Faculty/Staff

Rudrani Farbman Brown

Rudrani began her study of Yoga in 1966 and founded the World Yoga Center in 1972 with a vision of spreading the greatness and luminosity of Yoga in the West. Originally certified as an Integral Yoga teacher in the late 60’s, she served on the Integral Yoga Institute’s National Board and as a staff lecturer, counselor and Hatha Yoga instructor. In 1974 she began a joyous life-long study of meditation and the path of Yoga having met a great master of meditation, and became one of his teachers running a meditation center in NYC and leading programs and meditation workshops throughout the U.S. Traveling as a speaker/teacher for many years, she lived for three years with him in India engaged in spiritual practices and the study of Yoga scriptures and philosophy.

On the west coast during the eighties, Rudrani was a resident meditation and yoga teacher in Santa Monica and Oakland serving SYDA fulltime. She was also on faculty at the JFK Graduate School of Consciousness Studies and the California Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and gave Yoga programs throughout the Bay Area.

Rudrani directs the World Yoga Center, teaching hatha yoga, meditation, Satsang and co-leading the Anusara Immersions Teacher Trainings and retreats. She has been a teacher of meditation, philosophy and transformational practices for over four decades. Rudrani is trained in several styles of Hatha yoga, and is an Anusara Inspired yoga teacher. A charismatic teacher, her hatha classes are woven with teachings, love and humor and are known for their clear instruction, and spiritual depth. An innovative mentor, Rudrani has maintained a private mentoring practice since 1986.

Jackie Prete

Jackie’s passion for teaching yoga has brought her on a magical journey that started in 1990 with Sharon Gannon of Jivamukti. She left the world of musical theater and embarked on a new path to discover the inner realms of her own heart. She trained in Vinyasa yoga with the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara and Cyndi Lee at Om Yoga Center teaching at Equinox and World Gym in the early 90’s. After a serious lower back injury she began a very deep study of Iyengar yoga with Genny Kapular and Mary Dunn.

Jackie met John Friend in 1998 and became a Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher in 2001. She is honored to serve as Chairperson of the Certification Committee for the new Anusara School of Hatha Yoga. Jackie was invited to teach in Japan by Yasushi Tanaka in 2005 and has returned annually ever since to train teachers and students in Anusara yoga and Therapeutics.

Jackie is the owner of Ram Sangha Retreats and leads retreats in Mexico, Costa Rica, upstate New York and Italy. This community is dedicated to practicing yoga and meditation in the beauty of nature deepening the student’s connection to their own true Nature.

In 2004 Jackie began collaborating with Rudrani Farbman, Director of the World Yoga Center, teaching Immersions, Retreats and Teacher Training programs. This deep connection has flourished and continues to mentor and train highly skilled yoga and meditation teachers who are connected to the essence of yoga.

Jackie currently sees 200 students every week in her NYC classes at the World Yoga Center, Pure Yoga and Equinox Fitness clubs. She has also led Advanced Teacher Training programs in therapeutics at Pure Yoga in NYC.

Jana Castellano

Jana was introduced to Rudrani through a mutual friend and became irresistibly drawn towards the practices of Yoga within the World Yoga Center student community. In May 2008, she completed WYC’s two year Teacher Training course and continues to study and grow in the practice and teachings of Yoga and meditation. She is currently E-RYT200, RYT500 certified with Yoga Alliance and is an Anusara Inspired Yoga Teacher.

Jana is continuously filled with profound gratitude for the blessings that she has received since she found the path of Yoga, especially since she began teaching. When she is not at the WYC teaching the Early Bird classes or the Lunchtime Gentle class, she teaches chair/gentle yoga for Seniors on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and also teaches yoga to less able populations, especially mentally challenged adults, through Activities for Life. At WYC, her classes are light-hearted yoga adventures, providing a step by step exploration of yoga’s power to transform through refining awareness of the body, thus discovering true self empowerment within. She encourages her students to dive deep in every class and discover yoga from the inside out. Her loving compassion welcomes students of all levels, especially those brand new to Yoga, and invites everyone to dance in the Light of their own Heart!

Julia Pearring

Julia is appreciated as a teacher who brings the Yoga teachings alive by applying their wisdom to understand the modern challenges of living each day fully. No matter where the student is coming from, through her clear, poignant language and her extensive knowledge of the physical body, students are supported, engaged and led to explore their potential in her classes. This ability to make yoga accessible has led her to teach various populations including seniors, athletes and those with severe physical challenges.

