Instructors

FOUNDER . LEAD INSTRUCTOR

ANNIE CHAPMAN

It all begins with a thought and then it becomes the word. So be mindful of your thoughts. Annie returned to yoga after the loss of her best friend & Mom. She needed a safe place to land and she needed a Sangha. Annie is a mother of four. She adopted & gave birth to create her own Sangha. They live in a cottage by the water and nature preserve filled with excitement, good vegan food, friends, animals, & LOVE.

  • If not now, when? Annie wanted to “be” the summer Nanny to her four children and teach YOGA! So she did. In June 2014, she quit her full-time job to follow her bliss and be a full-time Mom and a part-time yoga teacher.

    Annie attributes yoga to shaping her life in immeasurable ways. Taking her first yoga class 22 years ago with instructor, Priscilla Humphrey, not only brought the love of yoga to this new Mom, but also introduced Annie to the Waldorf community and philosophy. Annie’s children attend or have graduated from Meadowbrook Waldorf School.

    Committing to a practice and falling in love with Baptiste methodology, Annie became an RYT200 and then E-RYT500 after completing a 300 hour yoga teacher Recovery Yoga Teacher Training. Annie is a certified Baptiste Educator and studied with her teacher Baron Baptiste at the Menla Retreat Center, as well as Baptiste Programs; Art of Assisting, Advanced Art of Assisting, Being of Power, True North Alignment and with Baron in Boston, Day of Immersion. She is registered with Yoga Alliance as an Instructor and Yoga School Founder. Annie also trained with Bo Forbes, Yoga for Emotional Balance, at Kripalu. Annie has undertaken Baron Baptiste’s 40 Days To Personal Revolution too many times to count.

    Annie is the founder of Sangha Yoga School and is currently collaborating with Mystic Yoga Shala for the 2022 YTT as a co-facilitator. Super exciting. Annie believes in an organic and vegan lifestyle for her and her family, she supports local farmers and producers of everyday goods. Annie is co-founder and incorporator of Fiddleheads Food Co-op in New London. Annie loves to share her experiences of how “Products I LOVE” Essential Oils, CBD & Vegan Green Drinks support the immune system and bring emotional balance. She works to bring abundant health and wellbeing to her family and friends with Young Living Essential Oils, Purium Products, & Green Compass CBD products. Annie is also Reiki Certified.

    She loves fashion design with a pull towards up-cycled, fair trade clothing and furnishings. Annie was a licensed Real Estate agent for eight years and worked closely with her beloved Mother until she passed in 2010. She also took the Master Gardeners Program in 1998 through the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension and grows organic vegetables and flowers every season.

    Annie is both a single and adoptive mother. The brightest and most beautiful accomplishments in her life are giving birth and adopting, creating her family of four children, each supporting her in practicing and teaching yoga, meditation & eating well.

  • Sangha Yoga School, Founder

    Co-Facilitator Mystic Yoga Shala YTT

    E-RYT500 Yoga Alliance

    Baptiste Educator, Baptiste Institute 300 Hours

    300 Hour Recovery Yoga Training, Connecticut

LEAD INSTRUCTOR & ANATOMY

KIRTAN, MANTRA, HARMONIUM & SHRUTI LEADER

MAGGIE J. SKINNER

Maggie, “the boss’s daughter” is a 300-hour trained Baptiste Teacher and is a comprehensive 800-hour Pilates Teacher. She has extensive background and a vigor for anatomy. Maggie is the Manager and Lead Instructor of Positive Vibes Pilates & Yoga studio in Waterford, CT.

With a background in ballet and personal experience with chronic pain and anxiety, Maggie is passionate about facilitating students to use yoga and Pilates as a tool to control the mind and body instead of being at their mercy.

She resides in Niantic, CT with her partner and her rescue dog, Mala Bead.

  • For many years, Maggie lived as a New Yorker in the Financial District.  She moved to the city when she was 17 to pursue her modeling career and is signed with Fenton Model Management. She walks the runway in NYFW, Bridal Fashion Week NY, and Milan Fashion Week.

    Maggie is a graduate of Meadowbrook Waldorf School in Rhode Island, the University of Arizona online schooling, and a licensed Real Estate Agent.

    When Maggie was living in NYC, she was on the Assisting Team and a front desk “Bad Ass” at Baptiste Affiliate, Lyons Den Power Yoga in Chelsea and Tribeca, NYC.

