Our Teachers
Danielle Goldstein, Director, MS, NCC, RYT-200
Danielle has had a dedicated yoga practice for over ten years. Through her study with many different teachers she has developed respect and appreciation for yoga and its life changing possibilities.
Her training includes 200 hour yoga teacher training from the Yoga Teacher Training Institute under the guidance of Ma Mokshapriya Shakti and Marianne Mitsinikos, and pilates mat training from Pilates on Fifth. She has also studied extensively with Beryl Bender Birch. She is currently working towards her 500 hour certification.
Danielle is also a parent and child counselor with over fifteen years of experience in the fields of education and counseling. She holds a Master's Degree in Counseling and is a Nationally Certified Counselor.
Tony Barca, RYT-200, CPT
Tony Barca is a Yoga Alliance registered and an Into This World YTT certified yoga teacher, with an extensive background in personal training and anotomy. These factors, coupled with his 40+ years as a musician provide the tools for a completely unique yoga experience. His dedication to "paying it forward", so that all may share in what he has learned makes his classes fun, informative and enlightening. His dedication to encouraging people and the realization that no one is perfect creates a safe and happy atmosphere for all who enter the class.
Tony's passion for music is felt everywhere in his classes, private sessions and corporate series workshops. Whether it's rockin', or soothing as a lullaby, music is an integral part of Tony's inspiration. A veteran guitar player, singer and songwriter, he uses 40+ years in music to create mood, energy and rhythm. Don't be surprised if he breaks out his guitar and serenades you during the class.
Tony seeks to create balance in his classes by blending his great respect for Yogic traditions and his passion for music with a physical challenge and a practical philosophical approach. Like a magician pulling a never-ending stream of tricks from his bag, Tony brings something new and creative to every class. He weaves music, themes and poses together for a fun and inspiring experience. His kindness, sincere honor & respect for his students, and entertaining sense of humor create a nurturing atmosphere in which sudents are encouraged to think, feel, laugh, work, play, smile and maybe even sing during their yoga practice.
Tony's certifications and affiliations include:
- Into this World Yoga Teacher Certified (200 hour)
- Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher (200 hour)
- Trained in Prenatal Yoga
- NESTA Certified Personal Trainer
- Member of the Long Island Yoga Association
Visit Tony's website for more information about him: www.rockasana.com
Bob Bradley
Bob Bradley is a certified Alexander Technique Teacher. He graduated from The American Center for the Alexander Technique in 1998. He has a private practice in East Setauket and teaches out of the Music Building at Stony Brook University.
Kelly Cummings-Briganti
Kelly has studied Dance and movement for years. She started dancing at age six as a way to overcome her shyness. She loved feeling free; after having to sit at a desk in school ALL Day.
She continued her love of movement by attending Point Park University in Pittsburgh for Dance. After Graduating, she worked as a Personal Trainer, Assistant Manager at various Gyms in the Tri-State area as well as the Program Coordinator for the 92nd street Y.
In 1998, she after missing working one on one with people and helping them achieve their personal goals, she became a Certified Pilates Teacher. In 2005 wanting to be able to provide more for her clients she enter The Feldenkrais Method Training Program in NYC with David Zemach-Bersin, Anna Johnsson Chase and Sheryl Field. All students of Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais' early trainings in Berkeley, California.
This felt like a re-awakening to her original love of movement. Since graduating in 2009, she has worked with various students from all walks of life; adults looking for relief from chronic back, neck and/or shoulder issues. As well as, young adults looking to improve their performance in singing and dance. Everyday she is more amazed by this brilliant method and looks forward to helping others achieve their goals. For more information on The Feldendkrais Method please visit The Feldenkrais Institute.
Misty Curreli, RYT-200
Misty has been practicing Ashtanga yoga since 2003 and started training to become a teacher in 2004. She received her 200 hour Yoga Alliance certification in 2006 from Lehigh Valley Yoga Center in Allentown, PA under the guidance of Erica McHugh (Sulzer). Since then she has been teaching a number of classes in Suffolk County, including the Ashtanga Primary Series, Beginner's Ashtanga, Ashtanga inspired Vinyasa, Mysore, Yoga in Chairs, and Yoga for Anxiety and Depression. Beginning in 2008, she developed and co-taught a new 200 hour Yoga Alliance approved Teacher Training program and will be continuing to teach this curriculum in 2010.