Julia has studied Anusara Yoga for over 15 years and has completed over 500 hours of anatomy studies with the country’s top anatomists, integrating the profound revelations that are on the forefront of holistic research into her teaching. As a Certified Anusara yoga teacher, she leads seasonal retreats, teaches anatomy courses and trains Anusara yoga teachers on the 200hr and 500hr levels. Recently, she co-wrote the Therapeutics Applications of Anusara Yoga to support Anusara Yoga therapeutic trainings.

The World Yoga Center is her home base, as the WYC managing director, she is most content when teaching within its sacred walls.

www.JuliaPearring.com

Andrea Savolt

When Andrea took her first yoga class, her teacher had asked her before class; “what do you expect from practicing yoga?” Andrea’s immediate reply, “everything!” The teacher responded, “Then you shall get everything.” Throughout her years of asana practice and meditation, that response holds true. Andrea has gained more from her practice than she ever thought possible, in fact so much that she just had to share this beautiful transformational gift with everyone by becoming a teacher herself. Her teaching and personal practice soared with the introduction of Anusara Yoga. She fell in love with the intelligence of the mechanics drawn from the universal principles and found liberation in the tantric philosophy of Anusara yoga.

After moving to the city and attending her first class at the World Yoga Center with Jackie Prete, Andrea knew that she found her peaceful oasis in the swirl of Manhattan only two blocks away from her new home in the big city.

Andrea’s class is always a cosmic playground. She leads the class with the highest awareness to serve all, offering precise practical detail and a playful invitation to the inner depths of our being. Riding the waves of breath she provides the vehicle toward the highest experience of each pose. Beside the practical details and alignment, her classes emphasize the true gift of the practice, to be free and to unite with our higher Self.

Andrea is an Inspired Anusara teacher and has studied with a wide variety of Anusara Teachers; Zhenja La Rosa, Elena Brower, Ross Rayburn, Jordan and Martin Kirk, John Friend and is wholeheartedly grateful for all of her beloved teachers, especially Jackie Prete for her sweet welcome and continuous support.

It is a deep honor for her to be a part of the World Yoga Center’s community and share her passion for yoga with her students and fellow teachers.

Jorge (Nihal) Sevillano

Jorge attended a meditation course in 1996 that would change his life forever. It was after this program that he fell in love with Yoga and immersed himself in all the practices that Yoga has to offer. He especially loved Hatha Yoga and became a teacher in 2001. He has studied many modalities including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Ananda and AnusaraYoga. In 2003 he decided to study Anusara Yoga exclusively because he experienced a deep connection to the heart through this method. He then followed a course of comprehensive training with Anusara Yoga”s senior teachers.

Jorge weaves the spiritual and philosophical teachings of Non-Dual Tantra into the movements of the body in every class. Each class is unique and a new opportunity to connect to a much deeper and effervescent experience of Self. What drives his practice is a willingness to constantly refine the connection to the Heart. When you come to his classes, be willing to be playfully challenged, become more fully present in your body and to make a connection to your own Heart as well.

Christine Zehner

Christine is delighted to join the WYC faculty where she received her teacher training. She first stepped onto the yoga mat almost ten years ago and was immediately inspired by the principles of Anusara yoga. An accomplished yogini, with a sweetness to her teaching, she loves to share the abundant possibilities every pose has to offer while maintaining strong clarity of alignment. Integrating this with years spent in the art world, she brings an esthetic of creativity to each class. Meditation is incorporated into the hatha practice so students can discover the hidden depth of each pose. Rooted in the strong lineage of her beloved teachers, especially Rudrani Farbman, Christine playfully, joyfully comes together with students to connect with an ever growing, fuller sense of presence again and again.

Karen Gastiaburo

When Karen was a young actor, a teacher told her: “To be all you can be as an actor depends on how well you know yourself.” This began a journey of self-inquiry that would also lead her into the world of yoga and meditation.

Her practice started in 2001 in New York City, and her mentors have included Jackie Prete, Rudrani Farbman, Julia Pearring, Jamie Lyn Skolnick, Sianna Sherman, Desiree Rumbaugh, Elena Brower, Ross Rayburn, and Dr. Ray Long.

Karen has traveled to India, Peru, Italy, Costa Rica, and Spain to study yoga. And in 2019 traveled to Bali, Indonesia for an additional 300-hour training in Rasa Yoga.

She completed her 200-hour teacher training at the WYC in 2012–13 and in the spring of 2018 completed her 500-hours. With a total of 800-hours in training, Karen continues her graduate studies in higher consciousness, meditation, asana, and mentoring. Her classes are designed to incorporate deep reflection, contemplation, and alignment. The journey continues!