    When Maggie was 17, she traveled on her own to Kenya to be of service with Africa Yoga Project and received her 200HR YTT under Paige Elensen. The training was 16 days, however, she fell in love with Kenya and returned to the States 30 days later.

    Maggie is a creative Vegan Chef, carpenter, organizer, interior designer, and gardener, and loves to spend time on the boat in Block Island & Key West.

  • Baptiste Educator, Baptiste Institute 300 Hours

    Yoga Teacher Training, Africa Yoga Project 200 Hours

SHAKTI MA

Shakti Ma has been described as the Janis Joplin of Kirtan. A powerful wallah and long-time devotee of Bhakti yoga, Shakti Ma has led many kirtans and healing retreats with her soulful operatic voice, sharing her profound wisdom gained through her inspiring healing story and powerful faith. She is also a nimble player of the harmonium and a masterful band leader.

GUEST TEACHER, THE GITA

DEVARSHI

Devarshi Steven Hartman is the Co-Founder of The Pranotthan Yoga School. He Currently leads 200-Hour and 500-Hour Yoga Certification Programs around the country. He has been a student and teacher of yoga and yoga philosophy since 1974,  lived in a spiritual community (ashram) for nearly a decade, was the Director of Professional Trainings and the dean of the Kripalu School of Yoga from 2004-2014, and has dedicated his life to the study and practice of the art and science of yoga.

  • Devarshi is the author of the best-selling audio series, “The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita”, as well as, “The Simple Secrets of Inner Peace” and the new Kripalu Yoga DVD, viewed by over 250,000. He has personally trained over 4,500 yoga teachers in a 200 and 500-hour certification programs.

    Devarshi’s training has included many years in personal growth classrooms, training with Werner Ehrhardt in EST, Lifespring, LifeStream, ARAS, The New Warrior Program, Avatar Master/Wizard, and of course, yoga with almost every leading yoga teacher of the past three decades. He has been a student and teacher of A Course in Miracles since 1976. He currently resides in Palm Springs and he has two grown children, Patrick and Lucy, plus all the struggles and joys that a full life brings. The terrain of transformational tools for individuals remains his passionate exploration and inquiry.

    As a result of this life long pursuit, The LifeQuest Intensive Weekend, Five-Day, and Yearlong Programs designed for sharing tools for transformation and living fully, have been birthed. In this high-powered, yoga-philosophy based program, people wake up to new ways of viewing life, gain tools for healing the past, are guided through experiences for breaking free of limitation, and cultivating the energy to feel and experience life fully, with less fear and more joy, in all circumstances.

    Devarshi currently teaches Pranotthan Yoga Teacher Trainings and at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, All That Matters Studio in Wakefield, Rhode Island, Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica, and 1440 Multiversity, in Santa Cruz, California, as well as conferences and workshops around the globe. He maintains a private practice in Yoga Therapy, Spiritual Support, Transformational Breathwork, and Bodywork in Palm Springs, CA.

  • Sangha Yoga School, Founder

    Co-Facilitator Mystic Yoga Shala YTT

    E-RYT500 Yoga Alliance

    Baptiste Educator, Baptiste Institute 300 Hours

    300 Hour Recovery Yoga Training, Connecticut

HEARTFULNESS TRAINER

GUEST TEACHER, HISTORY OF YOGA

MARY-LYNN MASI

Mary-Lynn’s Bio is coming!

  • Coming Soon!

  • Coming Soon!

SOFI DILLOF

Sofi Dillof ( E-RYT® 500, YACEP® ) is an advanced certified Jivamukti Yoga instructor who has been teaching Yoga since 1997. In 2023, she graduated from Naropa University with a master's degree in Religious Studies: concentration in Yoga Studies and Sanskrit.

From beginners to the more advanced, Sofi loves teaching to all levels of practioners and infuses her flowstyle yoga classes with wisodom and humor.

  • Sofi offers both private and group classes in her hometown of Burlington, Vermont, and travels nationally and internationally to lead retreats, workshops and as a guest lecturer. She is the co-founder of the Laughing River Yoga Teacher Training Program, as well as a certified life coach.

  • E-RYT® 500, YACEP®

    advanced certified Jivamukti Yoga instructor

    Naropa University Master's degree in Religious Studies: concentration in Yoga Studies and Sanskrit