the-moment, tailored to the students that day. Yoga reminds me how subtle and powerful movement and the breath can be. I enjoy teaching group classes as well as 1-on-1 private sessions.

I completed my RYT 200 with Sonia Sumar (Integral Hatha Yoga), and RYT 300 with Lynne Minton, ( Iyengar style). I have a M.S. in Exercise Physiology, specialization in Rehab.
Other certificates include: Yoga for the Special Child,
Yoga of the Heart; yoga for cancer, cardiac, and other diseases ( Nischala Joy Devi), Opening Yoga to All / Adapted Yoga (Matthew Sanford), Relax & Renew (Judith Lassiter), Accessible Yoga (Jivana Heyman),
Yoga For Healthy Aging ( Dr. Baxter Bell), Yoga for Back Pain( Dr. Loren Fishman ), Yoga for Osteoporosis ( Dr. Loren Fishman), Yoga for Parkinson’s Disease ( Char Grossman), Therapeutic Yoga ( Cheri Clampett Borda and Arturo Peal), Buddha Body; yoga for larger bodies ( Michael Hayes), Yoga For Scoliosis / did not do case studies portion ( Elise Browning Miller), Trauma Informed Yoga
Plus: Anatomy of Scoliosis, Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis, Yoga For Back Care, Yoga For Amputees

Roxlyn Moret has been exploring, practicing, and teaching movement and the healing arts for 40 years.

• Body Mind Centering ® Teacher {BMC ℠}
• Certified Laban /Bartenieff Movement Analyst {CMA}
• Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher {ERYT-500} with Yoga Alliance
• Registered Somatic Movement Educator {RSME} with the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association {ISMETA}

Roxlyn teaches yoga, BMC℠, and Chi Gung. Her background includes dance, studying Tai Chi Chuan with Maggie Newman, Shiatsu, Cranial Sacral therapy, and touch for healing. Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen {founder of BMC℠} has been a mentor for 26 years. Roxlyn Moret currently co-coordinates Bonnie Cohen’s Embodied Developmental Movement and Yoga program {EDMY} with Amy Matthews in NYC.
Roxlyn teaches teachers at a New York City school as well as groups at corporations. In 1993 she began traveling to Switzerland with Andreas Wirz to co-teach annual yoga workshops. They continue teaching workshops every summer in Basel and Lucerne.
Roxlyn has an active private practice, teaches group yoga classes and conducts workshops for professionals.

Frank Ricci: After leaving behind a career in the New York fashion industry, Frank Ricci was ready to find inner peace. What began as a casual yoga practice quickly became his passion, he found his true career calling: to help heal others. Frank received his yoga teaching certificate from Yogasana in Brooklyn, where he began teaching in 2010. Since that time, he has received extensive training in therapeutic yoga, including assisting Deborah Wolk. He studies regularly with his mentors and has had the pleasure and privilege of studying with Donald Moyer in the Yoga Room. In 2011, Frank traveled to India for a 5-week course of study In Iyengar Yoga with Rajiv and Swati Chanchani. Frank’s compassionate teaching style draws from Iyengar yoga as well as the Alexander Techique, creating a unique experience that is both encouraging and challenging.

Laura Staton’s, C-IAYT, OTR/L, yoga classes cultivate increased body awareness and organization. She currently teaches yoga in Samamkaya Yoga Back Care & Scoliosis Collective, and in Brooklyn at Yogasana and  her home studio in Clinton Hill. Past influential teachers have included Kevin Gardner, Lara Warren, Genny Kapuler, and Alison West, and she currently studies with Naghmeh Ahi and Brooke Myers. Laura completed her 800 hour professional therapist program through Integrative Yoga Therapy, is an affiliate teacher of the IYT 200 hour teacher training and was recently certified as a yoga therapist through IAYT.  Laura is a graduate of The Juilliard School and was a performer/choreographer in NYC before receiving her Occupational Therapy Degree from NYU. She also works as a senior Occupational Therapist specializing in acute rehabilitation and is the co-founder/author of Baby Om -Yoga for Mothers and Babies, published in 1999.

Deborah Wolk, C-IAYT, has been teaching and working with students with back issues, scoliosis, and other injuries for over 17 years. Her yoga practice working with her own scoliosis informs the work she does to help others.

Deborah met Bobbie Fultz in 2000—her first Yoga & Scoliosis teacher. She later met Elise Browning Miller and was certified as a Yoga for Scoliosis Trainer through Elise’s training program in 2005. Her primary teacher is Genny Kapuler, whose class she assisted for 10 years, and she has also studied extensively with Kevin Gardiner in NYC (now in Budapest) and Donald Moyer in Berkeley, among others. In 2007, Deborah travelled to India to study with the Iyengar family and spent most afternoons observing the medical classes there. Also in 2007, she co-founded Yoga Union Center for Backcare & Scoliosis and co-directed it for 8 years. In January 2015, Deborah founded Samamkaya Yoga Back Care & Scoliosis Collective. In 2015 she completed Matthew Sanford’s MindBody Solutions Opening 1 & 2 course for Adaptive Yoga.

Deborah’s teachings are based in the principles of Iyengar style yoga and Body Mind Centering (BMC) techniques. She is warm and funny and her teachings are subtle yet explained at a level everyone can understand. Deborah teaches workshops, retreats, and teacher trainings on Back Care & Scoliosis in New York City, across the US, and around the world, and has a thriving private practice. To learn more about Deborah, make an appointment for a private lesson or see a schedule of classes please visit www.dwolkyoga.com . An autobiographical piece/ The NY Times Article/ Deborah Teaches 1 pose 3 ways/ A review of Deborah’s class/ An Interview with Deborah Wolk/ Emily Gould’s Article