Ian Szydlowski-Alvarez

Ian is the teacher program director at Jivamukti Yoga Paris, scheduled to open in March 2020.

He hopes to inspire and serve others by offering an integrated practice and experience of Yoga as he has practiced and understood it from his teachers. Yoga practice not only as an instrument towards liberation– but as liberation in itself – as taught in the exciting tradition of Jivamukti Yoga. He loves practicing and teaching Jivamukti. Over many years he attended classes as a student at the center in New York, and this was a daily ritual that complemented his life there for so long he always wants to share that love. Ian is indebted to all his teachers and masters over the years, especially his mentor Rima Rabbath who ultimately showed such dedication and service that she has inspired him to follow on this path as best he may. May yoga can be a tool to help us learn to be more receptive in order to nourish our highest potential! Ian believes Yoga asana not only transforms the physical body, and can lead to radiant health, but working with the other limbs of Yoga can purify our subtlest form and prepare us to be a better vehicle, a better servant, to make of ourselves like a light like the Buddha has said.

Maria Macaya

Maria is an 800 hour Advanced Certified Jivamukti teacher. She was born in Madrid, and lived abroad for thirty years in the US, Europe and Latin America before moving to Barcelona with her husband and three children in 2014. Maria has been practicing yoga since 2000. Jivamukti’s focus on a dynamic practice that places strong emphasis on scriptures and on the well being of all, has magnetized her since she discovered the method with Yogeswari in 2001.

In 2016 she had the fortune of doing her 800 hour apprenticeship with Jules Febre whose creativity, energy and his demand for excellence pushed her to try to want to always become a better, more knowledgeable teacher who can better serve all students. She teaches at the Barcelona Jivamukti Yoga Center where she also mentors students for the 800 hour apprenticeship.

Maria is also trained in yoga for mental disorders including trauma, addiction, depression and anxiety and is currently studying an MsC in Psychology and Neuroscience of Mental Health with King’s College. She works with individuals and groups to offer them a practice that can best complement the traditional therapy they receive.

HaChi Yu

Ha-Chi Yu was born and raised on the Lower East Side of NYC. She grew up dancing in the parks and sidewalks of the city, which she has been blessed to be doing in some form ever since. She was a principal dancer with Feld Ballet/Ballet Tech for over 20 years during which time other projects included work with New York City Ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and as a Principal on the Tony Award winning Broadway show FOSSE.

Ha-Chi is a Certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher and the Production Director for all Jivamukti Yoga® Teacher Training programs. She has studied within many schools and practices including Sivananda, Iyengar, Ashtanga, and Tripsichore. Ha-Chi is also a certified teacher in Gyrotonic ™, the Pilates method, and Thai Yoga Massage. Her background as a dancer and teacher has taken her around the world where she has taught master classes at colleges and universities and has performed on many of the world’s finest stages with some of the greatest performing artists of our time.

Through strength, flexibility, and fluidity Ha-Chi’s classes focus on the practices as an integration of ancient teachings into our modern day life with relevance, joy and reverence.

Ha-Chi sends love and gratitude to all her teachers including Richard Thomas, Robert Moses, Sharon Gannon and David Life, and her friend and compatriot Jules Febre as well as all others. The opportunity to study with such holy teachers as HH Radhanath Swami and HH the Dalai Lama inspires and motivates her dedication to be of service to the world. She continues to travel and study whenever she can…And dances with the whirling dervishes whenever they cross her path.

