200-hour Teacher Training Team

Barbara Ruzansky, E-RYT 500
founder and director of why

Barbara’s own path to health is at the heart of her teaching. She has a deep conviction that yoga can help you observe your self more objectively, become healthier, more fulfilled, and better able to serve others. In 2002, she opened West Hartford Yoga, a holistic center, offering yoga classes and workshops, teacher trainings, intensives with international teachers, massage, meditation, and kirtan. She spent 20 years as a macrobiotic chef and teacher, and her yoga training includes work with Ana Forrest, David Swenson, Shiva Rea, and Dan Leven as well as deep studies of Bikram Yoga, Kripalu Yoga and a 500 hour yoga alliance certification. Over the last 25 years, she has blended this knowledge into a dynamic style called WHY Power, which encourages students to explore their edges, develop core strength, and connect to their breath. Barbara is compassionate and insightful about students’ individual needs. Her classes move people deeply. Students have said she has an uncanny ability to see where they are blocked and help them move forward.

peter meadow, assistant director

Dr. Peter Meadow has been a student and teacher of yoga for 40 years, taking his first class in 1969. After receiving his MA in philosophy in 1976, Peter moved to California to study holistic healing. He lived in Kayavarohana ashram in St. Helena, California from 1978 through 1981, practicing and studying yoga under Yogeshwar Muni in the lineage of Swami Kripalu, teaching hatha yoga and training as an Enlightenment Master. He has led Enlightenment Intensives since 1981. Peter is assistant director of West Hartford Yoga and leads workshops in yogic philosophy and meditation. He has run a successful chiropractic practice since 1984.

jude russell

Jude is Operations Manager at the studio, working behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly. She assists Barbara during the teacher training and provides support, encouragement, and inspiration to the trainees. A 2008 graduate of the WHY Power Teacher Training, Jude teaches Gentle, All Levels and Intro to Yoga classes. She’s an ideal teacher for those new to yoga, for those moving towards a stronger power practice, as well as for students working with limitations or restrictions. Jude’s classes feature slower vinyasa, deeper holds, breaking down poses to fine tune alignment, and use of props to more deeply explore poses or to access more difficult postures. Her teaching is rooted in her own practice and body—integrating WHY Power with elements of gentle, yin and restorative yoga. She has studied with many national teachers including Tias Little and Cheri Clampett.

jen leavitt

Jen Leavitt is WHY’s former studio manager and she also teaches WHY Power classes at the studio. A 2011 graduate of the WHY Teacher Training program, she is also a certified Therapeutic Yoga Instructor and Yin Yoga Teacher. Jen creates an energetic, vigorous, sweaty practice for those looking to move and breathe. She has explored many different paths along the yoga road, including Bikram, Ashtanga and Kripalu. Her classes combine many of these traditions with the challenging WHY Power flow, encouraging students to move safely beyond their edge. Her personal practice has served as an anchor through various life experiences, including divorce, recovery, and spiritual growth. Trained as both a social worker and a lawyer, Jen worked as a criminal defense lawyer in New Britain prior to joining the management team at WHY. Jen continues to serve WHY in various administrative capacities and supports the current management team.

kelly bay

Kelly Bay is an RYT-500 hour yoga teacher, a C-IAYT yoga therapist, and a Licensed Massage Therapist. She completed her 200-hour Tantra Hatha yoga training in 2012, a second 200-hour Doaist yoga teacher training in 2014, and her 500-hour yoga therapist certification through the Center for Integrative Yoga Studies. Her personal experiences have taught her that the human body and brain are capable of healing beyond our ability to comprehend. Kelly has been leading and developing Anatomy and Yoga Teacher Trainings for many years, and skillfully weaves her understanding of physiology, healing, and body systems into all her work.