Meet Our
Faculty, Staff, and Mentors
Your Essential Yoga Therapy instructors each bring a complex combination of academic training and experience from specific health-care fields in addition to their knowledge of therapeutic yoga.
The collaboration of these yoga therapists ensures you will receive a uniquely rich exposure to the various applications of yoga therapy in the areas of physical, physiologic and emotional health. With their guidance you will enter the field confident of your scope of practice and empowered to network with health professionals from both Western and complementary medical traditions.
Robin Rothenberg, C-IAYT, EYT Program Director
As Program Director for the E.Y.T. Therapist Training, Robin is responsible for teaching the theory and application of yoga therapy and ensuring the overall structure of the program is streamlined. Robin has a unique gift for creating, safe, challenging and rich educational trainings through which students and teachers deepen into greater awareness of themselves. Robin has been training yoga teachers for nearly twenty-years as head of an RYS 500. She founded the EYT Therapist Training Program in 2011, which was Accredited in 2013. Robin serves as lead teacher for Foundations, teaching the primary content for all the modules. In Applications, she serves as the weaver, returning students to the basic philosophical precepts of yoga, as adjunct faculty introduce western scientific and ayurvedic modalities into the curriculum. Read Robin’s full bio.
Our Bio-medical and Psycho-emotional Team:
Dr. Jill Massengill, D.C., C-IAYT, Assistant Program Director, Primary Mentor for Applications
Dr. Jill is a C-IAYT, trained by Essential Yoga Therapy since 1999. She studied extensively with Robin Rothenberg and has taught the Anatomy and Physiology portions of EYT for over 15 years. As a chiropractor, Jill brings a rich array of tools and understanding about how to support clients in health through diet, positional release and movement therapy. She weaves her extensive knowledge into the didactic and experiential processes she leads with the EYT students. As a yoga teacher and chiropractor, Jill brings a keen awareness and understanding of body balance to her teaching. combining the work of: Thomas Myers, Anatomy Trains; Dr. James Chestnut, The Wellness Practice; and Shirley Sahrmann, P.T., Movement Impairment Syndrome. Her unique and diversified approach emphasizes applied anatomy and the way interconnected pathways in the body relate to one another. Jill will facilitate EYT students in developing an in-depth understanding of functional anatomy, the physiologic systems and pathology from a functional medicine perspective. She leads students in explorative processes to understand how and why movement effects the nervous system, and discovering how to stimulate brain function through movement and healthy living through diet and nutrition.
Jill is also trained as a Buteyko Breathing Educator and offers therapeutic yoga at her place of business, Park St. Healing Arts Center. As a business woman, Jill has worked hard to develop marketing and networking skills. She offers great tips for how to develop relationships with other medical professionals and cultivate a clientele network.
Claudia Cardin-Kleffner, C-IAYT, OT. Primary Mentor for Applications
As a graduate of the EYT11 cohort, Claudia is a primary mentor for the Applications portion of the the Therapist Training. Based on her extensive clinical experience, she will be teaching ergonomics and how to work with people living with cancer. Claudia is the owner of Moving From Within Yoga, and has taught yoga therapeutically for the past 18years. Her work is informed by her years of working as an Occupational Therapist in diverse medical settings and with a wide variety of people presenting with chronic health conditions.
She recently retired from Occupational Therapy, and is now devoted to her yoga, teaching therapeutic classes as well as seeing private clients. She trained with Robin Rothenberg originally in the Essential Low Back Program, and now offers that series as well as classes for specific health conditions such as: Osteoporosis, Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Fatigue, and Chronic Pain, and Alzheimer’s. For Claudia, the most rewarding work has been with special populations using the principles of therapeutic yoga.
She worked with Dr. LeMaster from The University of Kansas Medical Center to compete a pilot study which was accepted and presented at Symposium of Yoga Research on: Trauma Informed Yoga for Bhutanese Refugees. Claudia resides in Overland Park, Kansas with her husband. She has 3 daughters and 3 grandchildren.
Melissa Campagnolo, C-IAYT
Melissa became a kundalini yoga teacher in 2000 in Austin, TX. During a practice led by Gary Kraftsow at a yoga conference, she found what felt like “home” in yoga and completed Gary’s 500 hour Viniyoga Teacher Training in 2004. Melissa fell in love with a Canadian and moved to Toronto where she continues to practice Viniyoga with Rosemary Jeannes Antze, a long time student of TKV Desikachar. Melissa became a Certified Yoga Therapist through EYT in 2015. She has completed the Essential Low Back Program with Robin and trained with Patrick McKeown to become a certified Buteyko Breathing Educator. Melissa is also a mentor for EYT’s Restore Your Prana Professional Certification Program. Melissa teaches yoga and meditation as part of the Mindful Moments program at the University of Toronto and sees clients in person and online.
