THE Team
JUAN SIERRA
Juan (born in Peru and raised in NYC) is an Advanced Certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher and a Mentor for Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Trainings. He was introduced to Yoga by a friend, and that was the turning point in his life. Yoga contributed to peeling away the layers of avidya (illusion, ignorance) and to have compassion for all beings. His classes are filled with “crisp” humor and endearing humility, skillful hands-on assists, and thoughtful choice of music. Juan offers a witty yet challenging practice that strives to inspire and empower, giving students tools to develop consciousness – and maintain undisrupted when faced with the calamities of everyday life.
IAN SZYDLOWSKI-ÁLVAREZ
“I hope to inspire and serve others by offering an integrated practice and experience of Yoga as I have practiced and understood it from my teachers. Yoga practice not only as an instrument towards liberation-- but as liberation in itself - as taught in the exciting tradition of Jivamukti Yoga.
I Love practicing and teaching Jivamukti. Over many years I attended classes as a student at the center in New York, and this was my daily ritual that complemented my life there for so long I always want to share that love. I am indebted to all my teachers and masters over the years, especially my mentor Rima Rabbath who ultimately showed me such dedication and service that she has inspired me to follow on this path as best I may.
May yoga can be a tool to help us learn to be more receptive in order to nourish our highest potential! 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 a light like the Buddha has said.”
LILY SIELAFF
Lily was born and raised between the Mountains of the Tramuntana and the Mediterranean Sea, on the beautiful island of Mallorca, Spain.
She traveled the world and lived in many places, but the island she always carried inside, so she decided to return in 2018.
Back in 2013 Lily discovered the healing power of Yoga in the Jivamukti Yoga School Munich, Germany.
In order to help other people, as much as yoga helped her, she took the 75H Yoga Teacher Training with Olga Oskorbina at Jivamukti Barcelona, 2019 and the 300H Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training with Rima Rani Rabbath and Jules Febre in India, 2020.
In addition to practicing yoga and chanting along her harmonium, she loves being in nature, following a sustainable and non~harming life, gardening and cooking for family and dear friends.
Besides Yoga she works as a freelance journalist, graphic designer and editor for her website Mallorcalma, where she promotes a sustainable lifestyle on the Balearic Island.
SVEA SIERRA-SCHNEIDER
Svea Schneider-Sierra is a NYC & Berlin based mama, dance artist, choreographer, educator and event producer. She holds a BA in Dance Anthropology, a MFA in Choreography and is a certified Acro Yoga Teacher. She is the founder of the NYC based INSITU site specific dance festival. Her passion for movement has led her to live, teach and perform throughout the world. Svea is a self-trained vegan chef with a strong passion for a healthy and creative plant-based lifestyle in harmony with mother earth. She is a certified Wild Plant Educator and founder of PURE SIMPLE VEGAN. Svea is the co-founder and producer of WiLD CHiLD Retreats.
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 soundtrack 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.
MITCH BURNETT
Australian now living in Spain, Mitch´s classes are inspired and developed through a combined practice of Jivamukti and other spiritual disciplines. He uses movement and breath as primary tools to harmonise the Body and Mind. The harmony of body and mind is then projected towards developing deep states of concentration and focus. The concentration and focus is used to explore the more subtle elements of the Yogic teachings.
FERNANDA DE LA PUENTE
Fernanda, born and raised in Lima, Perú, is also an actress and eating psychology coach. She began practicing yoga in Lima in 2005 and fell in love with the Jivamukti Yoga method when she took her first class with her later-to-be mentor Rima Rani Rabbath in 2011. Fernanda’s classes are characterized by graceful flowing sequencing, skillful hands-on assists, and extremely thoughtful curation of music. After graduating from the 300-hour Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training in 2014, Fernanda had the honor to apprentice under the mentorship of Rima Rani Rabbath and received the 800Hr certification. She is eternally grateful for her teachers Rima Rani Rabbath, Monica Jaggi, and Jules Febre from who she continues to learn every day. Certifications: 800Hr Jivamukti Yoga Teacher, William Esper Studio Two Year Meisner Actor Training Program, Certified Natural Chef, Holistic Nutrition Counselor CHHC, AADP, Eating Psychology Coach.
RIMA RABBATH
Beirut, Paris, New York. These cities' streets, schools and sounds have molded Rima. After a career in corporate marketing and a notable presence in Manhattan's club scene, she found her calling as a yoga teacher at the Jivamukti School in 2006. She intends her class to be an invitation to join her universe of music, sweat, love and endless possibilities.
Rima is the founder of SOUK Yoga Studio in NoMad, NYC - a gorgeous practice space that offers a multi-disciplinary approach to Yoga spanning various established lineages as well as Sound Meditation + Frequency Breathwork . Rima teaches Jivamukti Yoga and is one of the most senior ambassadors of the method.
GUNNY HARDARDOTTIR
Gunnhildur is an 800 hrs Certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher and a Certified Yoga Nidra Teacher by Amrit Yoga Institute. She graduated in Costa Rica in 2017 and has been teaching in Berlin ever since.
Coming from Iceland, Gunny grew up in the extreme contrasts of its nature, learning to respect and protect these resources from a young age. She quickly discovered that behind every Icelandic stone or rolling hill lies our planet’s magic.
When we approach the Yoga practice with ease and grace, we allow ourselves to let go, inviting the power of the practice to heal us and lead us closer to who we are, just as immersing ourselves in nature can do.