Meet the Teachers

Lynne Begier

Lynne Begier has been a dedicated yoga student since 1991 and a full-time teacher since 2001. Following her degree in Linguistics from Georgetown University, she went on to study in many styles of yoga including Forrest, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Restorative, Yin and Anusara. In 2002 she opened Back Bay Yoga, which remains one of the premier studios in Boston and home to many of the city's best teachers. In her classes students can expect to peel away layers of habitual behavior and delve deep into their authentic selves. Lynne encourages transformation through shedding the unimportant and embracing challenges. In addition to being director, founder and a teacher at Back Bay Yoga, Lynne continues to train and draw inspiration from her teachers and mentors Ana Forrest, Shiva Rea, Micheline Berry, Steve Ross and Kripalu. Lynne is a leader in the Boston yoga community and inspires her students to be strong, have fun and find their own flow on the mat and on the street.

Kate O'Donnell

Kate began her yoga studies in South India by accident at the age of 20. A sincere love for the Ashtanga practice has fueled her travels for the past ten years, ranging from India, Maui, and the mainland US to work with her teachers on a daily basis, now home to roost in Boston with Back Bay’s Mysore program. She is authorized by the Jois family to teach the system of Ashtanga Yoga.

Chandra Cantor

Chandra has had a lifelong relationship with movement. She was introduced to yoga by her parents and took classes on and off through her teens. In 1998 she received a BFA in Dance from Emerson and the same year won Dance Magazine's Outstanding Student Performer of the Year award. Chandra began teaching yoga in 1996 and has completed numerous teacher trainings, workshops and advanced learning courses with world renowned teachers. Her teaching style is strongly influenced by the White Lotus Flow Series, Eric Shiffmann, Astanga Yoga and a mindful melding of many other styles and teachers.

Roberto Lim

Roberto teaches vinyasa yoga and invites each student to connect to their inner flow. Using music as a backdrop, each of Roberto's classes incorporate opening movements, variations on Surya Namaskars to open the body, vinyasa krama (stages) to build up to a peak pose, and restorative poses to release tension and rejuvenate.

He believes in the power of yoga as practice to heal and strengthen, to heighten consciousness, to find balance by studying opposites, and to transcend boundaries thus liberating oneself. He is inspired by his current teacher, Shiva Rea, and by other teachers such as Barbara Benagh, Ana Forrest, and Tias Little. Roberto is devoted to sharing the many gifts of yoga that he has received through his teachers and practice.

Gabriel Feld

I was drawn to Yoga because it gets you connected to the teacher within yourself, you learn by doing and exploring, feeling and breathing. I love to teach because there is nothing more wonderful than watching someone surprise themselves as doors open and freedom emerges.

Yoga gives me the opportunity to breathe deeply, feel fully and connect with the innate wisdom of my body. There are times for grace and ease, strength and grounding, times for ecstatic rapture and expressive movement as well as times for restoration and stillness. I create space for all of this, by drawing upon the steady strength of Forrest, the fluidity of Vinyasa, the explosive movement of Budokon, the insight of Yin and the healing of Restorative practices. My classes are a dynamic flow between postures, breath, and meditation infused with music, movement and playfulness. Using anatomical alignment, visual and auditory cues as well as hands on adjustments, I create Yoga flows that foster healing while cultivating strength and flexibility. Come join me on a journey, an exploration of your strengths, your weaknesses, your heart and life; get connected, turn on your breath and tune into your body.

I am grateful for my teachers, who continue to inspire me and my students who I am constantly learning from. My practice has deepened and expanded through teacher trainings with David Vendetti, Ana Forrest, Paulie Zink, Kripalu and Budokon.

I also find joy off the mat, offering private massage & bodywork sessions, practicing Chi Gung and performing with the Grasshopper Collective.

