Our Mission: Educate and Empower
YogaLife offers an adaptive and interactive approach to learning that is focused on the individual. Through practical yoga philosophy, body-mind education, personal inquiry, experiential learning, embodied practice and spiritual community, we are a dynamic and transformational learning environment for people of all ages and backgrounds.
YogaLife is home to highly qualified and experienced teachers who are dedicated to honing their craft. Every YogaLife teacher holds advanced certifications in Yoga and Yoga Therapy, and have created areas of specialization based on their professional backgrounds and individual interests!
Program Directors
Bob Butera, PhD, C-IAYT
Bob is the Founder and Program Director of the Comprehensive Yoga Therapy training at the YogaLife Institute, where he trains Yoga Teachers and Yoga Therapists. For many of those years, he was also the publisher of Yoga Living Magazine.
His PhD in Yoga Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies concentrated on lifestyle-based Yoga Therapy for individuals with HIV/AIDS. Formally trained by Yoga Therapy pioneer Dr. Jayadeva Yogendra in Mumbai, India, and holding an MDiv from the Earlham School of Religion, Dr. Butera is the co-author of six books on Yoga, Meditation, and Yoga Therapy. His latest work The Yoga Life: Applying Comprehensive Yoga Therapy to All Areas of Your Life, reflects his expertise.
With more than 30 years of full-time teaching experience, Bob utilizes the principles of Yoga Philosophy and Psychology to guide individuals toward leading richer, fuller lives. Currently residing in Carlsbad, CA, he also serves on the adjunct teaching staff at the California Institute of Human Science.
Kristen Butera, ERYT500, C-IAYT
Kristen has been studying and teaching yoga full time for 18 years, accumulating more than 5000 hours of professional and academic training in a variety of yoga traditions and somatic methods, with special focus on Yin, Restorative, Deep Ecology, Somatic Learning, and the therapeutic applications of Yoga.
She is the co-author of Yoga Therapy: A Personalized Approach for Your Active Lifestyle, and the former Editor of Yoga Living Magazine. As Program Director, she oversees all aspects of the YogaLife educational programs. An artist and a lifelong student of movement, language, cosmology, and consciousness, in 2021 she completed a post graduate diploma in Mythopoetics with Dartington Arts School and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Somatic Ecology with Schumacher College in Devon, UK.
Her passion is for creating dynamic learning environments that offer a safe container for people to experience deep emotional connection, creative expression, spiritual processing, individual, community and natural restoration.
Senior Teachers
Erika Tenenbaum, ERYT500, CIAYT
Lead Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapy Trainer
Erika has been teaching with YogaLife since 2004. She holds advanced certifications in Yoga and Yoga Therapy. As a licensed skin care specialist and manual lymphatic drainage massage practitioner, Erika helps people experience beauty from within. A gifted teacher, Erika is a firm believer in the tenets of yogic tradition, she relishes the opportunity to share her yoga vision and years of experience with students in the Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapy trainings.
Jennifer Hilbert, MS, ERYT500, CIAYT
Yoga Therapy Trainer, Neuroscientist
Jen has been dedicated yoga practitioner of over 20 years. She discovered YogaLife in 2004 and has since completed specialized training in Yoga and Yoga Therapy.
She has a Masters Degree in Neuroscience, and as a mother and athlete her passions include educating families about the benefits of healthy eating and breath awareness, along with playing tennis, biking, traveling and spending quality time with family and friends.
Erin Byron, MA, ERYT500, CIAYT, LPC
Yoga Therapy Trainer, Trauma Aware, Yoga for Mental Health
Erin Byron is the co-creator of the Comprehensive Yoga Therapy Training. She holds an MA in Psychology with a specialization in Yoga for Trauma. She is an educator who brings more than 20 years of experience as a professional Yoga Therapist and practicing Psychotherapist to her teachings.
She is the author of multiple books including Yoga Therapy for Stress & Anxiety, Yoga for the Creative Soul and Yoga Therapy for Arthritis.
Staffan Elgelid, PhD, RYT500, C-IAYT
Yoga Therapy Trainer, Physical Therapist, Somatic Educator
Dr. Elgelid is Associate Professor of Physical Therapy at Nazareth College where he is the director of the college’s health and wellness programs who presents on topics internationally. He is also a Feldenkrais Practitioner and has been active in Somatic Education community at an international level.
Staffan has sat on advisory boards for the IAYT and Yoga Alliance and holds a yoga therapy certification from YogaLife Institute. He is the co-author of several books including Yoga Therapy in Practice, Yoga Therapy for Stress and Anxiety, Yoga Therapy: A Personalized Approach and The Feldenkrais Method: Learning Through Movement.
Rebecca Cate LPC, ERYT200, CIAYT
Yoga Therapy Trainer, Licensed Professional Counselor
Rebecca is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT), and an experienced yoga teacher (E-RYT 200). She has masters degrees in Counseling Psychology and Public Health.
Rebecca is also a Provisional Master in Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu. Practicing yoga, living by its tenets, guides her in all her endeavors and day to day life. Rebecca enjoys sharing yoga philosophy with others and facilitating the process of learning, healing, and feeling more at ease in life.
Jennifer Kreatsoulas PhD, ERYT500, CIAYT
Yoga Therapy Mentor & Teacher Currently On Hiatus
Jennifer is a dedicated Yoga practitioner of over 20 years. She is the founder of Yoga for Eating Disorders, mother of two girls, a Yoga teacher and Yoga Therapist, and a writer. She is author and contributor of several books, including Body Mindful Yoga and her writing has been features in national publications.
Her Yoga Therapy specialties include eating disorder recovery and body image. Jennifer is passionate about studying Yoga philosophy and connecting and working with new yoga teachers and yoga therapists. Jennifer is deeply honored to be a member of the YogaLife community.
Transformational Yoga Lifestyle Programs
Private Yoga Therapy Sessions
Yoga Therapy 100 Hour Foundations
Yoga Therapy 800 Hour Training
200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training
Mentorship for Yoga Teachers and Therapists
Study at Your Own Pace Online Courses