Drepung Gomang Tibetan Monks Tour

Friday, February 10th, 6-8pm
South Side location
Suggested donation, $20

Drepung Gomang is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery established in the Gelug tradtion, founded by Je Tsong Khapa. The Gelug tradition lays special emphasis on the place of ethics, as expressed through monastic discipline, as the ideal basis for religious education and practice. Drepung Gomang College is renowned among all the Gelug Monasteries (Ganden, Sera, and Drepung) for its emphasis on and expertise in the field of logic and debate.
Drepung Monastery was founded in 1416 near Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Gomang Dratsang is the oldest of the four colleges of Drepung. In 1959, before the invasion of Communist China, Drepung monastery had more than 10,000 monks. Gomang alone had about 5,500. Since its beginning, Gomang College has produced many eminent Buddhist masters and has been a very important Tibetan and Buddhist learning center.
Escape from Tibet: only about 100 monks managed to escape with His Holiness the Dalai Lama when he fled Tibet in 1959. They lived first in Boxa, North India, and then, in 1969, 62 of the surviving Gomang monks were given 42 acres of land in Mundgod, south India. There they started to rebuild Drepung Gomang Monastic Dratsang in its present location. Today approximately 2,000 monks live on these few acres.
This tour group is led by Geshe Nawang Tsondu, a monk who has achieved the equivalent of a PhD. He will give a talk on the main tenets of Buddhist philosophy and is happy to answer your questions about the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The group will close with evening prayers.
This tour will help raise funds to educate, feed, house and care for almost 2,000 exiled Tibetan Monks.

Mantra Workshops with Kendell

These workshops are designed for mantra meditation. Each workshop will begin with a brief discussion on the pronunciation and meaning of the mantra being chanted followed by a few easy exercises to warm the body and prepare it for sitting. Please feel free to bring meditation pillows. Chairs are available for those who would prefer not to sit on the floor. We will chant the mantra for 31 minutes. After chanting, we will meditate on the vibrations we created for seven minutes and close with a long deep relaxation with the healing sounds of live music.

GURU RAM DAS (self love and healing)
Sunday, February 26th, 2-4pm, $25
Strip District location
This is the most healing of all the Kundalini mantras. It work on the heart chakra and chanting this mantra helps you to heal your own heart. It is a wonderful mantra for anxiety and grief, healing past and present wounds. We will use the lullaby-like version by Mirabai Ceiba.

ONG NAMO (welcoming the light)
Sunday, March 25th, 2-4pm, $25
Strip District location
Spring has arrived and we will welcome the light with the Adi Mantra! This mantra means "I bow to all the teachers who live within me and around me to guide me from darkness into light." A wonderful mantra for guidance and illumination. We will use Snatam Kaur's version from her album "Grace".

Meditations for Letting Go and Starting Anew with Joni Sturgill

This meditation workshop series will emphasize the practice of letting go... Letting go of old habits, of reactions, of iron-clad perspectives and expectations. Only then can we ready ourselves for quietness, and learn to be in the present moment - it's like starting anew again and again. In each workshop, we'll practice techniques to help focus the mind and see if we can find space and quietness within. Breathwork, mindfulness and mantra will be discussed and practiced for increasing lengths of time, to allow you to experience the deeper levels of meditation. The workshops will build on each other, but you're not required to attend both. Class will begin with gentle stretches and end with deep relaxation. Appropriate for all levels.

Moon Salutations with Kendell Romanelli

Moon Salutations are a flowing yoga practice designed to draw the energy of the body, mind and heart, inward to a more reflective nature honoring the energy of the full moon. In this workshop we will combine the Moon Salutation sequence with mantras, meditations and restorative postures. We will use the practice of candle gazing and a guided deep relaxation to clear the mind and calm the soul. It is a time to heal and reflect on all the beauty within us and around us.

The Snow Moon
Friday, February 10th, 6-8pm, $25
Strip District location
Embracing the beautiful reflection of light upon the pureness of the white snow.

The Windy Moon
Friday, March 9th, 6-8pm, $25
Strip District location
Allowing the winds of change to move through and around us. Bringing us from darkness to light.