In addition to many workshops and trainings under her belt, Misty traveled to Mysore, India in the summer of 2007 to study with Sri K. Pattabi Jois (the Guru of Ashtanga Yoga) and his grandson, Sharath Rangaswamy. Beyond the study of asana and pranayama, India taught her many lessons about the 8 limbs of yoga, and she began to know a deeper understanding of ahimsa (non-violence) and non-attachment, which continues to permeate her ways of teaching and being.
Misty is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology and is researching pain management and healing through conventional and alternative medical systems for her dissertation.
Nicole Diamante, RYT-200
Nicole has studied dance for most of her life and its fluidity and grace led her to her yoga practice. She appreciates the beauty of yoga as a way of life, as well as its ability to regulate, calm and heal the body. She received her 200-hour Yoga teacher certification at "The Studio for Yoga and More" where she had the opportunity to study one-on-one with her teacher. While in her training she was exposed to and especially became interested in the language of Sanskrit and the Ayurvedic Lifestyle. She is a registered yoga instructor recognized by the Yoga Alliance. In her personal practice Nicole enjoys gentle yoga, Vinyasa, Power, and Yin yoga. Nicole's teaching focuses on honoring your body through awareness and respect for your physical and mental being. She enjoys teaching beginners as well as advanced students and believes that yoga is applicable to all. Her classes are open to all levels.
Karen Dubi
Karen is a dedicated practitioner and student of yoga for over ten years. She is deeply committed to her daily yoga practice. Karen is a graduate of the Yoga Teacher Training Institute (YTTI) of Long Island and a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher, accredited with Yoga Alliance.
For many years, Karen devoted her practice and teachings to the Ashtanga Vinyasa System of yoga, as taught by Sri Pattabhi Jois. She holds several teaching certifications in this system of yoga practice.
In recent years, Karen has been inspired to teach yoga in a manner that focuses on the unique needs of each individual, based on their physical, mindful and emotional goals and pursuits. A growing interest in studying and teaching yoga as a means of healing led Karen to her current teacher, in the tradition of Krishnamacharya, as taught by the TKV Desikachar and his family in India and across the world. This tradition views yoga as a healing discipline, offering a variety of tools that promote self discovery, clarity and stability. Karen provides students with a comfortable, safe and supportive environment on an individual basis and in group class settings.
Karen is also a Registered Dietitian and Certified Nutrition Therapist. Students are offered a holistic dietary approach for improving their health which allows them to better manage life's changes.
Valerie Fontana
Valerie's background as a certified medical assistant led her down the path to studying the healing properties of Yoga. With a strong foundation of anatomy and a respect for the human body, her classes span all ages from teens to seniors, with a focus on healing.
Certified at the Kripalu Institue 200 hour and working toward her 500 hour, Valerie is also certified in Yoga Nidra (meditation and relaxation) and holds sessions regularly. She is also certified in Children's Yoga and is a member of KYTA and LIYA.
Valerie has studied with such masters as:
- Tias Little - The Chakras
- Gary Krafsto - Yoga for Wellness
- Todd Norian - Flying, Balancing and Inversions
- Seane Corn - Vinyasa Flow Teacher Training, Detox Flow: Purification of Body, Mind and Spirit
- Shiva Rea - Foundational Vinyasa Flow Teacher Training
- Amrit Desai (Kripalu Institute and Amrit Yoga founder) - Yoga Nidra workshops
With the support of her family and friends, who continue to inspire her, Valerie brings to her classes a passion and commitment for the healing and well-being of her students.
Lisa Iacono, The Peaceful Warrior
To enhance her martial arts practice, Lisa began her yogic journey ten years ago with an Iyengar teacher who studied under Jeff Logan. Over the past 15 years, she has achieved black belts in Tae Kwon Do and Jujitsu.
Lisa is a registerd yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance. After her first teacher training with Shiva Rea, Lisa was hooked on Vinyasa, and she developed her Shakti Yoga from this experience. Some of her favorite teaches are Shiva Rea, Duncan Wong, Baron Baptiste and John Friend. Blending science, spirit, philosophy and art into one, the path of the peaceful warrior transforms and energizes body, mind and spirit.
