Margot’s passion for the creative goes far beyond her unique eye for design and innovative class sequencing. Margot has the ability to turn a room into a sanctuary, and a business into a community of people working together for a greater good. Margot began her life long love affair with yoga when she was just 13 years old and has made it a conscious effort to always have yoga in her life, by creating yoga programs at her high school and continuing her practice in college. Margot has achieved many yoga certifications, the most recent is her 500 hour certificate from Laughing Lotus Yoga Center in NYC. Margot’s style of teaching is influenced by over 15 years of devotion to her personal yoga practice. In class with Margot you will always find something new, wither it is new poses, beautifully choreographed sequences or amazing play lists. 

“I teach directly from my own mat. Whatever I am working on or undergoing in my own life/ practice will flow through me and then into my classes. I truly believe that Yoga is an extension or even a giant metaphor for how we live our lives and that every challenge we encounter wither on or off the mat is meant to help us learn a deeper lesson of how we live, communicate and treat ourselves” Says Margot. 

Margot has successfully owned and operated Breathing Room since 2009 and has committed to continuing her mission of providing good quality yoga at a fair price. Margot’s goal in opening Breathing Room was to create a space in which people can come and practice in their own way, hence the Breathing Room slogan, designed by Margot, “yoga for you”. By continuing on her path Margot is doing just that. Since 2009 Breathing Room has been voted “Best Yoga Center in New Haven” in both the New Haven Advocate and New Have Register.

Tobie was introduced to yoga in her early twenties but didn't start a dedicated practice until her 29th birthday when her mother brought her to Kripalu Center in the Berkshires. Since then she has completed her 200hr certification in an Iyengar influenced style of yoga. She has learned from teachers such as Rodney Yee, Seane Corn, Rolf Gates, Baron Baptiste and Stephen Cope. Tobie teaches a vinyasa style of yoga with an attention to form and alignment. She believes that form and alignment are the keys to freedom in the body and freedom in the breath. Being a massage therapist for the last 10 years and receiving her masters in clinical nutrition two years ago, Tobie has a well rounded understanding of the body. Her classes are challenging and fun while giving the students an awareness that they are ultimately their own teacher and can guide their practice to fit their needs. 

Influenced by several traditions, styles and teachers, my alignment-based classes are a decisive blend of what speaks to me and is at the forefront of my personal practice. My major influences include Katonah Yoga, Hatha, Kundalini Yoga, Yoga Nidra, meditation and my continued studies with my mentor, Elena Brower. I am honored to travel and assist at many of Elena’s retreats and workshops. In my classes I ask that we become more sensitive and specific with how we place our bodies and how we relate to ourselves. I think we are all attempting to understand ourselves a little bit better.  When our architecture is sound, when we are stable we can find more space. When we strengthen to become more buoyant, light, and serene in our bodies we create more ease. I believe our privilege is to create sustainable, mindful practices to increase longevity, endurance, resilience, and agility in every part of ourselves and our life at large. Living with a sense of ease means we can bring the best version of ourselves to the forefront, which is ultimately what we all want for ourselves and for the people close to us. 

Rebecca Smith (500 RYT 200 E-RYT) loves to challenge students to be curious on the mat, to seek a deeper understanding and connection to their internal experience, and to strike a balance between effort and ease through consistent practice. In other words, be playful, be present, try something new, but be disciplined and diligent in dedicating time to your yoga. In Rebecca’s vinyasa classes, you can expect to work hard, breath steady, rest easy, and sit quietly every time. Her sequencing is intentional and inviting to all levels to build the practice that’s right for you in the moment. Her favorite phrase to remind students of is “don’t be intimidated, be inspired!”

Though most of her classes are vinyasa, Rebecca enjoys teaching a variety of styles of yoga. Whether restorative or vigorous, she seeks to empower each student with self-care knowledge physically and mentally, always encouraging and hoping to inspire a consistent home practice. She draws on her dance background for creative movement, her personal injury recovery for modifications and healing, and her military years to bring discipline and strength to the mat.

Rebecca is honored to teach in both 200 & 300 hour programs for Lara Ward’s Lotus Gardens Yoga School and to be an ambassador for Veterans Yoga Project with Daniel Libby, Ph.D.

Sasha began her path as a yoga teacher in 2005 at the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Dhanwantari Ashram in India where she completed her first 200-hour training. It was here that she realized yoga to be a completely integrative way of life, far more than just the physical poses she had set out to learn. In 2006, she moved to Maui to continue her yogic quest and enrolled in her second 200-hour teacher training with Eddie Modestini and Nicki Doane. Here she studied in the Krishnamacharya lineage and deepened her understanding of physical alignment and yoga therapy. Sasha went on to become an Urban Zen Integrative Therapist (UZIT) in 2011 in NYC under her teachers Rodney Yee, Richard Freeman, Colleen Saidman Yee and Roshi Joan Halifax. At Urban Zen, Sasha learned to layer healing modalities such as essential oil therapy, Reiki, contemplative care, and restorative yoga for use with patients, workers and families in hospital settings and also for her own self-care. Sasha is honored and humbled to be carrying on the ancient tradition of hatha yoga and excited for the continuous discovery of alignment within the body and within everyday life. 