Partner Yoga with Sophia Levine and Allie Wagner

Sunday, February 12th, 2-3:30pm
$25 per couple/in advance
$35 per couple/at the door
Strip District location

Come and explore a unique and fun yoga practice with a partner in a supportive and respectful atmosphere. In partner yoga we are able to deepen our understanding of trust, communication, and intimacy while building strength and flexibility in deeper and more effective ways than we could alone. Most importantly, partner yoga is also playful, relaxed and fun!

In this class we will:
-incorporate flowing sequences in which partners mirror and complement each other
-explore postures in which partners assist, support, and provide appropriate resistance for each other
-find moments of connection through skillful touch, massage, and conscious breathing

This class is appropriate for those with a regular yoga practice looking to explore in a new way, and also for those that are completely new to yoga. Bring your spouse, significant other, friend, neighbor, family member, an open mind and a playful heart.

Yoga Teaching Certification Program

Year-long program - begins January 2012
Summer intensive - begins June 2012
Strip District location

Yoga Alliance 200 hour Teacher Training with Joanne VandenHengel.
Focus is on techniques, methodology, anatomy and physiology applied to yoga asana, philosophy, lifestyle and ethics as well as practicum engaging all trainees in the art of assisting, observing, listening and providing feedback. Trainees should expect to purchase textbooks and supplies, take two additional Schoolhouse Yoga workshops, attend one yoga class per week, complete 7-10 hours of observation, complete five hours of assisting, and volunteer ten hours of teaching time, as well as attend the mandatory retreat weekend to Olmstead Manor. For additional details, please contact Joanne at joanne@schoolhouseyoga.com

Sat Sanga/Teacher Share

Friday, January 20th, 6:30-8:30pm
Strip District location

Sat Sanga is a Sanskrit word that can be translated as "in the company of saints". If you're a saint, or just working to be more saintly, join us at our next meeting! The Sat Sanga is an opportunity for yoga teachers and yoga students to meet, talk and provide spiritual support to one another. Join us in chant, asana and meditation practice led by Joanne VandenHengel.

BreathWalk with Amber Baker

Saturday, January 21st, 2-4pm, $25
North Hills location

BreathWalk combines Kundalini Yoga Techniques with walking. It involves five distinct parts that can be used together or separately in order to change energy levels, mood states, mental clarity and sense of connectedness. The five parts of each program include: Breath Priming, Awakeners, Alignment, Vitalizer, and Integration. The core of each program is to synchronize steps with breath, mudra, and silent chant of seed sounds.

Amber Baker is a transformative practitioner who utilizes both body-based and energetic techniques to bring the body, the emotions, and the soul back into balance. Amber received her training at Kundalini Yoga in the Loop in Chicago and has been a KRI certified instructor since 2007. She has also studied in the Shakti Tantra style of Kundalini Yoga in India with Sri Amritananda and Psalm Isadora. While working simultaneously in the fields of social work and natural health for over 10 years, Amber has gained in-depth experience working within the eastern and western systems of healing. Amber is dedicated to bringing the ancient wisdoms of the body back to relationship with the mind in order for the soul to evolve from within.

Restorative Yoga with Joni Sturgill

Sunday, March 4th, 2-4pm, $25
Strip District location

Nurture yourself and learn to relax deeply in this restorative yoga workshop. Restorative yoga uses blankets, bolsters and blocks to support the body in restful postures. This encourages the body to relax, open, renew and heal. As the body releases deeply, the mind grows quiet and reflective, bringing your whole being into a more balanced state. Joni will assist you in setting up each pose, and will also teach you how to practice on your own, so you can experience this blissful state regularly!
Please bring 1 or 2 thin blankets. Studio props are available for use, but are limited depending on the number of attendees. Register early, limit of 15 students.

