WEN Stewards & Teachers

Few things make HILLARY THING happier than to have her hands in the soil and singing to the seeds. She is Founding Director of EARTHBOUND APOTHECARY & ACUPUNCTURE CENTER in Kingston, NY, and co-steward of WEN Barn & Gardens.

Hillary has trained extensively with Jeffrey Yuen, renowned Taoist Master and teacher of classical Chinese medicine and also has her Yoga Teacher Certification from Integral Yoga Institute of New York. She has studied animal tracking, bird language, primitive living skills and natural history at Tom Brown Jr.’s school, and with Jon Young, Charles Worsham, and other inspiring teachers. A certified herbalist, she has a Certification in Gardening with a specialty in Native Plant Species from the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY. Hillary tends the WEN Gardens where she grows both Chinese and Western medicinal and cooking herbs.

Hillary's other favorite things: Reading the fine copy of esoteric seed catalogs, cooking exotic vegan dishes, figuring out how to make year-round gardens possible, discovering a new remedy, an occasional glass of red wine with a friend or her hubbie, living each day well and fully.

JEFF DAVIS wishes he were a carpenter, but he'll have to settle for hugging trees. He is author of THE JOURNEY FROM THE CENTER TO THE PAGE: Yoga Philosophies and Practices as Muse for Authentic Writing (Penguin 2004; 2nd ed. Monkfish Publishing 2008) and a national workshop leader with a focus on Yoga's yoking with writing processes and the writing life. JEFF serves on the reformed Green Yoga Association's Council and is Founding Director of CENTER TO PAGE, LLC and co-steward of WEN Barn & Gardens.

After Yoga screwed up Jeff's unaffected writer's life several years ago, he completed certification in two Yoga traditions whose origins stem from the teachings of Sri T. Krishnamacarya - Scaravelli Yoga and Bliss Vinyasa Yoga. He also has studied in-depth with Krishnamacarya's son and grandson, Sri TKV Desikcachar and Kasthub Desikachar, respectively, in Chennai, South India. Jeff's teachers emphasize a natural trust of the body, breath, and earth. A writing teacher for 20 years and a Yoga teacher for 8, Jeff draws from his daily practice indoors and outdoors and hopes his classes further students' awakening to living whole, artful, healthy lives. Jeff tends to the WEN Barn and teaches the Yoga Inside-Out classes and the Yoga As Muse Labs.

A few of Jeff's other favorite things: Hillary, trees, neighbors (the furry ones, the cantankerous ones, the quirky ones), dark chocolate, everything "local," using his hands for something other than writing & editing, living this one wild and precious life well and in service.

HEIDI JAMES was first introduced to yoga on the rocks of Lake Travis in Austin, Texas, at the age of seven. As she watched her mother shift into rhythmic breathing, sensual movement, and focused thought, Heidi intrinsically knew this yoga thing was something powerful. A born seeker, she found teachers of this "something powerful" all over the world – Hawaii, Australia, London, and Scotland. She received her teaching certificate from Laughing Lotus in New York City in 2004 and now resides in upstate New York where she teaches at Shakti Yoga and WEN Barn. A member of an off-Broadway theater company, Heidi feels her years of performing as an actor and singer lend an added element of freedom to her teaching, encouraging deeper self-expression and liberation.

ALISON NOVIE-SINATRA loves to travel, but she also loves to be deeply here with her students. A teacher for eight years and practitioner for 10-plus, Alison centers her classes on breath and alignment, physically and spiritually. Her studies include advanced trainings with Rodney Yee, a women's mystery school, indigenous shamanic work, travel, and her own home practice. She leads and co-leads retreats all over the world. For more info: www.unurbanyoga.blogspot.com.

CARLA OLLA helps her students move with rhythm and awareness. Certified in Bliss Vinyasa Yoga with teacher Debi DiPeso and in Thai Yoga Massage with Shai Plonski of Lotus Palm, Carla he is working toward a certificate in Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy under the guidance of Marc Halpern, Director of The California College of Ayurveda. Carla encourages her students to listen closely to their own inner wisdom and honor their path in their personal practice.