Yoga

Susan Hu is an E-RYT 500, RYT 500 based in the EV. She was fascinated and drawn to the teaching of Bhakti yoga and Ayurveda from day one and quickly committed deeply into the practice and transformed her life. Susan believes when you take the time to care for yourself with genuine self-love and live an aligned life, you have the power to heal yourself and the world around you.

With over 1,000 training hours, Susan’s teaching style is very nourishing, grounding and uplifting with a focus on breathing and the relationship with Self. She offers different styles of yoga and meditation classes including Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, Restorative, Yoga Nidra, Prana Nidra, Prana Vidya Healing, Chakra Meditation and other yoga and meditation techniques.

Jamuna Jaya is honored, humbled, and inspired to teach at the Bhakti Center. She is a 500 RYT, having received her 200 hour certification from Devotion Yoga with Jillian Pransky and Carrie Parker, and her 300 hour from Yogamaya with Stacey Brass and Bryn Chrisman.

In her classes Julie strives to, as the great yoga master BKS Iyengar said, “Stretch the intelligence throughout the body”, so that ultimately, the students can connect to the deep well of love and compassion that lies in each of us.

Pooja’s yoga journey began about 15 years ago, solely for the purpose of physical fitness. She didn’t realize the serenity and freedom she experienced after a class was the Mind-Body-Soul connection. She now knows and understands that as an integral part of a yoga practice. She really didn’t know much about the science and philosophy of yoga. Not until she decided to enroll in the 200 hours of teacher training in 2019 through Stanton Street Yoga and the Bhakti Center.

Having no idea how transformative this experience was going to be for her, the vast knowledge of ancient yogic philosophy and wisdom has given her a whole new outlook on life. “Yoga has allowed me to navigate life with much more awareness, humility, and compassion.”

She has completed the 300 hours yoga training course, the 50 hours Pranayama training course, and the Yoga nidra training with 100 hours of meditation training with Yogi Charu here at the Bhakti Center. She considers herself a student for life and is deeply fascinated by the power of self healing through the lens of self- awareness. “Bhakti yoga in particular has evoked a sense of love for myself that I didn’t know existed. I find myself extending this love outward into the classes I guide. I truly feel it is my duty to incorporate all different modules of these yogic practices and to let students taste all things yoga, not just the physical”

She is very grateful to serve at the Bhakti Center, a community which has given her such a great sense of purpose.

Yoga started simply as a physical practice for Chelsea in 2012 as another means to stay physically fit. As she began to develop a consistent physical yoga practice, her mindset shifted away from sculpting a perfect body into creating a moving meditation that allowed her to de-stress from the temporary dualities of her life. Chelsea felt as if something magical was happening (little did she know she was connecting to her true self) during yoga classes and thus the drive to dive deeper into yogic knowledge began.

In 2016 Chelsea completed the Yoga Alliance registered 200 hour yoga teacher training at the Vinyasa Yoga School in Rishikesh, India- the birthplace of yoga. Since then she has been practicing consistently at the Bhakti Center and has found many role models in and inspiration in the wise teachers at the center. She has come to practice and incorporate Bhakti Yoga- yoga in the mood of love, service, and devotion- into her everyday life, her personal practice, and in her yoga instruction.

Chelsea is eager to serve others in the mood of love and believes that this is the key to living a content, steady, and present lifestyle within the fast paced, product driven culture of New York city and many places around the world.

Marina was born in Latvia and raised in Kazakhstan. She’s been living in NYC for the past 14 years. Yoga has been a part of Marina’s life for the past 10 years. She chooses yoga practice simply because as she quotes “It doesn’t make any sense to not do it”. The practice of yoga allowed her to meet her true-self, recognize self-imposed limiting believes and gifted her a “magic wand” to fully transform from within. Marina was a spiritual seeker and enthusiast for more than a decade before she finally anchored her faith in Bhakti Yoga or Devotional Yoga. The Bhakti Lifestyle inspires her greatly and as a result, she wishes to share it with others. Marina loves "straddling the mind" and tries living the life open-mindedly and full-heartedly every day. One of Marina’s hobbies is Vedic Astrology and some special classes might even offer an astrological hue to it.

