AUNDRE CHIN discovered the practice of yoga in 1998 and has been practicing ever since. For several years, he has been involved with various youth programs and has conducted acting and storytelling workshops with children. Aundre is a graduate of The C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University with B.F.A. in Theatre.

STAN GRIER is a certified yoga therapist, Qigong and meditation teacher and creator of Qi-Yoga. He works with a broad spectrum of individuals from the ages of 3 - 65+, corporations and private clients. Stan is also a senior teacher and curriculum advisor on the board of the Lineage Project where he facilitates meditation, qi-yoga and movement in the juvenile justice system. He is the business manager of Calming Your World productions, a wellness retreat company in which he co-leads retreats domestically and world wide with his partner Samuel Kirschner. He specializes in restoring our life force and food awareness.

CLAUDIA FUCIGNA began practicing yoga in 1998 while studying theatre and psychology at New York University. Her interest in yoga led her to India where she studied in Varanasi at the Banares School of Yoga. She received her certification from Sonic Yoga in New York.
Claudia has always loved working with kids and has taught yoga to children extensively. Teaching yoga in a shelter for AIDs orphans in New Delhi is her most rewarding teaching experience to date. Here in Manhattan she teaches at Karma Kids Yoga, Crunch, Life In Motion and Bent On Learning. Working with kids always inspires her to keep an open mind and an open heart.

JOY NIRENTSTEIN was introduced to Yoga at the Moscow Art Theatre. She is certified from the New York Open Center and from Laughing Lotus Yoga Center. A performing artist and theatre director, Joy loves teaching the practice as a means to help develop personal expression and creativity. She teaches adults and children alike and currently works with at-risk youth in detention centers with The Lineage Project.

NICOLE PARCHER recently completed her yoga teacher training and has been teaching yoga in New York City schools to 1st and 2nd graders. She has been practicing yoga and meditation for over eight years. Nicole is also an artist and has been teaching art to children ages 5 to 16 for fourteen years in private schools, community centers, and public spaces. For ten years, she volunteered for Creative Arts Workshop, an arts program for children coming from difficult backgrounds and troubled homes. Nicole received her B.A. from Skidmore College in 1990.

ALISON PEPPER recently graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied theater, and recently received her Yoga Alliance Certification with the Yandara Yoga Institute in Baja Mexico. Alison has been doing theater with kids for a number of years. She helped run an After School Drama Program at the Salk Middle school, and is working as a resident theater artist at the Morgan Stanley Children's hospital. Bent On Learning allows Alison the perfect opportunity to mix her love of children, life, yoga and creativity together.

ELYCE SEMENEC

TANYA TRAYKOVSKI began practicing yoga at a young age as part of her training as a competitive gymnast. After a highly successful (and stressful) career in fashion, she rediscovered yoga and began training to become a yoga teacher. She is certified through Yoga Works, The Hard and The Soft Yoga Institute with Beryl Bender Birch and also completed several workshops in prenatal and children’s yoga. Tanya has now been teaching yoga for five years. She teaches junior high and high school students for Bent On Learning and specializes in prenatal yoga classes at Yoga Works.

MICHAEL WILSON has been practicing yoga for over 6 years, receiving his yoga teacher certification in 2005. Michael started his yoga teaching career teaching youth at P.S. 88 in the Bronx and since has encouraged and influenced many different ages of children from 6 to 18 years old. Previously, he taught swimming to children for the YMCA in Detroit, Michigan.