Our teachers are some of New York City’s most talented, with extensive and continuous training and experience in yoga for back care and scoliosis, as well as other complementary healing modalities (body mind centering, physical therapy, occupational therapy, massage, Rolfing, etc.). We offer unique yoga teaching.
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. Samamkaya is a democratically run workers cooperative and is devoted exclusively to scoliosis, back care, teacher education in therapeutics, and adaptive yoga for students with disabilities and nervous system disorders. 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
Jon Musgrave is a yoga teacher, manager, and founding member of Samamkaya Yoga, and has been bodyworker with a practice in Union Square since 2012. As a professional conductor and tuba player, Jon was drawn to bodywork and yoga to help manage the chronic pain and other body issues he was experiencing while making music. He uses his experiences in all the aspects of his life to help people feel more at peace in their bodies.
Jon has studied Iyengar yoga since 2011, and has focused primarily on yoga for back care and scoliosis. He was recently certified as a Teacher Trainer in Elise Browning Miller’s Yoga for Scoliosis program, and he apprenticed extensively with Deborah Wolk for 5 years. His other primary teachers are Jaki Nett and Genny Kapuler, and he has also studied extensively with Julie Brandwein, Debby Green, and Wendy Baranello. He has also studied in workshops on various topics in yoga, therapeutics, and anatomy with Karin Stephan, Sri H. S. Arun, Susan-Elena Esquivel, Bobby Clennell, Rita Manos-Lewis, and Cator Shachoy. Jon has been on the Samamkaya faculty since 2019.
In addition to massage, Jon is a long-time student of the Alexander Technique, and continues to study the technique and how it applies to yoga with Witold Fitz-Simon. He has a Certification in Therapeutic Massage from the Finger Lakes School of Massage, and has continued to study extensively, with advanced training in working with trans clients and other members of the Q community, and clients with chronic pain and trauma issues. Visit jmbodywork.com to find out more about his bodywork practice.
Wendy Baranello (Santoshi), C-IAYT, has been teaching yoga to various populations in New York City for over 20 years. She has touched countless students in a variety of venues: the YMCA system for 20 years, at Integral Yoga, teaching meditation in the CUNY system, and Hatha Yoga at Marymount Manhattan College. She taught yoga at GMHC for several years for people with AIDS, and at the Mind, Body, and Spirit program at Rutger’s Church. Wendy was a teacher at Yoga Union Center for Backcare and Scoliosis since its inception. Passionately committed to personal empowerment and social justice, Wendy sees a connection between her work as a Yoga Teacher and Union Organizer for the New York Hotel Trades Council as two sides of the same coin. She feels that the yoga mat is where yoga begins—a place where we can examine our feelings and observe our impulses in a non -judgemental and loving way. We then bring our yoga practice off the mat and into the world to take responsibility for healing ourselves and the planet.
Wendy was certified by Integral Yoga in NYC in 1994 to teach various aspects and levels of yoga, pranayama, and meditation. That same year, she began her study of Iyengar Yoga with Brooke Meyers at the New York City Iyengar Institute. Wendy has studied with Senior Level Iyengar Teacher Elise Miller since 2002, and completed her yoga for Scoliosis training in 2004, again in 2008, and regularly assists Elise in her teacher training. Wendy also studies with Senior level Iyengar teacher Joan White, whom she met in 2003, and is enrolled in Ms. White’s teacher training program. In addition to her yoga certifications, Wendy has a certification in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction from Jon Kabit-Zinn and Saki Santorelli, of the Omega Institute. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Farleigh Dickenson University. A description of Wendy’s class
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
Coral Cohen, Studio Manager is a theatre director, producer, and manager originally from Los Angeles, California. She makes ensemble-based, experimental theatre that focuses on women’s experiences. Most recently, she conceived and directed a devised theatre piece, Between The Threads (Jewish Women Project) at HERE Arts Center and directed a staged reading of the new play, Beauty Freak by James Clements with What Will The Neighbors Say? at the Plaxall Gallery. She has managed events at the Park Avenue Armory, Theatre for a New Audience’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center, The Shed, and Lincoln Center. Coral started studying yoga with Deborah Wolk in 2015 to address her scoliosis which helped with pain management, strength, and body awareness. She has been a regular student at Samamkaya since its founding. In Summer 2018, she joined the team as Manager and became a full Worker/Owner of the cooperative in 2019. Coral is thrilled to be part of a community that addresses the needs of such a diverse, underrepresented group of students. Learn more about Coral at coral-cohen.com
Dahlia Galler: While studying at Parsons School of Design, Dahlia worked as a visual merchandiser at Yogaworks. It was there where she practiced her first Downward Dog and learned to let go. In class one day, a friend noticed her scoliosis and recommended that she check out Yoga Union Center for Backcare & Scoliosis. After only one class, Dahlia was hooked. It was at Yoga Union Center for Backcare & Scoliosis where she seriously began her yoga journey, which she sees as a balance between effort and ease, and between hard work and letting go.
