Betsy has been an educator for over eight years and a yoga practitioner for ten. Having taught in a variety of settings, including primary- and university-level classrooms and fieldwork, Betsy now leads public classes and private sessions in yoga, meditation, and breathwork. What has remained constant across Betsy’s career is a commitment to individualized learning and student care, as well as a mixed-methodology approach to instruction. They believe that growth begins with the student and that the teacher’s job is to foster an environment of trust conducive to exploration, kindness, and meeting students’ individual needs.
Betsy holds masters degrees in English and Classics from the University at Buffalo (SUNY) and achieved candidacy in the University’s PhD program in Mediterranean Archaeology before leaving to pursue yoga instruction as a career. They completed their 200-hour yoga teacher training at Breathe Yoga, specializing primarily in Vinyasa with a secondary focus on Yin, Chair, Restorative, and Prenatal Yoga as well as meditation. Since then, they have gained additional certification in Chair Yoga, became a certified Yoga of 12-Step Recovery Peer Support guide, and completed Relax and Renew® Level 1 Restorative Yoga Teacher Training (certification in process). Betsy has also continued to study the language and history of yoga via the Yogic Studies platform.
During their time in academia, Betsy was particularly interested in historical trauma and its relationship to memory, identity, and physical practice — all of which are deeply interwoven in how we come to yoga. Healing on
multiple levels is therefore central to Betsy’s teaching, and they hope to hold space in their classes for students to unpack narratives about themselves and others and to channel their discoveries into a more just and compassionate
world.
Betsy Woldeyohannes, MA, RYT®200
Yene Yoga LLC
(they/them)
(585)694-0774
[email protected]
Settle into Stillness Restorative Yoga
9:30 - 11:00 AM Wednesdays
Price: $10/$15/$20
Still, quiet, dark, and warm — these four qualities of Restorative Yoga allow the practitioner to go deeper, finding openness rather than deep stretching or strength. In this 90 minute class, students will rely on the physical and emotional support of props to ease them into a state of calm, remaining in each posture for several minutes in order to facilitate the 'quieting' nervous systems of the body. By accepting support, by ̍doing less̍, this class will help participants invite true rest and discovery in the midst of our busy worlds.
"Betsy is a kind and knowledgeable yoga instructor. They offer hands-on assistance and cues which help students get the most out of the practice. They are easy to hear and understand. They lead us into long savasanas which are very
relaxing. I always look forward to their classes. The other students and I are happy that they joined our yoga studio. They are definitely an asset!"
-- Michelle Fontaine, Student