Karen has taught yoga in an after-school project called Seed Street Inc. through the Children’s Aid Society. She is also an avid supporter of Three and a Half Acres Yoga (THAY) providing yoga, breathing and mindfulness techniques to underserved communities. She is inspired to see children and adults transform and recognize their own power for positive change using the tools of yoga.

Continuing her study of Anusara Yoga including its restorative aspects, Karen is delighted to be on the faculty and is a steady teaching presence at the WYC.

Her favorite quotation: On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort towards spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear. – Bhagavad Gita

Susan Rubin

Susan has over 18 years experience in yoga practice and teaching. She encourages students to explore and deepen their understanding of Universal flows of energy within their own body, utilizing Anusara’s elegant principles of alignment. She is well know for bringing forth the healing and transformational aspect of Anusara yoga and has special skills in the art of adjusting and therapeutics.

Nina Edelman

Nina is thrilled to join the faculty of the World Yoga Center where she received her teacher training in 2015-16. Nina began practicing Yoga in college, where what began as a way to earn mandatory P.E. credits turned into a life-long passion thanks to her Anusara-trained first teacher, George. Nina vividly remembers walking home from those first few classes and observing everything — her breath, the rays of sunlight, the birds chirping in trees — with newfound wonder at the flow of Grace underlying all things.

After exploring several other styles of Yoga, Nina happily returned to her Anusara roots when she moved to the Upper West Side in January, 2011 and discovered the World Yoga Center just a few blocks away! Nina has been a continual student and proud member of the WYC community since that time, and it was here that Nina discovered and fell in love with Meditation, Mantra and all the other limbs of Yoga. Having received so much from the WYC and its incredible teachers, Nina looks forward to giving back to her students and co-creating classes in which we take a break from the ordinary and journey towards our boundaries and our frontiers — both physical and metaphysical — together!

Adolfo Sauri

Adolfo was born in Mexico City where he learned to express himself through art, color and culture. Yoga enriched these experiences. He soon saw the yoga practices as a unique way to empower one’s self expression as well as support others in deepening their connection to their authentic Self.

He started teaching yoga in 2011, developing his skills in different venues— offering classes at gyms and yoga studios as well as giving private sessions.This period shaped his teaching, and as his understanding deepened, Anusara yoga’s methodology enhanced his ability to welcome people from all walks of life. Adolfo founded his own yoga studio in 2014. In 2016, he moved to the USA where he has continued to study Anusara Yoga, taking his 300hr training at the World Yoga Center. He has continued to broaden his knowledge studying biomechanics, meditation and Yoga Philosophy. Adolfo loves being a part of the WYC community and looks forward to serving every student that walks in the door!

Eric Mann

Eric was first drawn to the mat when he took a Tibetan yoga course in college, and since then has had a big yearning to discover the inner and outer worlds. The WYC has been his home for almost 10 years, and with the guidance of the incredible WYC teachers and students, he has learned to navigate this terrain through yoga, which offers a beautiful roadmap that is tangible, experiential and shared. He often asks, “Where would I be without yoga?!”

Eric’s excellent knowledge of alignment and his advanced yoga practice inform classes that unfold in an atmosphere of love. Eric is delighted to be a part of the faculty at WYC, and excited to continue his life-long studentship by co-creating a space in each class with others to collectively journey into those inner and outer worlds to reveal what’s hidden underneath.

Heather Payne

In 2003 Heather had her introduction to the true depths of Yoga when she first attended a silent retreat at an Ashram in Upstate NY. There she meditated, chanted and experienced ancient yogic traditions for the first time. The retreat infused her with a deep longing to discover more of what she describes as Grace.

Following her devotional yearning, she built a strong asana practice and completed her 200hr TT with the World Yoga Center in 2016. This followed further advanced training, taking graduate courses at the WYC. Heather began teaching community classes in 2017 soon after her training and has grown a strong and clear voice, leading contemplative asana that opens the heart as well as the body. Heather’s intention for her classes is to offer a space for each student to experience Grace, that which she has come to expand within herself, that Grace which is inherent within all beings. The WYC is home for Heather and she is grateful to be on the faculty with her community.

Lauren Jacobs

Lauren is deeply heartened to teach at World Yoga Center, where she continually benefits from diving deep into the wonders of asana, meditation, chanting, satsang and kirtan. She has been a member of the World Yoga Center community for over a decade. Going on retreat with her beloved teachers Rudrani and Jackie in 2011 led her enter the two-year WYC Teacher Training, which she completed 2013. Lauren is also certified in Kids Yoga and Yoga for Children with Special Needs, and has taught both adults and children of all abilities in a multitude of open-hearted settings including World Yoga, AHRC, Karma Kids and schools in New York City.

