Box 2450,
Providence, RI 02906
401-295-5002
innerhappiness.com
Experience
I have taught 4900 yoga classes over the last 17 years. People ask me what style I adhere to and I cannot say. After teaching for so long, it really is a nameless tradition full of many elements of many great teachers who I have studied with and lots of novel inventions that have risen up along the way. It has the flavors of Ashtanga, Vipassana, Kripalu, Bikram, Iyengar, Richard Freeman, Erich Schiffman, SN Goenka, and many more. A big shift happened in 1998. A move away from the fundamentalism of any particular brand name yoga. I began teaching a contemporary, transcendent Vinyasa Yoga style constantly recreating each class in a new way. Classes are rigorously in the moment. They follow a very sensible logic and includes postures from every category in balanced proportions. Classes are long: one and a half to two hours. With all the workshops and weeklongs I have taught it adds up to over 8000 hours of teaching yoga. Phew! Get a life, Tom.
2000 - 2005
Eyes of the World Yoga Center
Providence, RI
Director of Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training
-Director of a large, busy downtown yoga center.
- 30 - 50 students per class.
- Contemporary, transcendent spiritually oriented vigorous vinyasa practice.
1995 - 2000 Innerlight Center for Yoga Middletown, RI
Director, Director of Innerlight Yoga Teacher Training
Popular suburban yoga center located outside Newport, RI.
Two year, 500 hour Teacher Training, certified 2 students at this level
Sponsored large workshops with Richard Freeman, David Swenson (3x), Karen Haberman, Beryl Bender Birch (2x), Todd Norian , Richard Michaels
2000 Kripalu Center Lenox, MA
Presenter at Yoga Journal conference
1999 Yoga Journal Estes Park, CO
Presenter at Yoga Journal conference
1998 Yoga Journal San Francisco, CA
Presenter at Yoga Journal conference
1997 Kripalu Center Lenox, MA
Keynote speaker, Presenter at Yoga conference
1994 - 1995 Sumneytown Yoga Center Sumneytown, PA
Director of Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training
An affiliate of Kripalu Center. Ran two Kripalu Certified teacher trainings 200 hour level, each training was six months long. Total of 55-60 students.
1991 - 1994 Kripalu Center Lenox, MA
Director of Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training
As Director or Assistant Director, certified over 600 students at the Basic Level and Advanced Kripalu Yoga Teacher Level
1991 - 1994 Kripalu Center Lenox, MA
Director of Bikram Yoga at Kripalu Center
Was authorized and blessed by Bikram to teach Bikram Yoga at Kripalu Ashram.
Licenses, Certificates
1995 Kripalu Yoga Teacher Mentor Certification, October
1994 Kripalu Yoga Senior Teacher, September
1994 Kripalu World Service Award, June
1994 Lakulish Yoga Certification, Kayavarohan, India
1992 Kripalu Yoga Advanced Teacher Certification
1990 Kripalu Yoga Basic Certification
1988 Taught first Kripalu yoga class.
Education Highlights, some Lowlights included for balance
1974 Transcendental Meditation, began a regular meditation practice
1976 Began Iyengar Yoga, many semesters of classes
1979 30 Day seclusion, fasting and Soto Zen meditation, at Chapel House, Colgate University
1980 Colgate University, BA
Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude
Philosophy and Religion major
1986 Began Kripalu Yoga with Amrit Desai, Gurudev, Don Stapleton, Joyce Hammond, Todd Norian, Megha Buttenheim, Christopher Baxter, Rudra Pierce, Deva Parnell, Dr.Jeff Migdow and others.
1988 Began teaching Kripalu yoga
1989 - 1995 Six year resident at Kripalu Ashram, daily practice, seva, darshans, satsangs. Taught up to 14 yoga classes per week.
1990 - 1995 American Sanskrit Institute, Vyaas Houston.
Two Basic Sanskrit weeklong trainings
Three Advanced Weeklong trainings.
On going sanskrit study with Kent Lew, certified by ASI.
1991 Bikram Yoga Training. Bikram Choudhury, three months long.
Advanced Bikram Yoga Training with Emmy Cleaves.
1992 Judith Lasater, Iyengar Yoga Weeklong training
1993 Rishi Prabhakar, Siddha Samadhi Yoga Training. A refined practice of mudras and pranyama in preparation for meditation. The practice was published in Yoga Journal in 1997 by Richard Miller.
1993 Beryl Bender Birch, Weeklong training at Omega
1993 Adrienne Jamiel, Weeklong Anatomy training
1994 Rajarshi Muni, Lakulish Yoga Training. Three months. Intellectually and physically challenging yoga program. Written tests on philosophy and practical exams: yoga asana were measured with rulers, protractors and plumb bobs to score points! Sutra neti and dhauti were timed!
1994 Vipassana Meditation, SN Goenka. First 10 day sit.
1995 Teacher Training with Beryl Bender Birch
1995 Vipassana Meditation, SN Goenka. Second 10 day sit.
1996 Pattabhi Jois, Mysore India. First and Second Series.
1997-1998 David Swenson 3 weekend trainings Richard Freeman 2 weekend trainings
Karen Haberman 2 weeklong trainings
1997 Vipassana Meditation, SN Goenka. Third 10 day sit.
1998 Vipassana Meditation, SN Goenka. Fourth 10 day sit.
1999 Vipassana Meditation, SN Goenka. Fifth 10 day sit.
1999 Erich Schiffman Advanced Teacher Training
2000 Vipassana Meditation, SN Goenka. Sixth sit. Satipatthana Scriptures Course.
2001 Vipassana Meditation, SN Goenka. Seventh 10 day sit.
2001 Richard Freeman and Ken Cohen (Qi Gong) Weeklong Training
2002 Vipassana Meditation, 5 day self guided sit.
2002 Anatomy (philosophy and futuristic ideas) training with Tom Myers
2002 Shiva Rae, Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training "certification", July
2005 Vipassana Meditation, SN Goenka. Eighth 10 day sit.
Workshops, classes and weekends taken with and styles exposed to
Shiva Rae, Teacher Training
John Friend, workshop, classes
Suzie Hurley, workshop
Rodney Yee, weekend
Patricia Walden, workshop, classes
Rama Birch, classes
Rod Stryker, classes
Tom Myers, 2 anatomy weekends
John Schumacher, class
David Life, classes
Sharon Gannon, classes
Cindi Lee, class
Baron Baptiste, classes
Kali Ray, classes
Donna Farhi, workshop, classes
Sharon Salzburg, weekend
Joseph Goldstein, weekend
most every Kripalu teacher
and a few classes in the Shivanada, Integral, Kundalini,
Triyoga, Ishta and Svaroopa traditions.
