The family of teachers at GSYOGA bring education, experience and inspiration from master teachers such as Baron Baptiste, Shiva Rae, Bikram Choudhury, Sharon Gannon, David Life and
BKS Iyengar.
 
At GSYOGA, you can expect to feel safe, encouraged, and empowered with our teachers. See you on the mat.

Seth Weisberg, co-owner - From the early years of his life fitness was a natural passion that led Seth down many different paths. Always interested in Far East philosophies, Seth began practicing martial arts at a young age. After years of practice, his martial arts practice naturally progressed to more stretching combined with breathing. Without realizing, Seth began his path to yoga. In his last year of college a mountain biking injury left Seth with a steel rod in his left leg and a prognosis of a life long limp. With a positive attitude and regular practice of yoga and stretching, Seth surprised doctors and friends with a quick and full recovery. After experiencing the healing powers of yoga, Seth was hooked and decided to share with others the unlimited benefits of this practice. Within two years Seth was certified to teach in Integral Yoga, created by Swami Satchinanda. After more years of study and practice Seth decided to continue his education with Baron Baptiste, completing both level I and II training. In these trainings Seth’s passion for the graceful and flowing nature of the Vinyasa style began. He realized that a Vinyasa practice was not only incredibly beneficial physically, but it simulated how he wanted to live his life off the mat as well. Power Vinyasa Yoga illuminated the path of happiness for Seth and his greatest goal is to help share that with others.

Alison McCue, co-owner -Alison discovered yoga in 2004 as a way to cross-train for marathons. A life of running had left her with bad knees, tight hips and lower back aches. After a few months of a regular yoga practice Alison was hooked. Four years later Alison decided to join Seth and open Garden State Yoga – a community of yogis that share a passion and commitment to the beautiful practice of yoga. Alison has completed Level 1 & 2 Training with Baron Baptiste and studied with Bikram Choudhury. Her Power Vinyasa classes are physically challenging and athletic, yet light-hearted and fun with modifications for all levels. Be prepared to sweat, smile, laugh and have fun!

Ali Campbell - Ali completed her yoga teacher training at Starseed Yoga and Healing in Montclair, NJ. She has a Masters Degree in Education and has worked as an educator for over 10 years. She came to yoga through her background in sports and has developed a strong personal practice over the past decade. Her recent expansion in yoga has come through a gentler practice and devoting herself to meditation—always a challenge with two young children at home. She has taken time away from her career in the public schools to parent and can be found at home gardening, making pancakes with her kids and husband, or sneaking away to the coffee shop to read by herself. She believes fully in the possibility of everyone finding inner peace through yoga. If there is one thing she knows for sure, it’s that she knows nothing.

Danielle Diamond - Danielle is a 500hr+ registered teacher. She is committed to teaching her students the physical asanas with a focus on alignment and breath, then combining them with meditation and pranayama. Prior to becoming certified, she stumbled upon yoga through her career in television. In 1997 she was producing a fitness video for MTV and needed to find a yoga teacher. At the time she was a hard-core runner who had no time for stretching, but in the interest of research she took a few classes. The day she stepped into the now infamous Jivamukti yoga, and took her first class with Sharon Gannon, was life-changing. Danielle was hooked. Danielle has completed an advanced vinyasa teacher training with Shiva Rea, plus week- long trainings with Tim Miller, Anna Forrest, Cyndi Lee and David Nichtern. She has also taken intensive workshops with Rodney Yee, Bryan Kest, Beryl Bender- Birch, Rolf Gates, and Baron Baptiste. As a result of her practice, Danielle feels she is in the best shape of her life physically, mentally and ultimately spiritually.

Erin Barry - Erin has been practicing yoga for 9 years and comes from a professional dance and performance background. However, she became more focused on the teachings when she completed her 300 hour Teacher Training Program this year with Jennifer Kohl at Lotus Yoga. Now, she is a behavioral therapist for children with developmental disabilities, and she teaches yoga at an intensive outpatient therapy centers. She is forever grateful to Jennifer Kohl, who gave her the tools to gain this powerful and life-changing knowledge. She continues to study and practice for personal growth in order to become a better teacher to those around her. She is now enrolled in a 500 hour advanced teacher training.

Beth Schultz - Beth teaches hatha yoga, focusing on alignment and breath work, building strength, flexibility and balance in both body and mind. She enjoys welcoming first-time yogis to the mat. As an instructor of both Level 1 and Advanced Beginning classes, she encourages students to deepen their physical practice and develop their meditative awareness. Beth believes that “yoga is for every body,” and offers multiple variations on poses and propped support to encourage each student to discover their highest potential. She is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher (500-hour level).

Stacey Bell-Elder — Stacey teaches from the understanding that yoga practice awakens the healing power of stillness and flow within us. As we grow more adept and master the asana (postures) we are able to listen and witness ourselves in a deeper way. Stacey’s approach is to support each student on the journey of awareness. Her classes are challenging, spirited and inspiring. Her yoga classes are informed by 20 years of practice and 14 years of teaching. Alexander Technique was the first mind/body discipline that Stacey studied and it laid an important foundation for her understanding of movement and balance in the human body. Stacey is also a certified Craniosacral therapist which adds a juicy energetic dimension to her teaching.