Lauren was originally drawn to the practices of yoga during college, and became awed by the sense of peace, presence, openness and steadiness they consistently brought to her mind, body, and life. She continues to feel deep gratitude for the Path, and endeavors to make the teachings feel alive, abundant, and available to all who wish to learn. In her teaching, she emphasizes the “spanda” or ebb and flow of energy, the balance of strength & flexibility, and the give-and-take of opening into expansiveness and finding our center. Also an activist, writer, educator and interfaith ritual leader, Lauren hopes that through yoga, students can gain a sense of empowerment and compassion for self, others and all of life.

Lauren feels blessed to have also learned from Julia Pearring, Elias Lopez, Todd Norian, Elena Brower, Baron Baptiste and Shyam in soul-nourishing spaces such as Ananda Ashram, Sivananda Ashram, Abhaya Yoga, Vira Yoga and Kripalu. She bows in deep thanks to all of her wonder-ful teachers and the teachers before them.

Carla Kissane

Carla (she/her) received such an inspired welcome upon taking her first class at the WYC as a tourist to NYC, that she came back for the WYC teacher training in 2015, and stayed. Her life intention is to stay afloat in joy, and she’s found yoga to be a wonderful way to ensure this is on track. As an actor and singer, Carla loves the teaching that the body is an instrument. She is enamored of the poet Saints who composed their lives and music with great beauty, could play their own bodies as musical instruments, and made music that provided a balm for troubled times. Carla is ecstatic to call the World Yoga Center a home, and looks forward to welcoming you.

Flin van Hemmen

Flin is a gifted, innovative musician from Holland who, in 2008, became deeply affiliated with the school. He recognized the WYC as a place of practices, interconnection and teachings. Flin loves to walk into the school, as the space invites one to check in with oneself. He has offered steady support of the WYC in a multiple array of administrative roles over the past 15 years. He is happy to take this opportunity to be on the Welcome Staff as an integral part of the school.

Gosha Karpowicz

Gosha Is a E-RYT 500 certified yoga instructor. She loves to offer yoga practices as a connection of the body and mind with the heart. When she took a class with Rudrani many years ago, while visiting NYC, she thought to herself “ if I ever become a yoga instructor I would love to teach here, and teach like that”. For Gosha, teaching at WYC is like coming home. She completed her Anusara yoga teacher training in 2010.

Gosha grew up in the landscape of the farmlands of Poland. She loved to study and learn about the rhythms and patterns of nature, which led her to become a biology major, then a painter, art teacher and later a yoga instructor. She believes that Art and Yoga have much in common, they both are paths to self knowledge and experience of flow of life, harmony and beauty.

In her yoga classes Gosha inspires her students to practice wholeheartedly, attentively and with good alignment, cultivating playfulness and creativity.

She says: “When we practice asana attentively in the flow of our breath, we create a deeper alignment within ourselves; more peace, centeredness, clarity, joy, empowerment, qualities which come from within.”

Gosha is a contemporary art painter exhibiting in galleries in New York City, and teaches art privately. www.FineArtsandYoga.com
www.goshakarpowiczart.com

Yannil Gonzalez

Yannil was born and raised in New York City during the late 80s. Adopted at age 3, though unconventional, this gave her guiding principles of resilience, wisdom, kindness and responsbility as she matured. Yannil started practicing yoga in 2009. Yoga centered her connection between the mind, body and soul. She is happy to be part of the welcome team and learn from such wonderful teachers and people. The WYC means so much to the community on the UWS and Yannil is grateful to help keep the legacy alive.

Sophia Carter

Born and raised in New York City, Sophia was first introduced to the World Yoga Center at a young age by her mom. Like many a rebellious teen, she initially ran in the opposite direction, only to ultimately return to begin her yoga studies in earnest during the early weeks of the pandemic. Ever since that auspicious start, Sophia has felt a strong calling to the WYC and is looking forward to growing her relationship with the entire community. She is grateful for all that the school and its teachers have brought into her life, namely the grounding, stability, and deep presence she has found in her yoga practice.

Sophia recently graduated from Brown University, where she studied history and literature, and is a writer and actor. A former D1 athlete, she is now an avid long distance runner and hiker. Most recently, Sophia solo hiked over 230 miles in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. She is honored to be a part of the World Yoga Center community and is excited to be part of the team welcoming you in.

Amanda Alonso

Amanda has been a yoga practitioner for over 10 years. She began yoga for the physical health benefits and it stuck with her because of the joy and peace she found practicing. Being able to carry those feelings off the mat is the best, most true benefit of yoga. WYC has given her such welcoming energy and a sense of community. She is excited to share this with you on your next visit!