Meet Your Teachers
Paul Benedetto
Seasons greetings yogis, I would like to take a little time to tell you about my background in yoga. I was introduced to yoga when I was 18 in 2008 and had injured my hamstring during lacrosse practice at Adelphi my alma mater. A friend of mine from high school had an older brother who was doing yoga at the time off a DVD and told me to get it and do it everyday. As a stubborn youth I had no time to go to a doctor or do physical therapy but I was willing to do this hour yoga dvd because after my first time doing it I was knocked me out mentally, it helped my leg physically and I liked the teacher who taught the recorded video Rodney Yee. I would lay my mat down in my dorm room and lock the door and turn on the laptop which had disk drives back then and would watch and practice the video. I felt like the rest of my day was different in a positive way afterwards and so I continued to practice and days that I wouldn’t I did not feel as right. My hamstring issue persisted but I was able to play again and then the same injury occurred a second time during a lacrosse scrimmage and that’s when I made a life changing decision to quit lacrosse and pick up college life. I graduated college by the skin of my teeth in 2013 with a bachelors degree in sports management which was nice but I picked up a number of bad habits while at school like drug addiction, financial debt, toxic relationships, criminal tendencies and self doubt which certainly would have culminated in my death had I not been introduced to yoga years earlier in just my second freshman semester. I purchased and followed more DVDs of my teacher Rodney Yee, and also bought and read his books on yoga and life and learned of his teacher B.K.S. Iyengar and these things filled up my subconscious with positive information which would get stored deep into my being while some of the less beneficial external habits of being an ignorant youth at university only left superficial scars. Following college I worked selling life, accident and health insurance and during that endeavor I met my first real life yoga teacher Lisa Bondy and began training with her and eventually became a certified yoga teacher under her guidance in 2014 at 24 years old. I went through life journeys in my 20’s, schooling, working different jobs, rehabilitating layers of myself, teaching yoga, learning so much of people and life outside of school, it was a lot and only makes sense now because of the yoga principles, philosophy and practices I had been adopting along the way. Heading into my 30’s I was fed up with working and getting fired and being unhappy and unhealthy and unable to live more by my own means and this made me driven to find a way to provide for myself in a yogic fashion. In 2018 I worked out and studied harder then ever and began organizing my teachings in a way that I could present them to a community of practitioners who may be new to yoga or experienced with the practice and was in the process of making a formula of postures that would get us breathing and thinking positively and feeling great. In 2020 amidst much adversity I opened Buddhafull Yoga and over the past 4 years we have built a diverse community of civilians turned yogis who see the value in moving the body, using the breath and most importantly learning how to rest the mind so true recovery can take place in the soul. I have devised 5 main styles of yoga classes in the form of Restorative Yoga, Foundational Postures, Vinyasa Flows, Bootcamp Workouts, and Primary Techniques and somewhere in this lineup of classes is one for any given yogi to enjoy. I am excited every day to wake up and teach anywhere from 4-8 classes whole heartedly and with the intention to improve the lives of those who I am instructing. I would love to get the opportunity to be able to guide you in a yoga class and learn about your practice and how I could be of assistance in your life. Please check out the schedule and contact me for more pre class guidance and information on all our offerings. Check out my other amazing teachers who are heavily involved in the community here and are looking to help you with your practice at Buddhafull Yoga. Om Shanti Namaste.
Richie Mollura
My name is Richie Mollura & I am beyond excited to start teaching at Buddhafull Yoga. I am so thankful for Paul to give me this opportunity. When I first met Paul, I was blown away by his wisdom & relationship with Yoga. I look up to him as one of my main teachers during my own personal Yoga path. Speaking of my Yoga journey, Here is my story!
In the Summer of 2019 I wanted to go to Los Angeles, California for an internship to get credits towards my college degree. My Uncle lives in LA so I asked him to connect me with someone I can intern with. I was studying Video Media Production so my Uncle connected me with his friend who owns a Video Production Company called "i2i Productions". Now little did I know that this trip was going to change my life forever and introduce me to Yoga. My internship coordinator (Adam) happened to be a Yogi. He has a Guru from India and practices Yoga daily. When I was with him he asked me if I would like to join him for sunrise yoga at the beach in Santa Monica. I am someone with an open mind so I was immediately interested to join. He guided me through a 1 on 1 session and opened me up to a whole new world I didn't know existed within myself. This was the moment where my perspective of life shifted and made me realize I am called to Yoga. At the same time of my life, I found out that my Father wrote a book titled "Autobiography of a New York City Salesman: My Parallel Life Through Conscious Evolution & Kundalini Energy". The timing of my Dad telling me he has been on a spiritual path his whole life and has a book for me to read to get started on mine mixed with this Yoga experience in LA is what jump started me into my Spiritual Development.
