Teacher Bios
CYS is the first and eldest yoga shala (school/studio) in the region! Many other studio owners and hundreds of independent yoga teachers got their start at CYS ~ and still come back to further their education at CYS. The combined total of training hours for our teachers is well into the thousands!
Salwat
aka: Hope Monk
Salwat hails from Kashmir, India and has completed an MSc in Yoga Science from Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA), in Bangalore, India. He is also a certified 500 Hr Yoga Teacher. Out of which his 300 Hrs were with CYS (in Vishwa Ayurveda: Elemental Yoga therapy) and has also completed a Pranic Healing Course under the World Pranic Healing Foundation.
Salwat has a love for endurance sports. He has done a few half "Ironman's," including long distance swimming, ultra marathon, and cycling 3000kms from North to South West India. Consequently, he found that it was through such endurance sports that he was able to connect with his inner side. However, it was through the practice of yoga that he really connected the dots. He believes that yoga is a powerful tool that can help individuals transform their lives and achieve a sense of balance and harmony in their body, mind, and spirit. As a yoga teacher, Salwat feels that teaching is an act of love; and when he started teaching, everyday has been love for him.
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Salwat is excited to be a part of your yoga journey & believes that through the practice of yoga we can be better physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Together we can do more.
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Salwat still lives in Kashmir, but you can connect with him daily for private classes and for his online classes for CYS. See our online class schedule for his class description and the link to join in.
Jade
Jade Del Rosario is from the Philippines, but she completed her 200hr Vishwa Yoga and 300hr Vishwa Ayurveda Yoga teacher / practitioner trainings in India as well as Levels 1, 2 & 3 trainings in Thai Yoga Massage; then going on to become an assistant trainer in Thai Yoga Massage. She is also a certified caregiver and a cook at a local vegan restaurant.
Susan
Fryman
Susan Fryman is a 500 Hour Registered Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master and Master Sound Healer. She is also certified in meditation, pranayama, sound therapy and Thai yoga massage. She has trained and taught locally and internationally in multiple styles of yoga and sound healing.
Susan continues to learn and is currently studying to complete her certifications as a Yoga Therapist, Ayurveda Specialist and Sound Healer Facilitator.
Susan loves to bring her style of yoga and healing to the world.
Mary Kemper
Mary Kemper is a certified TriYoga teacher/trainer, a 500-hour Vishwa Ayurveda graduate, and previous vice-president of the Cincinnati Yoga Teachers Association. For 30+ years, Mary has continued her studies with Yogini Kaliji, the founder of TriYoga, and has trained others for certification. She began her practice as a teenager with her mother and yogini, Mary Louise Kemper, and continued with others including Sianna Sherman, Paul Grilley, Rodney Yee, Leslie Kaminov, and more.
Anita Manderfield
We are currently waiting on a bio for Anita, but we can say she has a passion for the yoga of Resilience; which was the name of her first class she taught at CYS. And, when someone gives their class a name like that, you can bet they also have quite a bit of first hand knowledge and experience around the topic. This also reflects the type of teacher we love to have at CYS; and her loyal students reflect the gifts that come from her foundations as well.
Ellen
Zipperstein
Ellen´s first experience with yoga in the late 1990s inspired her to become an instructor through the renowned Kripalu Yoga Institute in Stockbridge, MA. Prior to this she acquired a BFU in dance from NYU´s Tisch School of the Arts, and later became certified in the Franklin Method, which combines imagery and embodied anatomy into her teaching skills. She has also studied Yin Yoga with anatomy guru, Paul Grilley.
Ellen incorporates all these somatic techniques in her yoga practices, enabling students to deeply connect with their bodies and experience them in new and enriching ways. She truly loves to share with all her students. Whether she is working with 1 student or a big group, Ellen always gives 100%!
Mafe
Although I was casually exposed to yoga at a young age, I didn’t begin to practice it regularly until 2004, when I was introduced to Kriya yoga at the Center for Spiritual Awareness (CSA) in Georgia. My teacher at the CSA was Roy Eugene Davis, a direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda. Davis formally initiated me to Kriya yoga in 2010, and he continues to be an important influence on my yoga practice. He encouraged me to understand my true nature as a spiritual being and to practice constructive living and super- conscious meditation. I have also been influenced by other wonderful teachers,including Woods Falls and Norma Chirolla, in Georgia, and Allison Dennis and Ti Harmony, in North Carolina. I completed my 230-hour Yoga Alliance-Registered Veda Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training with Allison Dennis at Open Heart in 2011. I taught weekly Spanish language yoga basics classes at Heart of Yoga in North Carolina. I also built partnership between the yoga studio, the public school system, and the Carrboro Human Rights Center to offer donation-based community outreach classes. One of my main goals as a yoga teacher is to help people cultivate love and inner peace in their lives through yoga. I’m also particularly passionate about sharing yoga with people who are new to it, especially within the local Latino community.
A pesar de haber conocido la disciplina del yoga en la época de mi niñez, no comencé a practicarla continuamente hasta el 2004, año en el cual empecé con Kriya Yoga en el Center for Spiritual Awareness (Centro para la Conciencia Espiritual) en Georgia. Mi maestro del Centro fue y sigue siendo Roy Eugene Davis, un discípulo directo de Paramahansa Yogananda. Davis me inició formalmente en Kriya Yoga en 2010, y él continua siendo una influencia importante en mi práctica de yoga. Él me ha ayudado a entender mi verdadera naturaleza como un ser espiritual y a practicar una vida constructiva y una meditación superconsciente. También he sido inspirada por otros maestros maravillosos, incluyendo Woods Falls y Norma Chirolla, en Georgia, y Allison Dennis y Ti Harmony, en Carolina del Norte. Terminé mi Capacitación de Maestro de Yoga Veda Vinyasa registrada con la Alianza de Yoga por 230 horas con Allison Dennis en Open Heart en el 2011. Enseñe clases de yoga básica en español en Heart of Yoga en Carolina del Norte. También desarrollé asociaciones entre el estudio de yoga, el sistema escolar público, y el Centro de Derechos Humanos de Carrboro para ofrecer clases comunitarias basadas en donación. Uno de mis principales objetivos como maestra de yoga es ayudar a las personas a cultivar el amor y la paz interior en sus vidas a través del yoga. Así mismo, me apasiona entregar los conocimientos del yoga a las personas que son nuevas en este tema, especialmente las que hacen parte de la comunidad latina local.