After completing her 200 Hour RTS Certification with Alison West’s 200 Hours Yoga Union Teacher Training receiving her 200 Hour RYT Certification, she began her apprenticeship with Deborah Wolk, assisting with back care and scoliosis classes.
Dahlia lives in New York City and is not only a yogini, but a freelance interior designer and stylist. Knowing that there is no one-size-fits-all pose, she brings a fun, light-hearted, artistic style to her teaching of all levels!
Jen Gorman is a scoliosis and spinal fusion patient, advocate, and teacher. Jen was diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of eleven. Less than a year later she underwent spinal fusion surgery where bone from her right iliac crest fused her thoracic vertebrae (T3-T10) secured by a Harington rod. Jen danced professionally in high school and then attended the University of Notre Dame where she studied accounting. She became a Certified Public Accountant and then quickly returned to dancing professionally. Although these experiences differed significantly physically, her back was sensitive regardless of whether she sat all day or danced all day. She frequently experienced a certain level of discomfort and pain.
Jen began practicing yoga to balance her body from the many hours of dancing. She discovered that yoga combined with other methods of cross training allowed her to manage and all together avoid pain. Eventually, she found her way into a yoga for scoliosis class and then a yoga for spinal fusions class in New York City. These classes brought to light an even deeper understanding of her body as well as the effects of scoliosis and her spinal fusion.
Jen has studied yoga with and assisted classes for Elise Miller Browning, Allison West, and Deborah Wolk. She is a Teacher Trainer with Elise Miller Browning’s Yoga for Scoliosis Program and also holds the following certifications: NASM Certified Personal Trainer, Functional Movement Systems I and II, as well as TRX Suspension. Learn more about Jen at www.scoliosisandbackcare.com or email her at info@scoliosisandbackcare.com.
Debby Green has been studying yoga since 1984. When she encountered Iyengar yoga 10 years later, she realized that she would have to start all over again. Her main teachers are Kevin Gardiner, James Murphy and the late Mary Dunn. She travelled to Pune in 2011 to study with the Iyengar family. She teaches a serious subject with lightness and humor, so that students can enjoy the intensity of Iyengar yoga. Debby is also a certified and gifted Rolfer. WSJ on Debby Green’s private lessons, YogaCity on Debby Green’s Rolfing Sessions
Eve Holbrook, C-IAYT. Initially drawn to yoga in 1994 for relief from back pain following a childhood horseback riding injury, Eve has grown to view it as an exploration of life and what it is to be a human being. In 2005, Eve completed the two-year teacher-training program at the Iyengar Institute of New York, where she now teaches, and is a certified Iyengar teacher at the Junior Intermediate two level. Since 2006, she has made five extended trips to Pune, India to study and assist in the medical classes at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Institute. Her beloved teachers include the late Mary Dunn, Kevin Gardiner, James Murphy, and Lara Warren. Eve is a graduate of Northwestern University and The British American Drama Academy. You can learn more about Eve at evesyogaspace.com. YogaCity
Neta Katz has been teaching Iyengar Yoga since 1998 (certified Junior 1). Her style of teaching is deeply rooted in her architecture background, and her love of anatomy. With thoughtful understanding of structure and space, Neta guides students towards a profound understanding of the body and its potential.
With over 20 years of teaching experience, Neta has worked with a wide range of students from beginners seeking an encouraging introduction, to longtime practitioners looking to deepen their practice and understanding.
