Our teachers specialize in the practices of Classical Yoga within the lineage of Sri Dharma Mittra. They are graduates of the BYS 200 Hour Teacher Training program and/or have studied directly with Dharma Mittra in his training programs.
Lily Cushman
Co-Founder & Director
Lily was born in Idaho and is a lover of nature and animals of all varieties. She has been practicing yoga since 1998. After many years of intense self practice, she began studying Classical Yoga with Sri Dharma Mittra in 2007. Under his guidance, Lily dedicated herself to the exploration of happiness and service through yoga. For several years she served as the Co-Director of the Dharma Yoga Teacher Training programs, as well as assisting Dharma in his teachings worldwide. In 2010, Lily co-founded the Brooklyn Yoga School where she currently serves as Director and Manager. She is also the Executive Assistant to meditation teacher and author, Sharon Salzberg and has worked for world-renowned chanter, Krishna Das, for many years. Lily is not currently on the weekly teaching schedule at BYS, but offers monthly chanting events and workshops. Learn more via her website.
Adina Saperstein
Teacher
Adina started taking yoga at her gym in 2003, and for the next six years muscled her way through power yoga classes and adamantly refused to chant AUM. In 2010, she stumbled into Brooklyn Yoga School, where her real practice of yoga began in glimpses of inner peace, purpose, and happiness. She kept coming back, and learned to slow down, sit still, stand on her head, fall on her face, and slowly start showing up in life. In 2012, Adina completed the BYS 200 HR Teacher Training, and began sharing her practice with others. She holds profound gratitude for her many teachers and for the incredibly humbling opportunity to develop and share her practice in this beautiful space.
Clayton Okaly
Teacher
Clayton walked into his first yoga class in 2008, and since then his intrigue with the practice has failed to cease. He completed his 200 HR Teacher Training through the Brooklyn Yoga School in 2012, and is eternally grateful for the magnitude in which it has opened his mind and changed his life. Clayton primarily teaches the classical yoga style according to the lineage of Sri Dharma Mittra. His classes most closely resemble the Hatha Yoga style, with elements of Vinyasa and Raja Yoga mixed in. Off the mat, Clayton shares his love of singing, music, and performing with as many as possible and as often as he can. Spreading compassion, awareness, thoughtfulness, and understanding through his actions is, above all, his highest goal.
Don Rider
Teacher
Don started his journey with yoga when the Brooklyn Yoga School opened its doors near his apartment in 2010. In search of a new workout, he figured he'd try that new yoga place around the corner. Drawn to the spiritual and meditative aspects of Dharma Yoga, he soon developed a regular practice at BYS and would eventually earn his 200-hour training certification with Sri Dharma Mittra. Don practices Zen Buddhism and loves partner dancing, both of which have been supported by his yoga practice and contribute to his approach as a teacher. He is honored to be teaching at the school that inspired his practice.
Galla Barrett
Teacher
Without knowing it at the time, Galla's journey with Yoga began while studying in the Netherlands, where she started meditating and learning about Buddhism. Five years ago upon a visit to NY she discovered Yoga as a deeper practice of unity and connection with self and others – here at Brooklyn Yoga School. Soon after relocating to NYC permanently from Berlin, Galla trained with Sri Dharma Mittra in Manhattan to become a certified instructor. Her pragmatism led to her recognition of the applicability and nourishing power of Yoga in all areas of life which guide her in a corporate day job, as well as all life choices and relationships. Being a part of the BYS family is a gift she honors with deep gratitude.
Irena Trubnikov
Teacher
Irena started to practice yoga in 1999 when she was pregnant. Her love to Yoga grew up together with her children. In 2013 Irena completed 200 and 500 HR teacher training in Israel at Ishitva Yoga Institute. As a working mother, she has come to realize the relevance of yoga in every aspect of her life. Between 2000 and 2013 she had the opportunity to study Vinyasa Yoga, Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga under the guidance of several teachers including Reinhard Gammenthaler, Shandor Remete, Andrey Lapa and Andrey Sidersky. In 2013, after coming to New York, Irena found her primary teacher and spiritual family when she met Sri Dharma Mittra, and has since completed the 500 HR Dharma Yoga TT.
