Meet Our Teachers
Our teachers are the guides of this community, bringing different lineages, training, specialties, and teaching approaches, shaped by years of study and lived experience. All of our teachers share a dedication to thoughtful, attentive teaching and to supporting your unique practice as it develops over time.
Jen Whinnen, Founder and Director
Jen began practicing yoga over 27 years ago and still describes it as “the greatest refuge and healer” in her life. She is an E-RYT 500 with more than 25 years of teaching experience and holds an MFA in Leadership & Communication.
Three Sisters Yoga’s approach is deeply informed by Jen’s studies in Hermeneutics and her longtime studentship in Iyengar, Vinyasa, and Katonah Yoga. Her teaching weaves together practices that are thoughtful, safe, challenging, liberating, and joyful. Teachers trained under Jen have gone on to deepen their practices, open businesses, teach internationally, and share yoga within their own communities.
The name Three Sisters Yoga reflects several meaningful threads in Jen’s life: being the middle of three sisters, growing up beneath the Three Sisters mountain range of the Pacific Northwest, and the Indigenous planting practice of growing corn, beans, and squash together: distinct plants that support one another’s stability and growth. This spirit of interdependence and community continues to guide the school’s philosophy.
E-RYT 500, MA Communication & Leadership, Ph.D. in process…
Kate English, Assistant Director
E-RYT 500, TSY 200 Hour 2012, 300 Hour 2014
Kate is a Hampton Bays based yoga teacher and former owner of The Yoga Collective NYC. Kate came to yoga to better manage anxiety and is enthusiastic to share the tool belt with others.
In addition to completing her 200 and 500 Hour trainings through Three Sisters Yoga, she is also certified in Y4C (Yoga for Cancer), pre/ postnatal at ISHTA yoga and Yoga for PTSD/Trauma with The veterans yoga program. Kate has been in love with TSY since 2012 and is grateful for the opportunity to share this community with others.
Connor Meenan, Teacher
RYT 500, TSY 200 Hour 2021, 300 Hour 2023
Conner received their 200- and 300-hour teacher certification through Three Sisters Yoga. They are also a high-school science educator with the mission to bring equitable education, of mind, body, and spirit, to students across identity and experience.
Their yoga studentship has brought healing, empowerment, and connection to their own life, and they find great joy and challenge in exploring the intersections of yoga philosophy and science. Their classes incorporate hatha, iyengar, and vinyasa-influenced asana with an emphasis on philosophy, pranayama, and joint-focused cues as catalysts to experiencing and exploring ourselves and our higher Self on and off the mat.
When not teaching, they can be found reading, playing video games, or spending time in the kitchen.
Daba Briggs, Teacher
E-RYT 500
Daba came to yoga over a decade ago to balance out soccer, running, and fitness. She describes her classes as mindfully aligned and aims at making poses accessible for every body and every level. Daba brings humor and lightness to her classes while leading students in a safe and challenging practice. A true student of the yoga practice, Daba now lives, practices and shares her yoga teaching in NYC, Jersey City, and North Jersey.
Daba is an E-RYT 500 instructor. She has also completed training programs in pre-natal & post-natal yoga; currently studies Iyengar and structural yoga with her mentor and teachers Nikki Costello and Alison West; and studies gentle/restorative yoga. She is blessed to share yoga in the community every day. Daba studies and draws some of her inspiration from her many yoga instructors, yoga students, everyday life and her little dog Chuy.
Lisa Benner, Teacher
E-RYT 500, Lisa Benner Living, Elder Sisters Apothecary
An actor, mover, and dedicated breather, I discovered yoga shortly after finding Pilates and quickly realized both practices could support healing in my body, including chronic headaches. Over time, yoga’s transformative power won my heart.
I completed Sonic Yoga’s 200-hour teacher training, Hathavidya’s 500-hour training, and Bread & Yoga’s prenatal program. I am an E-RYT 500 and Prenatal Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance, teach throughout NYC, serve as studio manager for Sonic Yoga, and co-teach 200- and 500-hour trainings with Hathavidya.
My teaching draws from Hatha philosophy in a Vinyasa framework, weaving together breathwork, mantra, meditation, and thoughtful alignment. Classes are often built around a central theme, inviting students into both physical practice and deeper self-inquiry.
I’m deeply grateful to the teachers who have shaped my path, including Will Duprey, Susan Duprey, Johanna Bell, Lauren Hanna, and Jonathan Fields.
Anna Rose Picagli, Teacher
RYT 500, TSY 200 Hour 2022, 300 Hour 2023
Anna began practicing yoga in 2014 and completed her 500-hour training with Three Sisters Yoga in 2023. She has also studied yin yoga with Anjali Yoga Academy and trauma-informed teaching with Yoga International.
Anna creates inclusive, intentional class spaces that encourage self-reflection, nervous system awareness, and connection to the mind-body relationship. Her teaching blends mindful movement, rich imagery, dharma talks, and the poetics of asana to support students in finding steadiness, healing, and deeper self-understanding.
Her classes are slow-paced yet quietly intense, inviting students inward through thoughtful movement and shadow work. In addition to teaching yoga, Anna is also an Usui-Tibetan Reiki Master.
Based in Astoria, Queens, Anna is also a writer, poet, avid reader, and passionate home chef.
Arielle Jacobs, Teacher
TSY 200 Hour 2022, 300 Hour 2023
Arielle completed both her 200 and 300 hour trainings through Three Sisters Yoga, and has additional certifications in yin, restorative, yoga nidra, chair yoga, and trauma-informed yoga. She teaches in studios and corporate spaces throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan, and on weekends can occasionally be found teaching puppy yoga. :) Arielle's vinyasa classes use a strong focus on anatomy and alignment as a jumping off point for exploration and play, inviting students to explore asana through the lens of both curiosity and acceptance.
Yijun Jessie Han, Teacher
TSY 200 Hour 2016, 300 Hour 2019
Yijun is a tech professional and yoga instructor. She received her a 200- and 300-hour through Three Sisters Yoga.
Yijun believes that this simple yet powerful practice informs the way we communicate with ourselves and the way we communicate with the world. As an instructor, she hopes to offer you that same clarity and connection. Her vinyasa-style classes focus on building strength, alignment, and the mind-body connection.
She grew up in Beijing, wandered across both the west and east coast in the past 12 years. When off the mat, she enjoys long walks all around New York, memoirs, and seasonal cooking with friends.
Susan Connor, Teacher
TSY 200 Hour 2025, 300 Hour 2026 (in progress)
Susan is a graduate of 2025 Spring Weekends 200 Hour YTT and is currently working on her 300 Hour certification at TSY in 2026. She came to yoga after recovery from breast cancer; seeking to reconnect with her body and discover new aspects of her spirit. She currently co-teaches TSY’s Community class on Thursdays, alternating with Yijun.
Susan’s practice centers on a welcoming approach with emphasis on self-compassion, slowing down, and being in the now while staying curious to what is possible.
When not at TSY, she can be found working in her textile business or spending time with friends and family. She is a student of nature, always learning from the natural world all around us: especially it’s more subtle aspects, like a shy spider in the corner of her apartment, or the resilient, beautiful plants that grow through the cracks in the sidewalk.