The YogaLife Institute is the North American Headquarters of the 100 World-Wide Yoga Centres program of The Yoga Institute of Santa Cruz East, Mumbai, India. Dr. Bob Butera received daily personal tutelage for six-months in 1989 under Dr. Jayadeva and Hansaji Yogendra, the directors of The Yoga Institue (for more information on The Yoga Insitute, Mumbai, see their website). Founded in 1917, The Yoga institute was the first Yoga centre dedicated to teaching Yoga to the householder. Today, The YogaLife Institute offers Yoga programs for the average family person whose Yoga practice has the potential to reach profound awareness amidst an outwardly ordinary life.
The YogaLife Institute Staff
Bob Butera
Robert Butera, M.Div., Ph.D., director of The YogaLife Institute in Devon, Pennsylvania trains Yoga teachers, leads Seminars and writes on yoga. He publishes the popular Free holistic magazine for the greater Philadelphia Area, “Yoga Living.” The Yoga programs follow Dr. Bob’s book, Classical Yoga Study Guide.
Certified by The Yoga Institute, Bombay, India, where he lived for six months in 1989, Bob aims at bringing a non-sectarian form of Classical Yoga tailored for the householder. His Ph.D. dissertation for The California Institute of Integral Studies (1998) concerned a Yoga healing program for the immune system. Bob has a Masters of Divinity from The Earlham School of Religion (Quaker) and has lived in and studied meditation and personal growth in Japan, Taiwan, India and the United States.
Emphasizing education in his courses, Bob teaches clients how to understand their own needs and then, how to apply yoga practices individually. Health, emotional, social and spiritual difficulties are also addressed together with Yoga’s comprehensive psychology. The YogaLife Institute is the North American Headquarters of the 100 Yoga Centres program sponsored by The Yoga Institute of Mumbai, India.
Senior Teachers
Kristen Butera
Kristen is the manager of the YogaLife Institute as well as the assistant editor of Yoga Living magazine. A heart centered bhakti (devotional) yogini, she has been practicing yoga since 2002. As her practice developed, Kristen decided to hang up her corporate working gloves for good in 2006 and dove headfirst into a world of Karma yoga, teaching and serving the community full-time. As a certified 200 hr. teacher, she teaches self-acceptance and awareness in her classes, encouraging students to listen to their own body wisdom as they explore being present. Kristen is currently continuing her 500 hr. certification at the YogaLife institute and enjoys teaching both her Beginner and Prenatal students. When not teaching or practicing yoga, she enjoys gourmet cooking, gardening, reading, swimming, walking in Valley Forge and Jenkins Arboretum and spending time with loved ones.
Eva Arriaga
Eva’s teaching certification studies began at the Yoga Life Institute in 1998, and were completed in residence at the Yoga Institute in Bombay, India. Since that time, she has taught eight to ten classes per week, and has become one of the trainers of new teachers in the certification program. Eva comes to Yoga with broad experience in dance and fitness instruction. As a professional dancer, she taught and performed ballet, jazz, and flamenco for 18 years in both Spain and the US. She is a certified fitness instructor, and has experimented with a number of exercise methods.
Eva practices and teaches yoga as an ongoing process of self mastery. One of her great strengths is her ability to make students feel comfortable at their own level, whatever that may be. At the same time, she is accomplished enough to challenge and direct even the most gifted of students.
Randi Coen-Gilbert
I’ve been practicing yoga formally for 17 years, but feel that I’ve been doing it for most of my life. I completed Teacher Training through YogaLife Instititute in 2001. I love teaching pre-natal yoga, as well as all levels. Nature inspires my spiritual practice, and my kids constantly take my understanding to a deeper level!
