300 Hour Teacher Training

Jennifer is the owner of Shanti Yoga and is thrilled to be leading this training. She has been a member of the New England Yoga community as both a student and a teacher for 15+ years. She has completed both her 200-hour and 500-hour teacher training, as well as being a certified Massage Therapist and bodyworker. She has also been a co-leader and curriculum developer for 200-hour teacher training at H.Y.P. studios.

Her teaching draws from different styles and influences but always includes flow, strength, opportunities to be gentle, invitations to be present and a healthy dose of humor and lightheartedness! 

Jennifer has many influences and credits her first teachers, Shawn Shaw, and Rolf Gates with igniting her life long commitment to yoga. She also studies with Daniel Max and Ame Wren. She is a seeker of new information as it pertains to the physical practice of yoga and marries this information with the ancient wisdom of the teachings. 

Matthew Remski

Matthew has been practicing meditation and yoga since 1996, sitting and moving with teachers from the Tibetan Buddhist, Kripalu, Ashtanga, and Iyengar streams. He has trained as a yoga therapist and an Ayurvedic consultant as well as maintained a private practice.

Matthew will lead us through PRISM:  Critical Thinking and Community Health in Yoga. As the culture has become aware of its shadow side, what can be done to improve ethics and transparency, and to listen to the voices of those who have been harmed?

In this unique Teacher Training Module, we’ll work with the practices of pausing to research and investigate the health of our communities, to allow us to show and model engaged ethics for the future. 

In Yoga Philosophy, History & Culture, we will be opening the doors of yoga philosophy and history. In many YTT programs, this material is simply glossed over, but as the industry grows and changes, the students and instructors who grow and change with it are those who can creatively engage the deepest questions the Yoga tradition asks.

Lida Hariri, MD, PhD 

Lida has dedicated most of her life to the study of human anatomy, physiology, and disease. She first sought yoga as a hobby to complement her rigorous medical training program and was hooked from her first class.

What started out as a means to release physical tension evolved into an ongoing practice of cultivating awareness and observing the interconnected physical, emotional, and spiritual body.  

Lida’s passion and inspiration for her teaching are unifying the knowledge of medicine and science with the teachings of yoga philosophy. During her time with us, she will address Anatomy/Physiology of the breath, and its relationship to yoga asana philosophy.   We will delve into the anatomy and physiological mechanics of the breath. We will then introduce the layers of asana practice and yoga philosophical teachings as they relate to the breath.

In Nervous System and Mind Patterns, we will investigate the inner workings of our nervous system, how this relates to patterns in our behaviors and thoughts, and how meditation can help to demystify these patterns. 

Jacqui Bonwell

Jacqui is a regular in our Shanti community. She is RYT 500, a Reiki Master, director of the Sacred Seeds Yoga School, and owner of the Canton Yoga Shala in Canton, Massachusetts.

Jacqui became a yoga teacher after more than a decade in social work, with a specialty in family violence. She cites Rolf Gates, Johnny Gillespie, David Vendetti, and Pat Iyer as her primary teaching influences. She will lead us in Energetic Alignment and Emotional Sequencing.

This day will consist of lecture and a two-part physical practice—Chakra Cleanse level 1 to begin the day and Chakra Cleanse level 2 to end the day. 

Train yourself to not only be well-versed in the body energetically and emotionally but to also draw on your innate wisdom to genuinely lead and effectively help your students.  Learn how to work your class like an energetic and emotional ninja. Strengthen your skill set and offerings as a teacher of this sacred practice.  

Garrett Neill, or Dr. Yogi Gare, is a Chiropractor with an expansive base of knowledge of human anatomy and function. He believes in the power of education and that movement is the best medicine to help people achieve a higher quality of life. He will lead us in Functional Movement & Intelligent Sequencing in Modern Yoga.

What’s the difference between flexibility and mobility? Is there one? Are your hamstrings really “tight”? Does yoga asana practice serve as a method of cardiovascular training? How about strength training? Are there repercussions to repetitive movements like chaturanga and forward folding prevalent in traditional systems of Vinyasa Yoga?

All of these questions and more will be addressed during our time with this innovative and engaging teacher and Doctor. How can we make our classes more holistic and weave in functional movement? Dr. Garrett Neill will offer up some interesting perspective for the answers!

Trina Altman

Trina Altman, BS, PMA-CPT, received her training through STOTT PILATES® and is an E-RYT 500. She’s the creator of Yoga Deconstructed® and Pilates Deconstructed®, which take an interdisciplinary approach to foster an understanding of yoga and Pilates and their relationship to modern movement science.

Trina has presented at Kripalu, the Yoga Alliance Leadership Conference, and Yogaworks, among others. She created and taught a Pilates continuing-education course for physical therapists and was part of the faculty for the Brain Longevity conference at UCLA. She will lead us in Yoga Deconstructed ® Embodied Anatomy Biomechanics.

We will learn how to master challenging yoga poses by investigating what is happening joint by joint in all planes of motion. These classes will take you on a creative journey filled with purposeful possibilities. 

Yoga Deconstructed® incorporates corrective exercise, somatics, and modern movement science to help you and your students stay injury-free and improve strength, mobility, and coordination.  

Neil Taylor 

One of our valued Shanti teachers, Neil is an experienced yoga teacher, musician and a life long committed student of both disciplines.   

Neil has trained extensively with Master Baptiste teachers Gregor Singleton, Claire Este-McDonald, and Coeli Marsh and has also had the opportunity to be mentored closely by Masaaki Okamura.  Neil has also served as a classroom assistant to his teacher Natasha Rizopolous and has deepened his understanding of the craft through his apprenticing with Chiropractor and Yogi Dr. Tom Alden.  

He is an active member of the Boston chapter of the Teacher’s Study Project and has completed additional training with David Nichtern (meditation), Theresa Murphy (yoga and anatomy), and Johnny Gillespie (Balanced Athlete). Today Neil continues to mentor closely with Tom. Neil will lead us in Meditation, Mindfulness and Incorporating These Practices Into Your Teaching.

Neil will help explore different styles of meditation and inquiry that you might include in your teaching to enhance your student’s experience. 

Sandra Dennis

Sandra is a long time practitioner of yoga, a Professional Certified Kripalu yoga teacher, studio owner and the author of YogaRest for Children, a relaxation CD to help children cope with stress. She brings warmth and sincerity to her classes. She will lead us in  Teaching Gentle Yoga & the Restorative Practices

As Yoga grows in popularity some of its true essence is lost. Sandra will help us discover the richness of a gentle restorative yoga practice, foster the skills and techniques to teach it, and remind us that ‘gentle yoga doesn’t mean beginner yoga’, in fact, it provides space for a deeper understanding of the self and all that Yoga has to offer! We will explore:  

• Gentle restorative yoga practices
• The effective and safe use of props
• How to plan a gentle yoga class with and without the use of props
• Language and themes to keep it interesting
• The art of staying gentle