About Joni...

Joni Sturgill is a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga
Alliance.

What Joni says about her personal practice:

"I have practiced yoga almost daily for eight years, plus I’ve
enjoyed a regular meditation practice for about six years. Before
having children, I earned a BA in Communication and was a full-
time marketing copywriter, but now I choose to focus my life on
raising my children and teaching yoga. Yoga has taught me many
things about life, and I am grateful to share this wonderful
discipline and experience with others!"


Joni's Teaching Experience

FBI Crime Victims Rights Conference, April 16, 2008, OKC, OK,
Gave a seminar on coping with stress using breath & meditation;
encouraged stretching/yoga/exercise to release physical stress.


Yoga Matrika, Squirrel Hill, PA, since April, 2007
Substitute teach Prenatal Yoga classes; meditation workshops

Breathe Yoga Studio, Pittsburgh, PA, since April, 2007
Teach meditation workshops

Schoolhouse Yoga, Squirrel Hill, PA, since January, 2007
Teach
3 weekly yoga classes & monthly meditation workshops

Ohio Township Community Nature Center, PA, since Nov.,2006
Teach weekly mixed level yoga classes

3rd Street Yoga, Carnegie, PA, January, 2007 - May, 2007
Taught monthly meditation workshops, subbed yoga classes, taught
alternating Saturday mornings

Santosha Yoga Center, Gibsonia, PA, December, 2006 - April, 2007
Taught weekly mixed level yoga classes, weekly prenatal yoga classes

FitWell Studios, Wexford, PA, July, 2006 - January, 2007
Taught yoga classes to beginners, mixed level adults, and pregnant
women
Taught Meditation, Relaxation, and Pranayama workshops monthly

OSIRIS Wellness & Day Spa, Evans City, PA, Jan. 2006 - Jan. 2007
Taught Hatha yoga classes to beginners, mixed level adults

Roots & Wings Pilates and Yoga Studio, Wexford, PA, February,
2005 – July, 2006
Taught yoga classes to beginners, mixed level adults, and pregnant
women (twice a week)
Taught Meditation, Relaxation, and Pranayama workshops monthly,
10/05 - 7/06

Training

  • Mediation Workshop w/ Doug Keller, ERYT-500, Oct. 27, 2007,
    Pittsburgh, PA(2 hrs.) Philosophy, technique, practice,
    pranayama

  • Yoga Therapeutics Workshop w/ Doug Keller,ERYT-500, Oct.
    28, 2007, Pittsburgh,PA (3hrs.) Anatomy, standing poses,
    poses for low back/sacrum.

  • Anusaura Workshop w/Desiree Rumbaugh, Aug. 11,12, 2007,
    Pittsburgh, PA (8hrs.) Standing poses, backbends,
    forwardbends, arm balances.

  • Outer & Inner Aspects of Vinyasa with Cyndi Lee, May 19,20,
    2007, Columbus, OH (12hrs.) OM yoga Teacher training
    workshop.

  • Cultivating Mindfulness in Everyday Life Meditation Workshop
    with Cyndi Lee, May 18, 2007, Columbus, OH (3hrs.)
    Meditation practice shamatha (Buddhist mindfulness
    meditation).

  • Kripalu 3-day Meditation Retreat with Bhavani Loraine
    Nelson, March 8-11, 2007, Lenox, Mass. (14 hrs.) Studied a
    variety of meditation techniques and practiced. Silent
    meditation for 2 days.

  • Living Your Yoga Workshop with Judith Lasater, Sept. 16 &
    17, 2006,Pittsburgh, PA (10 hrs.) Explored yoga, meditation
    and mindfulness in  everyday life.

  • The Shoulder Joint & Asana, Teacher Training with Judith
    Lasater, Sept. 15, 2006, Pittsburgh, PA (5 hrs.)

  • 200-hour teacher training (200 hr. RYT program) with Joanne
    VandenHengel of 3rd Street Yoga, Carnegie, PA. Completed
    August, 2006. Coursework consisted of asana study, anatomy,
    philosophy, ethics, history, meditation and the art of
    teaching yoga.

  • Anusara Yoga Therapeutics workshop with Todd Norian & Ann
    Greene, April 30, 2006, Pittsburgh, PA (3 hrs.) Explored
    adjustments, alignment and therapeutic details of yoga
    poses, plus Anusara yoga principles.

  • Profound Alignment Workshop with Mark Taylor, Joanne
    VandenHengel, Wendy Mackin, April 23, 2006, Pittsburgh, PA.
    Anatomy discussion (explored the many diaphragms of the
    body); body, mind and breath connection, explored
    sensations in yoga poses.

  • Yoga Journal Conference, Boston, April 2006, training with
    Judith Hanson Lasater (Ab-focused session), Desiree
    Rumbaugh (therapy for the hips), Paul Grilley (Yin Yoga),
    Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa (Kundalini meditation), and Sharon
    Gannon (Jivamukti style yoga)

  • YogaFit Pre/Post-Natal, February, 2005, Herndon,VA

  • YogaFit Level 1, January, 2005, Pittsburgh, PA. Basic yoga
    teacher training; discussed and practiced poses,       
    anatomy, teaching methods.

  • Yoga Journal Conference, Boston, April, 2004, training with
    Baron Baptiste (Power Vinyasa), Rodney Yee (Yoga Through
    Grounding), Gessner Geyer (Kundalini basics), Maty Ezraty
    (Yoga and the Shoulder Joint), and Swami Asokananda
    (Meditation).

  • Chakras, Tattwas, & Yoga Nidra Workshop with Swami
    Dharmakeerti, Medina, OH, Oct., 2003 Studied yoga history,
    chakra energy centers, tattwas, and expored the process of
    moving through Yoga Nidra.


A Selection of Completed Readings on
Yoga and Meditation

  • Anatomy of Hatha Yoga by H. David Coulter
  • How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali translated
    by Prabhavananda and Isherwood
  • Light on Yoga by B.K.S. Iyengar
  • Yoga Body, Buddha Mind by Cyndi Lee
  • Yoga, The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness by Erich
    Schiffman
  • Yoga for Wellness by Gary Kraftsow
  • Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn
  • Yoga Nidra by Swami Satyananda Saraswati
  • Living Your Yoga by Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., P.T.
  • Relax & Renew by Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., P.T.
  • The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar
  • 8 Minute Meditation by Victor Davich
  • The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
  • Living Buddha, Living Christ, by Thich Nhat Hanh
  • The Wisdom of No Escape by Pema Chodron
  • ...and many more.
Yoga Alliance 200-Hour     
Registered Yoga Teacher
Over 100 additional hours of training
Over 600 hours of teaching
experience