Kristin Bjerke
Kristin completed trainings in both Vishwa Yoga and Thai Yoga Massage at CYS. Though specializing in Yin, she loves Acro Yoga and assists in teaching it, as well. She is also a very skilled therapist and social worker; but currently taking a break from social work to focus on other holistic forms of therapy, such as Yoga, TYM & Nature Therapy.
Thai Massage and Private Yoga Instruction available. Contact: bjerkekm@mail.uc.edu
Jeff
Walkup
We currently do not have a bio for Jeff. He is often away at some exotic location going deeper with his passion for acro yoga. Honestly, I dont know anyone more dedicated to acro yoga than Jeff. He literally travels the world looking for the next great training and then brings the skills he learns back to his students here at CYS.
Nancy
Seifried
We're still waiting on a bio from Nancy, but speaking as the one who hires our teachers, i can say i had no idea what i was gonna get when i brought Nancy onto our team; and frankly, i don't think anyone else had a clue either. But, in no time, she became a morning favorite. The name of her class, "Mostly Yin" speaks a bit to her style as well as her personality. I would also say you mostly never know what little extras you're going to get in Nancy's classes, except that it will be really good and authentically Nancy.
Subha
Subha was born in the southern part of India and began to learn Sanskrit at an early age as part of her middle school curriculum. She maintained a keen interest in Sanskrit thereafter, and eventually went on to complete several courses from the Madras Sanskrit College (Digital Campus).
Sanskrit laid the foundation for understanding the universally relevant moral teachings embedded in the ancient texts and sparked her interest in delving deeper into many of the holy and revered writings of India, such as the Vedas, Upanishads, and The Bhagavad-Gita.
Subha enjoys sharing ancient wisdom through the mindful practice of shanti mantras and other positive affirmations, but also practices asana, pranayama and meditation; which she is able to teach as well.
Subha completed the 200RYT at Cincinnati Yoga School, has an avid interest in yoga philosophy, and looks forward to sharing the many gems of yoga with her community. - Subha calls Cincinnati home!
Will
Will (Wm Brashear) is the direcotr of Cincinnati Yoga School and a certified yoga therapist. He has completed well over 3000 hours in various yogic trainings; with over 12,000 hours teaching experience. He has studied yoga since 1987 and traveled regularly throughout India since 2003 to deepen his knowledge, practice and skills as a teacher; training at the Advanced (500hr) level 3 times in India: Once through the Swara Yoga School in Elemental Yoga Therapy and on 2 different occasions in India with "Masterji" Mysore Vishwanath (nephew and former assistant to the legendary and world renowned “Astanga Guruji” Patabhi Jois) at the Foundation for Patanjali Yoga Kendra. He also took a 200hr yoga training with Martha Abbot in the Kripalu Yoga tradition as well as advanced training in Thai Yoga Massage thru the Lotus Palm school with Rishi Dion.
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In 2004 Will assembled a crew of yoga teachers from the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and other yogic lineages in India to design a masters program in Integral Yoga Psychology. Thereafter, Antioch University McGregor (AUM) used his program to create a whole new tract of studies for other students to follow in pursuit of the degree he pioneered.
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Will was also the first student to train extensively with Joe Williams* in learning the Delsarte System of Expression; fascilitating Joe in bringing out the yogic concepts in the Delsarte system and turning JoeÅ› training into a certificate program. (*Joe is the only known master of "Delsarte" in the world).
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As a long time student of comparative world religion, Will is the author of The Yoga of Religion (Inland Press, 2004) and was the host of YOGA: The Other 98%, on 1530 WCKY –The Revolution of Talk Radio. Recently, his training manual was made into a book entitled Vishwa Ayurveda (available on this website here or thru Kindle).
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Will has served on the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i's of Cincinnati and other communities for many years and was asked by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i's of India to create materials to help Baha'i communities connect and correlate with Hindu and Buddhist communities through the teachings of yoga.
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Will has been the Director of Yoga Teacher Trainings for CYS, CYTA (Cincinnati Yoga Teachers Association), Frankfort Yoga Studio, and Vishwa Yoga Journeys; leading yoga teacher trainings in India and Bali, Indonesia; as well as yoga teacher trainings at Bethesda Hospital's TriHealth Pavillion for Integrative Medicine. Will was also asked to team up with Jai Salt, formerly with the Swara Yoga school of Portugal, to help in creating a 1000 hour Elemental Yoga Therapy training.
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Will considers his greatest accomplishment as starting an elementary school that serves around 100 impoverished children in Chandigarh, India; and funded by the (501c3) non-profit organization known as Virtues First, which he co-founded and serves as president. In 2016 VF changed its focus to serve Roopantara; an innovative educational institute that strives to improve education on a broader scale in India and beyond. You can learn more about Virtues First on our website, as well as therapeutic tools, created by Will, that expound upon the knowledge and power of the Virtues and the Panch Maha Bhuta (Five Great Elements).