Sangha Yoga Studio
Sangha Yoga Studio honors the tradition of removing shoes before entering the studio. This is a humble gesture of respect for the sacred space in which we practice and we Thank You for joining us in this expression of reverence (if able). And Thank You for arriving to class on time as a gesture of respect for the practice, and fellow students. Forgot your mat or props? We’ve got you. We look forward to sharing the space and experience with you.
Join any on-going classes at any time. The prices are as follows:
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Punch Card
6 classes good with one instructor/ 8 weeks expiration $102 ( $17 /class).
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Mini Gold Card
10 classes any instructor/ 12 weeks expiration $170 ($17/class).
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Gold Card
20 classes any instructor/ 15 weeks expiration $340 ($17/class).
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Drop-ins
$20
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Course Classes
priced as indicated on schedule
To pre-pay, please use the Venmo link on our page here.
To pay upon arrival, we accept cash or credit card.
Gift Certificates are available for purchase at whatever amount desired...share the Love.
~ CLASS DESCRIPTION & TEACHER BIO ~
Chair Yoga Chair Yoga makes Yoga more accessible! Chair yoga is just like traditional yoga with variations, so that it can be more accessible to those who need a little extra support. This is an integrated chair class, meaning most of the class will be taught from the chair, however you are welcome to stand or get on the mat to do the pose if desired. The class will be gentle and fun while helping to increase flexibility, strength and improve your mental state.
Contact Improvisation Contact Improvisation provides a physical format to practice embodied skills of communication and listening through movement and contact, while providing a safe and consensual way to invite new patterns, release tension, and find your playful, wild self. *Liesje Smith
Flow Yoga focuses on the connection between breath, movement, and the mind. It is based on the principles of hatha yoga, vinyasa yoga and ashtanga vinyasa. This style of yoga is often referred to as ‘flow’ because it moves from one pose to another in a continuous, smooth way. The term ‘flow’ is often used to describe the experience of being in the zone and Flow Yoga helps achieve this state of mind. While a little physically engaging, all are welcome! *Phelan LaVelle
Hatha Yoga (Mend & Bend with Meg) A blend of asana (physical postures) and mindful movement that is accessible to all. This class provides the space to go deep within and to truly listen to the body's whispers. Using props and any adjustments that are needed, students are encouraged to find their own place to sink in and let go in a safe, relaxed atmosphere. All levels are welcome. *Meg Schreiber Brownstone
Integral Hatha Yoga (Holistic Hatha) Combines the various methods of Yoga so that we may have a healthy body, peaceful mind and useful life. It is a graceful blend of postures, breath and meditation, accessible to all and an ideal tool for becoming more comfortable and relaxed in the body, while increasing flexibility and muscle tone. Integral Yoga classes are spiritual in nature. They guide the student to go gently inward and experience the effects of the posture. The classes are never competitive. Silence, acceptance, and awareness are used to relax the body and calm the mind. All are welcome. *Kerry Fulford
Rolf Movement Integration is an Embodied Inquiry of Motivation with Ease. Do you feel stuck, adhered places in your body that somehow limit your life? Are there broken connections that aren't resolving, keeping you exhausted with worry and pain? Do you feel like you always have to keep yourself from falling down? Then you may want to try this new Rolf Movement class, a way to balance your myofascial (muscles, and connective tissue) and skeletal systems for better neuromoter patterns that keep you standing tall and offer overall relief using the holistic and transformative body therapy of Rolfing®, Structural Integration. *Liesje Smith
A Rolf Movement Class offers:
Substantial structural change for more ease and efficiency in your movement
Increase your movement choices that improve the quality of your life
Release fascial stagnation and strengthen inner connected tissue function
Better align with your sense of self with your body
Feel vibrant, alive, energized, settled and ready for the rest of the day
Sangha Raqsat (All levels) Empowering growth through dance, Sangha Raqsat is a dance form that utilizes belly dance, American dance, and the teachings of yoga to create a fun and welcoming space for growth. Honoring the roots of our teachers, we create something new together that empowers our physical, mental, and emotional transformation. Suitable for any fitness level, this class is for anyone who wants to move and have fun while learning a new movement practice. A foundation in dance is helpful as we build our dance practice with specific stylizations, increased layers, and specific props. This class will help you deepen your practice, your understanding of the history and culture of our dance, as well as increasing dance technique. *Mahsati
Shotokan Karate is a martial art rooted in striking techniques, designed for use in self-defense. Regular practice revolves around kata (forms), supplemented by kihon (basic techniques) and kumite (sparring). These technical aspects of the art, however, entail a broader set of goals: the care and cultivation of the body and mind, and the quest for mutual respect and understanding among all people. *Joe Fu
T’ai Chi, Yang Style, Traditional Long Form is an ancient form of t’ai chi. In its origin it was a defensive martial art, but is generally practiced today as a meditative art. It is meditation in motion. As you go through the moves in the form you move in a seamless, free flowing fashion. It is quiet, peaceful, and restorative. It helps with mental focus, memory, stress, and patience. Physically it is a practice that enhances core strength and coordination. It improves balance in your physical body. When strength, support and balance are improved in your physical body you will find that they are also improved in your life. You can think of your t’ai chi practice as a metaphor for the things you want in your everyday life.
