Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Yee are the Directors of the Yoga Therapy component of the UZIT program. They will provide the core of the yoga therapy instruction.

Rodney Yee has been curious about the mind and body for as long as he can remember. Upon taking his first yoga class in 1980, he knew it would be a lifelong passion. Now that his mind and body are going through midlife, he is much more curious about the spirit. His spirit is fed by his wife, Colleen Saidman and his four children. Teaching is still a main vehicle for Rodney to understand union. He has created dozens of DVDs through Gaiam and two books, “Yoga: The Poetry of the Body” and “Moving Toward Balance,” both written with Nina Zolotow. Rodney is also co-founder, with Colleen, of the Gaiam Yoga Club.

In 1994, after enduring back surgery, Colleen Saidman Yee’s commitment to yoga practice deepened. Upon graduating from Jivamukti’s Teacher Training program in 1998, Colleen began her career as a yoga instructor. Her passion for working in health care started at a geriatric center while still an adolescent. Certified in Shiatsu, Colleen traveled throughout Europe and Asia studying complementary medicine and spiritual healing. She has lived in Calcutta, India working with Mother Theresa at the Home of the Destitute and Dying. Currently, Colleen serves as a co-chair of the Urban Zen Foundation’s Wellbeing Initiative, dedicated to bringing yoga, essential oil therapy, Reiki, nutrition and contemplative care to hospitals. Colleen has been featured in both “The New York Times” and “New York Magazine,” on a cover of “Yoga Journal” and has been featured in several best-selling yoga DVDs. Colleen is the owner and Director of Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, N.Y. She also leads national and international retreats and teacher trainings, many with her husband Rodney Yee.

Tracy Griffiths, RPP, RPE and CMT, who teaches the aromatherapy component of the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy program, passionately shares her knowledge for natural healing principles to students all over the world. Tracy utilizes and weaves her training in the martial arts and polarity therapy offering a diverse, integrative and practical approach to the field of energy medicine. Tracy co-founded and directs the Life Energy Institute, an integrative educational center for proper use of essential oils in conjunction with other therapies such as Polarity Therapy, Cranial Sacral Unwinding and Somatic Trauma Resolution. She is greatly devoted to sharing her knowledge with others for the purpose of personal deepening and connection to their own inner wisdom.

Reiki Master, Lena Falth is the Director of Integrative Reiki . Lena’s healing mission began with a near-death experience in 1995, which was followed by her Reiki training in the revered, traditional Mikao Usui-Hawayo Takata Lineage.Her background includes developing clinical research trial results of the University of Chicago into educational material and training doctors and hospital staff in new technology. Today Lena’s private healing practice serves many prominent figures in the arts and entertainment, politics and business fields. Her practice includes sacred training workshops to awaken the mind, body and soul connection in order to heal and improve the quality of our stressful lives. Having begun her 15-year Reiki practice in hospitals and hospices, Lena’s current mission is to educate and meet the needs of professional health care providers, nurses and community members with evidence based knowledge about the importance of Reiki energy therapy in integrative healthcare.

Richard has been a student of yoga since 1968. He has spent nearly nine years in Asia studying various traditions that he incorporates into the Ashtanga yoga practice taught by his principal teacher, K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India. His background includes Zen and Vipassana Buddhist practice, Bhakti and traditional Hatha Yoga in India, Sufism in Iran and, starting in 1974, an in-depth study of Iyengar yoga. He holds an MA in philosophy and is an avid student of both Western and Eastern philosophy, as well as Sanskrit. His ability to juxtapose various viewpoints, without losing the depth and integrity of each, has helped Richard develop a unique, metaphorical teaching style emphasizing the Internal Form of Ashtanga Yoga.

is a contributing editor at Yoga Journal, and the author of The Yoga of Breath (Shambhala, 2002), a beginners’ guide to pranayama, Yoga for 50+ (Ulysses, 2004), and instructional manual for older beginners, and Pranayama (Shambhala 2006), an intermediate guide to pranayama.  Richard’s been studying yoga since 1987, and is currenlty the Director of the Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, California.

GUEST FACULTY

Robert Chodo Campbell co-founded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, the first Buddhist organization to offer fully accredited chaplaincy training in America and the organization delivers contemplative approaches to care through education, direct service and meditation practice. In order to bring the work to a broader audience, he co-developed the Foundations in Buddhist Contemplative Care Training Program. Chodo is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. He is Co-Director of Contemplative Care Services for the Department of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center. Chodo is a dynamic, earthy, and visionary leader and teacher. His public programs have introduced thousands to the practices of mindful and compassionate care of the living and dying. 30,000 people listen to his podcasts each year. His groundbreaking work has been widely featured in the media, including the PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and in numerous print publications such as the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. He is a Senior Zen Buddhist monk and senior chaplain

Ed Dailey has been a nurse for more than sixteen years. He has worked in several clinical settings, including psychiatry, post-surgical, oncology, HIV medicine, and the operating room. He is a graduate of the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy program and spent 18 months implementing yoga therapy on the surgical and oncology floors at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. Ed is one of fewer than 100 nurses in the country who has received extensive training as an Independent RN Patient Advocate™. He has  spent the past 11 years studying yoga with acclaimed teacher Rodney Yee.  Ed has implemented a pilot program utilizing the Urban Zen Integrative Therapy modalities at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut. He currently lives in Florida and works at the Andrews Institute.

Koshin Paley Ellison co-founded the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care, the first Buddhist organization to offer fully accredited chaplaincy training in America and the organization delivers contemplative approaches to care through education, direct service and meditation practice. In order to bring the work to a broader audience, he co-developed the Foundations in Buddhist Contemplative Care Training Program. Koshin is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. He is the Co-Director of Contemplative Care Services for the Department of Integrative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center, where he also serves on the Medical Ethic Committee. Koshin is a dynamic, original, and visionary leader and teacher. His public programs have introduced thousands to the practices of mindful and compassionate care of the living and dying. 30,000 people listen to his podcasts each year. His groundbreaking work has been widely featured in the media, including the PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and in numerous print publications such as the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. He is a Senior Zen Buddhist Priest, chaplaincy supervisor and psychotherapist.

As a Certified Clinical Nutritionist, Certified Holistic Nurse, and Medical Anthropologist working in the field of integrative healthcare for over 20 years, Susan Luck specializes in nutrition, environmental health and immunology. Susan serves as Director of the Integrative Nursing Institute. She is a consultant to Special Immunology Services at Mercy Hospital, Miami, Florida and is adjunct faculty at the University of Miami, currently working on an NIH grant on nutrition and Immune function. Susan lectures nationally on Environmental and Nutritional Influences on Women’s and Children’s Health.

Geoffrey Roniger is the founder of Freret Street Yoga in New Orleans, Louisiana. As a teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly 10 years, he became well known for his unique ability to blend alignment, movement, and metaphor with the deeper intention of exploring the relevance of yoga for our contemporary culture. A graduate of Piedmont Yoga Studio’s 2002 Advanced Studies Program, Geoffrey formally apprenticed with Richard Rosen and Rodney Yee. Since 2006 he has served on the teacher training staff at the Yoga Loft in San Francisco and has led regular retreats to Oz Farm in Mendocino. From 2005 to 2010, Geoffrey was the on-site yoga teacher for Salesforce.com. Through this experience he created Workplace Wellness, an effective and accessible program that uses modified yoga techniques to counteract the negative effects of sitting all day at a desk. Geoffrey has been featured in the Awakened Athletes, Masterclass, and Basics columns for Yoga Journal as well as in the Gaiam video, Yoga Now.