Jill E. Cummings, LCSW/E-RYT
Director of Training for Yoga for Kids and Co-Director of 200-hr. Teacher Training Program
While working as a social worker in Philadelphia, Jill sought out training to teach yoga to children living with anxiety and other conditions over seven-years ago. She soon began to teach yoga to children in yoga studios, public and private schools and in community centers in Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey. After opening her own studio, she developed her own training program to help other professionals bring yoga and all of its many benefits to children. She is constantly amazed at how yoga has helped kids to focus attention, increase balance and awareness into their own bodies and to connect them to their emotions. Seeing even the most energetic of children just melt into savasana just melts Jill’s heart! She is thrilled to be bringing her love of yoga and this training program to Yoga Matrika and its community. To the adult training programs, Jill brings years of experience as a trainer and her own experience as a Co-Director of Teacher Training at her studio. She has certificates in Prenatal Yoga and advanced study and teacher training in Yin Yoga.
Sharon Rudyk, Owner of Yoga Matrika and Director of Programs
Sharon has been teaching yoga and meditation for over eight-years and brings a unique approach to the study of mindfulness, asana and philosophy. She has Masters degrees in East Asian Studies/Chinese from the University of Pennsylvania and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh and completed a yoga teacher training program with Jill Satterfield in Vajra Yoga. Her exploration of yoga and alternative medicine in the United States is supported by a deep commitment to personal practice and continuing education. She has designed a yoga-based Childbirth Preparation course, Dynamic Childbirth, and her prenatal yoga programs for students and yoga instructors are based on embodied anatomy and profound respect for the energetic connection between mother and child.
Mark Chandlee Taylor, Director of the Center for BodyMindMovement
Mark is a Registered Somatic Movement Therapist (RSMT™) accredited by the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association. A certified teacher and practitioner of Body-Mind Centering® (BMC™), he has taught in the School for Body-Mind Centering in Massachusetts and Germany, and served as the school’s U.S. Program Director and Program Coordinator. He was artistic director and choreographer for Dance Alloy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and for Mark Taylor & Friends in New York, and served as a member of the Princeton University dance faculty. Mark teaches movement and embodiment practices in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Central and South America, and maintains a private practice in Pittsburgh.
Ven. Soorakkulame Pemaratana (aka. Bhante Pema)
Ven. S. Pemaratana was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1986 and received higher ordination in 1997. His monastic training was under the tutelage of the most Ven. Attangane Sasanaratana Maha Thero at Sripathi Pirivena, Diyakalamulla, Kuliyapitiya, Sri Lanka. He holds a bachelor’s degree with first class honors in Buddhist Studies from the University of Peradeniya and a master’s degree in philosophy from the National University of Singapore.
He has lectured at the University of Peradeniya and the Buddhist and Pali College of Singapore. He conducts regular lectures and workshops in Buddhist teachings and meditation. The Transcultural Society for Clinical Meditation in Japan gave him the 2008 Haruki Award for his research paper on Meditation and Cognitive Behavior Therapy. He is currently the resident teacher and acting abbot of the Pittsburgh Buddhist Center.
