About Steve

I have been teaching group classes since 2005 and working with private clients since 2008. I live in Amenia NY and in Manhattan with my wife Nadiya Nottingham.

Having abandoned my yoga and tai chi practice in 1975, I spent the next twenty-five years as a classic Type-A New Yorker, helping lead a prominent cultural organization. In 2001 I was diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer. It was my second cancer and a huge wake-up call. I was seriously stressed-out, desperately needed to start taking care of myself, and immediately decided to start fitness training and develop a daily yoga practice. My wife found the newly-opened Haelth Wellness Center (since closed), where therapists helped me develop a home practice and in 2002 I began studying with Viniyoga teachers. I quickly began to enjoy improved energy, muscle tone, sensuality, mental focus, and outlook on life. 

Your daily Viniyoga practice will have the same effect, and you will find  that your posture, resting pulse, blood pressure, breath capacity, and  breath rate all will dramatically improve.

My cancer treatment was successful, and the decision to take care of  myself led to receiving wonderful complementary care, including weekly  private yoga instruction with Charles Matkin in 2001 and Zack Kurland in  2002 and 2003. In 2004 I began studying with Leslie Kaminoff and Katherine Bridges. In 2005 I was the first graduate of Leslie and Zack’s 200 hour advanced studies program at The Breathing Project in New York City and began teaching a weekly class there. During this same period I was blessed to participate in workshops led by T.K.V. Desikachar, Menaka Desikachar, and Mark Whitwell.

 In  2006 I enrolled in the American Viniyoga Institute's (AVI) Yoga Teacher and Therapist Training program, led by Gary Kraftsow. Gary has been a leader in the transmission of yoga teachings for health, healing, and personal transformation for over 35 years. He began his study of yoga with T.K.V. Desikachar in 1974. Gary is the author of “Yoga for Wellness” and “Yoga for Transformation.” I received a 500 hour teacher certification from AVI in 2007, over 1,000 hours of Yoga Therapy training with Gary and the AVI team in the years since, and am certified as a Yoga Therapist by AVI and the International  Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT).