Teachers

Shannah has studied and practiced yoga for the last 15 years and is a registered teacher certified at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and through Tom Gillette at Eyes of the World Yoga in Providence, RI. Her teaching synthesizes the various styles of yoga she has intensively studied, including Kripalu, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Power Vinyasa and Anusara. She is honored to have studied with many wonderful teachers including Tom Gillette, Seane Corn, Paul Grilley, Richard Freeman, Erich Schiffman, David Swenson, Shiva Rea, Rodney Yee, Patricia Walden, Barbara Benaugh, Annie Carpenter, Kathryn Budig and Schyuler Grant. In addition to owning, directing and teaching at The Yoga Room, she currently  teaches for Tom Gillette at Eyes of the World Yoga Center in Providence, RI. and guest teaches at On the Mat Yoga in Concord, MA, and at many studios throughout Northern New England.

Bettina started practicing yoga in 1978 and has been teaching since 1995. She was certified as a teacher at Kripalu, and has also studied Iyengar, Ashtanga, Hatha and Anusara yoga under many wonderful teachers.

Remember Goldilocks?  First it was Bikram’s Yoga – too hot and too stifling.  Then ashtanga with it’s impossible jump throughs.  Vinyasa was just right. I’ve travelled and conferenced and workshopped to practice with a number of excellent teachers.  You would recognize most of them.  My teaching style is influenced by the founding members of Sacred Movement and I am deeply indebted to Erich Shiffman – he doesn’t know me.  Also to Paul Grilley – he knows me, maybe too well.  Yin Yoga has been life changing and my debt of gratitude to Paul and Suzee is unending as well as to Shannah Green, founder of The Yoga Room on Nantucket, who was brave enough to allow me to teach.

Susan Browne has been practicing yoga for almost 20 years and teaching since 1997. She holds professional-level teaching certification in both Kundalini Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga, and is a certified Ayurveda/Yoga Therapist. Having received her training at the Guru Ram Das Ashram, Millis, MA; Eyes of the World Yoga, Providence, RI; and through the Rocky Mountain School of Ayurveda, Susan has also studied asana and energy anatomy with Joseph LePage and Jonas Westring. She recently completed the foundations program at the Kripalu School of Ayurveda where she studied with Dr. John Douillard, Scott Blossom, and Dr. Claudia Welch, among others. Susan continues her studies in Ayurvedic healing, Yoga philosophy, and Sanskrit with Dr. David Frawley of the American Vedic Institute. Through her classes Susan offers a modern rendering of ancient yoga practices, drawing on her knowledge and ongoing reading of traditional texts and classic teachings, for an integrated (and fun!) approach to asana, pranayama, mantra, and meditation.

I have been practicing yoga since 1999, and completed my first 200 hr training at New York City’s Laughing Lotus Yoga Center in May of 2006. I have explored many traditions of yoga, but when I first discovered Vinyasa, something shifted deep in my heart. I am constantly humbled by the fearlessly honest dance between the body, the breath, and the thoughts that surface as the poses present themselves to each other.

I have been blessed to study with many amazing yogis along the way, who have shed so much light on an often daunting path, including all the teachers at Laughing Lotus, Sri Dharma Mittra, Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally and Seane Corn. I am beyond grateful to Shannah for her very special teaching and the beautiful space she has created for us all here on Nantucket.

Clay first started practicing yoga in 2004 at The Yoga Room, in Nantucket, Ma. After studying with many wonderful teachers there, to whom he is most grateful, his path led him to study with Deva Parnell at Discovery Yoga, and receive a 200-RYT certification in the Kripalu lineage in 2008. Clay believes in the transformative power of yoga when practiced with mindfulness, authenticity, and compassion. Drawing inspiration from his own practice and various styles of yoga, including Kripalu, Ashtanga, and vinyasa, Clay sets his classes to an eclectic soundtrack of acoustic and electonic rhythms as well as traditional chant. Clay encourages students to move at a pace suitable for their own practice, and fully embrace their experience, breath by breath, to build a sense of community and connection to each other, and all living beings.

Caitlin is a yoga teacher, mother, dancer, and healer. She is nationally certified in massage therapy and holds an undergraduate degree in Dance & Choreography from Bard College. She has been studying yoga on and off for over 12 years, and completed her teacher training with Ganga White and Tracey Rich of the White Lotus Foundation in 2009. A perpetual student, Caitlin is constantly seeking out new teachings to inform her practice and has had the privilege of studying with many wonderful teachers, including Elena Brower, Andrei Ram, Annie Carpenter, Erich Shiffmann, Kathryn Budig, and Coral Brown. She has also completed advanced certifications with Stephanie Keach in prenatal yoga, and PranaFlow with Shiva Rea. A former modern dancer, she fuses her passion for music and modern dance with yoga; keeping her flow creative, playful and fresh. As an accomplished massage therapist, Caitlin has a comprehensive kinesiological understanding of human anatomy and clinical postural analysis. Her background in bodywork has given her years of clinical experience with musculoskeletal pathologies and injuries, making her  hands-on adjustments  confident  and healing.  In addition  to teaching at The Yoga Room, Caitlin also teaches Yoga for Athletes at The Nantucket Fitness Studio, and ACTive Kids Yoga at Krav Maga Nantucket. She teaches Nantucket Prenatal Yoga semi-privately and has recently developed Strong Girls Yoga; a yoga program designed specifically for adolescent girls which focuses on building self-esteem and confidence.

In 2011 Caitlin became the Yoga Room’s Workshop Producer and is honored with the task of importing great yoga to Nantucket via TYR’s seasonal Guest Teacher Series. Caitlin lives on the Island of Nantucket year-round with her 2 year-old son and satguru Griffin, where she is an advocate of prenatal yoga, natural childbirth, midwifery, and “eating like you give a damn”. She was recently invited to join the team at prAna Clothing as a “prAna Influencer”, and was featured in the Nantucket Property News’ editorial 40 Under 40 Class of 2012. Caitlin does her best to blog regularly about her yoga practice on and off the mat, thought she can’t promise it’s always interesting…

Sally Charpie is a certified Kripalu yoga instructor. Having started her journey as a beginner at the Yoga Room less than ten years ago, Sally understands the challenges that a beginner faces in developing and maintaining a yoga practice. A graduate of Wellesley College, with BA in Economics, Sally is a year-round resident of Nantucket. Her yoga practice complements her interests in cats, books, golf and wine.