Sara Intonato
Sara Patey Intonato, E-RYT 500, took her first yoga class as an 18 year old college student in Boston, Massachusetts. She was immediately attracted to the combination of body awareness, strength, and grace brought forth in the yoga experience. She fell in love with yoga and began practicing daily. By the time she graduated from Boston University in 2003, Sara had already completed her 200 hour Hatha Yoga certification and begun focusing her practice and teaching in the Ashtanga Vinyasa tradition under the tutelage of David Swenson. She experienced a calling to teach all Eight Limbs of Yoga and is proud to be a teacher of this ancient science.
After relocating to Long Island, New York in 2003, Sara deepened her knowledge of Yoga by studying with David Williams, Shiva Rea, and Dharma Mitra. In December 2006 Sara received her 500 hour teaching certificate from the Yoga Teachers Training Institute. Sara received her E-RYT (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher) in October 2007 and teaches workshops for teacher trainees in addition to students. While Sara connects with the Ashtanga method for her own personal practice, she respects the creativity and freedom of the Vinyasa method, which she also teaches. A dancer for 15 years, Sara enjoys the fluidity of both these practices and their ability to unite the body, mind, and spirit.
Sara continues on the yogic path each day with her Mysore Ashtanga and Zen meditation practices. Since 2005 she has made annual visits to Mysore, India where she had the honor of studying with Guru Sri K. Pattabhi Jois until his death in 2009. She now continues her study of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in Mysore, India with R. Sharath. She studies Sanskrit and chanting with Dr. Jayashree, PhD. While in New York she deepens her Ashtanga practice under the instruction of Kino MacGregor and Tim Feldman, chanting with Danielle Tarantola, and spirituality with Ma Mokshapriya Shakti.
Sara is a passionate teacher who believes in the healing powers of yoga and how life altering they can be. She encourages all her students to live a yogic life both on and off the mat. Positive change in the world begins on an individual level and she is committed to helping others renew their entire being.
Jackie Incorvia
Jackie's own yoga practice, coupled with a growing interest in Eastern philosophy, took her to India to 2008 to study classical Hatha yoga for four months. That year, Jackie earned her 200-hour certification at Yoga Teachers Training Institute in Queens, NY. She is currently pursuing her 500-hour certification to deepen her personal practice and her teaching. She is interested in expanding her knowledge and exploring other Eastern systems of healing which involve the marriage of mind to body and yield physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits.
Jackie teaches both Eclectic Hatha and Vinyasa classes largely influenced by the Ashtanga practice. Her style blends several traditions to create a dynamic cohesive flow, the aim of which is to develop strength, flexibility, stamina, concentration and confidence in her students.
Lisa Meléndez
Lisa came to yoga as a means for dealing with asthma, and has now been practicing for over eight years. She is currently deepening her studies as a student in the Healing Yoga Foundation's 500-hour teacher training program. Committed to yoga as a tool for developing self-awareness and a calm mind, both on-and-off the mat, Lisa practices in the tradition of Krishnamacharya.
Theresa Moje
Theresa's journey with Yoga began in 2000 with a gift certificate from her husband for a six week Yoga and Meditation session. It was during her first savasana that a shift occurred and she knew there was much more to this practice than relaxation. She then began her path with the teachings of Siddha Yoga, where she became a devote, following the spiritual practices of Gurumayi Chidvilasananda. Theresa stayed at the ashram in Shoughfallsburg, NY where she took Meditation Intensives and Yoga & Meditation workshops with John Friend and Bill Mahoney. It was through these practices that Theresa decided to become a Yoga and Meditation Instructor
Theresa has been practicing meditation for 9 years and teaching for 4 years. Her teachings and studies come from the Siddha Yoga Lineage and Kripalu Yoga & Health in Lenos, Massachusetts. Siddha Yoga meditation focuses on chanting a Mantra, and then bringing the vibration of the mantra within and meditating.
- 2004 - Certified 200 hour Kripalu Teacher Training
- 2004 - Kripalu Meditation Certification
- 2006 - Karma Yoga Kids - Children's Yoga Certification
- 2007 - Kripalu Yoga Nidra Certification
Theresa is also a Certified Reflexologist and Reiki Practitioner.
Danielle Tarantola
Danielle Tarantola, director of The Yoga Foundation, is a teacher certified by the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation. She also trains teachers and offers Yoga Therapy. Through continued, extensive training in India and across the United States with the Desikachar family, she labors to ensure that yoga's profound wisdom comes through clearly, simply, and with total relevancy for our modern times and conditions.
