Our Teachers
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Executive Director + Meditation Teacher
Amy is a licensed NY Pre-K - 6 educator and a certified 200/hr mindfulness teacher. She has earned an MBA and MSEd, and completed a certificate program in Art Therapy at the New School. During the pandemic, she wrote a book titled “52 Weeks to Sanity,” a curriculum for meditation teachers. Her most recent book is a curriculum for teaching mindfulness to children, employing the six senses in a way that develops focused and curious attention to one’s experience.
Yes, Amy loves school and thinking and puzzling through life’s experiences. But even more than that, Amy loves teaching and approaches every teaching opportunity with the intention of relieving as much suffering in herself and others as she can. She uses her education, intuition, and personal experience of living a life with agency to guide her students towards their own personal sanity. Amy is both the director of HMY and the head teacher for HMY’s after school program.
Amy speaks English and conversational French.
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Yoga Teacher
Shawna Emerick is a Yoga instructor, Thai Massage Therapist, and Somatic therapies integrator.
She is a Life Coach for Transformation, Reiki attuned, and holds a B.S. in Dance. Shawna has been teaching yoga and practicing her healing modalities for over 18 years. She has hosted numerous retreats including those at the world famous Garrison Institute in Garrison, NY, and co-facilitated various 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Trainings. As a resident of Washington Heights for many years and then Inwood for the past 16+ years, Shawna is deeply grateful to be joining Heights Meditation and Yoga this June, 2022! She comes from multiple lineage lines of heart-centered healers, givers, and hard workers and is grateful, humbled, and honored to be carrying on the traditions in her own unique ways.
She is E-RYT with Over 700HR, YACEP, CPC, BS(Dance), Yoga, Thai Yoga Massage, Certified Professional Coach for Transformation, & Reiki Master
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Yoga Teacher
Julia Neuber discovered yoga when she was in Brazil where she is from in 2000 at a yoga retreat. She felt amazing afterwards and she kept taking classes at her local gym. What amazed her the most is how she feels after class. She started to read many books about it, taking daily yoga classes and when she moved to New York she did her 200-hour training at Sivananda and Om Yoga center. She considers herself a life learner. Her main goal is to make people happier and healthier. Her classes are fun, focused on breath, alignment and she loves to be spontaneous and creative. She taught many years in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and now that she moved to Washington Heights she can’t wait to teach and build a community. Besides teaching she loves reading a great book with her cat Juliet.
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Sound Healer
Meet Luma, an energy healer who blends sound healing, movement and meditation to create sacred spaces to help you can reconnect your mind and body to the present moment. Her journey began in 2016 when she was experiencing trouble breathing and doctors couldn’t explain or help her understand the source of her problem. She began exploring different meditative practices and tools that helped reconnect her body and mind to the present moment, which allowed her to balance out the energies in her environment with her inner feelings, thoughts, and somatic sensations. Since then she has been helping people to honor and explore their true flow often working together with other wellness practitioners, coaches, mentors, and collaborators through events, workshops, and online support.
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Yoga Teacher
Amy Lee Pearsall received her 200-hr training from MindBodySoul Yoga and Wellness in 2019 (Hatha / Vinyasa with Alyssa Snow, Stacey Linden, Amy Soucy, and Colleen Kerns), and went on to receive additional certifications in Yin and Restorative (Sacred Brooklyn / Masako Miyakawa), Accessible Yoga (Integral Yoga Institute / Rev. Jivana Heyman), and Trauma-Informed Yoga (Exhale to Inhale / Julie Fernandez). In 2021, Amy Lee completed MNDFL's Mindfulness Certification and Training program under the guidance of Rev. angel Kyodo williams and David Perrin. In tandem with her work as a mind-body facilitator, Amy Lee is an actor, voice over artist, and writer.
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Yoga Teacher
Eliana is a trauma-informed rest & restore yoga teacher, somatic practitioner, scientist, abstract artist, and social justice lawyer. She is the founder of Neuro-Somatic Alchemy, an embodied approach to nurture mind-body integration. Eliana has experienced first-hand the healing powers of yoga and seeks to create safe spaces where students can journey into deep relaxation and healing. She completed her 200hr Yoga Teacher Training at Heights Meditation & Yoga. She also holds certifications in Yin, Restorative, and Yoga Nidra. Her classes encourage self-inquiry and foster interception to develop self-awareness and compassion – both on and off the mat. Through the use of props, Eliana’s class meets students where they are. She curates the deepest level of relaxation to help students restore from the stress of everyday life.
