What is Embodyoga®?

Embodyoga® begins with the premise that our whole body – every structure, cell and particle – is awake and self-aware. As we explore traditional Hatha Yoga postures in Embodyoga classes, we look for the feeling and movement of life force within our bodies. Sometimes this inner movement is a subtle whisper, other times clear and direct. In Embodyoga, it is this inner movement that guides our visible outer movements into every yoga posture.

Embodyoga® instruction brings your awareness into your body, rather than inviting you to picture what your body looks like from the outside. To facilitate inner awareness, Embodyoga classes are rich with exploration of the structures and systems that support all bodily movement and function: muscle and bone, organ, fascia, gland, and more. With this inner awareness as your foundation, you will learn to cultivate deep stability in service of mobility, for a lifetime of safe and satisfying yoga practice.

Experience Unity

Yoga is a vast and varied system of physical, mental and spiritual practices that originated in India over 5,000 years ago. The simplest translation of yoga (a Sanskrit word) is unity. Yoga teaches that unity is the underlying reality of our existence, whether we notice it or not. Most of us were never taught to notice or seek the experience of unity. But unity is always available to be experienced, just beneath the fragmented surface of life. Embodyoga consists of practices that bring the embodied experience of unity into the forefront of each individual’s personal awareness.

These subtle levels of experience are inherently compelling, and the gravity of the inner world draws us in. With clarity of awareness, we begin to experience directly every cell in our body as awake, alive, and self-aware. Full realization is not just a state of mind, but a state of body, mind and consciousness. To embody yoga means to bring unity into direct experience.

You can do this.

Embodyoga® at Shraddha Yoga and Beyond

Yoga Center Amherst (now Shraddha Yoga) is where Embodyoga® was developed by Patty Townsend, E-RYT 500, YACEP based on a lifetime of study of yoga, meditation and somatics. Embodyoga® is informed by her direct study with esteemed teachers Aadil Palkhivala, Angela Farmer, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Richard Freeman, Ana Forrest, and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, founder of the School of Body-Mind Centering®.

Today, Embodyoga® is taught by certified instructors across the country and around the globe. You can join us for Embodyoga® 100, 200 and 300 hour trainings, and you can take Embodyoga® classes every day at Shraddha Yoga.