Dr. B Grace Bullock, PhD, E-RYT 500, YACEP
Dr. B Grace Bullock is a psychologist, organizational consultant, research scientist, educator, author and motivational speaker. She has spent the past two decades teaching and studying physiological and psychological interventions that foster resilience and mental health and support healthy relationships and systems, and is the author of the acclaimed book, Mindful Relationships: 7 Skills for Success - Integrating the science of mind, body & brain. Grace is Founder and Principal Consultant of the International Science & Education Alliance, a consulting firm devoted to the strategic planning, design, development, training and evaluation of mindfulness-informed offerings that promote personal, interpersonal and systemic well-being, effective leadership, decision-making and social change. An educator at heart, she offers therapeutic yoga classes to adults of all ages, and courses and workshops on mindfulness, interpersonal relationships, stress resilience, and clinical psychology and practice at colleges, universities, professional schools, school districts and organizations across the USA and internationally. For more information see www.bgracebullock.com
Ken Kraybill, MSW
Ken will be leading sessions focused on Motivational Interviewing (MI), a “collaborative conversation style for strengthening a person’s own motivation and commitment to change.” MI is an evidence-based approach that embodies the values of yoga therapy and provides practical skills for engaging people in change conversations about their health and well-being. These interactive sessions will provide an overview of the spirit, methods, and skills of this approach and will include ample practice opportunities.
Ken has worked at the intersection of healthcare, behavioral health, homelessness, and housing for more than 35 years. He is a Senior Trainer at C4 Innovations and is dedicated to improving the quality of care provided to marginalized and vulnerable people. Ken develops curricula and facilitates trainings nationally on motivational interviewing, trauma-informed practice, trauma-informed supervision, outreach and engagement, recovery support, and resiliency and renewal for care providers. Ken has a Master of Social Work from the University of Washington in Seattle. He is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT).
Nikki Meyers, C-IAYT
Nikki will be running a 2-day immersion in understanding and working with Addictions from a yoga therapy perspective in Module 4 of Applications.
Nikki Myers is the founder and director of Yoga of 12-Step Recovery (Y12SR), a program she developed in 2004. She is an accomplished yoga therapist, teacher and somatic experiencing practitioner. Nikki is also the founder of CITYOGA School of Yoga and Health Indianapolis, IN. Nikki is a graduate of the American Viniyoga Institute and teaches her recovery program all around the country. She has been featured in multiple publications, presented at Harvard Integrative Medical Symposium and has received wide acclaim her powerful cutting edge approach to working with addictions.
Dr. Lynn Hughes, Board Certified Psychiatrist, D.O., RYT-500 in Viniyoga, EYT Curriculum Development
Dr. Lynn Hughes worked for 30 years as a board certified psychiatrist providing clinical care in both in-patient and out-patient facilities. Lynn was an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Michigan State University for 12 years and an Assistant Professor in the year prior to her family relocating to Washington. In 2003, she trained in Robin Rothenberg’s 500 hour yoga teacher training program and from 2004-2012 she taught yoga specifically targeting seniors, mood disorders, anxiety, stress, chronic pain and PTSD. She was a founding faculty member for the EYT Therapist Training, dedicated to integrating the modern advances in medicine and psychological understanding with wisdom traditions that have much to teach us about the human condition. While retired now, Dr. Hughes’s curriculum continues to inform the EYT training program lending her unique weave of yoga, neuroscience, psychological development, physiology, and the often challenging integration of eastern traditions with western medicine.
Our Ayurvedic Team Members:
Taran Collis C-IAYT, AWC, RYT
Taran Collis, C-IAYT, AWC, is a Certified Yoga Therapist, Ayurveda Wellness Counselor and is currently on faculty for Essential Yoga Therapy as a teacher trainer in Ayurveda. Taran infuses evidence based Yoga Therapy practices, multi-cultural wellness tools and the science of Ayurveda into private and group classes. This wholistic approach to self-healing honors the micro/macro connection to nature supporting lifestyle, diet, and sleep which helps return the system to homeostasis. Taran has studied the latest in physiology, breath and respiratory health, and offers wellness tools for trauma and post traumatic growth. She currently offers in-person and zoom group classes, private consultations, and retreats to help bring resiliency and joy into our community and the world.