Yoga for Menopause with Joanne VandenHengel

Sunday, April 29th, 2-4pm, $25
Strip District location

Menopause is a part of every woman's life. During the various stages from premenopausal through postmenopause, many hormonal, psychological and spiritual changes occur. With a conscientious yoga practice, women can balance their energies - physically, emotionally and spiritually - by leveling instabilities and fluctuations through activating the body's cooling systems. Relaxation and gentle stretching can promote better blood circulation and cell oxygenation, optimizing the endocrine system and female reproductive organs. Menopause in many cultures is seen as a time of greater wisdom and deeper insight as well as a natural transition. Practicing pranayama, asana and meditation during this time is a tool to honor oneself. Join in this practice designed specifically for women experiencing this very special time in their lives.

Partner Meditation Workshop with Joni Sturgill

Saturday, February 11th, 4-5:30pm
$35/couple
Squirrel Hill location

Sustaining healthy, fulfilling relationships (of any kind) can be challenging, especially during times of stress. Do you need to re-connect with your spouse, partner, friend, mother, father or other family member? Or maybe you're just looking for something fun to do together to create a stronger bond? Learn to relax together and experience a deeper connection through breathwork and simple meditation techniques. This workshop is designed to allow you to quietly experience and appreciate each other's unique presence, without words getting in the way of your connection.

Lotus Rising with Richard Gartner

Sunday, February 12th, 1-3pm
$25 in advance/$30 at the door
South Side location

Padmasana (Lotus position) is often used for meditation – the Buddha is often depicted in it. The Lotus leg position can also be developed in our asana practice.
This advanced workshop is designed for students familiar with Padmasana and wish to explore postures that incorporate it. Students will be guided through forward bends, back bends, twists and arm balances in Lotus. Sequences for developing these postures will be given. This workshop also addresses Lotus in inversions.
Students should be in good physical condition, experienced, and able to sit comfortably in Padmasana for at least five minutes without any pain.

Doug Keller

February 17-18th, 2012
South Side location

Doug Keller has a master's degree in philosophy from Fordham University. His yoga journey includes 14 years of practicing in Siddha Yoga ashrams, intensive training in the Iyengar and Anusara methods, and nearly a decade of teaching internationally. Doug writes the monthly Asana Solutions column in Yoga+ magazine. To learn more about Doug, please visit www.doyoga.com

Your Postural Dosha: Making Your Yoga Work for You
Friday, February 17th, 1-4:30pm, $80
Each of us has our own unique physical nature that needs to be honored in our yoga practice. Our yoga is at its best when it opens our eyes to the areas in which yoga can guide us to greater health and freedom. The session will begin with a user-friendly approach to learning how to assess our postural tendencies in both stillness and movement, with an eye to fine-tuning our yoga program. With the help of an assessment sheet to record your findings and a core set of asanas, we will work through how to sequence your own practice for maximum benefit. Assessment sheets will be provided and the intention is that everyone returns home with a personalized program and insights into how to practice it.

Taking Root to Fly: Principles of the Feet, Hamstrings and Hips
Friday, February 17th, 6:30-8:30pm, $45
An all-levels asana practice geared toward healthy hips and hamstrings, starting with simple actions from the feet up that will benefit the knees and low back as well. The session will be rich with 'news you can use' for these areas of the body, with plenty of user-friendly tips to make the most of your practice.

Upstairs/Downstairs: Principles of the Upper Body for the Health of the Whole
Saturday, February 18th, 9-noon, $65
A more challenging all-levels practice that will focus on the health of the shoulders and neck, and upper body as a whole. Through asana, we'll look at the 'hinges' of the spine and how best to stabilize it through the actions and alignments of the neck and shoulders. We'll do a full range of poses, including inversions and variations on inversions that are appropriate to the group.

Moving Forward with Pranayama and Meditation
Saturday, February 18th, 1-3:30pm, $45
The session will explore techniques of seated and reclining pranayama that are suited for going deeper into meditation. It will be a chance to explore from a philosophical and spiritual perspective the deeper work being done through pranayama — from the viewpoint of both the yoga tradition and Western mysticism including the Christian tradition of Meister Eckhart’s ‘Breakthrough’ into the heart. The focus will especially be on the process of untying the ‘knots’ or ‘granthis’, through pranayama and meditative visualization.

