Chaya Spencer

Chaya is an Experienced Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher, Teacher Trainer and the founding director of Shree Yoga. Born and raised in New York City, Chaya has been meditating since the age of 6 and first traveled to India to study meditation and yoga when she was 14. For the next three years, she traveled all over the world with her meditation and yoga teacher, studying Eastern philosophy, Sanskrit, hatha yoga, Indian music and Indian cooking. These were in addition to her high school schoolwork, which she did through correspondence. She attended Sarah Lawrence College, which accepted her on the basis of an essay she wrote detailing her extraordinary life experience. Over the years, Chaya regularly returned to India for extended periods to continue her studies. She received her first yoga teacher certification there in 1990 and her Anusara Certification in 2002. Chaya thus brings to her classes the fruits of her deep and long immersion in the Indian yogic tradition, including a felt knowledge of the yogic texts and the philosophies supporting yoga.

A gifted teacher steeped in the wisdom of yoga, her classes offer something for all. Even the newest and stiffest students report life-changing benefits from her gentle beginner classes, while more advanced students find their lives, minds, and bodies coming back into balance, even during difficult life transitions. Students frequently report that a class was so beneficial, it must have been designed specifically for them. “I think people say that because they come with a certain expectation,” says Chaya. “It might be a physical or emotional problem, but whatever it is, they’re ready to receive what they need, and that’s what happens. Practicing yoga means spending time with yourself and connecting with yourself. If you go to yoga with that intention, it’s only natural that you’ll draw to yourself whatever you need.”