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Yoga Loka

Yoga Loka
Yoga Loka
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Instructors

Bonnie Pariser

Bonnie Pariser (Amarjyothi) is the founder, director and senior instructor at Yoga Loka in Frenchtown. She began teaching Yoga in 1998 and has taught in the Frenchtown area since 1999.

Bonnie Pariser

Bonnie took her first yoga class as a gym requirement at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC where she studied Fashion Design in 1985. A field trip to The Sivananda Ashram on 24th street, where her gym teacher studied, sealed her interest in the practice. It was at this Ashram that Bonnie met her future karate teacher, known for his work as “The Kirtan Rabbi”, and delved into that martial art for the next 10 years. Though a regular yoga practice took a back seat as she worked to earn her second-degree black belt, it never left her heart. “I incorporated much of the breath work and conscious movement techniques that I learned in yoga into my karate practice and teaching.” Bonnie  had studied Tai Chi several years before; so the mixture of soft and hard and consciousness in motion were not new concepts.

Bonnie moved to the Delaware Valley region in 1996, and finally felt at home when she met Parvathi Nanda Nath Saraswati, founder of Saraswati River Yoga and Tantric adept. The whole concept of how the physical aspects of yoga were intertwined with the spiritual aspects became clear thru her continuing studies with Parvathi. She completed her initial Yoga Teacher Training and her first Therapeutic Yoga Teacher Training at Saraswati River Yoga with Parvathi (Kirin Mishra). She continues her Tantric studies with Parvathi, completing a Bhairavi Training in 2006, and participating in ongoing studies in the Shree Vidyaa lineage. 

In 2005 Bonnie  was certified as a Structural Yoga Therapist under the direction of Mukunda Stiles, a world-wide leader in the field of Therapeutic Yoga, and the author of the seminal book, "Structural Yoga Therapy" and “Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy”.  She remained a close student until his passing in February 2014 and is honored to be able to continue to share his teachings in the Yoga Sutras and SYT (Structural Yoga Therapy).

From a young age, Bonnie has been interested in understanding how the body moves, and what the implications of restricted movement is. Through her work with Parvathi and Mukunda her investigation of how the body stores emotions, trauma and joy has penetrated to a deeper level. To facilitate her own understanding and personal practice, She has also studied with Tom Myers, author of Anatomy Trains, and Bessel Von De Kolk, world leader in research on trauma and its effects on the brain and body,  Dr. David Bercelli, founder of TRE, and the study of ancient and modern texts. 

Bonnie is a Thai Yoga Therapist, Level two Reiki practitioner, and a certified TRE® provider, trained by TRE® founder Dr. David Bercelli. Using elements of TRE, SYT and her training with Dr. Gillespie, Bonnie has developed a fascial release system called AFR (Assisted Facial Release) that has helped many become free from pain and chronic conditions.

Bonnie has led more than 15 training and immersion programs at Yoga Loka and is a guest teacher in other training programs. She has taught classes at Kripalu, Integral Yoga (NYC and Virginia), the Hunterdon County Library Lecture Series, Mexico City and Playa Del Carmen, and the NYC Open Center. Bonnie was a member of the Integrative Medicine Team at Hunterdon Medical Center and Wegman’s Corporate Yoga Program and has offered programs at Steeple Chase Cancer Cancer at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital and the non-profit Yoga For Cancer Care program.
Her teaching combines precision, playfulness, and down to earth philosophy, all extracted from the ancient lineage of her teachers and her own insights as a mother, student, teacher, and practitioner.

Yoga Loka opened in Frenchtown in 2003 with the intention of providing a space for practices to be presented that can enhance the potential for self investigation and healing, on the physical, emotional and spiritual level.

AmarJyothi lives in Frenchtown New Jersey with her husband Warren and  her two children, Dominique, and Zachary.

Deb Hart

Deb began taking yoga classes in 2007 to add some stretching to her fitness routine, but soon learned there was much more to yoga than that.  While she came for the stretching, she stayed for the strengthening and spiritual aspects of yoga. 

Deb Hart

Deb completed her RYT 200-hour training with Amarjyothi at Yoga Loka in May, 2021, and is currently working toward her 500-hour certification. 

Deb began taking yoga classes in 2007 to add some stretching to her fitness routine, but soon learned there was much more to yoga than that.  While she came for the stretching, she stayed for the strengthening and spiritual aspects of yoga. 

Deb is particularly interested in how yoga contributes to a healthy aging process for people of all ages. 

Deb recently retired from a long, rewarding career as a speech-language pathologist. 
She Iives in Hunterdon County, NJ, with her family. 

Laura Knott

Laura turned to Yoga Loka in 2010, looking to learn meditation techniques to quiet the mind. She fell in love with both the physical movement and spiritual philosophy of yoga.

Laura Knott

Laura turned to Yoga Loka in 2010, looking to learn meditation techniques to quiet the mind and hoping that the “exercise part” of yoga wouldn’t be too awful. Surprise! She fell in love with both the physical movement and spiritual philosophy of yoga, diving into Amarjyothi’s many asana classes and Yoga Sutras workshops.

Years later, Laura made the commitment to begin Yoga Loka’s 200 Hour Teacher Training program, followed immediately by the 300 Hour program. After completing her final project by establishing a adaptive Chair Yoga program in conjunction with the Harvest Family Success Center, Laura received her 500 Hour RYT Designation from the Yoga Alliance. She has also received a Restorative Yoga teaching certification and is completing an additional 100 hour Chair Yoga certification.

As a result of training with Amarjyothi, Laura believes that yoga is truly a practice for every body, and wishes to help others experience yoga as an inclusive physical exercise and spiritual way of life.

Frank Vaccaro

Frank Vaccaro

I've been practicing yoga since 2007. I didn’t come to yoga with an athletic background, a sane mind or a calm heart. I found yoga when I had run out of freedom. I was 23 and scared and skinny and had a bad back. I had no answers for what seemed like a hopeless life. Yoga gave me space and wiggle room in a body I knew nothing about. Yoga gave me freedom in a mind previously filled with all the wrong answers, in a setting I could not escape. Yoga gave me a taste of freedom. I know there is more to come. I’m excited and honored to bring a practice that is casual, curious, creative and constantly changing. AmarJyothi is my teacher and Yoga-Loka is my home.

Ali Gilheany

Alison brings a thoughtful, lighthearted approach to yoga that honors each person's unique experience. She completed both her 200-hour and 300-hour teacher training, along with Sri Vidya studies through Yogasphere.

Ali Gilheany

With over 25 years of personal practice and nearly 15 years of teaching experience, Alison brings a thoughtful, lighthearted approach to yoga that honors each person's unique experience. She completed both her 200-hour and 300-hour teacher training, along with Sri Vidya studies through Yogasphere. Her classes are rooted in the belief that yoga can meet us exactly where we are on any given day—offering space to explore, reconnect, and simply be present. Alison is excited to join the Yoga Loka community and share this practice with others.

Isa Girona

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