Our Teachers
Our wonderful teachers bring a rich blend of experience and
training to the light filled, warm, yet airy, wooden floor studio.
KATE BANKS is a Kripalu certified yoga teacher whose heartfelt teaching grows out of her personal practice of many years. Kate creatively blends vinyasa yoga with mindfulness, offering students the opportunity to explore what it is to be aware of the breath, to be fully present in the body and to awaken to the rise and fall of sensation, feeling and experience. A variety of vinyasa and meditation teachers inspire Kate’s continued study. kkellybanks@gmail.com
JANE CIEPIELA teaches a lively, heart centered flow style class that is nurturing, grounding and strength building. She encourages focus on completion of breath, which supports each physical movement. Her teaching style has been influenced by many and is ever changing: Dharma Mittra, Shiva Rea, Sean Corn, Barron Baptiste and Kripalu yoga.
PETER ELLISTON received his 200 hour Yoga Teacher Certification from Yoga Center Amherst and continues to work toward his 500 hour certification. In addition he has studied with master teacher Tias Little, and has taken classes and workshops at yoga centers worldwide. Peter has been teaching for 10 years.
MARK GEROW is the founder/creator of Lunarhythms Yoga™, and draws on a diverse background. From survival instructor in the U.S. Air Force to actor in New York City, his unique blend of flowing yoga combines various styles and incorporates elements to include chakras, ayurveda, yoga therapy, and organic movement. He also specializes and offers private sessions in Yoga Therapy, Ayurvedic Yoga consultations and Thai Yoga Massage. His web site is www.lunarhythmsyoga.com
ANN GREENE has been a student of yoga since 1986. She brings love, passion, and creativity to her teaching. Ann began practicing Hatha Yoga in Boston with Iyengar teachers and then moved to Kripalu Center in 1988. Ann was a resident for 7 years and director of the Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training until 1998. She then studied Anusara Yoga and released her license in 2012. Drawing on her experience with these many yoga schools, Ann teaches a Yoga Teacher Training with her husband Todd Norian and is happy to return to her Wednesday night class at YogaGB. She values aligning body, mind and heart.
ANI NADLER GROSSER, RYT, has been practicing and studying yoga for 25 years in many traditions, including Sivananda, Iyengar, and Embodyoga with Patty Townsend at Yoga Center Amherst. Ani studied restorative yoga with Judith Lasater, author of Relax and Renew, and has mastered the art of teaching this healing practice. 413.637.2868 www.compassionaterelationships.com
LESLIE NELSON is a certified Kripalu yoga instructor with additional certifications in Alexander Technique, Gyrotonic®, and Pilates mat work. Her classes combine a vinyasa flow style with an emphasis on alignment and body awareness. She was co-founder and director of the Soho Sanctuary Studio and Spa in New York before moving to the Berkshires and thereafter worked as a movement therapist at Canyon Ranch. She has taught private yoga and fitness classes for over 20 years. 413-329-3541.
DEBORAH SALEM, founder of Yoga Great Barrington, has been teaching fin the Berkshires for 10 years. Her formal training began with International Yoga Studies in Scotland and continued with embodyoga® in Amherst, MA. She also holds a certification in Thai Yoga Massage from the Lotus Palm School in Montreal. 413.329.3308 deborah@yogagb.com
CONNIE WILSON is a Kripalu certified teacher at the professional level, teaching for the past 8 years in West Virginia, Maryland, and the Berkshire's. She currently teaches at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and is the founder of Yoga Within, bringing yoga to school and workplace settings throughout Southern Berkshire County. Her priority is helping students individualize and deepen their experience of all aspects of yoga. 528.3798
Substitute Teachers
ANNIE ALQUIST has been a student of yoga for 18 years, and her teaching style is inspired by the many schools of yoga she has studied including Iyengar, Bikram, Anusara, Vinyasa, and Kripalu. Her class combines gentle, moderate, and vigorous flows with a slow, inwardly focused pace. Moving slowly and mindfully through challenging posture flows gives the body an opportunity to work while inviting the mind to drop into the present moment creating a meditative yet dynamic experience. She is a certified yoga instructor, massage therapist, and health coach.
JODI HURWITZ is a graduate of the Pure Yoga Teacher Training in New York City and a Yoga Alliance certified teacher (RYT-200). She discovered the transformative power of yoga five years ago while transitioning from an award-winning TV producing career to spend more time with her family. Jodi is currently in Meditation Teacher Training with Yogi Charu of the Swami Satyananda lineage, and is learning a presentation of meditation practices which is rare to find outside of Indian ashrams. With joy and healing as her guiding principals, Jodi wishes to share her passion for the practice and inspire students to live a powerful life of possibilities.
JANET LEE is certified by Yoga Alliance with 350 hours of teacher training. Over the last five years, she has worked with Shiva Rea in several teacher trainings at Kripalu. In addition to her yoga training, Janet is also a Stott Pilates trained instructor, a certified fitness instructor and trainer and holds a Masters from the Bouve College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University. Janet has been teaching an Canyon Ranch since moving to the Berkshires nine years ago and is very excited to be joining our amazing staff at Yoga GB.
ALISON MALOOF is a certified Kripalu yoga teacher. Her passion for yoga and other movement explorations began during her studies of theater while in college. She has studied movement both in the US and abroad in England. She has been practicing yoga since 2003, and specifically Kripalu practice in 2009. Alison has a big heart and teaches from that place. She believes yoga is ultimately about self-inquiry. She creates a safe environment to explore and experiment with yoga. She strives to teach classes that are fun, while still challenging each individual student.
SUZANNE MAZZARELLI received her teacher training in Northampton, MA at Yoga Sanctuary and studied Anusara Yoga with Todd Norian. Suzanne is often a visiting teacher at YGB. She brings compassion and enthusiasm to her classes that flow through traditional asanas. The focus is on precise alignment that strengthens the body and invites celebration and self-inquiry. She aims to help her students recognize shri (beauty) in themselves & the world around them.