CERTIFIED INSTRUCTORS & BOARD MEMBERS
SUSAN ROCHMIS (JIVITA)
Board Member
Jivita has been teaching American Yoga in Upstate New York since the late 1990’s. She became a student of Monica Hathaway’s in 1978 and moved from NYC to study more closely. She holds a Master’s in Creative Arts Therapy from Pratt Institute and teaches theater at SUNY Delhi. She is a professional artist, specializing in portraiture. She sometimes uses sound, movement and art in addition to the basic American Yoga class instruction. She gives workshops and classes at AYF as well as her Delhi home.
JACOB BALIN
Board Member
Jacob originally found American Yoga in college, as a cure for his own chronic back pain. His life was profoundly changed by the practice, and after practicing it for multiple years, he became a certified instructor. He is currently in medical school, seeking an approach that integrates the deep wisdom of yoga with insights gained from the western medical tradition.
MICHAEL COOK
Board Member
Michael started with Monica and Harmon (“Harmonica”) in 1971, studying body work and mindfulness meditation for a year – at which point he returned to college to study mathematics. Eventually he got his PhD, and did post-doctoral research at Rockefeller University in computational neuroscience and artificial intelligence, working in the labs of two Nobel Laureates. In due course he switched careers, and worked for 25 years as a quantitative analyst on Wall Street. He now works for himself, consulting and teaching.
He has published one book of poems – The Rise and Fall of the Mind – and has composed the music for two musicals.
MICHAEL KARLOVICH
Board Member
Michael began practicing American Yoga in 2008 at the age of 14 years old, became certified to teach when he was 19, and has completed several retreats. He holds an undergraduate degree in neuroscience and philosophy from Union College in Schenectady NY, and has several scientific publications on topics related to neurology, perception, and cognition. He is also a professional artist and CEO of Recursia Studios, a multidisciplinary art and fashion production company. In addition to instructing on the fundamentals of American Yoga and meditation, Michael brings with him a knowledge of the synthesis of Buddhist psychology and scientific inquiry and their practical application to everyday life.
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ALEX CLAIN
Board Member
Alex has been practicing American Yoga since 2014 and teaching since 2017. He is working toward his PhD in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a focus on Applied statistics. He also plays the piano with his primary interest being in improvisation. In addition to the basic exercises of American Yoga, Alex has an interest in using evocative song as a way of exploring and working with psycho-muscular tensions.
DAN GROSSMAN
Board Member
Dan has been practicing and teaching American Yoga since his 6-week internship at the Foundation in 2012. After graduating from Union College in 2015, he worked as a research assistant for several projects, and engaged in full-time residential mindfulness training from 2017 to 2018. He is broadly interested in the trauma-informed presentation of bodywork and mindfulness, and the overlap of contemplative practice and psychedelics. He is currently pursuing his doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Alabama @ Birmingham.