Our Teachers




All of the teachers at Yoga Loka are Yoga Alliance registered, either at the 200 or the 500 hour level, many in the Saraswati River lineage of vinyasa yoga.  While they all come from their own unique places in life, they all share a common passion for yoga and have taken steps to "live yoga".  The instructors here are trained to help students modify poses to fit your body through the foundation of Structural Yoga Therapy.  


They all respect your current ability and want to help you  take your practice in the direction you desire.

Bonnie Pariser (Amarjyothi) 

 Bonnie Pariser (Amarjyothi) is the founder, director and senior instructor at Yoga Loka in Frenchtown. She began teaching Yoga in 1998 and has taught in the Frenchtown area since 1999. (Click here for CV)

Bonnie took her first yoga class as a gym requirement at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC where she studied Fashion Design in 1985. A field trip to The Sivananda Ashram on 24th street, where her gym teacher studied, sealed her interest in the practice. It was at this Ashram that Bonnie met her future karate teacher, known for his work as “The Kirtan Rabbi”, and delved into that martial art for the next 10 years. Though a regular yoga practice took a back seat as she worked to earn her second-degree black belt, it never left her heart. “I incorporated much of the breath work and conscious movement techniques that I learned in yoga into my karate practice and teaching.” Bonnie  had studied Tai Chi several years before; so the mixture of soft and hard and consciousness in motion were not new concepts.

Bonnie moved to the Delaware Valley region in 1996, and finally felt at home when she met Parvathi Nanda Nath Saraswati, founder of Saraswati River Yoga and Tantric adept. The whole concept of how the physical aspects of yoga were intertwined with the spiritual aspects became clear thru her continuing studies with Parvathi. She completed her initial Yoga Teacher Training and her first Therapeutic Yoga Teacher Training at Saraswati River Yoga with Parvathi (Kirin Mishra). She continues her Tantric studies with Parvathi, completing a Bhairavi Training in 2006, and participating in ongoing studies in the Shree Vidyaa lineage. 

In 2005 Bonnie  was certified as a Structural Yoga Therapist under the direction of Mukunda Stiles, a world-wide leader in the field of Therapeutic Yoga, and the author of the seminal book, "Structural Yoga Therapy" and “Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy”.  She remained a close student until his passing in February 2014 and is honored to be able to continue to share his teachings in the Yoga Sutras and SYT (Structural Yoga Therapy).

From a young age, Bonnie has been interested in understanding how the body moves, and what the implications of restricted movement is. Through her work with Parvathi and Mukunda her investigation of how the body stores emotions, trauma and joy has penetrated to a deeper level. To facilitate her own understanding and personal practice, She has also studied with Tom Myers, author of Anatomy Trains, and Bessel Von De Kolk, world leader in research on trauma and its effects on the brain and body,  Dr. David Bercelli, founder of TRE, and the study of ancient and modern texts. 

Bonnie is a Thai Yoga Therapist, Level two Reiki practitioner, and a certified TRE® provider, trained by TRE® founder Dr. David Bercelli. Using elements of TRE, SYT and her training with Dr. Gillespie, Bonnie has developed a fascial release system called AFR (Assisted Facial Release) that has helped many become free from pain and chronic conditions.

Bonnie has led more than 15 training and immersion programs at Yoga Loka and is a guest teacher in other training programs. She has taught classes at Kripalu, Integral Yoga (NYC and Virginia), the Hunterdon County Library Lecture Series, Mexico City and Playa Del Carmen, and the NYC Open Center. Bonnie was a member of the Integrative Medicine Team at Hunterdon Medical Center and Wegman’s Corporate Yoga Program and has offered programs at Steeple Chase Cancer Cancer at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital and the non-profit Yoga For Cancer Care program.
Her teaching combines precision, playfulness, and down to earth philosophy, all extracted from the ancient lineage of her teachers and her own insights as a mother, student, teacher, and practitioner.

Yoga Loka opened in Frenchtown in 2003 with the intention of providing a space for practices to be presented that can enhance the potential for self investigation and healing, on the physical, emotional and spiritual level.

