Board of Directors
is the Founder of YYD. Cator began the practices of yoga, Buddhist meditation, and energy healing in 1991, as the result of chronic illness. Through the regular practice of these disciplines, she began to recover her strength and vitality. In 1995, after 3 years residence in spiritual communities, Cator moved to the San Francisco bay area. Cator’s deep desire to play more and think less has drawn her to work with both children and the dying. She has been a hospice volunteer for 5 years, and worked with youth in a variety of environments—including as a camp counselor, art teacher, and child care provider--since 1995. Currently Cator teaches yoga and meditation classes to adults and youth, and has a private practice of Craniosacral bodywork in SF. Cator is trained in the Iyengar method of yoga, and a practitioner of Visionary Craniosacral Bodywork. She participated in the Mindfulness based Stress Reduction Clinic as an intern at the Worcester Medical Center in Massachussetts in 1995, and is a member of the Teen Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Mila Gelman is a realtor with Hearth Real Estate in San Francisco. She lives in the inner sunset district with her husband and their 8 year old son. Mila has studied spiritual movement disciplines and bodywork for nearly 2 decades —including Shintaido, Tai Chi, Amma(traditional Japanese massage), Orthopedic massage, meditation, and yoga. She has been a student of Iyengar yoga for the past 15 years. Through her personal experience Mila is aware of the nurturing quality of these body centered practices, and the potential for self transformation they offer. She is happy to be a part of Youth Yoga Dharma, and to provide youth the opportunity to experience the powerful benefits of yoga and meditation.
Dina Hondrogen came to San Francisco in 1988 feeling at home in the political, social and spiritual vibrations swirling about the City. She has worked for non-profit organizations as an activist, organizer, fundraiser, and manager. A stress related injury in 1992 opened the door to Iyengar yoga. She began practicing and fell in love with yoga. This experience made her slow down and tune into her mind and body. Eventually - through inquiry and practice - she healed her neck injury. Dina completed the teacher training program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco in 1998. Currently, Dina is a yoga teacher and mom. Her latest commitments to social change are through Momsrising - building a family-friendly America, and organizing for Single Payer Health Care. Dina is a member of the Insight Meditation Community of San Francisco. Dina has learned through her practice and social change work that great people and things take imagination, persistence, and patience to develop. To this end she is excited to be a member of the board of Youth Yoga Dharma to help young people gain skills in yoga and meditation in order to develop the healing awareness these skills offer.
Connie Micale, LCSW is dedicated to deepening a profound connection with oneself and all our relations in both her personal and professional life. Her curiosity has drawn her to journey to high mountain peaks and immerse herself in a wide variety of cultural and spiritual practices. She has traveled to Bhutan, India and Kilimanjaro on spiritual journeys. Locally Connie participates in a range of spiritual practices, including sweat lodge, vision quests, shamanic journeying, and vipassana meditation at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. Connie's passions include spending time in nature and exploring indigenous cultures as well as embodied presence through the vehicles of psychology, meditation, and spiritual practice. Connie integrates a transdisciplinary approach to healing in her psychotherapy practice. She views her therapy practice as inviting individuals to courageously awaken to their own essence. Connie is deeply committed to serving youth and has had the opportunity to work in a broad range of settings - including private practice, community mental health, child welfare, probation/ prisons, youth runaway shelters, adolescent group homes, school classrooms, and home-based services. In addition Connie is a graduate of YYD’s Youth Meditation Teacher Training Program. Connie is happy to serve clients of all ages - children, adolescents, adults, and families. Currently, Connie is a clinical supervisor and clinician at Seneca Youth Center and the Children's Nurturing Project, in addition to direct practice work for a diverse group of clientele within the Bay Area. Connie lives in Fairfax, CA.
Alicia Rozum, is originally from Youngstown, Ohio, Alicia graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a Master’s in Social Work. Upon moving to California, she began working with a diverse group of youth as a clinical case manager in the foster care system. She currently serves as the Wellness Coordinator at Lowell High School in San Francisco, where she has the fortune to work with young people around health awareness, education and advocacy, as well as coordinating mental health and other health services for students on campus. Alicia first became exposed to yoga and meditation through her husband, Aaron, whose mother has taught yoga for over 25 years in rural Ohio. She believes everyone can benefit from yoga, particularly young people who are consistently battered with the stressors of growing up in the fast-paced, high-pressure American culture. Alicia is passionate about living an eco-lifestyle, and practices this commitment through purchasing locally grown and organic food, shopping at socially conscious stores, and riding BART and MUNI daily. Aaron says Alicia is crazy because she thinks riding the bus is “fun”. They live in Oakland with their two cats, Betsy and Lulu.


Youth Yoga Dharma Advisors

Brad Byrum has twenty years of experience successfully leading non-profit organizations engaged in providing direct services in the mental health, substance abuse, and hospice fields. He most recently served as executive director of Zen Hospice Project and currently serves as board president for the Pacifica Center for Solitude.

Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D, Physical Therapist and internationally-known yoga teacher, has taught yoga since 1971. She is a founder of the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco as well as Yoga Journal magazine. Ms. Lasater frequently trains teachers in virtually every state and is often an invited guest at international yoga conventions. She is president of the California Yoga Teachers' Association as well as the author of numerous articles on yoga and health for nationally recognized magazines. She is the author of Yoga for Pregnancy: what every mother-to-be needs to know (2004), 30 Essential Yoga Poses: for beginning students and their teachers (2003), Relax and Renew: restful yoga for stressful times and Living Your Yoga: finding the spiritual in everyday life.

Ven. Pasanno Bhikkhu took ordination in Thailand in 1974. During his first year as a monk he was taken by his teacher to meet Ajahn Chah, with whom he asked to be allowed to stay and train. One of the early residents of Wat Pah Nanachat, the International Forest Monastery of Ajahn Chah’s,  Ven. Pasanno became its abbot in his ninth year. During his incumbency Wat Pah Nanachat developed considerably, both in physical size and in reputation, and Ajahn Pasanno has become a very well-known and highly respected monk and Dhamma teacher in Thailand. Ajahn Pasanno moved to California on New Year's Eve of 1997 to share the abbotship of Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery.


If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will know total freedom.

-Ajahn Chah, Buddhist meditation master

Back to top

(650) 992 9642 • Youth Yoga Dharma, PO BOX 3452, Daly City, CA 94015