Yoga Teaching Philosophy


Yoga in Sanskrit, the devotional language of India means "union". At the outset of our journey into yoga we may be experiencing pain or stress. We may want to create a sacred space for ourselves, or we may want to learn how to improve the health and well being of our families. We may want to stay flexible and optimize our well-being. We may not know how or why we have come to practice yoga. However, regardless of what we seek from yoga, it will yield the same result, a depth of self awareness, serenity, and a continuing call to the infinite connection within us that connects us to universal truth and knowledge.

Yoga is not a practice that takes us away from the world, rather, it is a practice that helps us accept the deepest parts of ourselves, and bring these parts back into the world as we find healthier ways to interact with our families and our communities.

Yoga was miraculously developed several thousand years ago by the ancient sages of India, as a system for complete well-being. Apart from the hundreds of variations of asanas that address all parts of the body and many breathing practices that exist, there were also guidelines developed for conduct in our relationships with one another, and for overcoming obstacles while growing our practice.

Training and Teaching Style
Alexis began taking yoga classes in 1992. She alternated between Integral yoga, Sivananda yoga, Kripalu yoga and Raj yoga classes taking between three and four classes a week for four years. In 1993 she began to practice a form of vipassana meditation. In 1994, she also began to practice kirtan (devotional chanting in Sanskrit) at Integral yoga each week in 1994. In 1998 she read The Yoga of Spiritual Devotion, a translation of the Narada Bhakti Sutras by Prem Prakash who directs the Green Mountain School of Yoga in Middlebury, Vermont. Reading this text which outlines the philosophy of bhakti yoga, or the yoga of devotion, was a turning point in her practice. She continued to attend kirtan, mantra yagnas, workshops and classes with Prem Prakash until he gave her permission to start teaching asanas in 2002. Still however, she had not met her true Guru or found a meditation teacher. After seven years of continuous study with a variety of yoga asana teachers, Alexis met her beloved meditation teacher Swami Probuddhananda, in Varanasi, India, in 2009. She has edited a book of his letters, With Love, Swami Probuddhananda, letters on Advaita Vedanta. Kolkata: India, International Vedanta Society Publications, November 2009. Vedanta is considered to be the Mother of all yogas, the non-dualistic philosophy that all is divine. Soon after she finished the book she met Swami Probuddhanada's Master, Bhagavan in Assam, India. She continues to deepen her understanding of Vedanta by studying with Bhagavan in India. Bhagavan's Master is Swami Pavitrananda a disciple of Swami Krishnanada who was initated by Sri Sarada Devi, known as the Holy Mother in India, and the consort of the God incarnation, Sri Thakur Rama Krishna.

Classes are tailored for both beginning and intermediate levels.
A typical one hour class will include:

5 minutes of meditation
5 minutes of pranayama (breathing practices)
40 of asanas (postures)
7 minutes of shavasna (restorative practice)

Emphasis is placed on developing your practice at home, and sharing the obstacles and joys of building your practice in a supportive classroom environment.