Having recovered from severe and chronic back pain herself, Neta is dedicate
Hess Kim began her yoga practice well over a decade ago and it has evolved from a physical curiosity to a grounding way of life. She finds yoga an eternal lesson on mental flexibility, strength and compassion and teaches her classes with that in mind. Hess studied with Dharma Mittra for her 200 hr Teacher Training, received her Prenatal/Postnatal certification with Deb Flashenberg and Nikita Maxwell at the Prenatal Yoga Center and Alison West for her 300 hour Teacher Training. She is in the process of becoming an Elise Browning-Miller certified Yoga teacher for Backcare and Scoliosis and studies with Deborah Wolk and assists her Yoga for Scoliosis classes. She is also a birth doula (DONA) and holds a degree in Child Development and American Studies from Tufts University. When she’s not up to her C7 reading and exploring anatomy, philosophy and pranayama, you can find her somewhere outdoors hiking, biking or photographing nature.
Eva Lev’s passion for yoga was ignited in the late 80’s through years of study with Glenn Black as part of the summer staff at the Omega Institute in upstate NY. After settling in NYC, she continued her studies with Kevin Gardiner and many of the other senior teachers at the Iyengar Yoga Institute including the late Mary Dunn, Brooke Myers, Genny Kapuler, Lara Brunn and Carrie Owerko. She began teaching in 1997 completing 200 hour certification from Integral Yoga and in 2001, the two year teacher training program directed by James Murphy at the Iyengar Institute of NY. She also assisted Deborah Wolk’s Yoga & Scoliosis class for over 2 years.
Sara Mahowald came to yoga in 2015 to help alleviate constant pain and discomfort from scoliosis and was relieved to find Iyengar yoga, specifically a Yoga for Scoliosis class with Robin Thrope in Denver, Colorado. Since then she seeked to deepen her understanding of spinal asymmetries and how yoga can help folks live a fuller life. She assisted Robin in her Scoliosis classes, and in 2019 she took yoga teacher training courses with Leslie Bradley and Craig Kurtz. She has also attended multiple workshops with Elise Browning Miller and Deborah Wolk. She currently mentors under Kelly Moore and is under the guidance of Robin Thorpe.
Sara started teaching in 2021 at Living Yoga Denver, including a Scoliosis/Back Care class. She strives to make her yoga classes a safe place and as inclusive and accessible as possible, where judgment is left at the door. She loves to teach beginners and aims to help folks understand and develop a relationship with their own bodies. Her classes are dynamic, gentle, yet strong. You can learn more about Sara at www.mendbend.com.
Catherine “Cat” Murcek is a dance artist and yoga instructor at the 500-hr level. Cat first connected with yoga in Boston after receiving a B.A. in International Economics from Franklin College of Switzerland. What began as a supplement to her dance training quickly became a vital tool for maintaining tranquility and groundedness in her life. Cat received her 200-hr certification from Yogaworks with Natasha Rizopoulos in 2009 and did her 300-hr training with Alison West at Yoga Union. She has also completed the Yoga Tune-Up(R) Level 1 Certification, an introductory course in Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation patterns with Irene Dowd, and participated in both parts of Elise Browning Miller’s Yoga for Scoliosis training. She continues to study Yoga for Back Care and Scoliosis with Deborah Wolk and Alexander Technique for yoga teachers with Witold Fitz-Simon. Cat leads retreats in the US and internationally, and continues to perform in dance theatre chocolate-tasting productions with the company “Chocolate Dances.”
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. 2 reviews of Frank’s Classes: #1, #2
Miriam (Mimi) Rosetti, C-IAYT and RN was diagnosed with scoliosis at age 16. Following 6 months wearing a brace, she underwent corrective surgery fusing a large portion of her spine (T5-L4). In 2005, while simultaneously pursuing a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and delving into her first yoga teacher training at YogaWorks, Mimi began to reconnect with her scoliosis and the impact of her surgery. She apprenticed for years with Deborah Wolk and was the first teacher with a spinal fusion to be certified as a Yoga for Scoliosis teacher with Elise Browning Miller in 2008. Mimi spent January 2011 as a student in the medical class at the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India studying directly with BKS Iyengar as well as Lois Steinberg and Stephanie Quirk. She went on to complete the 2 year teacher training at the Iyengar Institute of New York with James Murphy, Lara Warren and Tori Milner. Additionally she has extensively studied the Schroth Method of PT for scoliosis with DPTs Hagit Berdeshevsky (Schroth NYC) and Meredith Weiss (Kioko Therapy).