AmarJyothi lives in Frenchtown New Jersey with her husband Warren and  her two children, Dominique, and Zachary.
Please visit Yoga-Therapy-Can-Help.Me for more information about private sessions at Yoga Loka

Carole Pepe 

Carole Pepe spent over 25 years as a Special Educator and outdoor enthusiast. Carole found Yoga in 1998, after an injury and the practice felt like a natural fit in exploring the physicality of asana as well as the connection of the self to the natural world. In 1999, she delved into a 200 hour teacher training certification training in therapeutics and the Bharaivi tradition with Parvathi Nanda Nath Saraswati (Kirin Mishra). She began teaching yoga to children and adults at that time. After a life-altering diagnosis of cancer in 2003, yoga became prominent in the heart of her healing process. Amar Jyothi (Bonnie Pariser) at Yoga Loka in Frenchtown, NJ, became one of the principle guides in her healing journey. Carole obtained certification from OM Yoga, NYC, to teach yoga to cancer survivors in June, 2009. In June 2010, she completed the 500 hour yoga teacher training program with an emphasis on therapeutics at Yoga Loka. She founded Yoga for Cancer Care offering cancer care classes, Restore and Renew classes, and outreach programs.  She is also an assistant instructor for the teacher trainees at Yoga Loka. Her intent is to share with others, especially those with cancer or chronic illness, the strengthening and healing benefits of a yoga practice that can add peace and ease to our daily lives.

 Cindy Buckley 

Cindy fell in love with yoga in 2001 when she experimented with Iyengar Yoga and Bikram Yoga. Both 
styles of yoga were extraordinarily beneficial. However, something was missing. Then 8 years ago, she 
found her home at Yoga Loka where she realized that structural yoga therapy was the perfect fit for her 
lifestyle and belief system. Cindy's affinity to structural yoga is strengthened and sustained through her 
practice of yoga, love of nature, hiking, and the meditative qualities that these activities have in 
common. She is also passionate about and supports community based self-sustaining local organic 
farming. You will often find her at the farmers markets, CSA’S and digging in the dirt in her own garden.

In the spring of 2016 Cindy will earn her degree in Exercise Science, which helps her to deepen her 
understanding of the body and the intricacy of movement as it relates to yoga. In the same year, she will 
complete her 500 hour yoga teacher certification at Yoga Loka. 
During a yoga class with Cindy, you will find a nurturing, safe environment where there is space to 
deepen your practice and explore the possibilities of what yoga can bring into your life.

Denise Evarts

Denise Evarts first stepped onto the yoga mat in 1994 after tearing off a phone number from a yoga
flyer on a NYC bus stop, because she was simply curious. Since then, she has practiced yoga on and off
while raising and homeschooling her three children, working as a doula, teaching piano, and directing
Shakespeare plays. Denise moved to Hunterdon County in 2003 and started attending yoga classes at
Yoga Loka in Frenchtown and after her youngest child graduated high school, Denise decided to treat
herself to the Yoga Immersion/Teacher Training offered at Yoga Loka with Amarjyothi (Bonnie Pariser).
She completed her RYT 200 hours in 2021 and began teaching right away at Yoga Loka. Denise is at the
finish line of the next level RYT 300-hour yoga training.
Denise is a teacher at heart and enjoys helping others on their life journey. One reason Denise likes
being a teacher is because she’s learned that we educate ourselves on another level, an ever-evolving
level, as we create ways to bring insight and information to students. She has worked with women and
girls during the transformative times of childbirth and puberty, as a birthing doula, a La Leche League
Leader, and a teacher about menstruation in her Blossom Classes. She now facilitates the Divine
Feminine workshops at Yoga Loka, helping women during their menopausal years using ritual and yoga
as tools for coping with life’s challenges.
Denise lives in Frenchtown with her husband, and is mother to three grown children, and a grandma to
a grandson.
If Denise could travel back in time to when she first stepped on the yoga mat in that little quirky convent
space on the Upper West Side, she would whisper to her younger self to “Do more yoga.”

