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About Our Studio
Elahi, the Persian word for "blessed" is the name of our children's yoga practice, for we believe that all children are blessed.
Elahi Yoga was founded in 2009 to bring children and their families together to expand the boundaries of their minds and bodies. Elahi Yoga welcomes active learners to experience special needs and family yoga through private yoga sessions, workshops, and training certifications.
Elahi Method™ classes are a fun and playful way for kids to explore and exercise the mind and body. We teach with animated poses and use basic stretching exercises to help kids understand their own strength, flexibility, coordination and body awareness. Breathing exercises are also an essential part of the routine. Through yoga practice we create a safe environment where kids can dance, sing, laugh and express themselves.
Contact us at info@elahiyoga.com for more information on our classes throughout New York City or to bring Elahi Yoga to your school.
Read more about children's yoga in articles written by our founder, Kami Evans:
Instructor Bios
Kami Evans, founder of Elahi Yoga is a Yoga Alliance RYT and RCYT with a special
needs curriculum-training program. As an Advocate for the Special Needs
Population and Yoga as an enriching activity for everyone she is able to support
the continued success of the Elahi Method that was developed as a CORE to LIMBS
Yoga program. Kami, has trained various Staff Development Programs for Hospitals
and Schools through out the US and UK. Since 2009 she has been a contributing
writer for www.parentguidenews.com, a yahoo-contributing expert for yoga and
children’s, citibabes.com blog yoga and www.parentingspecialneeds.org magazines.
In 2011 Elahi Yoga published its first of a series of Yoga Books for children. For
more information please email info@elahiyoga.com.
Contact: kami@elahiyoga.com
Shell Merrill has always enjoyed using her imagination and expressing herself physically; from the first plays that she wrote and performed with her sister as a child, to her career as a modern dancer and later as a zany Spinning instructor in her hometown of Minneapolis, MN. Shell has a huge belief in the knowledge gained through trying new things, learning to "practice" rather than trying to be perfect and most of all, being able to laugh through the whole experience. She brings a sense of fun, play and compassion to all of her classes, for both adults and kids. Shell is a 500 hour certified RYT trained at BeYoga/Yoga Works and calms her inner "bouncing off the walls" big kid energy through her own yoga practice. She is also certified to teach yoga to children through Little Flower Yoga and Karma Kids Yoga, and recently completed Prenatal Yoga Training. Her classes are engaging and hysterical, always filled with laughter.
Contact: shell@elahiyoga.com
Nikki Nasto has a background in dance. She received her BFA from the New School with the Joffrey Ballet School. She started practicing yoga eight years ago, when recovering from an injury due to her dance training. She realized yoga helped align her body and calmed her mind in anticipation to dance again. She made a full recovery and received her MFA in Dance at the Tisch School of the arts at NYU. Nikki teaches dance in after school programs around the city and ballet at Steps on Broadway. She received her yoga teaching certification at Yoga Works NYC along with her prenatal yoga certification. Nikki has also completed the her children's yoga certification here at Elahi Yoga. Nikki enjoys teaching children, and believes she learns just as much from each student as they learn from her. She is very excited to be teaching yoga at Elahi.
Contact: nikki@elahiyoga.com
Keisha Bolden is a Yoga, Dance, and Fitness Instructor. Keisha Bolden began studying yoga 12 years ago and has studied Hatha, Bikram, Vinyasa, Ashtanga and has completed her Pilates Reformer certification course. Keisha has studied as the student of many master teachers and has completed her children's yoga certification through Elahi Yoga.
In February of 2008, Keisha was blessed with the opportunity to live and teach yoga in India for 6 months. In addition to joining the teaching staff at the Sivananda Vedanta Ashram, Keisha managed the ashram’s Karma Yoga program.
When teaching, Keisha encourages students to challenge themselves while maintaining purity and simplicity of movement. Students are taught to focus inward and to develop ultimate trust for their bodies. Both on and off the mat, Keisha holds a simple creed. “Be Healthy. Be Happy.”
Contact: keisha@elahiyoga.com
Lucy Norris is proud to be part of the elahi team. She is a british actress who has studied both acting and dance in the UK and New York. Through her passion for performance she realized she wanted to teach children how to express themselves through the arts.
Her journey as a yoga and movement teacher has lead her to be part of many exciting projects and she hopes to influence young children and be a good role model as they learn that yoga ballet is a fun way to stay fit, healthy and active while using their imaginations to travel to the land of make believe through movement.
Jacquelina DeMarco is an actress and teaching artist living in New York City. She devises creative dramatic workshops and directs fully staged productions at the Helen Hayes Youth Theatre in the Lower Hudson Valley. Jackie is also a certified children's yoga instructor through Elahi Yoga and teaches typically developing and special needs youth. She is a passionate optimist and practices a strengths-based approach in encouraging her students to recognize the vastness of their potential. She has studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute and HB Studios as well as Sociology and Drama Education at the City University of New York. She has appeared as an actress and model in various theatre, film, television, commercial and internet projects.