Faculty | The Hard & the Soft Yoga Institute
Beryl Bender Birch, Our Director
Our Director:
Beryl Bender Birch, eRYT500, author, certified yoga therapist, and social activist, has been teaching yoga and meditation around the world since 1974. She is co-founder and board chair of the Give Back Yoga Foundation and Executive Director of The Hard & The Soft Yoga Institute (the internationally renowned and highly respected teacher certification school). She has been training yoga teachers through her school since l980 and brings tremendous wisdom and understanding to the practice of yoga.
From asana to meditation, Beryl explains why it is critical we practice, not just for ourselves, but for all of humanity as well. Beryl draws from her many books, including Power Yoga and Beyond Power, as well as from her over 47 years of teaching and practice. Her students are a global family of yoga teachers and practitioners, folks just like you, who have stepped up, with courage and strength, to be pro-active leaders in their communities and are working to give back, create change, and heal our world.
About Beryl:
Beryl is a renowned teacher, not only for her knowledge of classical yoga and her studies of the Yoga Sutra, but for her abilities to brilliantly and intuitively access a student’s weaknesses and misalignments, both physically and psychologically, and prescribe specific yoga practices for healing and growth. Her down to earth, accessible style of teaching has made her a beloved and highly sought after teacher. She pioneered the introduction of yoga into the athletic community in 1980, when she became the Wellness Director of the New York Road Runners Club. She continued in that position until 2002, teaching yoga classes in New York City to over 100,000 students in that 22 year period of time.
Power Yoga:
Beryl coined the term “power yoga” and her Power Yoga classes in New York (and workshops all over the country) were the first and original “power” yoga program. Based on the astanga sequences (Beryl’s personal practice since l979), Beryl adapted the power practice for athletes of all sports, ages, and abilities, which is one of the reasons the program rocketed to success. Her first book, Power Yoga, was published in 1995 and sold nearly 300,000 copies. She has since then written 3 more books, Beyond Power Yoga (the philosophy of the 8 limbed yoga path), Boomer Yoga (practice for aging athletes), and Yoga for Warriors (written for veterans and men and women in active duty military)
Her Background:
A former biofeedback researcher with a degree in English and philosophy from Syracuse University, she has been an avid student of classical yoga, meditation, and the study of consciousness since l971. She traveled to India in l974 to further her studies and has been training yoga students and teachers through her school, The Hard & The Soft Yoga Institute, for nearly 40 years. She is a long time leader in speaking out on the critical importance of spiritual revolution, the combination of activism and practice.
Lori Klein
Lori Klein, eRYT-500,MPH: Nutrition, NDTR, has been a dedicated student and practitioner of the eight-limbed path of classical yoga for over 20 years.
She is an adjunct professor of Nutrition and Kinesiology at West Chester University of PA where she teaches Plant-Based Culinary Nutrition.
Lori also teaches a variety of Yoga courses, co-directs the University’s 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program, and mentors students in developing Sustainability Service Projects.
She practices karma yoga by consistently sharing yoga and healthful eating practices at events on the college campus and within her community.
Sheila Magalhaes
Sheila Magalhaes, E-RYT 500, CYT, is the owner/director of Heartsong Yoga Center – serving the East Longmeadow, MA community for over 25 years.
She is a 500 hour graduate of The Hard & The Soft Yoga Institute and has completed hundreds of additional hours of post graduate studies through our school. She also holds an advanced certification from the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health and is a YogaEd Tools for Teachers instructor, training classroom educators to share yoga with their students.
As an adjunct professor at Springfield College from 1994 to 2012, she taught undergrad students and the diverse and multi-cultural “learners in later life” in their School of Human Services. She is a frequent guest speaker in corporate, school and civic settings.
Ann Richardson Stevens
Ann Richardson Stevens, eRYT, is the director and owner of Studio Bamboo in Virginia Beach, VA and a board member of Give Back Yoga Foundation.
She has been teaching yoga and training teachers for 14 years. Ann frequently assists Beryl in workshops and trainings and also studies extensively with Matthew Sanford and Mind Body Solutions.
She pioneered the use of yoga therapy with her work with the military developing adaptive yoga practices for injured Marines and Navy Seals.
Maribeth MacKenzie
Maribeth MacKenzie, MS Ed, E-RYT 500, CYT, Chopra Center Perfect Health Instructor, is the owner of Inlet Yoga and Director of Education of Inlet Yoga School located in Murrells Inlets, SC.
She is a graduate of The Hard & The Soft Yoga Institute, certified Perfect Health Instructor through the Chopra Center and a certified Yoga for Golfers Instructor.
As a classroom teacher for nearly 20 years and yoga practitioner and teacher for over two decades, Maribeth combines her passion for teaching with her love of yoga.
Using her experience as a Certified Yoga Therapist in combination with her expertise in Ayurveda, she provides a practice that is accessible for every body and inspires her students to experience and celebrate their uniqueness. Maribeth encourages her students to create a life in balance.