You will be taught all of the moves and the principles that guide them. All levels of experience are welcome. Wear comfortable clothing and be prepared to practice in athletic socks. Shoes are not helpful unless they are specifically tai chi shoes (ideally only worn indoors). If using tai chi shoes, please carry your shoes in and put them on inside. *Patty Riehm
Therapeutic Gentle Yoga Ideal for those who are perhaps stiff & inflexible, overweight, injured, recovering, mature, or just want to be tender with themSelves. This yoga is for every body and all are welcome to this experience of self-love.* Rhonda Helms
Therapeutic Pilates is a method of body conditioning which promotes postural alignment, core integrity, and health. The intention is to assist you in claiming the knowledge and safely embodying the strength and fluidity the Pilates system offers. Through mindful movement, precise execution, and proper use of dynamic tension, our bodies gain the ability to heal and strengthen from the inside out. Get strong, long, and connected in your body through this exploration of Classical Pilates with a Therapeutic touch.
Yamuna® Body Rolling (YBR) is a self-care and self-conditioning technique that uses specialized balls to therapeutically access specific body parts. The extraordinary effect of Yamuna Body Rolling is its multidimensional elongation of muscle fibers. In addition to the regular longitudinal elongation by conventional stretch methods, YBR enables the transversal and diagonal expansion of muscle fibers in order to move the body more dynamically. This unique method has aspects of both exercise and treatment. Leading individual body parts to their accurate positions, YBR makes necessary space in the body, increases circulation, improves range of motions and overall function. * Michelle Arington
Yin Yoga for Deep Sleep This Yin experience is informed by the somatic intelligence of Rolfing®: Structural Integration as well as Body Mind Centering®, both approaches that cross into the threshold of deep embodiment. Our bodies are a living architecture that’s involved in an ongoing unfolding process that is not, as our common regard leaves us to believe, a mechanical machine nor is it completely degenerating with age. Here is your opportunity to get acquainted with and reorganize fascia. The connective tissue is considered the most intelligent system in the body that responds to the processes of relationship!
Each student arrives, negotiating their own history, their own protections, their own adaptations as well as their hopes. In Yin Yoga, the poses become a kind of conversation with yourselves. This practice is an act of reverence for your body. None of your problems have to get fixed, instead we ask you to listen quietly enough for the flow that is beginning to awaken within you, revealing its deeper held priorities as well as the places that are wanting to be undisturbed. We offer you a way to move that brings you back into yourself. * Liesje Smith
Yoga for Body, Breath & Mind According to the ancient Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (known as the Father of Yoga), "The cessation of the fluctuations of the mind is Yoga". In this all-levels yoga practice we work out the kinks of being human through stretching and breathing so that we can then sit in a prepared stillness and silence. This preparation of the physical body through asana, and the mental body through breathwork, allows us to perhaps sit more peacefully with less physical and mental commentary. In doing so, we create the opportunity to be more fully present to the infinite wisdom and guidance within. *Meghan Burke
Meghan Burke is the Founding Director of Sangha Yoga Studio and has been a devoted student of yoga for over 25 years. With more than 500 hours of residential yoga training, Meghan's teaching is deeply rooted in tradition and is informed by all the limbs of the yoga tree...not just asana. Some of her greatest lessons were learned while studying in India.
"For me, a crucial part of yoga is to recognize and observe emotional states that arise during one's practice. As we are able to stay with resistance on the mat until it dissolves, we are potentially liberated from that same limitation in our daily life. Although this reconditioning of the self begins on a physical level, it penetrates the soul and as we become more comfortable in our bodies, we become more comfortable in our lives."
Michelle Arington has trained extensively with Yamuna Zake, the founder of Yamuna Body Rolling (YBR). Michelle is also a certified Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapist certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapy, a certified SilverSneakers® instructor, Nia® Technique and Nia® Moving to Heal Teacher, Pilates, an Ageless Grace® Brain-Fitness Educator, as well as a Yamuna® Body Rolling & Foot Fitness Practitioner, and a YBR® Teacher Trainer.