Becky Middleton - Becky was immediately enthralled by yoga during her first class in 2001 and to this day cannot stop smiling through every practice.  She is grateful for the calm, steadiness and joy her practice brings to her life and immensely grateful for the opportunity to share yoga with others. Becky has been teaching Ashtanga, and Vinyasa flow classes since 2005.  She received her 200-hr certification from The Yoga and Healing Center in Scotch Plains and her 500 hr certification in 2009 from Lotus Yoga. She loves to challenge her students with dynamic and fun sequences set to various soundtracks, asking each to explore and discover their edge.

Kate Hoyos - Like many, Kate was first introduced to yoga through DVDs and video tapes. It wasn’t until she attended a college level yoga class in 1999, where she learned about and fell in love with the spiritual message that  yoga offers.  After years of trying to muster up the courage, she made her way to her first yoga class.  Being instantaneously inspired by the movement and flow, Kate considered yoga her home. She completed her 300 hour training as a registered yoga teacher with Sheryl and Neil Edsall at Naturally Yoga and feels very fortunate for the opportunity to study with great teachers from many different Yoga traditions. In each of her classes, Kate integrates her love for yoga with a detailed understanding of the mechanics of the human body as it relates to each pose.  Her classes are a harmonious, playful vinyasa flow filled with energy, fun and laughter.  She encourages her students to use their yoga practice as a way of facing difficulties in their own lives while at the same time striving to achieve their own personal best.

Rebecca Rothman - When Rebecca attended her first yoga class 12 years ago she couldn’t touch her toes. Something resonated and she was hooked. She has since found the practice to be a continual and considerable force in her life that stretches both her body and her mind.  Rebecca completed her 200 hour certiciation in 2004 at Sonic Yoga in NYC and her 500 hour advanced certification in 2009 at Lotus Yoga.
Rebecca teaches a dynamic vinyasa class in which she pulls from many sources of inspiration, including Jennifer Kohl,  Rusty Wells, Dharma Mittra, Patthabi Jois, Sundara, Baron Baptiste, Irit and her personal boddhisatva, Turkey Tom.

Kristen Brunello - Though Kristen’s yoga journey started four years ago in Ithaca, NY when she had a daily Bikram Yoga practice, she truly fell in love with yoga when she left Ithaca and was introduced to vinyasa and power yoga. Through the variety of the poses and the intensity of the practice Kristen feels she is consistently forging a new, respectful relationship with her body, and through yogic philosophy and a sense of community she is evolving her mind and spirit. Kristen completed a 200 hour training at Inner Light Yoga Center and a 15 hour intensive with Shiva Rea. A psychology student, she aspires to bridge the holistic health benefits of yoga with therapy to help heal addictions. Her classes are well-rounded and are taught from the perspective that yoga is a perpetual practice in which there is always room for growth. She is forever thankful to Danielle Diamond for her spiritual and technical guidance and to Alison McCue and Seth Weisberg for their support and the opportunity to teach at such a special studio.

Christopheray - Three decades ago Christopheray began to explore the foundations of yoga through self-study. He then met his root guru the late Sri. Sw. SatchidanandaJI and following his teachings taught at the Integral Yoga Institute in N.J. and later on staff in their teacher training program. Two decades ago he began to understand the fundamentals of alignment through his first and most influential Iyengar teacher, Judy Brick Freedman.
Christopheray is quick to offer gratitude to all of his teachers including the late Jyoti Crystal, founder & director of Starseed Yoga, who offered him a teaching position as well as inviting him to be on the staff of their teacher training program; Kim Peralta, founder & director of the Iyengar Yoga School of Northern New Jersey, where he took her teacher training & had the confidence in him to teach there; and to all his yoga colleages and the senior Iyengar teachers with whom he continues to study and practice.
In his foundations and fundamentals class, Christopheray will introduce basic asanas (poses) based on the sixteen points of foundation in the body and the fundamentals of doing them, including pranayama (science of breath) and the basics of yogic philosophy(yamas and niyamas).
C-Ray, as he is known, is well respected and renowned for teaching simply and intensely yet with compassion and humor; in keeping with a yogic philosophy of life...discipline, reflection, and devotion.

Nancy Witters - Nancy brings her love of Iyengar yoga to her teaching with a style that is intuitive, creative, and passionate, finding that attention to detail in the practice brings happiness, inspiration, and clarity in life.With a focus on alignment Nancy’s classes combine stillness and energy to create a dynamic experience in each pose.  Nancy uses yoga poses, pranayama (breath work) and meditation to help students realize their full potential and enhance their natural intuition. Nancy received her 500 hour teaching certification from Starseed Yoga in Montclair, NJ under the direction Jyoti Chrystal. Her most influential teachers include Jyoti, Lois Steinberg, Patricia Walden, and Christopheray, with whom she continues to study. Married with 2 exceptional sons, Nancy lives in Montclair and when she is not in the studio teaching or in the kitchen baking she can be found walking local nature trails with her