Healthy bodies need movement. Healthy minds need stillness.
I offer tried and true techniques to help you do just that.
Deborah Kurilla, Certified Yoga & Meditation Instructor
Deb has 18 certifications and has taught over 20,000 hours
Certifications
1999 - 300 hour Kripalu style Yoga Teacher Training
2001 - Erich Shiffman Yoga Teacher Training
2002 - Rodney Yee Yoga Teacher Training
2002 - Maty Ezraty Yoga Teacher Training
2002 - RYS 200 - Registered 200 hr Yoga School with Yoga Alliance
2004 - Thai Yoga Bodywork Levels 1 & 2
2004 - IAM Meditation Training (India)
2005 - Licensed Anusara Inspired Teacher
2008 - John Friend - Anusara Yoga Level One Teacher Training
2008 - John Friend - Ansuara Yoga Level Two Teacher Training
2008 - Anusara Yoga Therapuetics Teacher Training
2009 - Advanced Anusara Yoga Therapeutics Teacher Training
2010 - Chakra Training with Anodea Judith
2010 - Seane Corn Yoga Teacher Training
2011 - Adaptive Yoga with Mathew Sanford
2012 - E-RYT 500 Experienced Registered 500 hour Yoga Teacher
2012 - RYS 500- Registered 500 hour yoga school with Yoga Alliance
2013- Arthritis Foundation
E-RYT 500 - Registered 500 hour Yoga Alliance Teacher
Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider
Registered Yoga Therapist IAYT
Continuing education
I go on retreats multiple times a year since 1998 with my spiritual teacher Mata Amritanandaymayi or simply known as Amma, the Hugging Saint. Retreats are an adult version of a time out and nourishes my mind, heart, body and perspective. Since 2023, I go to my teacher’s ashram in Kerala, India for an extended stay.
Yoga philosophy gave me a wise and compassionate lens to see myself, others and life as a whole.
My love and practice of meditation and yoga began in 1992 while I was managing a New York City bookstore. I was a size 2, type A personality, always on the go; anxiety was my middle name. I fell into meditation accidentally and I never looked back. Meditation and yoga were what I needed to feel stronger inside and out. I became more balanced physically, emotionally and spiritually. Yoga was a natural fit for me since I loved moving my body. I loved ballet, ice skating, exercise classes, skiing, hiking, pilates, golf, etc. Plus, I love learning and yoga requires study, practice and focus. Yoga philosophy gave me a wise and compassionate lens to see myself, others and life as a whole.
Yoga and meditation invite Strength, Flexibility, Balance and Stillness, (Stillness was something that was foreign to me but is amazingly nourishing.) I opened my yoga studio Body of Light in Millburn, NJ in 2000. Since then I have helped hundreds of people, young and old, all shapes and sizes, all with different activity levels and diverse challenges. My studio “Body of Light” was selected as “one of the top five studios in New Jersey in 2005” (NJ LIFE). In 2004 I began teaching Chair Yoga at Winchester Gardens eventually adapting all the elements of yoga into a full spectrum class for seniors.
Seeing the need for balance and the fear of falling with my own mother, I developed a course called Balanced for Life and have since woven all those elements into the chair yoga classes. I have had my share of pain, injuries, anxiety and heartbreak. In 2008 I began studying yoga therapy and meditation as paths towards healing. I’ve practiced and studied Pilates, Hannah Somatics, Adaptive Yoga, Therapeutic Yoga, breathing techniques, Restorative Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Thai Bodywork, and Better Balance for the AARP crowd. These modalities enrich my method when working with clients.
More to know about Deborah
I have a BA in French and I lived in Montpellier, France for a year. An explorer at heart, I have traveled extensively in the US and beyond, developing an appreciation for different terrain, cultures and foods.
I spent 16 years as a retail manager focusing on restructuring entrepreneurial companies who were ready to expand into a larger business phase.
I am a 4th generation entrepreneur following in the footsteps of my great-grandmother, maternal grandparents, and my father and mother.
I am the oldest of 6 children and raised in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Yoga is a beautiful journey to know one’s Self. I hope you will join me.
Know your Self
Understand your Self
Honor your Self
The Divine lives within you as you.
~ Swami Muktananda