teacher training | Testimonials

Jane Lomanaco, RYT 200, Brattleboro, VT

Through Embodyoga® I have learned to live more fully and more consciously in my body, developing intimate, kinesthetic knowledge of the interplay between bone and muscle and the comfort of the underlying support of the organs and glands.  Our study of the evolutionary journey of life and the parallel journey of the developing fetus and child helps me find my two feet on the ground, rooting down, and the quiet upsurge of my spine.  As my body has become more steady and comfortable, my mind has become more centered and integrated.  Stillness in the body/mind emerges from this embodied practice.

Karen Miscall-Bannon, E-RYT 500, Shutesbury, MA

I have had the pleasure of studying with Patty for the last 6 years.  She has had a profound effect on my yoga study and teaching.  I took a 200-hour training with her, with no intention of teaching.  Her instruction was so compelling that I realized that I had to share it with others.  It has changed my life.  I have practiced yoga for over 20 years, and was inspired by her to help share what she passed on to me with others.  She has developed an approach to yoga that is truly unique.  She encourages her students to explore their practice from the inside.  She speaks of nothing less than changing ones consciousness, and uses philosophy, anatomy, asana, pranayama, and meditation as tools to help students access those things that yoga claims as its benefits.  I received my 500-hour certification from her, and continue to explore the concepts she presents in the embodyoga® system.  She is truly a teacher's teacher, and it takes only one class with her to understand the depth of knowledge and study that she presents.  I cannot speak highly enough of Patty's teaching ability.  She is clear and concise, and is quite open to students' questions.  She approaches yoga with a playful attitude, and reminds students of our real goals in yoga:  not the 6-pack abs, but our connections to ourselves and the world around us.  She encourages her students to explore and learn for themselves.  She is compassionate, yet inspires each student to work hard --in the ways that matter:  understanding the subtle concepts of rest, connection,  and consciousness.  That said, she is also very capable of giving each student what he/she needs, and if that is a challenging asana class, she is a master sequencer.  Her knowledge of yoga is profound, and she has devoted her life to sharing that with others.  It is a pleasure working with (and for) her.  

Katie Parker
As a graduate of Patty Townsend’s Embodyoga® Teacher Training
and In-Depth Yoga Study Program I can attest that Patty provides her students with a
rock-solid foundation of the fundamental techniques and skills of practicing and teaching yoga. Yet what makes Patty so special as a teacher is that she also allows ample room for the individual to discover, develop, and express a vision and voice that speak from her own experience of yoga, so that her practice and teaching are robustly alive and embodied.

As a poet, I find it difficult to describe anything without the use of metaphor, so I cannot
resist sharing the image that comes to my mind when I think of my experience as Patty’s student. I imagine myself standing in a kitchen surrounded by a vast array of foods, and finding a note inviting me to use them to prepare a lavish feast. A book of recipes is
available for me to consult, but the note encourages me to develop my own recipe, through the process of discovering the tastes and textures and subtle properties of each ingredient, so that eventually I intuitively understand how to combine them to create a well-balanced, yet fresh and surprising dish that represents my personal relationship to each ingredient, as well as to the dish as a whole. Patty encourages her students to develop the creativity, courage, and confidence to experiment and connect at a personal level to the material she provides them with. I believe Patty teaches her students how to prepare and serve up “soul food”, fit for both deep healing and ecstatic celebration, in classes that are immensely rich and satisfying, and never, ever boring.

Patty Townsend, by supporting my journey toward the freedom to feel and experience asana as an expression of my true self, in fact seems to be teaching in collaboration with my true self, empowering me to trust myself as my own teacher. It is this aspect of Patty’s teaching for which I am most grateful, and which I have not found in any other teachers.

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