Ellen McNally

Ellen has been a yoga instructor for 10 years. She is a certified Trauma Sensitive Yoga teacher, as well a certified teacher of Vishoka Meditation. She is a Level 2 Reiki practitioner. Ellen joined the Integrative Medicine department in 2018.

At Smilow, Ellen teaches Restorative Yoga and Gentle Yoga classes via Zoom. She also leads live phone meditation sessions and provides Reiki to inpatients, which is helpful for stress reduction and deep relaxation. In addition, Ellen works with Smilow support groups to introduce cancer survivors to the benefits of gentle yoga, healthy breathing and meditation.

Outside Smilow, she teaches regularly at Your Community Yoga Center in Hamden. As a volunteer, she taught veterans at the West Haven VA, and she has twice presented the trauma sensitive yoga module for the Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy teacher training program in Northampton, MA.

Ellen’s previous experience includes Peace Corps service in Senegal. West Africa, family mentoring through the Connecticut Tibetan Resettlement Project, and working with Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven to recruit volunteers and support Habitat families.