Peg Oliveira, PhD, E-RYT 500, YACEP

Peg grew up with sports shaping her early life. Captain of her basketball and golf teams, she never lost the itch for both the discipline and freedom found in purposeful movement.

Marathon induced injuries led her to yoga. In Baptiste Vinyasa Power Yoga, Peg found not only the fun, flow and physical challenges of sports, but an answer to her lifelong search, beginning at a small desk in Catholic school, for an inspiring spiritual practice as well. She is grateful to yoga for the permission it gives her to fall apart fully and come back together in a new way.

Peg was originally certified as a yoga teacher at Yoga Center Amherst in Massachusetts. Peg became a certified Baptiste Vinyasa Power Yoga teacher in 2007, and has studied with many national teachers. She is also certified as a Thai Yoga Therapy Practitioner by Saul David Raye and maintains a limited group of private yoga therapy clients. Peg’s essay “Mind Over Multitasking: What Would Buddha Do?” appeared in the collection The Culture of Efficiency, edited by Sharon Kleinman.

Peg holds a PhD in Social and Developmental Psychology. She is the Executive Director of The Gesell Institute of Child Development, a nonprofit child advocacy organization that promotes the principles of child development through innovation and objective wonder.

Peg’s yoga class offers a dynamic combination of strength, sweat and soul. Her style emphasizes sound alignment with an unpredictable flow. While challenging, it remains accessible to most beginners.

Courtney Bauer, RYT 500, YACEP

Courtney, for as long as she can remember, has been connected to heightened sensibilities that are difficult to explain. She’s an avid seeker, student, and teacher of transformation via conscious movement and meditation.
Throughout the past 20 years, she synthesized her practice and knowledge into a Mind & Body curriculum called AUM, and founded Studio ANYA in New York City where she trained and mentored hundreds of aspiring yoga and pilates teachers in her method. ANYA was a haven for like-minded individuals who longed for self-realization thru body awareness and daily self-care practices.
Courtney is a teacher of teachers, and has also worked extensively as an energy healer, trigger point massage therapist and Thai yoga bodyworker.
She currently co-heads the 500 hour RYT program at the Swedish Institute, a health science college in NYC. She also teaches y4c (yoga 4 cancer) classes at the JCC Manhattan and co-facilitates Trauma-Informed Yoga Trainings with 108 Monkeys, a New Haven based non-profit utilizing yoga and mindfulness techniques to mobilize social conscience and justice.  She is especially passionate about her most recent project to spearhead a Self-Care for the Caregivers program for Womankind, a NYC based non-profit serving survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, and sexual violence of all ages.
It is her calling and commitment to help others fall in love with the magic of their body and to discover through the art of centering, the unique strengths, passion and insights that have been there all along.
Courtney is also the proud mama of Jacob, her 4 year old son. She is an avid writer and loves creating yoga flow sequences to iconic 90s pop songs.

 

Lillee Chandra, LMT, E-RYT

Lillee Chandra is a body educator fueled by more than 20 years of experience in yoga, therapeutic massage and bodywork, competitive sports, and studies in somatic psychology. Her keen intuition, exceptional hands-on, and anatomical acuity for blending the science of assessments with the art of touch, distinguish her as a go-to source for those suffering from any type chronic pain and injury. Amongst fitness and yoga communities, she is a known specialist in postural re-education, pain reduction and management. Clients, students and colleagues have dubbed her “body salvager” for her distinctly diverse ability to restore and rehabilitate as well as vest those capabilities in others.

Lillee is a licensed massage therapist, certified by the National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB), a certified yoga instructor, accredited as lead teacher for trainings and continuing education, and a senior teacher and trainer for Yoga Tune Up® and the Roll Model Method®. She holds a certificate in clinical orthopedic massage through Dr. Joseph Muscolino. Lillee has presented at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, Princeton University, the National Endurance Sports Summit, and is a regular guest teacher for Equinox Fitness, Pure Yoga, and YogaWorks training programs. She is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, the American Massage Therapy Association, a certified Yoga Tune Up® integrated teacher, and a contributing author and editor for Tune Up Fitness® training curriculum.

Jen Leavitt, JD, MSW, RYT

Jen Leavitt received her Bachelor’s Degree from Brown University in 1998 and her Juris Doctor and Master’s of Social Work degrees from the University of Connecticut in 2004.
Following graduation, Jen practiced law for nine years as a public defender in the Juvenile Matters courts at Waterbury and New Britain.

Jen enhanced her understanding of business practice by working as a yoga studio manager for four years. She coordinated and managed all aspects of the highly successful West Hartford Yoga (WHY), including wellness outreach efforts to underserved communities. She currently practices juvenile, criminal and probate law at Marshall & Veale, LLC. She continues to teach power yoga and Yoga for Recovery at WHY. Jen also serves WHY in various administrative capacities and supports the current management team.

Jen’s personal yoga practice has served as an anchor through various life experiences, including divorce, recovery, and spiritual growth. Jen is a West Hartford resident, and enjoys practicing and teaching yoga, hiking with her Yorkshire terrier, and spending time with her infant daughter and family.