MENTORSHIP

JUN 7 - AUG 30

2022

Teaching yoga is a different endeavor than doing yoga. A Yogi with a nice practice isn't necessarily the best teacher of it. A great skier or dancer doesn't guarantee they can teach what it is they can do so well. An inspired musician is often a lousy teacher. Teaching is an art all its own. Doing yoga well demands that one study it over time with a regularity of practice, refining one’s skills. However, teaching it to others demands the ability to be able to articulate theory and to have the capacity to break down the practice verbally so that our students have an embodied, spirited experience. A teacher has to "hold" the room, with a certain psychic connection to each student in their realm; an intuitive alertness which keeps students curious and attentive and which makes everyone feel safe. For the duration of one's class, a teacher is mentor, model, mother, mid-wife, muse, modulator and manipulator, planting seeds for insight and change beyond the mat.

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Meeting once a week, over a 3 month period, we will explore the tenants of the Katonah Yoga practice, through the lens of a teacher. Through a series of workshop and discussion sessions we will cover all aspects of the practice including magic square, body reading, adjustment theory, restorative practice, teaching therapeutic privates, sequencing, addressing injuries, pranayama and articulating theory.

ABBIE GALVIN

Abbie Galvin is the owner of The Studio, a NYC based yoga studio, teaching Katonah Yoga. She has been honing this practice for the past 25 years and has a strong student base from all around the world. Abbie's instruction is informed by her own creative process as a filmmaker and from her exploration of the therapeutic process as a psychoanalyst. She has learned over and over that truly participating in any formal process of self-exploration leads to transformation whether it be physical, psychological or intellectual. Her goal is to engage students of yoga in the dialogue between their conscious and their unconscious selves because it is through that effort that we potentiate ourselves. It is her intention as a teacher to cajole each student in that most rigorous effort to be grounded, to grow upwards and to participate in the creation of their best self.

ALEX SHARRY

Alex Sharry has been teaching yoga throughout NYC for over 10 years. After studying with Abbie Galvin and Nevine Michaan, Katonah Yoga quickly became her primary practice and teaching. Initially drawn to the practice itself, she tends to focus on the more practical elements of the material, knowing first hand that without them exploring the more magical elements of the theory can feel very daunting. An avid reader, she often uses the experiences of her life outside of yoga as lessons and metaphors to inform her teaching. Her goal as a teacher is to make the practice feel approachable to everyone, while encouraging her students to get curious about their own humanity. Constantly striving to measure teaching against that of our greatest educators, she seeks to create an empowered community of individuals, who are constantly challenging themselves and each other to be more inclusive and impactful.

CHASE CONNOLLY

Chase Connolly has been practicing yoga since childhood and teaching yoga for over 14 years. Introduced to yoga at age 8 by his grandmother, he started studying it seriously in high school and completed his first teacher training soon after. Practicing everything from Hatha, to Power Yoga to Vinyasa, it wasn’t until he found Katonah Yoga, after injuries and dissatisfaction, that his love for yoga was revived and gained new meaning. Chase’s teaching is informed by his background in anatomy, his study of herbalism and his love of plants and gardening. He strives to utilize the physical practice as a container to embark on the exploration of universal concepts, encouraging each student to create a narrative of self cultivation, turning oneself into a diverse ecosystem of ideas and curiosities to further the exploration of the interior landscape.

KYLE HENRY

Kyle Henry, a longtime musician and vocal coach, began his yoga journey practicing Kundalini yoga, which led him down a path of spiritual inquiry. Upon discovering Katonah Yoga, his entire relationship to yoga shifted, where yoga became a means to connect the physical, emotional and mental aspects of being. After developing a refined practice, he began teaching the Katonah material from a place influenced by his study and practice of Taoism, Chinese Medicine, Tai Chi and meditation. Kyles teaching is informed by his career as a musician and educator and his love of exploring narratives, through stories, books, movies, television, musicals and finding the commonality between them and the experiences of our lives. His goal is to embolden his students to recognize that they can use this practice to step into themselves and acknowledge the agency they have in their own lives.