Suzanne Manafort
Suzanne Manafort, eRYT, is Director of Newington Yoga Center, Founder/Director of Mindful Yoga Therapy, and a board member of The Give Back Yoga Foundation.
She has been practicing yoga since 1994 and studying with Beryl for 15 years. In 2007, Suzanne began her work with veterans as a volunteer for those struggling with post-traumatic stress (PTSD).
Today, her programs for PTSD are used by 10,000 veterans and 47 VA hospitals nationwide. She is the co-author of Mindful Yoga Therapy for Veterans, Practice Guide and has produced three breathing and meditation CDs.
Nydia Tijerina Darby
Nydia Tijerina Darby, PT, DPT, CIAYT, E-RYT500 is Doctor of Physical Therapy and an experienced yoga educator.
She developed the Therapeutic Astanga Method™ (TAM™) over the course of 38 years and is the Owner & Director of Nydia’s Yoga Therapy Studio and Director of Therapeutics at the Open Hand Institute in San Antonio, Texas.
Nydia is adjunct professor at St. Mary’s University in SA, Texas. She developed and implemented the curriculum for two 3 hour credit courses offered within the Exercise Sports Science Department: “Living Yoga” and “Yoga for Healthcare & Fitness Professionals.” Nydia is a published author of yoga research in the Journal of Physiotherapy, Theory & Practice 2015.
She developed and implemented the Yoga protocol in an extensive Yoga & Breast Cancer research collaboration with the University of Texas Health Science Center. Nydia is a guest lecturer for the local physical therapy schools in San Antonio, introducing PT students to how a physical therapist integrates yoga & physical therapy, provides community-based access to therapeutic yoga & operates a yoga studio.
Nydia also offers continuing education for Rehabilitation Specialists in order to introduce her method of therapeutic yoga for clinical use and acts as a liaison between the yoga and medical communities in San Antonio and surrounding communities in Texas.
Nydia has combined work in orthopedic, spine and pelvic health physical therapy with extensive movement, fitness and yoga experience to create a unique service that melds traditional western physical therapy with traditional eastern Hatha yoga lifestyle practices. These practices are intended to empower all levels of practitioners, to make yoga movement & lifestyle practices accessible and to encourage breath centered movement activity that has the potential to positively influence optimum states of health & wellbeing for the long-term.
She is an ambassador for yoga therapy in the medical community and brings a variety of yoga practices into the integrative medical approach to wellness and healing
Nancy Garnhart
Nancy Garnhart, MS, LMT, ERYT 500, IAYT, is co-owner and director of Yoga in ME in Eliot, Maine and founder and director of FREE Yoga for Veterans. The FREE Yoga for Veterans program provides ongoing free and by donation drop in yoga classes that allow veterans to make this healing practice a regular part of their everyday lives.
She is a 500 hour graduate with The Hard & The Soft Yoga Institute.
Danielle Goldstein
Danielle Goldstein, eRYT, is the founder and owner of Mindful Turtle Yoga & Wellness in Stony Brook, NY. In addition to her trainings with Beryl, she holds a 200 and 500 hour yoga teacher training certification from the Yoga Teacher Training Institute in Long Island, NY.
Danielle graduated from CW Post University and holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling. She specializes in developing therapeutic yoga practices for those recovering from trauma and serves on the board of The Morgan Center, a preschool for children undergoing chemotherapy.
Stacey Duquette
Stacey Duquette, e-RYT 500, has been practicing Yoga since 1990 and has been teaching since 1997.
In addition to her training with Beryl, she holds a 300 hour training certificate from the Piedmont Yoga Studio under the mentorship of Rodney Yee and has attended many intensive teacher trainings with Shiva Rea.
She draws on her background in Modern Dance, as a Pilates Trainer and a Licensed Massage Therapist with a specialty in Orthopedic Manual Therapy. Her teaching style integrates detailed alignment awareness, somatic movement and joy. She currently teaches at Heartsong Yoga in E. Longmeadow, MA.
Ellen Bain
Ellen Bain, MS, RYT500, a former Division 1 athlete, has been a student of yoga since l996, when she was introduced to yoga to address a sports related injury. She received her master’s degree in sports administration from Ohio University and spent two decades in sales and leadership roles representing Nike in 5 key cities across the United States.
Ellen is a graduate of The Hard & The Soft Yoga Teacher Training programs and has logged thousands of teaching hours at Equinox Fitness Clubs and several other top yoga studios in New York City, Los Angeles and Santa Barbara since 2007. She has assisted her mentor, Beryl Bender Birch, at several national yoga conferences. In addition, Ellen served as the official yoga instructor for the Nike North American sales force from 2011 to 2013.
Ellen is the founder/director of Peak Power Yoga and Wellness in Ojai, California.