Join Eliana to restore the body and mind for the week ahead!
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Yoga Teacher + Director of Yoga Teacher Training
Masako came to NYC in 90’s after moving to Chicago from Japan in 1986. In the spring of 2001 she stumbled into a yoga class at Crunch Gym in SoHo and it was love at first downward facing dog. She completed her first 200-Hour Teacher Training in 2004, with additional trainings in anatomy, restorative, pre and postnatal, yin, chair, aerial yoga and 300-Hour Teacher Training. She has been training teachers both in NYC and Japan over a decade. Her classes are breath-centered, focusing on mindfulness, safe and sound alignments, and is known for light hearted approach to yoga. She serves as Director of Programming and Teacher Training @ HMY and registered E-500 & RPYT (registered prenatal yoga teacher) with Yoga Alliance.
Masako is fluent in Japanese.
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Melissa Rios was born and raised in Costa Rica, moved to New York in 2005. Melissa started her yoga practice because she experienced a form of depression. Yoga helped her to connect deeply with her mind and heart, so that she was able to love her life. This journey inspired her to become a yoga teacher not only for adults but as well for children.
In 2012 she decided to take a 200h YTT. Later in 2013 she started studying kids yoga and she finished her 90h in 2017. She continued her yoga studies and in 2018 she completed her 300/500 YTT.
She has studied with Sir Dharma, Yoshio Hama and Dr. Rose Erin Vaughan.
To Melissa practicing yoga is not only about the asanas, yoga is about loving every sentient being, as we are all connected.
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Yoga Teacher
My Yoga practice started in the summer of 2005 when my niece invited me to take a class as a way to bond and find a holistic approach to face the demands of daily living. I felt a deep sense of self-awareness as the teacher instructed us through the poses and I became more conscious of my breath. As I continued my training, I noticed how my body was becoming stronger and how I was beginning to develop a new a perspective of the world around me. In the summer of 2013, I completed the Mind Body Soul teacher training and was assigned to teach a bilingual class soon after graduating. I taught at Mind Body Soul studio from September 2013 to March 2020. Additionally, I teamed up with the Alumni Association and Girls’ Track Team at The High School of Fashion Industries where I taught Hatha yoga several times a year from October 2013 to February 2020. My favorite part about teaching is watching my students grow and helping them develop their inner strength, compassion, and wisdom in order to face whatever they may be going through on a personal level.
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Demetra is a Reiki Master teacher and practitioner, musical artist and yoga teacher. Trained in the Usui Method of Natural Healing, her Reiki practice includes treating private clients (both in person and via distance healing worldwide), leading healing circles and offering trainings. She creates Reiki infused custom-made essential oil blends, which are crafted to support vitality and well-being. As a sound healing practitioner, she combines her expertise in both the musical and healing arts, incorporating singing bowls, tuning forks, voice and other instruments to foster calm and enhance life force energy. Her immersive specialty classes and workshops integrate sound, yoga, Reiki and essential oils to create a state of deep meditation and facilitate healing. She has been a yoga practitioner for 22 years and received her 500-hour yoga teacher certification from YogaWorks in NYC. Through yoga, Reiki and sound healing, Demetra aims to enhance joy, well-being and connection to one's True Self. Please visit www.dragonheartwellness.com to learn more about her offerings.
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Prenatal Yoga Teacher
Sarah Almodovar is a pre- and postnatal certified yoga teacher who has been teaching as long as she's been practicing (10+ years). Sarah lives in Washington Heights with her husband and two boys and believes that our neighborhood--and all moms everywhere--deserve support and high-quality care on the journey through pregnancy and postpartum. Sarah's mission is to help moms feel good pregnant, have a positive birth experience, and love their bodies postpartum.
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Yoga Teacher
Emma has been teaching yoga in New York City for the last 9 years. She completed her 200-hour training at Pure Yoga in 2013, shortly after moving to the city to pursue a path in music and theatre. A believer that everything is connected and that life is our biggest teacher, Emma infuses her classes with intuitive movement, storytelling, and wisdom from her own experience and practice. In addition to yoga, Emma writes, sings, and spends most of her time with her 60-pound rescue pitbull, Robin. She has lived in Washington Heights for 10 years.