Dhaval Dhru, MD
Dr. Dhru will be providing the fundamentals of Ayurvedic Physiology for Applications, Module 3.
Dhaval Dhru is chair of the Department of Ayurvedic Sciences in the School of Traditional World Medicines. He is also a practitioner of ayurvedic medicine and a yoga teacher at Three Trees Yoga and Healing Arts in Federal Way, Washington. He trained at Medical College Baroda, M.S. University of Baroda, India, did his Residency in Otolaryngology at Queen’s University and Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, 1974-1977. He completed his ayurvedic studies (ASP levels 1 and 2) at the Ayurvedic Institute, 2005. Since then he teaches Ayurvedic sciences: Fundamentals of Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Clinical assessments, Ayurvedic yoga therapy, Medical Sanskrit. Dr. Dhru previously practiced as an ear-nose-throat surgeon in private practice and at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound. He is a board member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association and a faculty member at the Harmony Hill retreat center for cancer survivors.
Bill Dean, MD AD
Dr Dean shares a unique perspective which brings a blend of his allopathic(molecular science) training which he used in his 40 year urology practice and his energy science approach using the ancient discipline of Ayurveda. This blend of a matter and energy science traditions to deal with contemporary disease creates a practical balanced approach to 21st century healing.
While using Ayurveda in his urologic practice he became enthused in using Ayurvedic nutrition which led to his published work Foods Heal: Why Certain Foods Help You Feel Better Your Best.
As in the yoga asana tradition there are many lineages or perspectives as to how to implement the principles of the tradition and Ayurveda is not any different. Through his academic travels he has come to embrace the Ayurvedic lineage of SVA(Shaka Vansiya Ayurveda) which is an ancient dermatological tradition that goes back thousands of years.
The nutritional approach to cooking and foods as a tool in healing is not unique to SVA but in his opinion how it views food and the use of spices as a healing modality takes Ayurveda nutrition to another level.
The SVA tradition also incorporates the use of marma(Ayurvedic acupuncture) in the management of disease but it expands on the often used Sushrut marma classification making it highly effective. Its fundamental gift in this regard is in the marriage of the use of transdermal creams(TDC) and yoga therapy which can accelerate recovery from injury while at the same time using yoga therapy and other Ayurvedic tools.
Dr Dean has found yoga therapy to be an invaluable asset in his Ayurvedic practice after completing a 500 hour yoga teacher training in 2005. And for him this combination of yoga asana knowledge and Ayurveda has helped him immensely. Over the years of his incarnation he has sustained significant major injuries which have taught him many valuable lessons about rehabilitation. The use of TDC in conjunction with his yoga rehabilitation experience have shown him how the combination of Ayurveda with yoga therapy’s knowledge can accelerate complete recovery from injury.
Aria Peterman
Aria Peterman is an integral part of our Therapist Training faculty. She educates us directly about Food as Medicine by providing beautifully balanced Ayurvedic meals that fuel our agni and keep our minds bright and alert for learning. Aria has been nurturing people from the kitchen for over 20 years. Her first culinary flourishes were from the Galley of commercial fishing boats and small charters in Southeast Alaska. Her love for food is inspired by local farmers and global cuisine.
Today, she is a Yoga Therapist, graduate of Essential Yoga Therapy, and an Ayurvedic Chef. She lives on Whidbey Island, where she prepares food for retreat groups at The Yoga Lodge and Aldermarsh under her catering business, The Elephant’s Kitchen. When she’s not cooking, she recharges by getting grubby hiking through the PNW, or with an elegant flare, dancing the night away on the Tango floor.
Aria believes Yoga and Ayurveda meet us exactly where we are. By nurturing our relationship to nature (Ayurveda) and the connection to all the layers of Self (Yoga) we come back in line with our highest potential. Passionate about creating health and resiliency by nourishing our roots, she'd love to join you on your journey. Learn more about Aria and the Elephant’s Kitchen at: https://elephantskitchen.com/.
