Debbie Cohen, M.Ed, M.APPI have been teaching hatha yoga since 1996. I trained first at the World Yoga Center with Ann Farbman-Brown in New York and then at SVYASA, a yoga rehabilitation center and research institute in South India. I currently study with Patricia Walden and Barbara Benagh.
I have advanced clinical training in Mind-Body Medicine from the Beth Israel Medical Center. I trained at the Center for Mindfulness at UMass Medical School to teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. I have studied experiential anatomy with chiropractor and yoga teacher Tom Alden. In addition, I am trained in the Karma Kids Yoga and the Yoga Ed programs as well as the Penn Resiliency Program in order to teach children in school settings.
I have a bachelors and masters of education from Harvard University, and a masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to teaching yoga, I have also been a section leader for Tal Ben-Shahar’s Positive Psychology lecture course at Harvard and am currently working on several research studies evaluating the effects of yoga on children in schools.
Core Yoga Tuesdays 5:15-7:15pm in the Charles River Room. Cost: $20/class
I teach the yoga poses so that the experience feels integrated from head to toe. This minimizes effort, strengthens core muscles, and brings intelligence to the body. The intention is that this intelligence and sense of integration resonates beyond the immediate physical experience to perspective shifts which take effect during daily living.
I started practicing Siddha yoga and have studied Iyengar yoga for many years. What this means in plain English is that the yoga sessions are absorbing and meditative and that the tool for creating this state is careful attention to precise details of alignment.
In 2002, I ran the first Core Yoga teacher training, a 200hr. program registered with the Yoga Alliance. The training was inspired by the first teacher training I took in 1996 with Ann Farbman-Brown at the World Yoga Center in Manhattan. The tradition which was passed on to me was Siddha yoga, so there was a strong emphasis on meditation and the experience of kundalini.
Since then my education expanded to include a teacher training at a yoga research center and rehabilitation home in South India, the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana. This brought deeper understanding of the specific uses of yoga as a therapeutic tool.
Further education in Applied Positive Psychology has brought the ability to convey yoga philosophy through western language and thought and also to focus beyond the therapeutic possibilities of yoga to seeing it as a useful tool for fulfilling one’s potential and leading a satisfying life.
The strongest influence on my teaching of the poses and the practice of hatha yoga comes from Iyengar training, specifically with teachers Barbara Benagh and Patricia Walden.
I bring this training, thirteen years of yoga teaching experience and a deep passion for the practice and teaching to the Core Yoga Teacher Training.
For schedule, brochure and more details…
Deb’s teacher training has been by far one of the best things I have ever done…. Five years out of the training, I still think of what a wonderful teacher she has been and what great friendships have formed from it…. This training is unique as one is not forced into one specific style of practicing or teaching. Deb helps to explore the many facets of yoga, which is far more than just poses. She opens the door to a new world….The time, energy, and the financial investment seem like a huge commitment. It is worth every minute and penny and will pass faster than you wish! [Barbara]
When I joined the Core Yoga Teacher training, I had already had an established yoga teaching career (5 years), yet no certification. I searched for a teacher who could not only enhance my background of anatomy, philosophy and methods, but also someone who would guide me towards teaching yoga in an authentic and genuine way. The participants in the course were all diverse in their backgrounds, ages, and personal experience. Not only did Debbie embrace us individually, but she was able to build a classroom community that I cherish until this day… Debbie was incredibly accurate in her explanations of anatomy, helpful in teaching us how to become our own teacher and a fantastic role-model as a teacher who develops her own craft and seeks to deepen her understanding. Debbie was supportive after completion and has remained someone that I learn from. [Chrissy]
Individual Yoga SessionsAs part of the Core Yoga practice, I often work one-on-one with individuals. This is a good choice for you if:
• You enjoy yoga but have limitations which are difficult to manage in a class situation,
• You enjoy hands-on adjustments and learn alignment principles best this way,
• Time constraints make it difficult for you to attend class regularly,
• You enjoy practicing in the comfort of your own home,
• You have a particular interest or condition and want a practice customized for you,
• You like having individual instruction as an aid to help you work safely and comfortably in yoga classes, or
• You want to learn how to cultivate your own personal practice.
Debbie is a gifted yoga teacher, as attentive to details of asanas as she is generous in creating a welcoming and supportive community. Despite having Rheumatoid Arthritis for 25 years, I am continually gaining strength, flexibility and confidence. It is a great pleasure to be Debbie’s student. [Jeanne]
I am 80 years old and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease 8 years ago. I have been practicing yoga with Debbie two times a week for three years. Although she hadn’t worked with PD before, she quickly identified what was most important for me to pay attention to and offered wonderful support and encouragement. She remembers and observes what I need and helps focus my attention. I am more flexible, stronger – even my neurologist noticed my more fluid walk. Best of all, I feel happier, which isn’t easy to come by with Parkinson’s. [Scott]
The BeYoga training with Deborah Van Handel was developed for yoga teachers, parents and teachers interested in teaching yoga to children K-8. It was inspired by the possibility of creating a playful, joyful environment in which to explore yoga.
We bring to it a wealth of experience teaching yoga to children. This training has roots in previous trainings we have taken, Yoga Ed and Karma Kids Yoga.
Debbie first began teaching yoga in 1996. She taught high school age students for eight years and has been training yoga teachers and teaching yoga to children since 2002. Deborah has been working with children for over 20 years as a teacher and Montessori school director and has been teaching yoga since the mid-70s. Contact Debbie directly for more details.
The yoga@school training for Physical Education teachers, taught with Jane Rosen, was inspired by the possibility of providing all students with exposure to yoga during their school years.
Physical Education teachers have experience teaching movement to students in school settings. However, they have not necessarily had the professional development opportunity to learn to teach yoga.
This is a training designed specifically to fill that gap. Both Jane and I have had careers as school teachers and administrators and both of us have been teaching yoga to children since 2002.
View/Download the 2010-2011 brochure: Core Yoga Teacher Training
Through years of yoga teaching, I have seen many examples of the powerful benefits of a regular yoga practice: from improvements in physical health like weight loss and improved range of motion to shifts in perspective that bring about greater levels of well-being and, at times, lifestyle changes. In order to see these benefits more clearly and to 
communicate them effectively to others, I got involved in researching the effects of yoga, most recently focusing on the effects of yoga on children in school settings.
These studies are being conducted under the supervision of two principal investigators, Sat Bir Khalsa, PhD at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Naomi Steiner, MD at Tufts- NE Medical. I have worked both as a yoga teacher and as a research coordinator. Through this work I became part of the research team at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA. This association has brought together a team of committed yoga teachers and researchers planning a longitudinal study on the long-term effects of yoga on children in schools.
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