Faculty - YOGA UNION CENTER FOR BACKCARE AND SCOLIOSIS

	Alison West, ERYT, CO-DIRECTOR YOGA UNION CENTER FOR BACKCARE & SCOLIOSIS established Yoga Union in 1996 after studying widely and teaching Yoga in NY for ten years. She practiced Astanga Yoga for a number of years while studying Iyengar Yoga for alignment, working in particular with Kevin Gardiner and Genny Kapuler. Alison has studied with many of the senior Iyengar teachers in the United States, and has traveled to Pune to study with the Iyengars. Both her mother’s scoliosis and her own thoraco-lumbar curve awakened her to spinal asymmetry and led her to study with Bobbie Fulz and then Elise Miller, whose certification program she completed in 2005. With Deborah Wolk, she has established the Yoga Union Center for Backcare and Scoliosis, the first of its kind on the East Coast. Alison has formulated Principles of Practice that can be applied to most forms of Hatha Yoga, and brings to her teaching the insights born of the ongoing study of anatomy and kinesiology with master teachers such as Irene Dowd, Tom Myers, and Gil Hedley for dissection. Alison conducts biannual Teacher Trainings in New York City, teaches workshops nationwide and in Europe, and teaches both group and private classes in Manhattan. The Yoga Union TT is registered at the 500-hour level. Alison can be reached at yogaunion@nyc.rr.com or at 212-889-8643. Please visit www.yogaunionbackcare.com. Yoga Union is Alison's new center for Yoga classes and Teacher Trainings. For information please visit www.yogaunion.com (photo credit: jocelyn filley)
	Deborah Wolk, ERYT CO-DIRECTOR YOGA UNION CENTER FOR BACKCARE & SCOLIOSIS Having practiced yoga since 1994, Deborah found that specifically practicing alignment-based yoga could control back pain and arrest the progression of her scoliosis. That awareness inspired her to complete Alison West’s Yoga Union Teacher Training in 2000. Deborah then studied Yoga and Scoliosis with Bobbie Fultz, completed Karin Stephan's Advanced Studies Program in Therapeutics and Healing in 2003 and was certified as a Yoga for Scoliosis teacher through Elise Browning Miller's teacher training in 2005. She studied in Pune with the Iyengars in 2007. In 2002, Ms. West invited Deborah to teach the scoliosis segment of the Yoga Union Teacher Training and since then she has taught Yoga & Scoliosis workshops in New York City, nationwide and in Europe. Now, with Alison West, she Co-Directs the Yoga Union Center for Backcare and Scoliosis and teaches a wide variety of classes for students with back problems and scoliosis as well as teaching bi-annual scoliosis workshop and other scoliosis and backcare related workshops. Deborah can be reached at dwolkYoga@gmail.com or call 212-677-0064. Please visit www.yogaunionbackcare.com. (photo credit: Alison Bradley)
	JULIE BRANDWEIN Julie Brandwein, MSPT, LMT came to yoga seeking help from a back injury and found her way into her first Iyengar yoga class with Kevin Gardiner in 1992. In this technique she found a way to begin to heal her body, and this led to a lifelong study and practice of Yoga. She has extensive training in Iyengar Yoga, in addition to studies in the Alexander Technique, Somatics and Pilates. She has taught yoga since 1997 both here and abroad. She has earned her Masters in Physical Therapy from Columbia University, completed training at the Swedish Institute of Massage and has certification in a Pilates for Rehab Professionals training from Polestar Pilates, Inc. Licensed in both physical therapy and massage therapy, Julie has worked in a variety of clinical specialities, including pediatrics, orthopedics, sports injury and dance injury. Her massage training includes myofascial unwinding, integrative deep-tissue massage and neuromuscular repatterning. The underlying principle guiding her work is in tapping the inherent, intelligent guidance system within to assist us in returning to balance. Julie has a private practice in Manhattan and Brooklyn offering services in therapeutic bodywork, stress-reduction massage, and yoga privates. For more information, you may contact Julie at j.yogi@hotmail.com or call 347-832-7973
