About Mary

Mary (Dennis) Broidy believes in the transforming power of yoga. She started on her yoga path as a method of healing from the debilitating pain of “fibromyalgia” that developed following the sudden loss of her younger brother Danny, who died of a heart attack at 31, and a few months later the tragedy of 9/11. Having had more than one “wake up” call, Mary made several life changes in the years that followed. The biggest one was leaving her 16- year Wall Street career as Senior Economist and First VP on Merrill Lynch’s trading floor. So popular in that field, she was often quoted in the financial news and was featured in a March 2001 Elle Magazine article entitled, “The Confidence Woman.” But as her health improved, her love of yoga grew as she experienced the wondrous benefits of the practice, mainly peace of mind and a pain-free body. No money was worth time away from yoga. Mary retired to Southampton in 2003. As her practice grew, teaching naturally followed.

Mary is trained in Ashtanga yoga, a deeply purifying asana practice that emphasizes “vinyasa”, the coordination of breath and movement, and has received 200 hour certification from Beryl Bender Birch’s Institute of Hard and Soft Yoga. She has also trained internationally with Lino Miele, Richard Freeman, Sri K. Pattabi Jois, Sharath and Saraswati Ragaswamy. Mary is also a certified in Sivananda yoga from the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center of Neyyar Dam, India.

As a yoga instructor, Mary emphasizes control of the breath and “locks” in the body that direct the movement of prana (the life force), and postures that surrender the ego as a means to unveiling the giant spirit within. She teaches the joy of movement with a light, yet disciplined approach, and encourages positive thinking under all circumstances. Mary especially believes in the uplifting power of mantra, meditation, and chanting. She leads monthly satsang with her friend, Padma Borrego, at Lotus Blossom in Wainscott and Yoga Sutra study group at Peconic River Yoga in Riverhead.

Mary also understands the needs of the athlete. She has trained and competed in the NYC marathon in 1991 and 1992, hiked Mt. St. Helen in 2000, and has cross-trained throughout her life. She considers her yoga practice her greatest physical challenge yet. “Yoga is a means to realize Your True Nature. Only when the mind is stilled can this be possible. The practice of yoga asana (postures) helps get you there.”

Mary now teaches yoga locally at Peconic River Yoga in Riverhead, Radu Physical Culture in Southampton, Ananda in Southampton, Lotus Blossom in Wainscott, Phoenix House in Wainscott, and Tapovana in Sag Harbor. See “Mary’s Schedule” for more.