Peter Rizzo

Peter has been teaching Yoga since the early nineties. He was certified at the 500- and 200-hour level at Jivamukti in 1997. In 1999, he opened Bhava Yoga Center in New York City. For four years, Bhava served the East Village Yoga community with a unique mixture of substantial, amazing classes offered at low prices in a supportive and genial atmosphere which was made possible only by running a Yoga center by yogic principles.

Through his free six-month teacher-training program, many devoted Bhava students are trained to teach Bhava Vinyasa Yoga. They now teach all over the U.S. and abroad. Peter is happy and grateful to be in Brattleboro and to offer Bhava Vinyasa Yoga in this magical, beautiful place.

Angela Martinelli

Angela has been a dancer for twenty-six years. She found yoga seven years ago and it has revamped her dance career, mindfully and physically.

Angela's training is a blend of Ashtanga/Iyengar from the Yoga Works training based out of NYC and LA. She has trained in somatic body work and her dance background includes a plethora of styles such as ballet, pointe, modern, physical theatre, jazz, tap, West African, Bharatanatyam, comtemporary, improvisation and recently butoh.

Angela's studies in dance ethnology and anthropology have enabled her to travel the world in personal study. Tribal and ritual art are her fascinations, especially working with the primal being of the self.

Angela's yoga practice infuses somatics and a hybrid blend of ashtanga/iyengar along with a dancer's grace. More about her skills and background can be found at: www.angelamartinelli.net.

Bronwyn Sims

Bronwyn Sims is an actor, acrobat and educator. She has appeared in movies (Next Stop Wonderland, Dischord, Enough Already, Trial by Fire) and on television including a role in the Emmy award-winning first season of The Sopranos. In addition to movies and television, her New York City and regional stage credits are extensive.

As an Acrobat and Aerialist she has performed with The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus, LAVA, Odonata Dance Project, Cirque Boom, Wise Fool & Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Festival. She is a Founding member of The New York City Circus Theatre company KIRKOS.

As an educator Bronwyn has taught classes and workshops at Colorado College, University of New Hampshire, University of Florida, Streb/ Slam, The Trapeze Loft and numerous other yoga, dance, and aerial studios throughout New England and NYC.

Bronwyn currently performs with the Nimble Arts Touring Company and teaches aerial and circus arts at The New England Center for Circus Arts.

Emily Wolfman

Emily comes to yoga with 30 years of dance training. Finding yoga in 2000, Emily embraced it as a complement to flexibility, strength, and balance.  Since then, she has studied with masters such as Anna Forrest, Seane Corn, and Baron Baptiste. 

Emily completed a 200 hour teacher training through Lotus Gardens, Inc. in Naugatuck, CT.  She is currently engaged in an Integrative Yoga Therapy program which will culminate in a 1000 hour certification of study and practice. 

Emily has found her bliss sharing the joys, challenges, and healing powers of yoga with children and adults of all levels and capabilities

Jennifer Elizabeth Brunton

One of Jenny's earliest memories is of being taught Sirsasana (headstand - with lots of help!) by her Aunt, a student of Kripalu Yoga. Yoga, in its many forms, has been an integral part of her life ever since. She grew up practicing in the Kripalu tradition, was introduced to Integral Yoga in high school, and studied Iyengar Yoga in her early twenties.

In her late-twenties, she joyfully discovered Jivamukti Yoga. She was trained and certified at the 500- and 200-hour level in this tradition in 2000. Shortly thereafter, she began teaching at Bhava Yoga Center in New York City's East Village. Jenny has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University.

Marybeth Kover

Marybeth first began a formal yoga practice when Bhava Yoga opened its Brattleboro doors in the summer of 2004. She was instantly taken by the challenge, flow, support, and growth offered by bhava vinyasa classes. After completing Peter’s yoga teacher training in August 2008, Marybeth has embraced the journey of teaching others all that she has learned. She combines her work as a Certified Rubenfeld Synergist® with her love of yoga to offer students a safe and supportive environment to enliven their passions and listen to the wisdom of their bodies.

In addition to teaching yoga at Bhava, Marybeth has a private practice in Rubenfeld Synergy at Able Body Wellness Center in East Dummerston,VT and coordinates community-based support for developmentally disabled individuals. She is currently involved in a four-year teaching internship to become a Certified Rubenfeld Synergy® Mentor and a teacher of this gentle, yet powerful bodymind therapy.

Banghan "Nabi" Kim

Oh, what an adventure life is to live when we are fully present to it. Ever since Banghan Nabi Kim could remember, she loved dancing in her bell-bottoms with her Grandpa in Korea. Movement, rhythm, life. Growing up in New York City and the suburbs of Long Island, the urban rhythm fed her creative impulses. After studying fine arts at The Cooper Union, Nabi sold her handmade jewelry on the streets of Soho and discovered her entrepreneurial streak. Business was great, but something else was calling her...

Saturn was returning in her charts, and change was cycling in... Movement, rhythm, life. Since then, the Search has led her to the Esalen Institute, Integral Yoga Institute, Vipassana meditation, Shambhala Buddhism, Contact Improvisation,the 5Rhythms, and of course, Bhava Yoga. She has found great inspiration in being a constant student of Yoga and sharing it through teaching. She has also found the Brattleboro community to be a wonderfully nurturing place to search, settle, commune, and grow.

I love you, OtterDave... let's dance!

"Let everything happen to you Beauty and terror Just keep going No feeling is final." - Rainer Maria Rilke

Rebecca Pedersen

Rebecca came to Brattleboro in 2007 and gratefully found Bhava Yoga.

In August 2008, she began the invigorating journey of instructing yoga after completing Peter's teacher training along with an enthusiastic and sweet bunch of fellow students. 

In addition to teaching at Bhava, Rebecca volunteers at the Brooks Memorial Library, visits the animals weekly at the Windham County Humane society, and works behind the counter serving the public at Amy's Bakery Arts Cafe.  She follows a vegan, environmentally conscious lifestyle and is dedicated to the practice of peaceful living.  She lives in town with her partner, Mark, and their two cats, Maxine and Junior.

Rick Contino

Rick’s first experience with yoga was in 2003 doing handstands and crow poses in his friends’ living room. Since then he has dabbled in yoga, tai chi, aikido, and wilderness survival while traveling the country and living out of his vintage Chevy pickup.

In 2006 he moved into a rustic cabin in Newfane, Verrmont and started taking Peter Rizzo’s yoga classes, and in 2008 took the Bhava Yoga Teacher Training.

Teachers and influences other than Peter include: Sifu Ray Hayward, Stonehouse , the I Ching, Nietzsche, Emerson, Dostoyevsky, and Iyengar. Other hobbies include Tai Chi, ultimate frisbee, berry picking, tree climbing, and listening to old country music. He also works seasonally as a carpenter and occasionally as a musician.