Michelle also received her health coach training through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach. She received her Personal Trainer, Corrective and Adaptive Fitness, and Weight-loss Certifications through the National Academy of Sports Medicine, and her Drug & Alcohol Recovery Fitness and Menopause Health & Fitness Specialist certifications through the MedFit Education Foundation.
Whitney Barfield (Mahsati) first fell in love with belly dance at Sangha Yoga Studio many years ago. She continued her dance education through the Salimpour School, where she is currently certified as Level 2 in both Suhaila and Jamila formats. Through the school, she is also a member of Bal Anat, the longest running dance troupe in the world. Locally, she continues to study with Samira, as well as taking workshops with teachers from all stylizations and from all over the world. Mahsati is excited to share her love of dance, music, and the connection of people to themselves and others with her students.
Nicole Bechill teaches a well rounded, gentle and relaxing all-levels and accessible class. Her Yin Yoga often starts with gentle warm up, then works deeply into the connective tissue around the hips pelvis and spine with a slow and enjoyable reclined practice. This class promotes deep breathing, mindfulness and inward listening. Suitable for beginners and experienced students alike who are seeking a fun and grounding class that focuses on restoring flexibility and mobility. Most recently, Nicole has been studying the ideas of trauma sensitive yoga and has been working to create more in-class options and choices to provide a more trauma sensitive and body positive class.
Joe Fu leads Athens Shotokan Karate. Having started practice immediately after meeting Ohshima Sensei in 1979, he was awarded the rank of 4th dan (yodan) by him in 2010. athensshotokan@gmail.com
Kerry Fulford
"When I was graciously introduced to the science of yoga and saw what a holistic life plan it offers, I decided to become a life time student and to share the healing it offers me with others. I was lovingly and precisely taught at Satchidananda Ashram and am certified to teach all levels of asana, Pranayama, and meditation in this wonderful series of Integral Hatha Yoga. I have been an active teacher since 1995 and have staffed other teacher training programs at Yogaville."
Rhonda Helms earned two Yoga Teacher Certifications, one in 1999 from The Yoga Institute in Houston, Texas and another from the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts in March of 2002. Rhonda’s extensive on-going continuing education includes studying closely with John Friend, the founder of Anusara Yoga. Her teaching style focuses on alignment of the body within the yoga poses and she shares her deep gratitude and joy for the practice of yoga.
Phelan LaVelle ERYT 500 is the Founding Director of Grateful Head Yoga and has been teaching yoga consistently for over a decade. She has a deep commitment to her movement and wellness education, pulling from a vast swath of genres including modern dance and lymphatic massage, as a means of delivering fresh and interesting content to students. Phelan has extensively trained with some of the most celebrated minds of the contemporary yoga-verse; Judith Lasater, Darren Rhodes, Elena Brower, Noah Maze, Christina Sell and currently Tiffany Cruikshank. Her classes highlight copious physical alignment, spiritual conviviality and good tunes.
Patty Riehm began her t’ai chi journey in 1995 studying Yang Style, Traditional Long Form. In 2000, with the blessings of her teacher (following Yang Style tradition) she began to teach. She has maintained her practice ever since, teaching once or twice weekly. Since that time, as her practice has deepened, she continues to learn from the form itself, and from her students. She is passionate about the difference this practice has made in her life and loves sharing that experience with others.
Meg Schreiber Brownstone received her 200hr RYT certification from the Shravana School of Yoga in 2011 and has been teaching since then. Her classes offer both thorough alignment instruction and a deep inward focus. Some consider her to be funny (in a quirky sort of way*). *real student assessment of Meg’s teaching persona.
Liesje Smith is a Rolfer, dancer and yogi. She has been studying the art of movement in all of these modalities for 30 years. Her approach to the wellness is informed by her lifetime apprenticeship in Rolfing®: Structural Integration and Body Mind Centering®, both approaches that cross into the threshold of deep embodiment. She loves to help people create a connection of greater curiosity toward their own bodies, enriching their sense of what being a full human being means and how to inhabit themselves with greater ease, efficiency and effectiveness. Liesje also has has her private practice at the Healing Arts Centre and sees clients on the ground level. https://www.liesjesmith.co
Maryn Whitmore brings over 24 years of experience as a teacher of movement to the Athens community. Classically trained, she has taught in a wide variety of settings ranging from assisting patients in rehabilitation after spinal surgery to the Dance Department at UGA. Grounded in the belief of the body's ability to heal from within, Maryn guides her clients through a process of education, re-patterning, and empowerment.
"Allow your body to be the brilliant vessel it can be. Begin with the power of the mind-body-spirit connection." MW