Elizabeth Plapinger
Elizabeth Plapinger is the co-director of Yoga for Mental Wellness (YMW) at The Breathing Project, which has provided low-cost or free therapeutic yoga classes for those living with mental illness in NYC since 2004. Elizabeth and her colleagues, Bess Abrahams, RYT, IMT and L. Ruth Kalvert, RYT, SME, CMT, MA, administer and teach the YMW program and provide yoga to various hospitals and community mental health programs in and around NYC. Elizabeth and her colleagues also assist yoga and mental health professionals interested in exploring yoga's complementary role in mental health and wellness. For more information about YMW, click here.
Elizabeth is a certified yoga teacher, with a background in vinyasa, restorative, Iyengar, breath-centered and embodied yoga. A graduate of the Advanced Studies in Yoga Anatomy at The Breathing Project, Elizabeth has been deeply influenced by her studies with Jillian Pransky, Leslie Kaminoff, Amy Matthews, Roxlyn Moret and Michelle LaRue, and her ongoing work with Bess Abrahams and L. Ruth Kalvert. Elizabeth currently studies embodied yoga and Body-Mind Centering with Amy Matthews and Roxlyn Moret, and Iyengar Yoga with Michelle LaRue.
In addition to her yoga teaching and studies, Elizabeth, who is a lawyer, was an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School from 2000-2008, where she taught conflict resolution and problem solving. Elizabeth is the former director of the Public Policy Projects at the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, a nonprofit research and education organization in New York City. Elizabeth is the author of numerous policy and research studies, books and articles regarding ethics, mediation and other methods of conflict resolution. She is a graduate of Carleton College and the School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Elizabeth brings the values of procedural justice—recognizing and honoring the inherent dignity of all beings—to her yoga work. In her yoga classes, she explores how breath, movement, and awareness of the body in the present moment work together to increase our sense of wellbeing. She is honored to assist people in crisis, their families and the mental health community in discovering the vast resources of the body and mind through yoga. Elizabeth conducts weekly classes at The Breathing Project and at various hospitals and community mental health centers in and around NYC. She also works one-on-one with students, conducts workshops for yoga and mental health professionals, and consults with families and others about yoga's role in mental wellness.
Elizabeth can be reached by email or at 551-358-2269.