Avery is a wanderer, crazy animal lady, and lover of food and laughter. An MA, ERYT200 and RYT500, she has lived, traveled, and taught throughout Europe, Asia, and Central and North America. She leads retreats, workshops, and classes for professional athletes, anxiety and depression sufferers, veterans, and studio and corporate clients in Connecticut and abroad. Avery approaches each day with warmth, empathy, and a willingness to laugh at herself, maintaining a gently sarcastic sense of humor and a passion for her work. She has studied extensively with Alanna Kaivalya’s TKYM, Gwen Lawrence’s Power Yoga for Sports, and intensive Yoga Anatomy with Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews.  

After practicing various styles of yoga on and off for about 10 years, Amy began deepening her practice in 2008 at House of Yoga in Berkley, MI. She completed her 200 hour TT in 2013 at House of Yoga and Prenatal Yoga TT through Mindful Mamas Yoga in Detroit, MI in 2015. Amy also completed her PhD in clinical psychology in 2015. As a psychologist, she has integrated her interest in yoga and mindfulness meditation with research and clinical work, particularly for treating addiction and other mental health issues. Since relocating from Michigan to Connecticut for a fellowship position last year, Amy has become familiar with the BRYC community through her role as a karmie. She is looking forward to sharing a mindful prenatal yoga practice with BRYC mamas-to-be, reminding them (in the words of Thich Nhat Hahn) to "smile, breathe, and go slowly."

Amy is a E-RYT500hr Yoga Teacher and a Yoga Therapist in training with Inner Peace Yoga Therapy. She first received her 200-hr training in Vinyasa at Joschi Institute in Manhattan in 2013. Amy’s teaching has a foundation of Vinyasa flow for all levels. Her Vinyasa classes range from powerful and sweat-provoking to slow and meditative. In addition to Vinyasa she teaches Gentle Yoga, Yoga for Athletes, and Therapeutic Yoga, in group or individual settings. Her more recent in-depth study in anatomy and Yoga Therapy are interwoven in all of her classes. Amy fell in love with the Asana practice for the physical and physiological benefits, but it really started to change her life when she made the connection between the physical, emotional, and spiritual body. It was at that realization that Amy was able to transform anxiety and frequent panic attacks into a more calm and steady presence. Her purpose is to share the practice with others, to remind her students and herself that we are whole complete beings already and yoga helps us see that. She encourages her students to tune into awareness and mindfulness in order to learn when to increase effort and when to apply ease in their physical, mental, and spiritual yoga practice. Amy is continuing her education with Inner Peace Yoga Therapy of Durango, CO, in pursuit of her 1,000-hour certification as a Certified Yoga Therapist (CYT) through IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists), under the guidance of senior teachers such as Neil Pearson, Maria Mendola, Dr. Marc Halpern, Nischala Joy Devi , Amy Weintraub, Laura Kupperman, and Michele Lawerence.

Sasha Krushnic is enthusiastic about body awareness, and how its cultivation can expand our joyful patterns. 10+ years of vinyasa and ashtanga yoga practice has been a huge help to him in growing introspective awareness. In recent years that, work continues and is also turning outward with his new love of AcroYoga. Partner Acrobatics or AcroYoga has been a huge help to him in developing strength, coordination, awareness, and reflexes with neurons active in network with others!  He also teaches vinyasa flow, has a residential green design build practice, and is developing innovative high efficiency architectural products.

After years of nomadic lifestyle, sailing on Tall Ships and living in jungles, in 2010 Staci found a steady home practicing yoga. Her geographic and spiritual journey continued to unfold, bringing her to New Haven just in time for Breathing Room's inaugural 200 hour Teacher Training in 2014-2015.  She then went on to complete her Y12SR (Yoga of 12 Step Recovery) certification with Nikki Myers. 

Staci studies weekly at the Shambhala Meditation Center and incorporates many aspects of meditation and mindfulness into her Vinyasa and Restorative classes. She also teaches various forms of Recovery Yoga throughout New Haven and believes that yoga and meditation can be a very valuable relapse prevention tool, working to re-integrate the lost self.

Staci is honored to be able to continue to study here at Breathing Room with her amazing teachers and explore the living art of yoga together. 

Haley believes that everyone’s body and mind can benefit from the yoga journey. She began her own journey in 2002, when she signed up for Yoga 101 as part of a gym requirement for college. It was there that she was introduced to the various styles of yoga and learned basic postures as well as breathing exercises. She enjoyed the increased flexibility, strength, and the clarity of a calm mind; and immediately fell in love!

Haley loves learning and sharing what she has learned with others. She enjoys teaching mixed-level hatha, vinyasa flow and restorative classes that offer an introduction for students new to yoga while encouraging experienced students to deepen their awareness of technique, breath and movement.

Brett has been devoted to the study and application of how human beings work and thrive since 1995.
This in-depth study has been supported like a good chair with the four pillars of Yoga, Meditation, Chinese Medicine, and Life Coaching. He has been teaching Yoga since 2001. He has studied in the United States as well as in Mysore India under numerous esteemed teachers; Tias Little, Sarah Powers, and Adyashanti being foundational.Brett shares and teaches that which is true and alive in him. His teaching springs from a strong grounding in the Ashtanga Vinyasa tradition modified to suit differing levels and tempered by careful attention to finding both anatomical as well as "true" alignment in the poses. His approach encourages the release of holding, being and thinking patterns that make a home for fear and discomfort in the body.Brett certifies himself daily to step into unconditional peace, joy, and contentment (and sometimes stumbles in this :o).