Jane Cargill

Jane’s first experience with yoga was in the summer of 2001. After years of rigorous physical activity, her body began to speak loudly in the form of bursitis in both hips. She chose to seek an alternative form of exercise; something challenging, yet low impact which would satisfy her craving for movement. She fell in love with yoga that very first day on her mat! What she didn’t anticipate was the new-found freedom through expression and acceptance that is inherent in the yogic process. She continues to nurture that relationship with herself through daily practice, and sharing it with others by teaching.

Her intent is to teach freedom through the joy of movement and connection to Self and Source. She feels compelled and honored to lead and share the practice that has liberated her and brought her “home”. She hopes to inspire students to embrace their uniqueness, express their gifts, expand their mind, and find their JOY.

Jane actively volunteers for YogaHope, a non-profit yoga organization dedicated to bringing yoga to under-served women in the Boston area, and throughout cities across the country.

Vanessa Morris

Vanessa began studying yoga to support her practice as a runner and to create flexibility in her body and mind. Also a vocalist and a pianist, Vanessa practices and teaches Forrest Yoga because it inspires freedom in the neck, shoulders and hips. Vanessa emphasizes strength, endurance and the power of yoga to create personal transformation. Her vigorous classes encourage intensity and power, but Vanessa is also passionate about savoring the deep releases and openings in the body that Forrest Yoga can bring.

Peter Crowley

Peter teaches dynamic core-centric Forrest and Vinyasa Yoga. He believes in the healing power of a strong and nurtured body. He believes that physical movement leads to freedom. Ultimately, freedom to move uncovers the truest and most profound joy.

As a child, Peter led a sedentary life. Having developed an addiction to food early on, Peter was overweight by the time he was five and was diagnosed obese by eight years of age. Peter used food as well as other compulsive behavior to cope with an abusive environment both at home and school. At the urging of his doctor, Peter lost weight quickly by curbing his eating and quickly began to eat too little. In his young adult years, Peter ate less and less and developed a smoking habit that ultimately reached two packs a day. By the age of 21, Peter was confused and unhappy. In his social life, he immersed himself in the culture of nightclubs and discovered, for the first time, the power of freedom and escape through dance and movement.

In 2001, a dear friend introduced Peter to yoga. Within two years, everything changed. Peter spent two years practicing Ashtanga, Power Vinyasa, and Bikram Yoga. He participated in an Ashtanga training and began teaching yoga in 2003.

Upon discovering Forrest Yoga through his mentor Lynne Begier, Peter embarked on a four year process of healing that helped him confront his compulsive and addictive behavior. Ultimately, this led to his participation in the Forrest Yoga Foundational and Advanced Teacher Trainings with Ana Forrest.

Peter has fused the power of an embodied Forrest Yoga practice with the freedom of movement and release found in ecstatic and uncontrolled dance with Freedom Joy Yoga. A Forrest and Vinyasa flow, set to the music styles that first inspired Peter in his 20’s, combines yoga, dance, and freedom of expression.

Peter has studied several yoga systems including Ashtanga, Baptiste Power Vinyasa, and Forrest Yoga. Indebted to his mentors Ana Forrest, Lynne Begier, and David Vendetti, he has also studied and practiced with Rolf Gates, Barbara Benagh, Glenn Cunningham, Chanel Luck, Sadie Nardini, Micheline Berry, and Josh Summers.

Ame Wren

A self-proclaimed “yoga mutt,” Ame’s style is a hybrid of many different influences; most notably Power, Vinyasa, Forrest and Anusara. She is known for lacing her classes with humor and music as well as instilling the importance of proper alignment and injury protection in her students. Ame considers herself a tour guide on her students’ yoga adventures and encourages free-style and expression on and off the mat. She reminds her students to leave criticism behind, appreciate their bodies and find their inner rhythm. In her classes students can expect to laugh, sweat, work and sigh through creative flows, deep core work and long holds. Ame wholeheartedly believes yoga can be an amazing addition to everyone's life and does not need to be achieved or attained, just enjoyed. Among her greatest teachers and muses are David Vendetti, Bryan and Jonny Kest, Sadie Nardini and Seane Corn. She is indebted to these teachers and many more for inspiring her practice and her teaching.