Suzi Costello
Susi Costello: I began practicing yoga when I was 9 years old (YMCA - my friend’s “bohemian-type” mom taught the class in 1964). When my teacher stopped teaching in the 1970s, I suffered through various courses called “yoga” but really were more like aerobics in disguise. In the late 80s, I did find classes with a more spiritual component, which greatly improved my own personal practice and led me to re-read and learn more about yogic philosophy (I first read the Bhagavad Gita when I was 11, so you can imagine how little I understood).
Finding YogaLife was like coming home for me. I am so glad I took the teacher training program; it helped me integrate my life holistically. Teaching at YogaLife is a wonderful experience; I definitely gain as much as I give. I also teach yoga at my job as a psychiatric nurse. Meditation, concentration, asana, and the acceptance of reality have been enormously helpful to my patients. I’m also a Reiki practitioner and massage therapist, and continue to study and research the influence of Yoga and Buddhist psychology on people with stress problems.
Jim Dougherty
I came to Yoga Life Institute in 2000 seeking calmness and to escape from my busy life as a veterinarian and business owner. At the time, I had no idea what a life altering decision that would be. I eventually entered the Teacher Training Program and completed the course in the summer of 2004. My goal in teaching is to help others discover how their life can be improved in so many ways through Classical Yoga at Yoga Life Institute.
Sue Hardy
My 17 year profession has been as Psychotherapist and Clinical Coordinator in the Addictions and Mental Health field (Certified Addictions Counselor in PA, and Internationally, and Licensed Professional Counselor in PA). I started Yoga Teacher Training at The Yoga Lifestyle Center in Phoenixsville, PA (now known as YogaLife Institute and located in Devon, PA) and became a Certified Yoga Teacher on June 1, 2001. This journey began with the goal of assisting others to manage stress and anxiety but very quickly I recognized it was the Spiritual path that I had been led to in order to discover and honor self first and then to be more productive in my practice of being present for others. The door of learning that has opened for me through Yoga practice and teaching continues to make clear to me that I know only the moment.
Keith Knoebel
Keith Knoebel, having begun his formal Yoga training in 2003, brings a fresh enthusiasm to his practice and teaching. In 2006, he completed massage training which has deepened his understanding of the mind-body connection. Keith is a personal trainer and fitness instructor and an avid soccer player.
Bob Mauch
Bob Mauch began his Yoga practice in 1963 and also studied and practiced various forms of meditation over the years. He incorporated these practices into his everyday life, including his career as CEO of several corporations as well as athletic pursuits (marathons). He is currently working on a writing project relating the pragmatic application of yoga practices at the workplace.
Mythri Menon
I have been practicing yoga since 1999. Yoga has brought “awareness” into my life. I have realized “to be aware” - aware of everything the world, the nature, people, senses, habits, emotions, ego, etc… makes the path smoother in this journey of self realization. It is a blessing to be aware and an honor to share this blessing with all.
Angela Nevius
My first Yoga experience was in 1977; a series of classes where I learned Asanas, poses, and Pranayama, breathing. The breathing techniques became an integral part of my life taking me through stress filled sales jobs and the birth of my two sons. My practice fluctuated over the years until I came to Yoga Life Institute in 2001. I have taken the Yogic path to heart. I love teaching and hope that I can help inspire others to move toward a calmer, more peaceful and loving way by being there to answer their questions and encourage their practice. I look forward to sharing my practice with you.
Chris Paynter
Chris has been practicing Yoga since 1990 and teaching since 1998. Yoga has had a positive impact on his personal and spiritual development. It has brought him closer to his core being and intensified who he is as a person. Being a teacher is part of his path of service. He identifies easily with youth and he learns from them as much or more than they learn from him.
Erika Tennebaum
Erika Tennebaum has been practicing yoga since 2001 and teaching since 2004. She came to Yoga Life Institute in October 2004 after trying several other studios, and immediately knew she’d found a home. When not working as a Aesthetician (skin care specialist) during the day, Erika is reading and looking for ways to deepen her practice. A firm believer in the tenets of yogic tradition, she relishes the opportunity to share her vision and experience with the students of Yoga Life Institute.