Wendy Gross-Pinto, the innovative creator of Soul Sweat Asana Yoga, has a gift for transforming enthusiastic students into great yoga teachers. For over 15 years Wendy has helped thousands of people from around the world create more joy, power and ease in their bodies.

Wendy's inspirational teaching style, has people consistently achieve more than they thought they could. Her refreshing spiritual yet practical lessons will focus your mind, bring joy to your life, and literally sculpts your body into its best shape ever.

Wendy is extensively trained in the styles of Bikram, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Jivamukti, Ishta, Phoenix Rising and Nia. Her clientele includes professional athletes, dancers, Olympic gold medalist and celebrities.

Wendy has been a featured speaker at seminars with Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. Wayne Dyer, Dr. Bernie Segal, Bhagavan Das, Bijan, as well as Bob Proctor and Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith (as seen in The Secret), as well as many other spiritual and revolutionary thinkers of our time. She was the head yoga therapist for Dr. Deepak Chopra's Center for Mind Body Medicine in San Diego, CA.

"I am blessed and honored to share my life with my husband and son. They make life so rich and full. They are my #1 teachers and remind me daily of what is most precious and sacred in life. My 3 year old son Jordan, has opened my heart to a capacity for love deeper than I ever imagined. He reminds me daily about being awake to the precious gift of this moment, laughter, unconditional love, gratitude, patience and JOY." -- Wendy Pinto

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Debbie is a yoga enthusiast who has studied with Wendy over the past 11 years. Becoming certified to teach with the Soul Sweat Teacher Training in 2003, she continues to grow her practice and teaching through yoga seminars, readings and LIVING. Yoga has transformed her life!

Athletics, spirituality and teaching are Debbie's passions. Wanting to share her passions, she has coached, taught and volunteered within the community since moving here in 1992. She plays paddle tennis and golf for recreation beyond her yoga practice. A busy mother of two boys, Debbie maintains balance & focus in her life with her yoga & daily meditation.

Debbie appreciates Wendy, her staff and her students for the truly wonderful experience of practicing & teaching at The Yoga & Healing Center- it's a wonderful community!

Clarissa currently practices full time as a student and instructor of yoga.  She lives in Staten Island and was certified to teach by the Integral Yoga Institute in Yoga Institute in Yogaville, Virginia in August of 1998.

Yoga is her passion!

Ross has been practicing hatha yoga since 1978. He experimented with many different styles of yoga until he discovered Beryl Bender Birch's Ashtanga based Power Yoga classes in 1990 through the New York Road Runners Club.

He is trained in the Yoga and Healing Center Vinyasa Flow style by Wendy Gross and has received the 250 hour certification from "The Hard and The Soft Ashtanga Yoga Institute" from Beryl Bender Birch and Thom Birch. He has also studied with other teachers including David Swenson and Kathy McNames.

Ross consistently challenges his students with his vigorous Ashtanga Style power yoga classes. He is very grateful to Wendy for encouraging him to teach at the center.

Donna is a founding partner in two companies, Joyful Evolution and Building Momentum, Donna creates and facilitates seminars, workshops and mentoring programs. She is also a private mentor. She is a certified yoga instructor and author of an inspirational book, "The Divine Spark That is You," a compendium of simple truths and powerful practices to awaken the spirit within.

Today, in addition to coaching and yoga instruction, Donna is a Pranic healer and teaches Primordial Sound Meditation, a practice revived by Dr. Deepak Chopra. Her unique presentation style is a combination of passionate belief and earthy inspiration. "I love seeing the light in peoples eyes turn on when they start to discover their own inner truth," she says.

Donna's is certified through the Yoga and Healing Center to teach Soul Sweat Yoga and is also certified by the Chopra Institute to teach Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga.

Donna is also an assistant teacher of Zen and Yoga and the Art of Living at Seton Hall University in South Orange NJ.

Donna is so grateful that things have come full circle, as she now has the opportunity to come back to where her yoga training began enjoying and sharing this wonderful gift and her love of yoga.

Kim has been an enthusiastic yoga practitioner since 1996. She has studied under many talented yoga teachers beginning with Wendy Gross, who offers a free flow, power yoga.

Then, in the year 2000 she was introduced to Ashtanga Yoga and has taken teacher training workshops with Thom and Beryl Bender Birch as well as Kathy McNames. In 2003, Kim was certified in the Soul Sweat Teacher Training.

Kim loves to share her love of Yoga with friends and students. She teaches an All Levels and open power yoga class to adults as well as children, and incorporates different style of yoga into her classes. One of Kim's greatest gifts are her hands on adjustments. She believes that the power and energy of yoga will transform your life and connect you to your Divine self.

Valerie has been practicing yoga for about 7 years and has been teaching over 2 years. It has transformed her life both physically and spiritually. She is a hot yoga enthusiast.

She attained her 200 hour Yoga Alliance Certification as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Jimmy Barkan in Florida in the Summer and Fall of 2007. She continues to attend workshops, conferences, and reads diligently about the many yoga philosophies and practices. Through her teaching she hopes to inspire others to make yoga a way of life.

  Mary has been a Registered Dietitian since 1993 and a Registered Yoga Teacher since 2006 and is dedicated to working with clients helping them achieve their personal nutrition and fitness goals.  There is a yoga path for every age and every fitness level and Mary enjoys helping individuals tap into their own energy for optimal health.

