Teaching Philosophy:
Petra began yoga as part of her college dance program. She discovered quickly that yoga asana was helping to relieve pain from old injuries and dysfunctional movement patterns created through years of dance. Over years of practicing yoga, Petra realized that she had a new understanding of and agency over her body. After a traumatic relationship and years of exercising/dancing with a "no pain no gain" mentality, this new relationship with her body was a gift Petra never expected.
Petra brings her own experience to every class she teaches. Her goal is for her students to learn and grow into making their own decisions about their bodies and movement practice. She deeply believes that when we know more about our bodies and our physiology, we can't help but love ourselves. In her years of teaching, Petra has seen that this deep-relationship building with your body is a foundation of mindfulness and groundedness.
Petra focuses on functionality and sustainability in movement, teaching students to move their bodies in a way that will serve them in the long-term and help them move through daily life with more mobility and less pain. Her classes offer a variety of ways to discover poses, and will often be themed to a particular movement or engagement to help students hone in on what their body is doing.
Training philosophy:
Petra is dedicated to educating incredible teachers, well-versed in a variety of yoga topics and seeped in relevancy to life. Petra's favorite thing to tell trainees is "ask questions - you get what you ask for." Curriculum is supplemented with relevant information about communication skills, learning styles, the mental and physical effects of experiences on the body, scientific studies, and other accumulated knowledge. Tangents are held in high regard, while never distracting from the training.
Certifications and advanced trainings: Petra is an 200-E-RYT Yoga Alliance instructor and an associate Yoga Life Coach, certified by Wild Abundant Life / Midwest Power Yoga, and trained in the LIVE LOVE TEACH® methodology with original co-founder, Deborah Williamson. Petra was mentored by Terry Munnelly of Newport Power Yoga, and Phillip Urso and Renee Delauries of Rhode Island Power Yoga. She is now completing her RYT-500 certification with Stacy Dockins of The Yoga Project, author of Embodied Posture.
Additional certifications and trainings include:
- Yoga Alliance Educator Certified
- Certified Children's Yoga Instructor (Karma Kids)
- Certified Hands-on Assistant (Wild Abundant Life)
- Barre Instructor
- Trauma Sensitive Yoga (Bessel Van De Kolk and the Brookline Trauma Institute)
- Merge the Practice Fascial Body training
- Teaching Spirituality (Live Love Teach)
- Various anatomy teachings from Leslie Kaminoff and Paul Grilley.