Jacquie Brown
Teacher
Jacquie started practicing yoga in 2002 when she signed up for a physical education yoga class. She immediately felt most at home (in life) practicing yoga. Her self practice has included Vinyasa, Mysore Ashtanga, and Hatha yoga. Jacquie recently finished her 200 HR teacher training at Brooklyn Yoga School where her understanding of yoga and its influence on her life blossomed beyond the asana practice to more of a happiness practice. Surprisingly, she loves teaching yoga. Jacquie is very excited to share her experience and is eager to continue learning.
Jeremy Frindel
Co-Founder
Jeremy has been studying yoga and meditation since 2006. He spent several years studying and traveling with Sri Dharma Mittra, assisting his workshops and teaching in his Teacher Training Programs. He received his 200 HR teaching certification from Integral Yoga Institute and his 500 HR certification from Sri Dharma Mittra. In addition, Jeremy intensely studied Advaita Vedanta and the Bhagavad Gita with Swami Prabuddhananda Saraswati for many years. Predominantly a documentray filmmaker, Jeremy is the director of the award-winning documentary film "One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das" and is currently working on several new feature film projects.
Jeremy Hoffeld
Teacher
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Jeremy has had a lifelong interest in spiritual seeking, making art and the relationship between these two paths. Along the way this seeking lead him to live in a spiritual community in Boston for six years and to avidly study Buddhism and meditation, becoming a lay member of a Zen Buddhist monastic community in 2007. Since the early 2000's, Jeremy has had an increasingly consistent self practice of yoga which ultimately lead him to begin a period of dedicated study with Sri Dharma Mittra in 2014. His time with Dharma gave Jeremy the tools to integrate his spiritual practices, eventually preparing him to share these with other people.
Katurah Hutcheson
Teacher
Katurah took her first yoga class when she was 47 years old. Since then she has studied Yoga Asana and meditation under the guidance of many devoted teachers on the path. In 2009 she had the good fortune to see a yoga documentary briefly featuring Sri Dharma Mittra and immediately became his grateful student in a 200 HR teacher training. For the last five years Katurah has deepened her study of meditation and yogic texts in silent retreats of several weeks time in India and in a pilgrimage region of rural Spain and has studied Sanskrit and Advaita Vedanta in NYC with Swami Prabuddhananda Saraswati. Katurah hopes always to practice and teach in the spirit of devotion to all of her teachers along the way, in and out of the classroom.
Veronika Vaishali Carmichael
Teacher
Veronika came to yoga from dance background around six years ago. She has studied extensively with Dharma Mittra as well as other teachers such as Isaac Pena, Raghunath, Alison West, and Dana Flynn. Her interest in yoga and meditation has taken her to the Sivananda Ashram, Vipassana Meditation retreat, Advaita Vedanta studies, Aromatherapy studies, and the Ayurvedic style of living. Veronika completed her 200 HR teacher certification from Laughing Lotus Yoga in early spring of 2012 and immediately began teaching yoga. In August 2013 she completed an additional 100 hours of training with Lotus Fly & Bhakti school and is now finishing her 500 HR training certification with Sri Dharma Mittra.
Marvin Rosenberg
Teacher
Marvin was first introduced to the yoga of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. After returning from a three month trip to India, he began to explore the world of Modern Dance and became friends with a fellow dancer, Eva Grubler and her husband Dharma Mittra. Around 1991, Marvin started taking class with Dharma and in 1996 began teaching at the Dharma Yoga Center. Since then, Marvin's classes have become known as Gentle Yoga. Marvin's classes offer a peace and calm like no other, and he has a devout following of students who have regularly taken his classes for years.