She received her 200 Hour Teacher Training Certification through Shanti Yoga and 200 Hour Certification through Stanton Street Yoga & The Bhakti Center.

The Bhakti Center’s Y12SR program is directed by Jennifer Manvich. Her interest in 12 Step Recovery was born from her experience of growing up with addiction in her family and her own personal struggle. Although the 12 step program provided her tools to handle life on life’s terms, she felt very disconnected to a higher power. It was by studying the Bhagavad Gita at the Bhakti Center that bridged the Gap of 12 Step Recovery and spirituality.

“When I read The Gita, I realized that I wasn’t being punished for my actions. That obstacles weren’t part of the path but WERE the path to my growth. I began seeing how Krishna (higher power) had always been there for me. Being with and learning from Bhakti practitioners made me realize that there was a different, more connected way to see and live life. With complete love and trust. It has allowed me to be present in my life, for both the ups and downs, not trying to escape them. Accepting how life can be both complex AND beautiful at the same time.”Jenn holds a 200-hour yoga teacher certification from the Bhakti Center and a certification in Trauma informed Yoga from Exhale to Inhale. She has studied Yoga of 12 Step Recovery under the program’s founder, Nikki Myers.

Born and raised in Switzerland Vera began her yoga journey in 2010 in New York. After practicing yoga for many years and experiencing its incredible physical and mental benefits Vera decided to deepen her practice by immersing herself in two separate yoga retreats, one at Sivananda Ashram, Bahamas in 2014 and the other at Ananda Ashram, New York in 2015. Her experience at the retreat inspired her desire to learn more about the ancient practice of yoga, and thus she completed her 200-hour teacher training with Kay Kay Clivio, Adam Vitol, and Yogi Charu at Pure Yoga, New York in 2018, thereafter receiving training in pranayama techniques and completing her 300-hour teacher training at Yoga Maya in New York. Since then Vera has completed several other trainings to deepen her knowledge in pranayama, restorative yoga, kirtan and more.

In her personal practice and in her classes, Vera fuses together various schools of yoga that are concentrated on strengthening the body, breathing fully and steadily, and flowing through various poses, all while focusing and calming the mind. Vera seeks to remain mindful that she is a guardian and preserver of a sacred tradition, remembering that she serves as a conduit guide between the tradition and the divinity within its students. She works to stays open and receptive to what each individual student needs, so that she might act as a channel of this beauty as much as possible.

Erin is truly humbled to be a part of this amazing team of teachers at The Bhakti Center. In 2020 she found TBC through their online community groups. She quickly realized TBC is the most welcoming spiritual home, an oasis in the madness that is NYC. It has not always been pretty but it has definitely been a year of transformation and growth. In 2022 Erin completed her 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training at The Bhakti Center learning from the best - Susan Hu, Jamuna Jaya, and Dayal Gaurunga. She owes it all to these teachers and the many others who have touched her life and made such a lasting imprint.

As a new teacher Erin hopes to offer creative, fun classes that are inclusive for all who walk in the door. You can expect a vinyasa class with pranayama sprinkled in with a little bit of Bhakti-wisdom passed on from her teachers. Erin’s highest hope in an asana class is to share a modicum of yogic philosophy while helping students feel into their physical and energetic bodies if only for a little over an hour in this crazy, hectic world we live in.

Jillian Fata spent most of her childhood and young adulthood as a dancer in the Chicago suburbs, and knew she needed to find something similar when she moved to New York after college. She had no idea that finding a coupon for The Bhakti Center in 2015 would lead to a life-changing journey that ran much deeper than just staying in shape physically.
One weekly Stretch and Restore class quickly became 3 classes at TBC each week, mostly for the physical benefits. Then after listening to teachers talk about Yogic Philosophy and the lessons of the Bhagavad Gita, which align with her Catholic upbringing in so many ways, Jillian was soon practicing for the mental calmness and loving the deep sense of community she found in her Yogi family.

