It seems that something ancient is quietly reawakening in the world of yoga. For years, many of us first came to yoga through postures and movement. We learned asanas, stretched tight muscles, built strength and discovered the physical benefits of stepping onto a mat. Twenty years ago, most yoga studios emphasized alignment, hamstrings, hip openers and core strength. Those teachings remain valuable, and for many of us, they were the doorway into a lifelong practice.

Today, however, a quieter transformation is unfolding. Walk into many studios and you’ll hear a different conversation. “Notice your breath.” “Become curious.” “How does this feel in your body?” “Take what serves you and leave the rest.”

People aren’t only asking how to move better. They want to apply yoga to their lives in practical ways. Across yoga communities, we believe the roots of yoga are being watered once again.

This isn’t about turning away from asana. The physical practice remains an essential limb of yoga. Postures help release tension from the body and create space for a more peaceful mind. Yoga has always offered far more than flexibility or fitness. It is a path of self-discovery, compassion, resilience, presence and connection.

The ancient yogis understood that transformation grows through mindful breathing, meditation, ethical living, self-study, service and the support of sangha, a spiritual community. Long before brain scans and nervous system research, they recognized that changing the relationship between breath, body, attention and awareness can change us.

Modern science is confirming much of what early practitioners knew through direct experience, demonstrating the effects of breathwork, meditation, mindfulness and movement on physical, mental and emotional well-being.

We could say that science hasn’t replaced yoga; it’s catching up. Honoring this connection of body, mind and spirit, both on the mat and in the yoga lifestyle, is the foundation of Jackie and Christy’s Sacred Journey 200-hour Yoga Alliance Teacher Training.

Although our journeys into yoga were different, they led us to the same understanding.

Jackie Jackson has spent more than 25 years studying, teaching and exploring the intersection of ancient yogic wisdom and modern science. In college, Dean Lerner’s Iyengar classes introduced her to the body-mind connection. Her first Ashtanga yoga teacher training with David Swenson and Shari Simon brought the prediction, “Yoga will change your life.” It did.

Another pivotal influence was her yoga therapy training with Dr. Bob Butera at the Yoga Life Institute, where yoga was taught as a lifelong practice of stress reduction, lifestyle management and whole-person well-being. She later completed trauma-informed yoga certification with United We Om and became a certified Somatic-EMDR coach with Dr. Arielle Schwartz. This whole-person approach continues to shape her teaching and inspired her book, Holistic Trauma Healing: Strategies to Integrate the Body, Mind & Spirit.

Christy Abate discovered yoga at age 17, and it has been a lifelong companion. Her path led her to create welcoming spaces where people feel safe to practice, connect and grow. She was certified in the lineage of Baron Baptiste Power Yoga, who studied with S.T. Krishnamacharya, father of Ashtanga yoga. In 2022, she was certified by Jennifer Raye in Mindfulness, Yin and Acupressure and has completed advanced studies in chakras, meditation and yoga philosophy. Through The Angel Cooperative and The Angel Wing, she has cultivated a community where yoga extends beyond the mat and becomes part of everyday life.

Together, our shared vision has always been to honor yoga’s rich traditions while making its wisdom accessible to modern practitioners. Perhaps that’s why the word our graduates return to again and again isn’t flexibility. It’s community.

Graduate Michaela Gleeson reflected, “Every time I was weak or crawling through the darkness, this space lifted me when it was hard for me to do alone.”

Kai Thomas shared, “Each session they made it a safe space to be part of and to open up to the experience.”

Kathleen Dupaya added, “They’ve planted a love of the yogic lifestyle that will continue to ripple out no matter what path each student chooses.”

These reflections remind us that students may arrive hoping to learn how to teach yoga but leave with something greater: a deeper relationship with themselves, their practice and their community. That understanding inspired Sacred Journey Yoga Teacher Training.

Before asking students to teach others, we invite them to deepen their own practice. Throughout this yearlong, Yoga Alliance-registered 200-hour teacher training, students explore the eight limbs of yoga philosophy, functional anatomy, pranayama, meditation, mantra, mindful sequencing, ethics and compassionate teaching. They gain confidence through practice teaching, mentorship and personal reflection while developing a sustainable daily practice, or sadhana, that supports life on and off the mat.

More importantly, they discover their authentic voice, not by becoming someone else, but by becoming more fully themselves.

As graduate Amy Dennis shared, “If you seek a yoga training that encompasses all the beautiful breadth and depth of yoga, not just the poses, this training is for you.”

At Sacred Journey, we don’t believe graduation is the finish line. We hope it is the beginning of a lifetime of living yoga, guided by presence instead of perfection, compassion instead of comparison and curiosity instead of certainty. Yoga isn’t simply something we do. It’s something we live.

As we deepen our roots, we become more grounded, compassionate and able to share that wisdom with others. Our invitation is simple: Practice with Presence. Teach with Compassion. Live with Purpose.

If yoga is calling to you, even if you’ve only “tried it once or twice,” or if your practice has been whispering that there is something more beneath the surface, we invite you to explore Sacred Journey Yoga Teacher Training with us.

The future of yoga may not lie in reinventing the practice, but in returning to its heart. By honoring its roots, we become better practitioners, wiser teachers and thoughtful stewards of a tradition that continues to nourish lives across generations. Join us as we begin another Sacred Journey on November 9.

Free in-person and Zoom sessions are happening now. Visit TheAngelCoop.com or call 203-431-2959 for more information. Early bird pricing available through October 15. See ad, page 7.

Christy Abate is owner of The Angel Cooperative, located at 51 Ethan Allen Highway in Ridgefield, Connecticut, and The Angel Wing, located at 33 East Ave. in New Canaan, Connecticut. Her metaphysical stores and spiritual centers offer crystals and divination tools and host a variety of classes, workshops, certification programs, energy work, yoga, qigong and more. The Angel Cooperative is home to the first Shungite Room in the U.S. Abate is an intuitive, energy worker, tarot reader and yoga instructor. She also co-leads Sacred Journey, a 200-hour Yoga Alliance teacher training.

Jacqueline Jackson, IAYT, E-RYT 500 and YACEP, is an author, yoga teacher and support group facilitator whose work integrates ancient yogic wisdom with modern approaches to whole-person well-being. She has more than 25 years of experience studying and teaching yoga and is the author of Holistic Trauma Healing: Strategies to Integrate the Body, Mind & Spirit. Jackson also co-leads Sacred Journey, a 200-hour Yoga Alliance teacher training. To connect, call 267-269-9449 or visit JacquelineJackson.net

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