Ellen McNally

Ellen feels blessed to have found a deep and satisfying home in the Himalayan Tantric tradition which celebrates the weaving together of disparate elements, and equally blessed to be able to incorporate the teaching principles of Trauma-Sensitive Yoga into her classes, which are designed to support students of all ages, abilities and physical capacity to experience and explore the many gifts of yoga and meditation. Her teaching is informed by the many fine yoga teachers she has studied with, including Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Yoganand Michael Carroll, Dharma Mittra and Shari Friedrichsen.

Having begun teaching yoga in 2012, after completing both a 200- and 300-hour Hatha Tantra yoga teacher training Ellen began to focus specifically on teaching Yoga for 50+ and Restorative Yoga. A workshop in “Mindful Yoga for Veterans Coping with Trauma” stimulated her interest in working with students coping with the effects of PTSD and trauma. Going deeper in 2016, she was certified as a Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Facilitator (TCTSY-F) after completing an intensive seven-month training with David Emerson and Jennifer Turner of the Trauma Center in Brookline, MA.

[Trauma Center Trauma-Sensitive Yoga is an empirically validated, adjunctive method for working with people with complex trauma or chronic, resistant PTSD. Developed at the Trauma Center in Brookline, MA, TSY has foundations in Trauma Theory, Attachment Theory and Neuroscience as well as Hatha Yoga practice with an emphasis on body-based yoga forms and breathing practices.]

In 2017 Ellen completed the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program offered through the Yale Stress Center Program at the Yale School of Medicine. [MBSR is a widely-studied, evidence-based intervention that has shown to be helpful in reducing stress levels and better managing conditions such as depression, anxiety, insomnia and chronic pain.]

Ellen works in the Integrative Medicine department at Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT where she provides yoga, meditation and Reiki to cancer patients. She also teaches veterans at the Errera Community Care Center in West Haven, part of the West Haven VA.

A former ballet dancer, English teacher, Peace Corps volunteer, and Volunteer and Family Services Coordinator at Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven, Ellen continues to challenge herself in new forms of expression and new ways to be of service.