	WENDY "SANTOSHI" BARANELLO Wendy is our wonderful Wednesday morning Backcare and Friday evening Restorative teacher. Her style is dynamic, warm and encouraging. Wendy's longtime experience holds the wisdom of the many styles she has practiced and taught: Integral (she was a student of Swami Satchidananda), Anusara and Iyengar. Wendy is a devoted student of Elise Browning Miller and Joan White and has taken Elise Browning Miller's Yoga for Scoliosis Teacher Training. For further information on Wendy's classes and private lessons please contact her at 212-721-3745 or samadiwy@aol.com
	DEBBY GREEN has been studying and teaching yoga for 15 years, and holds an Introductory Level Iyengar Yoga Teacher certification. Currently, she teaches at Yoga Union for Backcare and Scoliosis, Equinox and privately in NYC. She is certified by The Rolf Institute of Structural Integration as a Rolfing practitioner. Her work derives also from many years as a dancer. She studied ballet from a formative age with the great Cecchetti ballet teacher, Margaret Craske. For private lessons, bodywork or class & workshop information please contact Debby at debanngreennyc@gmail.com or call 646-486-3310
	RACHEL LYNCH-JOHN Rachel Lynch-John moved to New York from her native England in 1989. She is certified in Embodied Developmental Movement and Yoga (EDMY), and Embodied Anatomy and Yoga (EAY) and is an Infant Developmental Movement Educator (IDME) through the School for Body–Mind Centering®. She has assisted Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen (founder of the School Body-Mind Centering®) and taught in the EAY and EDMY yoga teacher training programs in NYC and Berkeley California. Rachel began practicing Iyengar yoga in 1990, and has assisted her Iyengar teacher, Genny Kapuler since 2001. Along with teaching yoga classes to all levels, Rachel teaches prenatal yoga classes and runs infant developmental movement classes for Mothers and Baby's from birth to walking. She also works with people with scoliosis and back issues. Rachel has taught in teacher training programs in Japan, and presently teaches in teacher training programs in Brooklyn and New York City. Originally trained as a dancer in London England Rachel was the recipient of a 1999 "Bessie" (NY dance and performance award). Rachel's classes are based in the style of her teachers and enhanced from her in-depth study of embodied anatomy and developmental movement. Rachel's clarity, encouragement, and experience lends itself to all levels from beginners to seasoned students of yoga.
	MIMI ROSETTI Mimi was diagnosed with scoliosis, at age 16. Following 6 months wearing a Charleston brace, she underwent posterior corrective surgery with ISOLA instrumentation and fusion. Nearly 10 years later, while simultaneously pursuing a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and delving into her 500 hour yoga teacher training at YogaWorks http://www.yogaworks.com/, Mimi began to reconnect with her scoliosis and the impact of her surgery. Since 2006 she has apprenticed with Deborah Wolk (co-Director of Yoga Union Center for Backcare and Scoliosis http://www.yogaunionbackcare.com/ and in July 2008 completed Elise Browning Miller's Yoga for Scoliosis Teacher Training. She has also assisted Ellen Kiley in a Scoliyoga workshop at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Mimi spent January 2011 as a student in the medical class at the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India where she studied directly with BKS Iyengar through the guidance and teachings of Lois Steinberg, Stephanie Quirk, Elise Browning Miller and Julie Lawrence. Mimi owes much gratitude to her many life teachers and feels privileged to be a guide for others working with scoliosis and corrective spinal fusions. She happily lives with her husband Brian and baby daughter Joanna Moon in NYC. Mimi teaches classes for students with back problems and scoliosis including a specific class for students with Harrington Rods and other spinal instrumentation and fusions—the only one in the world! For information on classes, private lessons, and upcoming workshops please contact Mimi at miriamrosetti@gmail.com or call 212-767-9226. Mimi will be on maternity leave starting in late February/early March. Her Backcare classes will be subbed by Lou Asselin and her Fusions class will be subbed by Emily Gould. We wish Mimi a wonderful delivery and will be elated to greet this new addition to Mimi and Brian's family. We'll also be sure to announce Mimi's return to YUCBS!
