teachers

	Elizabeth Rossa is the founder/director of SHRIYOGA, once upon a time known as the celebrated Tribeca studio voted “Best Next Generation of Yoga” by New York Magazine in 2005. Since departing its original space at 443 Greenwich Street in 2009, Shriyoga has operated as an underground laboratory of genuine yoga, meditation and Self-Inquiry practices in the private home lofts of some of our most dedicated students. It continues to be a remarkable experiment in community and sharing! Originally certified to teach yoga 18 years ago by notable master teachers, Erich Schiffman and Max Strom, Elizabeth remains as dedicated to her on-going studies as she is to teaching. For almost 2 decades, her principal teachers have been the incomparable meditation/tantric philosophy master, Sally Kempton and the wildly brilliant yoga/philosophy master Richard Freeman. Elizabeth credits Sally Kempton as her primary influence and mentor of 15 years, and honors her teachings, along with Richard Freeman’s, as the foundation of what she offers in her classes. She respectfully acknowledges each of them, along with teacher, Mary Taylor (one of the yoga world’s genuine gems) for giving her the model of what it means to teach with the highest of integrity in the now Information Age when the subject of truth is a matter of great debate. Since the pandemic lockdown of March 2020, Elizabeth miraculously found herself supported by the Village Zendo in her home city of NYC. Logging on twice daily, she sat zazen virtually with the founding Roshis of the Village Zendo, Enkyo and Joshin, along with their brilliant and compassionate Sangha. As time passed, her interest in koan study and liturgy led her to commit to several on-line retreats with the Village Zendo, and eventually, a commitment to Jukai in the Summer of 2022. After an intensive period of time which required sewing her own rakusu, Elizabeth was given the dharma name K?d?, on August 7th, 2022 by Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara, Abbot of the Village Zendo. Further training and certification credentials include Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor’s month-long Ashtanga Teacher Training at their Yoga Workshop and subsequent, yearly advanced intensives; Two year-long “ Transformative Journey” courses with Sally Kempton, including her 2007 Meditation Teacher Training; Kundalini Yoga with Guru Singh as taught by Yogi Bhajan at Yoga West, LA; Reiki Mastership through Wendy Miner of Memorial Sloane-Kettering’s Integrative Medicine Center; extensive silent retreat experience and Self-Inquiry practice with Adyashanti and most currently, Tibetan Buddhist philosophical study with Robert Thurman and Iyengar yoga with Genny Kapuler. With immense gratitude she bows to Ram Dass as the teacher who opened the gates to an ever-unfolding devotional love. His teachings of his direct experience with Neem Karoli Baba intimately shifted Elizabeth’s perspective of what it is “to be here now” and more acutely to be “still here.” As a contemporary teacher of yoga, meditation and Self-Inquiry practices, Elizabeth holds space “to study” our embodiment. She offers a fresh perspective, which allows the ancient and esoteric to become contemporary and real. Students are encouraged to cultivate curiosity as they pause, breathe and sense into the internal cues of Life coursing through them in order to align even within a rigorous practice. Yoga as a healing art is revealed. Primarily committed to Shriyoga’s NYC laboratory classes and private lessons, Elizabeth has also taught retreats with Sally Kempton at the Mount Madonna Center and Kripalu, on Ram Dass’ December 2010 retreat in Maui and has assisted Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor at both their Yoga Workshop in Boulder and at the Menla Mountain Retreat in upstate NY. The locations of her other international retreats and workshops have included Tokyo, Luang Prabang, Tulum, Sicily, Morocco, Costa Rica, Italy and Bangkok. She has also offered her expertise as part of the teacher training faculty of Sonic Yoga in NYC, the faculty of the Open Center in NYC and as a past guest presenter at Kripalu. She is looking forward to new collaborations in 2020 including an on-line mentorship/study of the Yoga Sutra, and the worldwide release of original mantra music through the collective, Laboratory of the Self!
	Elyse McLaughlin is the Assistant Director of SHRIYOGA. She discovered yoga through her practice of movement and creative arts over 18 years ago. She had originally practiced for the physical benefits of yoga. The turning point for her came when intense work weeks in the corporate world required that she find a way to seek personal balance and relive stress. Yoga became more than a physical exercise, but a way to reconnect to herself and find strength and flexibility on and off the mat. Inspired by the way yoga had positively impacted her life; she decided to exit the corporate world at the end of 2014 to pursue the 200-hour Vinyasa Flow certification at Sonic Yoga, NYC. Following her certification, Elyse began practicing and studying with her now mentor, Elizabeth Rossa. It has been through this continued studentship and mentoring that Elyse has been able to develop a deep appreciation and gratitude for the never ending studying of what it means to be still, create space, and listen. This is the place she now practices and teaches from. She has pursued training in meditation with Sally Kempton, yoga for kids, restorative yoga, yoga for athletes, and yoga for those who have experienced trauma. Elyse’s style of teaching is focused on alignment and incorporating the foundations of yoga. Known for breaking down the poses, to then build them back up, in a strong and focused flow, her classes are accessible to all levels, especially those new to, or wanting to return to and deepen their practice.
	Ylfa Edelstein, born and raised in Iceland, has been a seeker and student of yoga and contemplative studies for over 20 years. Recently completing the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training with David Nichtern at Tibet House, Ylfa is honored to serve as a teacher on the Shri Yoga virtual platform. It is a natural place for Ylfa to land, having been a student of Elizabeth Rossa’s since 2014. She is also currently studying with Reverend Masaki Matsubara at The Zen Studies Society. Other notable training includes intensive yoga studies and teacher training with master teacher, Steve Ross, at his celebrated Maha Yoga in Los Angeles from 2001-2006. Currently living in New York City, Ylfa is a life time professional actress, musician, writer and visual artist. Welcome to her Tuesday 12pm Simply Meditation class!
	Johnny Rossa has been practicing meditation for quite some time with different teachers in Los Angeles and New York City. Primarily residing in LA, he has been working in the entertainment industry as both a performer and in production and is certified through the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Training at The Tibet House in NYC with David Nichtern. Recently he has created Mantra Music and a Short Film with his sister Elizabeth Rossa who is a yoga and meditation teacher in NYC. During the early days of the lockdown, they collaborated as a sister/brother directing and editing team on a music video/short film for their original song “Ganapataye” in which Johnny just won the “Best Editing” award in the 2020 Global Nonviolent Film Festival. Welcome to his class on Life Energy Meditation!