In 2020 Mimi, and her family moved to Philly where she completed an Accelerated Bachelors of Science in Nursing (’21) and is pursing a Masters in Midwifery at the University of Pennsylvania. She is proud to be a founding faculty member of Samamkaya and continues to teach privately and substitutes zoom classes when time allows. She is also inspired by the deeply nourishing and wise teachings of Genny Kapuler.
Laura Staton, C-IAYT, OTR/L. Laura’s yoga classes cultivate increased body awareness and organization. As a faculty member of Samamkaya, she co-teaches the Adaptive Yoga Class and the Advanced Studies curriculum and also teaches classes in her home studio in Clinton Hill. Laura completed her 800-hour professional therapist program through Integrative Yoga Therapy and is 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 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 and her latest yoga book on healing orthopedic issues with yoga will be published in early 2021.
Joni Wellness has been practicing and teaching yoga since 1970, with special expertise in hands-on assists, yoga therapeutics, Back Care, Pre-Natal, is a trainer of The Great Yoga Wall, and more. She served as a Doula (childbirth support), Hospice volunteer, Nutrition, Health and Life Coach, and Massage Therapist of the Joffrey Ballet and to elite athletes and dancers. She has been immersed in studying the Iyengar Yoga method since 1988, and received her first Iyengar Yoga teaching certificate in the 90’s. She was certified as a Jr-I Iyengar Yoga Instructor in 2009.
Joni was Deborah Wolk’s first yoga teacher, way back when. In 2023, she received two total hip replacement surgeries and is loving being a “beginning” yoga student again, re-activating the intelligence gained from a long yoga life. She especially enjoys passing on the game changing yoga poses and tips that brought her out of back pain and maintain her back pain free. If you saw x-rays of her spine, you wouldn’t understand how she couldn’t be in pain, and she attributes being virtually pain-free to the specifics of Iyengar Yoga along with an understanding of spiritual healing. Her approach to bringing Sama, evenness, and symmetry includes use of peripheral references such as the floor, walls, and chairs, which reverbs to a more even posture and spine, as well as creative visualization. www.joniwellness.com
Ashlee Willaman is an 8-time marathoner, ultramarathoner, an RRCA Certified Run Coach and a 500 RYT. She began practicing yoga as part of her dance training at the age of 13, just around the same time she was diagnosed with scoliosis. She learned that yoga kept her back pain at bay and stuck with the practice for the next 20 years. She received her 500 RYT certification from YogaWorks in 2012 and attended a Yoga For Scoliosis Teacher Training Workshop with Elise Miller in October 2014. Having always been a mover and a shaker, when Ashlee stopped dancing she started running and found that she was drawn to long distance running. In 2012 she founded Run Like a Yogi to help athletes infuse training cycles with yoga and meditation. Her alignment-based classes focus on restoring balance to the body in order to avoid injury and recover faster. She teaches at various locations throughout NYC, is a running coach for Hot Bird Running and is on the coaching staff as a yoga instructor for Team Continuum, a charity that provides immediate and vital non-medical assistance to cancer patients and their families when the diagnosis results in disruption, hardship a and uncertainty in everyday lives. Read More about Ashlee. A review of Ashlee’s Yoga for Athlete’s class
Andi Wirz is a native of Switzerland. He found his way to yoga through dance and creative movement. He has been studying and teaching the Iyengar method for the last 20 years. Teachers that have influenced him most are Kevin Gardiner, Robin Janis, Donald Moyer and Genny Kapuler. He also studies yoga with the BMC ® approach with Roxlyn Moret and travels every summer with her to Switzerland to teach workshops. Andreas holds a physical education diploma from the University of Basel, Switzerland. He moved to NYC to pursue a career as a modern dancer. He performed with many modern dance companies and spent half a year in Japan performing with the Swiss mime group “Mummenschanz”. More about Andi A review of Andi’s class.
All photographs © 2015 by Kaz Sakuma