	Andreas "Andi" Wirz Andreas Wirz, a native of Switzerland has been teaching yoga for the last 20 years. After receiving a diploma to teach physical education from the University of Basel, Switzerland, he moved to New York City to pursue a career as a modern dancer. He performed with many modern dance companies and spent half a year in Japan performing with the Swiss mime group "Mummenschanz" Andreas teaches private and group classes in NYC for the the last 20 years and travels with his wife, Roxlyn Moret every summer to Switzerland to teach workshops in Basel and Lucerne.

	Kaitlyn Hipple Kaitlyn began practicing yoga to improve her dancing but didn’t realize she would become a teacher. In Sondra Loring’s bhakti-filled classes she saw a different path. Unaware she was seeking yoga, she found a practice that used the physical body to access a more elusive and intangible body. In her first class with Alison West in 2008, Alison informed her that she had scoliosis. To restart her yoga practice, she began re-learning how to align her inner and outer bodies with the space around her. Kaitlyn then realized that her dharma was to expand from a devoted student into a devoted teacher. She decided to help others use yoga to create new postural patterns that lead to a healthier back. In 2009 Kaitlyn completed Alison West’s 200 hour teacher training and has assisted her backcare classes for the past four years, as well as her recent teacher trainings and backcare certification workshops. Kaitlyn's Yoga for Herniation class is one of the most popular at Yoga Union Backcare!
	FRANK RICCI began practicing yoga as a way to balance the stress of his career in the fashion industry. After attending his first yoga class, yoga soon became his passion. Right away he recognized the benefits that this ancient practice had in his life and these motivated him to teach others. Frank is certified at the 500 hour level by Yogasana Center for Yoga in Brooklyn, NY in 2010. He has assisted Deborah Wolk's Back Care class for 2 years. He regularly studies with his mentors and with Genny Kapuler and has had the pleasure and privilege of studying with great Iyengar teachers in India. His teaching also draws influence from other modalities such as Alexander Technique. He has a unique teaching style that is compassionate, encouraging and challenging.
	DMITRI SHAPIRA Dmitri has been practicing Iyengar Yoga since 1994. Initially drawn to yoga for its physical benefits and for the relief of back pain, he later realized yoga’s ability to use the body as a tool to train the mind. Also a musician, with a master’s degree from New England Conservatory of Music, Dmitri continues to find parallels between his two pursuits. He strives to approach both with a balance between practice and a turning away from the familiar. For Dmitri, yoga happens when an asana becomes less of a series of discreet actions and more of a unified whole, where the various parts are balanced and synchronized. Dmitri's teaching style is challenging, yet sensitive to those with physical injuries or limitations. It is serious, yet balanced, with a dry sense of humor. Dmitri’s Iyengar training began in Boston, where he studied primarily with Liz Owen. Upon moving to New York, he began studying with Kevin Gardiner and Brooke Meyers. His primary teacher was Mary Dunn, with whom he studied for ten years and acted as teaching assistant. In the spring of 2003 Dmitri completed a two-year teacher training program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of New York. Dmitri traveled to Pune, India in 1998 to study with the Iyengar family, and has returned to study at the Iyengar institute in Pune (RIMYI) three times since.
	SUSAN TURIS began the practice and study of yoga in 1999. Her inspiration to teach came from a new awareness of her body and unexpectedly of her inner grace. She regularly studies and assists senior teachers James Murphy and Carrie Owerko at the Iyengar Institute of NY and is currently certified Intermediate Jr. I. Bi-annually Susan studies with Senior Advanced teachers Patricia Walden and Joan White as well as Dean and Rebecca Lerner to study the subtle aspects of teaching. Susan is an enthusiastic student of Yoga Philosophy; Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita have brought her closer to the language of Yoga. Through her compassionate teaching and sound sequencing, Susan creates a safe environment in which students of all ages can experience progress and integration at both the physical and subtle levels.