Sierra Rediger RN, BSN, C-IAYT
In keeping with her EYT lineage, Sierra utilizes the science of Western medicine to compliment and validate the ancient teaching of yoga. During the first 10 years of her career as a nurse, while working in ICU, Sierra had extensive experience explaining the mysterious workings of the body to the (often very stressed) layperson, so she had to develop simple and compassionate explanations. During that time, she also functioned as an Advanced Cardiac Life Support instructor, where I had the honor of coaching fellow staff members on best practices for resuscitation practice, team dynamics and communication. For the last 10 years Sierra has worked part-time as a recovery room nurse in the outpatient surgery setting, teaching patients about their discharge and recovery process.
Her personal practice of yoga has helped to balance her stressful job, and her insatiable need to "know more" resulted in over 2,000 hours of yoga training. Explorations of other movement based practices, such as CrossFit, power lifting and kickboxing, have also helped to expand her understanding of the connection between body and mind. Additionally, as a person with health challenges, she has learned to appreciate the power of alternative and complementary medicine. As a yoga therapist she sees clients both virtually and in-person.
Sierra is a graduate of the Essential Yoga Therapy 500 hour Training, Essential Low Back Program and the 1,00 hour Yoga Therapy Applications Program. Sierra will be teaching portions of the physiology section of the EYT training. Her expertise in translating complex functions of the body into easy to understand lay-terms supports learning, making the study accessible and fun. She is married and homeschools her two boys, ages 11 & 9.
Additional EYT Mentors:
Cynthia Nero, C-IAYT
Cynthia is a graduate of the 2018 Essential Yoga Therapy program and part of the mentoring program at EYT. She has taught Yoga since 1992 as the founder of Bedford Yoga in Bedford, New York for19 years and the past 10 years at YogaSource and Christus St. Vincent Medical Center in Santa Fe. Originally a hatha yoga teacher, Cynthia also taught Astanga yoga for a few years, and eventually became a certified Iyengar yoga teacher for 13 years. Cynthia began her studies with Robin in the Essential Low Back Program and then began to shift her teaching to therapeutic, adaptive, functional yoga.
As someone who experienced low back pain her whole adult life and more recently breast cancer, Cynthia has a keen and compassionate interest in working with clients and students with chronic pain or illness. She currently teaches yoga for cancer and yoga for healthy aging classes and sees clients virtually on Zoom.
In 2002 Cynthia wrote The Everything Yoga Book and in 2003, Yoga Poses to Shift Your State of Mind.
Cynthia has always had a passion for health and healing. In addition to her constant study and dedication to yoga, Cynthia received a Masters in Social and a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University and a BA in psychology from SUNY Binghamton. She is currently enrolled in Patrick McKeown’s (online) Buteyko practitioner training.
Cynthia lives with her husband and 3 (large) dogs in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is an identical twin with 3 other sisters and the mother of 3 grown children. Family is very important to her. When not involved in yoga, Cynthia loves hiking with her dogs, knitting, reading and watching BBC TV series with her husband.
Gayle Miyake, RYT 500
Gayle’s interest in yoga began in 2004, at first as a means to stretch and strengthen physically after years of working at a desk. Intrigued by the body, mind, spirit connection, she later enrolled in Advanced Studies with Robin Rothenberg which became a life changing introduction to the deeper teachings and practices of yoga and led to a daily practice of asana and meditation. Upon retiring from corporate life in 2016, she entered and completed the 500-hour Advanced Teacher Training Program with Essential Yoga Therapy and has enjoyed teaching general and seniors classes and assisting with Yoga for MS, Parkinsons and Neurological Disorders ever since. Gayle has also completed the training and is certified to teach the Essential Low Back Program. She is excited and feels blessed to have the opportunity to mentor for the EYT Foundations training.
Margo Peña, E-RYT 500
Margo has enjoyed learning with many different teachers from Iyengar, Ashtanga, and Viniyoga traditions - developing her own practice for nearly two decades. She studied with Amelia Moore (a student of Annie Carpenter) for her 200-hour teacher training in 2014, and completed her 500-hour training with Robin Rothenberg and EYT in 2017. Currently, she is completing her final hours of training to become a certified yoga therapist.
In addition to continuous in-depth studies of functional anatomy, breath work and meditation to enhance her work with folks on the mat, she also studies the philosophies and methodologies of the Yoga Sutras and Hatha Yoga Pradipika so that she can offer you more off the mat as well. She aims to provide a holistic experience to benefit not just the muscular-skeletal system, but also the nervous system and psycho-emotional health as well, for a fuller mind-body-spirit experience.
Margo is the owner of Your Yoga Pacific Northwest, LLC (www.YourYogaPNW.com).