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Raven Sadhaka AKA Sallie Seltzer: Yoga Instructor, Singer, Songwriter

SmartBird Yoga

Raven  is a certified Kripalu yoga instructor with over 20 years of experience as a practitioner in a number of different traditions, including Sivananda, Jivamukti, Iyengar and Integral. Raven is a registered teacher with the Yoga Alliance and has been a licensed massage therapist since 1995. She has taught yoga for orthopedic rehabilitation, cancer survivors, spinal injuries and insomnia. Raven worked in the corporate world for over 17 years, so she is well-acquainted with the stress that often goes hand in hand with an office job.

Kripalu Yoga is a type of hatha yoga which emphasizes body and breath awareness, coordinating the breath with movement throughout your yoga practice. It also encourages joint safety in transitioning into and out of poses, and warming up properly before beginning your practice. Pranayama (breath/energy work) is also a part of each class as well as a short period of meditation at the beginning and end of class.

Your Kripalu practice can be as gentle or as vigorous as you choose to make it. We are trained to guide you through your OWN experience, and to offer modifications for poses using props such as cushions and blankets.

Smartbird Music

Raven was raised in a very musical and literary household with Mom a vocalist when not writing or teaching English, and Dad on violin, piano, and vocal harmonies, when not teaching or being a superintendent of schools.  Having older parents meant growing up in retro-land, listening to swing and jazz standards, lots of broadway and movie musical soundtracks from the 50's and 60's, classical music and some other unusual fare:  Raven was probably the only kid in school who knew a couple of infantry drinking songs from World Wars I and II, thanks to her Dad.  And there was a much older brother who flew into the nest from time to time to visit and ply her with endless volumes of literature which she is still attempting to sort through; it's no accident that he became a writer, and eventually, an "internet evangelist" (log onto Richard's website at www.seltzerbooks.com for lots of free information and resources).

Besides 5 years of classical training on piano and an overlapping 6 years of training on flute, Raven also sang in many choirs, glee clubs and smaller groups throughout her school and college days and had classical vocal training off and on during that time as well.  At the age of 13, she picked out a $70 guitar for her birthday and there was no turning back.  After taking guitar lessons, she was playing variety shows at 15 and was a rhythm guitarist and singer in a band by the age of 16 -- the "Car Doors" (a name created in a moment of desperation before taking the stage for their first gig) was her first band in high school.

Growing up just a stone's throw from the metropolitan Philadelphia area in the early seventies meant exposure to some of the greatest R&B of our time -- her first concert was Gladys Knight & the Pips.  In addition, Raven owes a great deal of her inspiration to such groups such as the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, the Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Heart, and U2, and to solo artists such as Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Emmy Lou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Joan Osbourne and Sarah McLachlan.  Lately, she's added Bjork, PJ Harvey, Wah! and Krishna Das to her list of eclectic influences.  Her original music reflects her roots and many influences, encompassing folk, rock and blues with a dash of jazz thrown in for good measure.

When not playing music, Raven is a yoga and film junkie.  She is a certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher and  has been a writer, director and producer of films, as well as a story analyst/development executive and an entertainment paralegal.  Her screenwriting has earned her a number of film festival and fellowship wins and places, and two N.E.A.- sponsored writer's residencies; she holds an M.A. in Film Production and a B.A. in Russian Language and Literature.

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