Amy Ippoliti (born December 6, 1969) is an American yoga teacher, author, and environmental conservationist. She is the co-founder of 90 Monkeys, an online school for advanced yoga education. Amy has studied yoga for over 30 years and has been teaching since 1997.

Early life and education

Ippoliti was born in

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

. She began practicing yoga at the age of 16 in the

Sivananda Swami Sivananda Saraswati (; 8 September 1887 – 14 July 1963), also called Swami Sivananda, was a yoga guru, a Hindu spiritual teacher, and a proponent of '' Vedanta''. Sivananda was born in Pattamadai, in the Tirunelveli district of mo ...

tradition. After graduating from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

with a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art, Ippoliti returned to New York, where she taught self-defense and fitness classes while continuing to practice yoga. Ippoliti completed her first yoga teacher training with Cyndi Lee in 1997. In 1998, she met John Friend and became a certified

Anusara Yoga Anusara School of Hatha Yoga, also known as Anusara Yoga (In Hindi:अनुसार योग) is the successor of a modern school of hatha yoga founded by American-born yoga teacher John Friend in 1997. Friend derived his style from the Iy ...

teacher in 2000. In 1999, she met Douglas Brooks, a professor of religion at

University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...

and scholar of

Shri Vidya __NOTOC__ Shri Vidya (ISO: '; ; sometimes also spelled Sri Vidya or Shree Vidya) is a Hindu Tantric religious system devoted to the Goddess. Shri Vidya developed out of various influences, especially Kāśmīr Shaivism, and its doctrines rema ...

Tantra Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the India, Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism. The term ''tantra'', in the Greater India, Indian tr ...

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

. Ippoliti continues to study with Brooks.

Professional life

Ippoliti began teaching yoga in 1997. In addition to teaching for fitness companies such as

Equinox Fitness Equinox Holdings, Inc. is an American luxury fitness company and health club headquartered in New York City, New York. The company operates more than 300 club facilities in major cities in the United States, as well as in London, Toronto, and V ...

and

Crunch Fitness Crunch Fitness is a US-based brand of over 500 franchising, franchised and corporate owned health club, fitness clubs located in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Spain, Portugal, Costa Rica, and Australia. Founded by Doug Levine in 1989, it ...

, she was also a teacher for a number of successful start-up yoga centers in New York, including OM Yoga, Laughing Lotus, and VIRAYOGA. Ippoliti also maintained a clientele of private students, including executives at

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered at The Spiral (New York City), The Spiral in Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 184 ...

, and

Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chas ...

, as well as authors, prominent CEOs, and Hollywood celebrities. Ippoliti designed the 100-hour Anusara Yoga Immersion in 2002 and served on the Anusara Yoga Curriculum Committee. In January 2012, Ippoliti renounced her certification from Anusara Yoga. Ippoliti has led national and international yoga teacher trainings, workshops, and retreats since 1999. She has also presented at yoga conferences and festivals such as Yoga Journal Live,

Wanderlust Wanderlust is a strong desire to wander or travel and explore the world. The term has its roots in German Romanticism. Etymology The first documented use of the term in English occurred in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a chara ...

, Hanuman Festival, and

Omega Institute for Holistic Studies Omega Institute for Holistic Studies is a non-profit educational retreat center located in Rhinebeck, New York. Founded in 1977 by Elizabeth Lesser and Stephan Rechtschaffen, inspired by Sufi mystic, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan and his ecumen ...

. In 2012, Ippoliti co-founded 90 Monkeys, an online and in-person school for advanced yoga education. Ippoliti has contributed to a number of print and online publications, including

Yoga Journal ''Yoga Journal'' is a website and digital journal, formerly a print magazine, on yoga as exercise founded in California in 1975 with the goal of combining the essence of traditional yoga with scientific understanding. It has produced live events ...

, Yoga Digest, Yoga International, Origin Magazine, Mantra Magazine, Elephant Journal, prAna Stories, and more. She has also been featured in

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Clay Felker and Milton Glaser in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' a ...

, Allure Korea, Origin Magazine, and more. Ippoliti is the co-author of a new book titled,
The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga: The Yoga Professional’s Guide to a Fulfilling Career
', published by

New World Library New World Library is an American publisher of books for adults and children. The press focuses on publishing New Age books concerning the mind, the body and the spirit. The company is located in Novato, California and has 16 employees. In 1977 ...

. Ippoliti is a brand ambassador for prAna clothing and ToeSox.

Personal life

Ippoliti currently lives in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

. She is an advocate for earth and marine conservation and has partnered with Shawn Heinrichs and Taro Smith on several underwater photography projects aimed at raising awareness on overfishing and the extinction of marine species.

Books

* 2016 (with Taro Smith) ''The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga'' (

)

Music

Ippoliti has contributed to yoga-related musical recordings including Invocation, an album-length exploration of the mantra Om Namah Sivaya Gurave, two albums with Krishna Das including Breath of the Heart and All One, and two with Shantala, The Love Window and Sri.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ippoliti, Amy 1969 births American yoga teachers Writers from Boulder, Colorado Living people