Entire weekend, $200

Yoga Sequencing and Developing a Home Practice with Richard Gartner

Sunday, February 19th, 2-4pm
$25 in advance/$30 at the door
North Hills location

Classes are great. Yoga books and DVD’s are helpful. You'd love to complement this with a personal practice. If you could use some helpful advice on how to practice at home, this workshop is for you! Yoga at home flourishes with thoughtful and smart sequencing. ‘Sequence Creation and Developing a Home Practice’ is for students interested in exploring a home practice but don’t know where to start. Richard presents fresh ideas on building a practice around poses, intentions and abilities. He also addresses the main obstacles of a home practice and how to work with them. This workshop is also for any teacher looking for sequence ideas. Bring something to write with; we’ll be taking plenty of notes. Discover inner guidance and make the practice yours.

Yoga Conditioning for Runners and Athletes: Evolve Your Training, Transcend Your Limits

Sunday, February 26th, 2:30pm-5:30pm
$45 in advance/$55 at the door
South Side location

Calling all runners, athletes and Pittsburgh Marathoners! Yoga is often touted as the next great training revolution for every sport imaginable — golf, football, soccer, cycling, running. But is this just a fad? Or can yoga really make you a better athlete?

Yoga absolutely can make you a better runner and athlete. In this hands-on clinic, experienced yoga teacher and runner Linda Meacci teams up with ultramarathoner and endurance athlete Lucas Marsak to offer instruction and share insights on how yoga can benefit the athlete in a very real way. Lucas has studied yoga with Linda and others since 2005, and it has transformed his running. He now has better biomechanics, increased durability, and better recovery. He can run longer distances with more ease and finds deeper enjoyment in the entire athletic process.

Are you open to possibility? This is not a magic bullet or a quick fix. It requires commitment and time. But you don’t have to totally reinvent your training or abandon your current views on running. If you are willing to simply evolve your approach and “layer in” some yogic principles—both physical and mental—you can open the door to tremendous growth and greater satisfaction in your athletic pursuits. You may even find yourself transcending barriers and achieving performance levels beyond what you imagined possible.

Every journey begins with a first step . . . Take yours now! Linda will present safe stretching sequences and essential yoga principles that can be applied to your running mechanics. She will also discuss the role of breath and focus in your training. Lucas will offer insights on improving efficiency and performance and increasing your enjoyment as a runner. There will be an optional short group run to demonstrate some of the principles so you are better prepared to apply them to your own training.

All athletes welcome. No yoga experience required.

Linda Meacci, RYT, has practiced yoga since the early 1990s and has been a full-time instructor since 2004. With a focus on proper alignment and safe, fluid movement, Linda combines principles of yoga with her knowledge of anatomy and kinesiology to help individuals recover from injury, enhance overall fitness, and improve performance in athletics and in everyday life. Linda has completed two marathons and is training for the 2012 Pittsburgh Half Marathon.

Lucas Marsak is an ASCA-certified Head USA Swimming Coach, personal coach, ultramarathoner and student of yoga. His race resume includes 7 marathons, 8 ultramarathons ranging from 30 to 100 miles, the Ironman Triathlon World Championship and the 70.3 Triathlon World Championship. His yoga practice has helped him immeasurably to realize his potential as a runner. Lucas is currently training for the 2012 Pittsburgh Marathon.

Yin Yoga Teacher Training with Richard Gartner

Friday, March 16th, 5:30-8:30pm
Saturday, March 17th, 12-3pm and 4-7pm
Sunday, March 18th, 9am-12pm
12 hours, includes manual, $225
South Side location

Yin Yoga is the art of insightful relaxation, personal acceptance and contemplative awareness. Those who have experienced it are rejuvenated and transformed. The practice consists of long relaxed holds with an emphasis on the connective tissue and joints of the hips, pelvis and lower spine. It allows students to focus deeper into the body.

