Meet our team of Yoga Instructors

Amy "Dechen" Zezulka
Senior Teacher, Studio Owner/Founder

Dechen is the founder and owner of the Mystic Yoga Shala and currently a grateful Baptiste Yoga Teacher and a Heartfulness Meditation Instructor who has been training and practicing since 1992 and teaching for over 22 years. She got into yoga for anger management after taking on the job harassment literally into her own hands by slugging a co-worker in the jaw getting her immediately fired. She is a student first and continues her studies with the Baptiste Institute and practices meditation under the guidance of Kamlesh D. Patel, affectionately known as "Daaji," the president of the Heartfulness Organization. Her first teacher training was completed in 1996 at a Sivananda Ashram after studying yoga previously for four years at Jivamukti Yoga under the guidance of Sharon Gannon and David Life in Manhattan. She started teaching in 1996 on the east end of Long Island while working on an organic farm. Soon after she opened up "The Studio" for the Arts and Education in Greenport, NY while also working for The Association for Resource Conservation-encouraging vineyards and farms to use organic methods of farming through on site composting. In 1997 she completed her first ten day silent Vipassana Meditation Retreat and in 1999 she lived, worked and studied at Pema Osel Ling in California, home of the Vajrayana Foundation and the late great Tibetan Rinpoche Lama Tharchin who gave her the name Dechen. She credits the success of her school to the support of her family, her teachers, the Baptiste Methodology and Institute, and all of the dedicated people who work at the shala. Dechen was also the official yoga teacher for the WNBA Connecticut Sun Womens Basketball Team from 2009-2011. Her current favorite quotes are "Freedom comes from discipline”, and "Love grows through service", by her late teacher Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari.

Emma Sutphen
Teacher

Emma took her first Baptiste Yoga class in 2010 at the Mystic Yoga Shala while she was in high school and got hooked on the practice in college. Since then, she has become a 200-hour RYT and taken Baptiste Level One and Two, as well as the Baptiste Art of Assisting and Instructor courses, to become a certified Baptiste Yoga Teacher. Emma believes “your life is your message,” and lives her yoga daily by fostering connections between humans and nature as a farmer, beekeeper, and outdoor educator. She has experienced the ability of yoga to calm the central nervous system and remedy anxiety and depression first hand, and seeks to share the healing qualities of yoga with her students and others. When she isn’t on her mat, she is outside building community in the Mystic area, where she has lived since she was born.

Sue MacClain
Teacher

Sue believes that a good day is any day she gets to step onto her mat. In describing her connection to yoga, she says, “Yoga is my peace, my inspiration, and my refuge. It has become part of who I am. It is my connection to earth and my space to be. It is infinitely patient, elegantly simple, and immeasurably expansive. My relationship with it is much like any other. It has seen highs and lows, has taught me patience and compassion, and continues to evolve, showing me that the more I give, the more I receive.” In 2010, Sue received her 200-hour certification through the Mystic Yoga Shala & Lifeline Power Yoga, and is now a certified Baptiste Teacher. “I teach because it shows me who I really am. Much of what I am learning about myself and how I move through life, I am learning on my yoga mat. Teaching, learning, and conveying the experiences of my own living yoga practice inspires me to inspire others.” Sue’s teaching style follows the principles of Baptiste yoga, incorporating alignment, mindfulness, flow and breath.

Aaron Warren
Teacher

Aaron is a yogi who has followed the Baptiste yoga tradition as a dedicated student for over 15 years and started his teaching career at the Mystic Yoga Shala in 2010. Since then he founded Manipura Power Yoga and has traveled the world building power plants and being of service to others.