After I returned home from LA I was entering my Senior year of college. My entire lifestyle changed when I was back at school. My friends noticed a shift in me because I would be alone in my room meditating on friday and saturday nights instead of going out to the bars. They would think I was weird and I did not care because I was tapping into a new layer of myself that was so exciting to me. I eventually found my first Yoga Teacher that I developed a connection with when I was back home on Long Island. Her name is Alexandra Spergel. I went to her class at Modern Wellness in Lynbrook and heard her say she was offering private 1 on 1 sessions that sparked my interest to deepen my practice. I began training with her but what I was missing was a Yoga Community. That is when she recommended I go to a Yoga Studio named Buddhafull Yoga in Massapequa that is run by a guy named Yoga Paul that she felt was the perfect fit for me, and she was 100% correct. I then went to my first Buddhafull Yoga class in February of 2022. Paul welcomed me with open arms and we have developed an amazing friendship.
What made me want to become a Yoga Teacher was after my 1st ever Yoga Retreat hosted by Alex in Colorado. That was my first time I ever was exposed to Yogic Philosophy. I was so interested in deepening my own practice so I started researching Yoga Teacher Trainings in a Retreat Format. I found Marrianne Wells Yoga School who was referred to me by Diana who also teaches here at Buddhafull Yoga. I went to Costa Rica in August 2023 to get my 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training and had a life changing experience that I could write a whole book on! When I got home I started teaching my friends classes at my home. It felt like a calling for me to help guide others into the depths of themselves. Using the tools of our own breath to be able to connect to the present moment that is with us, always. I felt this urge the deeper I went into my spiritual practice to be able to share my experiences with loved ones. All I ever wanted was to help people find that shining light that is in every single one of us that is waiting to be awakened. Being mindful. Bringing Yoga Practices into your everyday life beyond the yoga mat. Realizing this is a lifestyle, more than an hour of physical practice on the mat. That realization made me dedicate my time into learning all there is to the history of Yoga. What also fascinated me was when I realized that all Yoga is, is the study of ME.. The Self. The human existence and how to find that mind, body & soul connection.
Now I feel like it is my calling to share all I have learned through these last 5 years with all ways of life. My style of teaching will be focused mostly on the meditative element. Using the tools of the breath to get in sync with our bodies. Come join me Fridays at 9:30 AM for my Restorative Yoga Class here at Buddhafull Yoga!
AUM ॐ
Maryn Eschmann
Hi all! I’m Maryn and I completed my 200 hour training here at Buddhafull this past winter with Alex Spergel and, of course, Paul! Integrating their very different but equally beautiful approaches to the practice has been so essential to guiding my newly developing teachings that I am so honored to have the opportunity to share with you all. My first distinct memory of yoga was at about 4 years old in 2002 watching my mom practice an episode of “Inhale” with Steve Ross as I sat on the couch eating my celery sticks and peanut butter… flash forward to about 6 or 7 years old circa 2005 I took my first yoga class where we each took turns pulling Beanie Babies from a bag and practicing whichever yoga pose correlated with each animal. I remember practicing my first shoulder stand in that class. Yoga took a back seat to gymnastics for a while until I was 16 and took my first classes in years at Zen and Now Yoga and Wellness Studio in Niantic, Connecticut where yoga became as instinctive as breathing, and I cultivated my personal practice as soon as I came home from that trip. My consistent home practice was guided by the instructors featured on my Yoga Today subscription as well as Steve Ross, as I practiced the same classes I watched my mom practice when I was little. In college I picked up my mom’s copy of Steve Ross’s book Happy Yoga: 7 Reasons Why There’s Nothing to Worry About, and it changed my whole perspective. I took a yoga philosophy course in college at the University of Tampa, where I also would attend some lovely classes at the university gym. Two years out of college I happened upon Buddhafull Yoga in November of 2022, and by November of 2023 I began my training! There is no speaking of the impact of yoga in my life without speaking to the deep spiritual connection I feel to the Universe/Source/God/Love/however you would like to describe it. (To be truthful sometimes I still don’t know what to call it!) I went to Catholic school growing up and was guided by my extremely devout late grandmother, whom I dedicate my practice to every day. As a kid she would call me her little “spiritual sponge” taking in all the faith she shared with me. As I got older and more educated and more cynical there were times that I felt the religion I was taught in school didn’t add up and this stirred within me a lot of anxiety, depression, and doubt. Every loose end I am left with, however, yoga seems to tie. I am looking forward to practicing with you all on Fridays at 4:30! Om, shanti and namaste ~