After 6 years of asana classes, as well as various community groups to study the Gita, Ayurveda, and much more, Jillian enrolled in the Fall 2021 Yoga Teacher Training with Susan Hu, Jamuna Jaya Pasqual, and Dayal Gauranga. A RYT-200, Jillian is so honored to be joining this incredible group of teachers in hopefully being of service to others.

Yogi Charu is the master teacher of Savitri Yoga Shal (Savi Yoga). His yoga journey began at 15 when he encountered the Bhagavad Gita through a friend in his native country Belize, and left home shortly thereafter to pursue yoga. He spent most of his early career in India where he trained in traditional Himalayan ashrams. Living as a Yogi in simplicity, dedicated to fasting, cleansing, Mantra Yogi, Kirtan and study the Vedas and other Yogic texts.

His teaching style stems from classical yoga traditions including pranayama (breath work), asana (poses), kriyas (cleansing techniques) and tantric meditations. Additionally, he is a master teacher of yoga philosophy and often holds workshops on yoga sutras, vedic numerology and more. As a teacher, he went from the Himalayas to Hong Kong in 2000, where he was one of the early yoga instructors to teach at the Hong Kong Country Club, HK Pacific Club, and privately to the staff of UBS and HSBC, Nike, and various law firms. From Hong Kong, he relocated to Australia in 2006 to co-manage Govinda’s Lotus studio, where he studied under Anandakapila Saraswati.

In 2009 Yogi Charu moved to NYC where help established Yoga and Meditation classes at The Bhakti Center and Pure Yoga. He co-manage Pure Yoga 200 hours Yoga teacher training and manages their 100 hours Meditation Teacher Training. From 2016 – 2018 he lived in Hawaii where he opened a donation base studio Yoga For All Hawaii, where he offered Trainings for Meditation, Yoga Nidra, And Classical Hatha Yoga. Yogi Charu relocated back to NYC in 2019 where he continues to teach at The Bhakti Center and Pure Yoga. He continues to inspire students from all over the world through retreats, privates and virtual meditation & philosophy classes

Alexandra’s yoga journey began in her childhood, when during summer breaks in Romania she would meditate alongside her aunt who taught her practices in forgiveness, focused breathing, and energetic visualization. In her teens she took her first yoga asana class and was hooked--finding the practice perfectly suited her passion for movement and dedication to spirituality. After four years of university in Paris, she returned to New York where she immersed herself in the yogic path with over 1,000 hours of training and teaching various communities since 2010.

Alexandra’s classes are dynamic and uplifting, weaving together creative sequencing, intuitive alignment, mind-balancing breath-work, the science of Kundalini, and poetic prompts informed by the Bhakti path to invoke a deep inner connection to the divine. She co-designs and facilitates advanced yoga trainings in India and serves on the board of Supersoul Farm, a yoga school and permaculture farm initiative in upstate New York.

She bows to the many teachers who have guided her ever-closer to understanding yoga, the divine, and how to truly be of service.

Smita has been a practitioner of yoga for over 20 years and explored the various styles of Hatha yoga in the Krishnamacharya linage: Iyengar, Ashtanga, Vinyasa; as well as Sivananda and Yin Yoga. She has has taken multiple workshops and trainings, which include the 200 hour YTT with Alison west (2017), and completed the Bhakti Center intensive 200 YTT (2018). In addition she has training in 100 hours Intro to Ayurveda (2018),100 hour training in Ayurveda Marma Therapy, (2019),50 hour training in Yoga Nidra (2019,) pranayama and sequencing workshops (2020), and 200 hours Ayurvedic wellness coaching (2021). In addition to being part of the Bhakti teacher family, Smita teaches gym, corporate yoga and works directly with private students.

"Deep gratitude to all my teachers who showed me that the process of yoga is constantly unraveling, and it is both a science and an art of how to live on and off the mat."