Rob Phillips

Like many modern Yogis, Rob Phillips first came to yoga primarily seeking the physical benefits. As a fitness enthusiast, he hoped to increase his flexibility and perhaps even reduce his stress a bit. After unassumingly walking into an Ashtanga class at Back Bay Yoga, he was left humbled by the physical challenge and inspired by the energetic effects. It wasn’t long before he became a dedicated Ashtangi, practicing under Kate O’Donnell.

While he appreciates the strong energies created by the more active practices, Rob is also an enthusiast of the calmer contemplative practices of Yin Yoga and Buddhist Vipassana (Insight) meditation. After years of struggling with anxiety and borderline depression, yoga and meditation have provided him with a base of focus and confidence that continues to grow with each year of practice.

Rob’s classes draw influences from the Buddhist tradition, placing a heavy emphasis on mindfulness of the body and movement of the breath; but his dry and witty humor help to keep a light air in the room. His first teacher training was in Yin Yoga with Josh Summers. He also completed his 200 hour training through YogaWorks with Natasha Rizopoulos. This method fuses the power and fluidity of Ashtanga with the precision and alignment of Iyengar. Rob is forever indebted to all of his teachers, both past and present, for helping him to discover his full potential.

Wendy Cook

A break-up with a boyfriend on New Year's Eve, 1986, in the jungles of Thailand, led Wendy to a Buddhist forest monastery for a 10-day silent meditation and yoga retreat, an experience that set her life's course. Already with a background in nursing, massage therapy and tai chi, she pursued studies in Buddhism, meditation and yoga. Experiencing a debilitating repetitive stress injury in 1997, Wendy connected more deeply with the transformative and healing effects of yoga and meditation. She completed a Yoga Works teacher training in Santa Monica, CA in 2001 and has done numerous workshops, trainings and retreats since. She has studied in the Vinyasa, Yin, Iyengar, Ashtanga and Viniyoga systems in the US, India and Australia. She is indebted to her numerous yoga teachers, especially Sharon Cardamone, Maty Ezraty, Lisa Walford, Patricia Walden, Richard Freeman, Gary Kraftsow, Liz Owen, Sarah Powers, Paul Grilley and TKV Desikachar. She was the Director of the Kurukulla Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies in Medford for six years. Her classes encourage you to connect deeply with body, mind and heart, to listen keenly to your inner wisdom, to cultivate a comfortable breath, and to practice from an authentic place of awareness.

Anna Neuman

Anna is drawn to the tradition and discipline of Ashtanga yoga. She is inspired by the power of the practice, which builds confidence and strength on and off the mat, and transforms minds and bodies. Her teaching focuses on integrating led practice into self-practice. Anna completed teacher training in 2006 and has been influenced by many teachers including Cathy Louise Broda, Michael Hamilton, Sharath Rangaswami, Jonathan Patriarca and current Mysore teacher Kate O'Donnel. She has also been very fortunate to have studied at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, India for three months. Yoga also influences Anna’s other love in life as a licensed massage therapist.

Kate Greer

Kate tries to offer from the heart in everything she does. Until recently she was a full time yoga teacher in New York City and traveled to teach workshops and retreats around the country. Her greatest life adventures now include a new partner and a move to the Boston area to start a family. Kate received her Vinyasa certification from Sonic Yoga in NYC, where she also studied at Kula Yoga Project and with Sri Dharma Mittra. In addition, she is an Anusara inspired teacher and completed a teacher training course in Kundalini Yoga. She has studied Anusara with John Friend, Darren Rhodes, Noah Maze, Elena Brower and Amy Ippoliti. Her first Kundalini class was with Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, who touched her heart and life. Last summer Kate attended a one-month intensive teacher training at 'Yogi Bajan's Ranch' with the beautiful Sikh community in Espanola, NM. "To all my teachers -- the ones in name, as well as those who teach me in life, love and laughter -- Satnam and Namaste."