Petros Haffenrichter

I run two Jivamukti Yoga Schools since 2003 and give workshops, kirtans, and retreats around the world. Summers I spends since 2001 mainly in my yoga-retreat “kretashala” at the Southcoast of Crete. Born into a family of artists and musicians I’m a dedicated lifelong student of arts and music and play a variety of instruments. I have performed in countless concerts and festivals and have published music on several albums, most recent on petros&friends “embrace” in 2009. Petros, musician, yogi, philosopher, life-artist is a senior Jivamukti yoga teacher, opened his first yoga-school in 2002, directed several yoga schools in Germany and runs one of the most renown Yoga Retreats in Europe / Kretashala, Triopetra in Crete / Greece. He has been a regular guest teacher and performed Kirtan in yoga schools of different traditions around the world and at intl.festivals for many years, teaching and lecturing. Asana, Pranayama, NadaYoga, and Philosophy. Through is present, funny and deep teaching he has been influential to many practitioners and has taught and educated hundreds of Yoga teachers globally. Petro’s honest, funny and challenging teaching inspires to be fully aware in the present moment. So experience comes through intuition and not from a place of personal preference or dislikes. Returning to that place, where, independently from outer circumstance there always is peace: the pure light of the heart. There are many obstacles, yoga gives us the possibility to free ourselves from. So our true nature remains no longer hidden. We really are free, wild, full of love and joy – without conditioning, without fear. He has great gratitude for all teachers, known and unknown, he had the honour to study with and is thankful to all circumstance that give us the chance to experience this feeling of unity, of non-separateness. To learn to accept the greatest of all teachers: our life. Q & A: • How did you come to find the path of Yoga/Jivamukti Yoga specifically? -My grandfather was a co-founder of the German anthroposophic society where Vedic philosophy, meditation, and yoga was a key element to a holostic approach to life. my father was practicing yoga every morning and practically every book in our house had to do with some form of philosophy, psychology, spirituality or arts. With that kind family influence, of course, wanted nothing to do with all that ? but as I was trying to learn how to hold my breath for a long time to hang out underwater for longer when I was 20, I figured yogis know best. so I went to a pranayama teacher in Greece – from there I found myself in all kinds of yoga teachings, feeling that these practices (asana, breath, concentration, dialogue, dedicated activities of attentiveness, sound, devotion, hanging with likeminded souls) really resonated with me and felt so familiar. on my path, I met many known and unknow knowers of the field, and I always enjoyed spending time with them. all together I trust that your dharma finds you, rather than you looking for the right form of personally preferred activity. I teach Jivamukti Yoga because it gave me the opportunity to emphasize what to my understanding is the most important practice in our time: kindness, nonviolence, the integrity of life and our responsibility to honor that. • Has yoga helped you overcome any obstacles in your life? There are no obstacles • What do you think is the most rewarding part of your being a Yoga Teacher or Yogi? The Satsang • What type of yoga do you teach/practice? Hatha/Raja, karma, bhakti, jnana • What is special/different about this modality? All inclusiveness • How often do you practice yoga? Every day • How do you find time to practice/motivate yourself to practice in your daily life? Life is the practice. even if a mat is missing. • Do you have any advice for yogis struggling to make time to practice yoga in their busy schedule? Stop working. spend time in nature. trust. • Have you ever worked/currently work in charity and giving back? I understand the teaching of yoga as a contribution to a higher state of collective awareness – sharing on all levels is one of the most important attitudes in life. • What is your favorite quote about Yoga/Spirituality? OM TAT SAT • In what ways do you incorporate selfless acts of service into your life? / What charity/outreach work have you done in the past/now/plan to do in the future? I stick to the teachings: do good, don’t talk about it. be kind and share wherever, whenever, whatever you can offer.

Emma Henry

Emma Henry was introduced to yoga in the mid 90s and has been teaching since 1998 Her background in dance and martial arts is evident in her dynamic, innovative and playful choreography and understanding of anatomy and the subtle body.

Emma’s yogic path has led her to Mysore from practicing Astanga with Sri K Pattabhi Jois and to advanced certification in the Jivamukti method with Sharon Gannon and David Life.

Her continuing education is shared with all of her students through her love of yogic texts and her amazing chanting. All of her classes include an inspiring sound track and a lot of laughter. Her goal is to create a space for practitioners to feel inspired, nurtured and uplifted.

She hosts yoga workshops and retreats around the world with many happy yogis returning for more year after year and is a facilitator and mentor for the Jivamukti Teacher Training Program.