Ali Gilheany

With over 25 years of personal practice and nearly 15 years of teaching experience, Alison brings a thoughtful, lighthearted approach to yoga that honors each person's unique experience. She completed both her 200-hour and 300-hour teacher training, along with Sri Vidya studies through Yogasphere. Her classes are rooted in the belief that yoga can meet us exactly where we are on any given day—offering space to explore, reconnect, and simply be present. Alison is excited to join the Yoga Loka community and share this practice with others.

Laura Knott

Laura turned to Yoga Loka in 2010, looking to learn meditation techniques to quiet the mind and hoping that the “exercise part” of yoga wouldn’t be too awful. Surprise! She fell in love with both the physical movement and spiritual philosophy of yoga, diving into Amarjyothi’s many asana classes and Yoga Sutras workshops.

Years later, Laura made the commitment to begin Yoga Loka’s 200 Hour Teacher Training program, followed immediately by the 300 Hour program. After completing her final project by establishing a adaptive Chair Yoga program in conjunction with the Harvest Family Success Center, Laura received her 500 Hour RYT Designation from the Yoga Alliance. She has also received a Restorative Yoga teaching certification and is completing an additional 100 hour Chair Yoga certification.
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As a result of training with Amarjyothi, Laura believes that yoga is truly a practice for every body, and wishes to help others experience yoga as an inclusive physical exercise and spiritual way of life.

Val Turner

Valerie Turner began her yoga journey in 2001 at a Golds Gym in Astoria, Queens - instantly falling in love with the physical practice.  In 2006 she completed a 200 hour yoga teacher training in a  Buddhist-based form of vinyasa yoga at Om in NYC. Mindfulness based meditation and vinyasa yoga became a foundational part of her path.

Over the years Val has been certified as a meditation teacher, MBSR facilitator, Thai yoga massage practitioner, and women’s health coach - all informing her work as a pelvic health physical therapist. 

Since moving to Frenchtown in 2006, Val’s yoga home and happy place has been Yoga  Loka. The wisdom, elegance, playfulness and nuance of Bonnie’s teachings have deeply enriched her experience of yoga and fostered an open ended curiosity for all the ways our bodies move, thrive and experience this world. 

As a teacher Val aims to provide the conditions for each student to explore the beginner’s mind, the body’s potential, and the simple joy of being present in the here and now. 


Deb Hart

Deb completed her RYT 200-hour training with Amarjyothi at Yoga Loka in May, 2021, and is currently working toward her 500-hour certification. 

Deb began taking yoga classes in 2007 to add some stretching to her fitness routine, but soon learned there was much more to yoga than that.  While she came for the stretching, she stayed for the strengthening and spiritual aspects of yoga. 

Deb is particularly interested in how yoga contributes to a healthy aging process for people of all ages. 

Deb recently retired from a long, rewarding career as a speech-language pathologist. 
She Iives in Hunterdon County, NJ, with her family. ​
Rocky feels honored to share her love of yoga with the Yoga Loka community. She
discovered the studio in 2023 while searching for a place that embraced the spiritual
dimensions of yoga as deeply as the physical practice. From her very first class with
Bonnie, she felt as though she had come home.

Rocky has been teaching fitness for decades, including aerobics, Barre, and Zumba.
Although she took her first yoga class in 2001, it wasn’t until 2012, when a physical
therapist recommended yoga to help address chronic back issues, that she fully
embraced the practice and experienced its transformative benefits.

Her credentials include certifications in Group Fitness, Wellness Coaching, New Jersey
Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, and Y12SR Yoga. She completed her 200-hour
Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) training in 2020 and her 300-hour RYT training in 2025
at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Massachusetts. She has also attended
numerous workshops focused on somatic healing and strongly believes that “our issues
live in our tissues.”

Committed to sharing the healing power of yoga, Rocky teaches residents at a local
halfway house for women several times each month. She is also a passionate advocate
for behavioral health, working to advance awareness and support initiatives throughout
New Jersey and across the country.
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When she is not teaching or advocating, Rocky finds peace in her garden and on her
yoga mat. She lives in Flemington, New Jersey, with her husband of 34 years. Together
they have two adult sons and two beloved large dogs.