This specialized training examines:
-Yin Yoga philosophy
-anatomical considerations in pose selection
-prop and non-prop modifications
-the role of language to enhance the Yin experience
-Yin sequencing
-techniques on incorporating Yin into a general class

The training includes a manual for continued reference. Students will appreciate your addition of Yin Yoga to their practice, and this training will enhance your own Yoga sadhana. Often, Yoga’s physical practice is marketed as “more, hotter, faster”, but more and more students are getting wise to this unattainable acceleration. Yin Yoga’s philosophy of stillness and independence counters this frenzied rush. Empower your students!
Pittsburgh-based Richard Gartner cultivates an exciting independent spirit in yoga, inspired by teachers like Tias Little, Max Strom and Paul Grilley. Richard is a certified Prajna Yoga instructor at the 200-hour level and is currently fulfilling Tias’s 500-hour program. He is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher through Yoga Alliance. His workshops can be taken for continuing education credit.

Get Crackin' with Richard Gartner

Sunday, April 15th, 9:30-11am
South Side location
regular class pricing

In 2009, medical doctor Donald Unger ended a 50-year personal experiment - after cracking just his left knuckles at least twice a day for five decades, he concluded "there was no arthritis in either hand, and no apparent differences between the two hands." (from Scientific American). This and many other studies prove cracking your joints on occasion doesn't harm them at all. In fact, it enhances the range of motion in a joint by allowing all potential movement to occur. Plus it feels really good! Introducing Richard Gartner's 'Get Crackin!' class, where we spend 75 minutes popping as many joints as we can in the hands, feet, wrists, hips and neck. You might even get lucky and experience the elusive 'firecracker pop' all the way down the spine. In addition to joint cracking, we’ll be doing some abdominal work, deep breathing, and a few long holds.
Techni-cool information: This class is based on Swami Satyananda Saraswati's Pawanmuktasana Series 1 and 2. The first is considered anti-rheumatic and the second is for the digestive tract. As for the cracking itself - there are different types of popping in the body. Richard will explain the different types, which ones are good, and how to tell. We'll be focusing on what’s called defixation - the release of any vaccuum in the joint caused by two sides of the joint fixed together.

Max Strom Workshops

will return to Pittsburgh Saturday, November 10th, 2012

Max Strom is known for inspiring and impacting the lives of his students, teaching with the aim of personal transformation and has become one of the most revered teachers of yoga in the United States. Former owner and director of Sacred Movement Yoga in Los Angeles, Max taught over 400 dedicated students a week. Many teachers have cited Max as a most important influence in their teaching and yoga life. Max now travels extensively teaching and lecturing on yoga and transformation and leading teacher trainings. He is recognized by the Yoga Alliance at their Advanced Teacher Level (ERYT).
More information about Max can be located at www.maxstrom.com.

Ashtanga Yoga with Kino MacGregor

will return to Schoolhouse Yoga October 4-6th, 2013

Kino MacGregor is one of a select group of people to receive the Certification to teach Ashtanga Yoga by its founder Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India. The youngest woman to hold this title, she has completed the challenging Third Series and is now learning the Fourth Series. After seven years of consistent trips to Mysore, at the age of 29, she received from Guruji the Certification to teach Ashtanga yoga and has since worked to pass on the inspiration to practice to countless others. The director and co-owner of Miami Life Center she has produced four Ashtanga Yoga DVDs. Kino is dedicated to carrying the torch of Ashtanga yoga throughout the world and sharing the amazing tradition of Ashtanga yoga with everyone who is inspired to practice. In her unique, inspirational and playful approach Kino helps all her students expand and deepen their understanding of yoga and life. Yoga found its expression through her message of spiritual strength, balanced flexibility and emotional peace. To learn more, please visit www.kinoyoga.com

Ayurvedic Consultations with Dr. Anjali

by appointment, $95

Your personal consultation will include pulse readings (according to traditional Ayurvedic medicine) in addition to an evaluation of any health problems you may be experiencing. Dr. Anjali will determine your personality and body type by dosha test and recommend lifestyle changes intended to return you to a state of health and balance. Recommendations may include: detoxification procedures, dietary changes, internal oleation, traditional Ayurvedic massage, herbal supplementation and an individualized yoga practice.

Schedule an appointment