Mary trained in Soul Sweat Asana with Wendy Pinto and is a certified Relax and Renew Trainer in Restorative Yoga through Judith Lasater. She currently teaches many styles of yoga including vinyasa flow, soul sweat, gentle, and restorative yoga. While she loves all styles of yoga, Mary is especially passionate about beginners and helping others start their yoga journey. With three of her own children, Mary also enjoys sharing yoga with children and families. She is planning to expand her education through the Next Generation Yoga training for children this summer.

Leigh found yoga in 2006 and since walking through the doors of her first yoga studio, has embraced the yogic way of life. She is a certified professional educator with 9 years experience in the New Jersey public school system. After leaving the classroom, Leigh embraced her yoga mat and completed her first yoga teacher training with Wendy Gross-Pinto. She became a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance (RYT) in 2008.

She then continued her study of yoga by training with Judith Haanson Lasater in 2009 and is a certified Relax and Renew Instructor. Her practice and teaching style is strongly rooted in classical yoga and spirituality and she enjoys teaching a vinyasa flow- style class. Leigh loves being a yoga instructor and encourages her students to use their breath to unite their body, mind and souls one breath at a time! Her passion for learning and incorporating yoga into all aspects of her life, including being a wife and mother of three, creates an inexhaustible enthusiasm to teach from the heart. Leigh would like to thank all of her teachers past, present and future!

Sue Laff is the beloved soul whom you see shining in many facets at the Yoga and Healing Center, seeing to it that all runs smoothly. Sue's prior background in Finance and Management led her to a career change at the Yoga and Healing Center where she was delighted to find inspiration, guidance, spiritual growth and connection with a great yoga community.

Sue is a proud graduate of the 2008 Soul Sweat Asana Teacher Training Program. "The Yoga and Healing Center has given me the tools to love my life and body! I am so thankful to offer my talents in whatever way I can to give back to my yoga community", says Sue. She maintains balance in her own busy life with meditation, yoga and a daily dose of laffter, Sue's own brand of not taking life too seriously.

I fell in love with Bikram yoga after the birth of my daughter in 2000 solely as a means to shed the 30 pounds I had gained during my pregnancy, and to get back into shape. Not only did the pounds slowly but surely drop off through the repetitive meditation of Bikram's 26 poses, but to my surprise I began to see yoga as a means to transcend the limitations of my body and my mind. As I made the choice to give up my career in teaching to devote myself to motherhood, yoga provided the balance I craved.

I am now Yoga Alliance Registered to teach Hatha Yoga, and certified in Soul Sweat Asana Yoga by Wendy (my sweet angel) at the Yoga and Healing Center. I am also certified by Jodi Komitor (another sweet angel) of Next Generation Yoga for Kids in New York City and San Diego, as well as Shakta Kaur Khalsa of the Radiant Child Yoga Programs Levels 1 and 2. I have a Masters degree in Elementary/Early Childhood Education from Teachers College at Columbia University. Prior to having my own children, I loved teaching second and third graders in a program for Gifted and Talented students (a misnomer as all children are truly gifted and talented!) in New York City's Chinatown.

It brings me immense joy to be able to combine my background in teaching/curriculum development and love of yoga to teach children's yoga. I strive to immerse children through yoga in a magical non-competitive environment where their strong bodies, focused minds, and peaceful spirits are gently guided and allowed to flourish. Although the "real world" is not always so nurturing and certainly is competitive, I truly believe that children take the solid foundation and life-long skills instilled in them through regular yoga practice back into their communities as they become passionate leaders, and are equipped to make the world a better place.

Recalling a semester of yoga in college, and drawn back it in 2006 as an outlet in the evenings for relaxation, grounding, fun, and being in the presence of wonderfully energetic people, Mick has been practicing yoga avidly for five years.

Shortly after returning to practicing yoga, he was sharing it on many occasions spontaneously guiding inquisitive friends into a full session in the living room while watching TV or even demonstrating the benefits of yoga with relatives on the kitchen floor at holiday dinner. These occasions lead to the realization of his passion to instruct starting in May of 2007.

Mick instructs Soul Sweat Asana, the dynamic yoga style created by Wendy Gross-Pinto under whom he acquired his 200-hour yoga certification in 2010. He brings his fervent flare to the session from his love of freedom through movement and openness to variety. Mick enjoys seeing the immediate, inner liberty, and long-term benefits received by those who practice yoga as well as the and is grateful for how yoga has transformed many of the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of his life.

  I fell in love with yoga after practicing regularly for only a few months and, unlike other means of physical activity, I find it is something I cannot wait to do! I experience yoga as a beautiful dance, a gift I can savor for my entire life, as yoga provides a space for my own powerful, inner communion through cleansing, life-giving breath, deep stretching and yes, plenty of sweating! :-) I completed my Soul Sweat Asana Teacher Training and earned my 200 hour Yoga Alliance certification with the amazing Wendy Gross-Pinto right here at the Yoga and Healing Center. The sense of freedom, joyfulness and celebration Soul Sweat Asana provides has helped me to cultivate a deeper appreciation for the beauty and power of my body. I am so honored to now be able to share these gifts with others through teaching Soul Sweat...my ultimate goal is to help inspire all of us to love living in our bodies

  Stacy's in yoga started in 2009 when she walked into Yoga and Healing Center for the first time. Under the tutelage of Wendy Gross- Pinto, Stacy became a registered instructor in July, 2011.

Yoga quickly became her "home away from home," an oasis of relaxation and an extension of her own family. Stacy's style is refreshing and invigorating, and is guaranteed to leave you feeling rooted and balanced. Stacy's biggest passion is helping athletes improve their game with the many benefits of yoga, including increased stamina, strength, flexibility, and focus. She embraces all style of yoga, from basic flow to hot yoga, and invites everyone to join her on the mat!