Georgia

Georgia is a certified Vinyasa teacher whose practice borrows from all traditions of yoga and walks of life. She began practicing asana in the Ashtanga tradition when chronic knee injuries prevented her from being able to run and ski. Georgia relocated with her family to Boston from NYC where she began practiced and taught Vinyasa at Sonic Yoga and Kula Yoga Project. Her teachers include Christine Hoar of Bristol Yoga, Jonathan Fields and Lauren Hanna of Sonic Yoga, Schuyler Grant of Kula Yoga Project, and Elena Brower of Virayoga. She has also studied with David Life, Sharon Gannon, Shiva Rea, Tias Little, Richard Freeman, Ana Forrest, Glenn Black and Desiree Rumbaugh. She is known for her creative and thoughtful sequences that are challenging yet accessible, alignment cues that are technical yet authentic and the use of breath and bandhas to link and elevate the flow. Georgia has come to understand practicing and teaching yoga as a way of life that not only keeps her physically healthy (her knees haven't bothered her since college!) but spiritually and emotionally as well. In addition to being a certified yoga teacher, Georgia is a Columbia University trained mental health counselor and a very blessed wife and mama.

Bonnie Argo

Bonnie Argo is a certified AcroYoga Teacher, Prana Flow Teacher and powerful Bodyworker.

She has completed AcroYoga Teacher Training with Jason Nemer & Jenny Saur-Klein, and assists them at conferences and workshops.

Bonnie has completed 500 hours with Shiva Rea, and travels to assist workshops, trainings and retreats for Shiva. Bonnie is also a Mentor in Shiva Rea’s Teacher Training Programme guided new students through the training process.

Bonnie practices Shiatsu Anma, Thai Massage, Thai Foot Massage, Craniosacral Therapy and Reiki. She works with deep intuition and honoring the physical, spiritual and energy body.

Nicole Clark

Recently transplanted from LA, Nicole Clark taught at the Forrest Yoga Circle/Institute for five years having completed the Forrest Yoga Foundation Teacher Training Course in 2002. Since then she has taught group classes in and around Los Angeles and worked with private clients locally and internationally. Additionally, She has assisted Ana in workshops and teacher training's. Nicole’s classes embody the principles of Forrest Yoga (breath, strength, integrity and spirit) by focusing on strengthening the core, and working with the breath while maintaining a mind body connection throughout practice. She has expertise working with cancer patients, endometriosis, sciatica, back pain, and shoulder injuries. Her hands on assists are compassionate, intuitive, and soothing.

In addition to her yoga training. Nicole is a highly-trained craniosacral therapist. She has also worked extensively with Hugh & Giorgia Milne at the Milne Institute - combining the analytic and intuitive approaches to craniosacral work in a meditative setting. Craniosacral is the high art of healing touch -- an exquisitely sensitive, subtle and gentle approach to working with the cranium and sacral waves. Nicole applies these skills in her classes to make her classes a space for healing, compassion and depth.

Katie Graham

Yoga gives Katie space, balance and perspective. It allows her to return home to her true self, providing the opportunity to move through each moment with awareness, acceptance and love. She is continually delighted, humbled, and challenged by each unfolding moment on her yoga mat, an on-going journey that opens her heart to new possibilities. As a yoga teacher, she have a lighthearted yet challenging approach which allows each student to work playfully with their own edge. Each class is a journey through an invigorating combination of asanas from various styles of yoga. She received her 200 hour Teacher Training from David Vendetti and also is inspired by veteran teacher Barbara Benagh. Kate continues to expand her understanding of yoga through her studies in psychology and by teaching yoga to trauma survivors, blind and developmentally delayed individuals.