Mary Ellen Carroll
and Flash


Megan Bouchard


Tal Banayan


Chris Loomis


Jeanne Magazu


Vito Politano


Chera Reid

James Dufour

Mary Ellen Carroll, Owner/Instructor
I began practicing hot yoga in January of 2001. From my very first hot yoga class I was practicing daily, loving the changes the yoga was making to my body, but even more so to my mind! I loved that 90 minutes of uninterrupted, focused time. I received my Bikram Yoga Teaching Certification in 2001. In 2004 I attended Jimmy Barkan’s level II teacher training for certification to teach Hot Vinyasa Yoga. In 2006 I attended Jimmy Barkan’s level III Advanced Teacher training. In addition I have attended workshops with Patricia Walden, Doug Swenson, and Baron Baptiste. Recently I have been studying with David Magone and his Pranavayu Yoga style. David has recently been named one of the top 25 yoga teachers in the country. I am a registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance at the RYT200 and E-RYT500 levels with over 5,000 teaching hours. My classes incorporate a mix of postures and knowledge from my various teachers as well as my own practice. I believe yoga is for every body and I assist my students in finding their own practice and letting the inner joy and power within them grow. It’s an honor and a thrill to share this yoga with others and to see them learn and grow in their yoga practice and in their lives.

Tal Banayan
Tal had his first yoga experiences in 1996 while traveling in Central America and very early he resolved to incorporate yoga into his life. In 1998 he was led to a Bikram class and, given his stiff body at the time, found the Bikram series and practicing in a hot-room very appealing. After four years of regular Bikram yoga practice he began exploring other yoga styles, primarily Power-Vinyasa and Anusara yoga.

Tal is a certified Bikram-Yoga teacher and has taught Bikram since 2002 in various studios throughout eastern Massachusetts. He has been teaching Vinyasa yoga since completing a Power-Vinyasa-Yoga teacher training with Baron Baptiste in 2004. His classes are normally Vinyasa based, incorporating elements and sensitivities from his Bikram background as well as his Anusara practice. By the grace of his life teachers, his teaching style is imbued with bits of real life spirituality mixed with emphasis on proper alignment, breathing, and mindfulness.

Jeanne Magazu
Jeanne is a lifelong health and fitness enthusiast who originally sought out yoga to compensate for the toll that years of strenuous physical activity had taken on her body. She immediately loved the de-toxifying aspect of the practice and over time she began to understand the transformation that was taking place within her. Through her yoga practice she discovered how tense and out of balance her body and her life had become. Yoga practice awakened the dormant spirit within her and she is now practicing yoga in all aspects of her life. "Yoga provided me with so much more than I was looking for. Yoga has become my vehicle of choice as I navigate my way thru the ups and downs of life. When I'm struggling with pain, resistance or difficult decisions I step onto my mat to seek comfort and clarity. In times of happiness and joy my mat is where I can express the freedom and lightness I feel in my heart."

James Dufour
James likes yoga, he hopes you like yoga too, but if you don't, that's cool.


 

Megan Bouchard
Megan started practicing yoga in October 2002. Shortly after becoming a certified Bikram teacher in June 2003, she took her first Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga class. Immediately, Megan knew that she had found the yoga that she was meant to practice and teach. The freedom and flow of this style was what she was looking for in her own life and what she wished to share with her students. Megan is now a certified Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga teacher and continues to study with Baron Baptiste. Her commitment and love for the practices of teaching and taking yoga are strengthened every day. Yoga has helped Megan to become a better person and find an inner shine. Her goal is to help all her students find their own shining qualities.

Chris Loomis
Chris has been practicing Yoga for 10 years. She is RYT certified (Registered Yoga Teacher) and has completed a 200 hour Hot Hatha Yoga Certification with Jimmy Barkan in the fall of 2004. She has studied with Bikram Choudhury, Shiva Rea, Rolf Gates, Patrica Walden, and Barbara Benaugh. Chris has explored many different styles of yoga.

Chris has a BA in Psychology and an MA in Dance/Movement Therapy. She has worked with children and adults using movement and yoga in recreational, therapeutic and educational environments. She is currently teaching yoga in health clubs, yoga studios, public schools and corporations in an effort to bring the benefits of Yoga to as many people as possible.

Chris teaches from the heart of her own personal practice while encouraging and guiding students to feel and understand their own body and tune in to their internal process.

Vito Politano
After initially rejecting invitations to 'yoga,' I finally took my first class at the recommendation of the physical therapist I was seeing for a neck injury. My first class was a Baptiste class at the Cambridge studio and I didn't know what hit me…but I kept coming back to find out. Since that first class, I've maintained a consistent practice. What initially appeared to be more of a physical practice continues to challenge my heart, mind…my whole life. I am primarily inspired to assist and teach in order to share this healthy, powerful and transformative practice. My aim is to keep class challenging while stressing safe alignment and never taking things too seriously. Vito is a Baptiste Power Yoga Institute trained assistant at the BPYI studios in Cambridge and Brookline. Vito works full-time in non-profit, writing grants and managing volunteers.

Chera Reid
Chera began practicing yoga in 2001 while a graduate student in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as a way to manage the stresses that accompanied her busy life. Returning to her practice following a major car accident in 2003 was a challenge that helped her to heal. Her yoga practice opened space for her to strengthen both body and mind, taking her beyond the limitations of managed care. Chera took her first hot yoga class at Yoga Moves with owner Mary Ellen Carroll in November 2005, and she has been practicing there regularly ever since. She earned her yoga teacher certification at Kripalu Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, and she particularly appreciates this style of hatha yoga for its accessibility to people of all ages and abilities. Chera’s current yoga practice and teaching draws from her exploration of non-striving and balance, both on and off the mat.