Kirsten Bonanza
RYT500
Current Studios & Classes
Wednesdays 6:30pm Restorative Yoga @ Flow Yoga
Thursdays 7:45am Hatha Yoga & Pranayama @ Flow Yoga
Fridays 10:15am Hatha Yoga 1/2 @ Ahh Yoga *also online*
Fridays 11:15am Chair Yoga @ Ahh Yoga *also online*
Training
YTT200 Karuna Yoga Northampton, MA
YTT300 YogaRenew Hoboken, NJ
Equine Yoga Teacher Training Kindred Spirits Wellness Costa Rica 100 Hour
A Bit About Me
Kirsten began practicing yoga in 2002 and became a teacher in 2015. Her RYT200 class was provided by Karuna Healing Arts in Northampton, MA with Paul Maynard & Eileen Muir in 2016 and her YTT300 by YogaRenew in 2024. She has also trained in Equine Yoga with Kindred Spirits Wellness Center (100hr), Mindfulness with Niroga Institute, and in Urban Youth & Yoga at Omega Institute with Holistic Life Foundation.
Kirsten has travelled to share the joys of yoga with the people of Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. She was an honored guest of the Sri Lankan Bikku school (Monk training center) in Embilipitiya working in the mornings with the young monks. She has provided yoga and mindfulness classes for children and teens as well as in the typical yoga studio setting.
Kirsten works extensively with horses and combines liberty horse training with the 8 limbs of yoga. She teaches mindfulness with horses, energy healing & horses, and yoga with horses classes.
Kirsten's current focus on the mat is Restorative Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and alignment focused Hatha Yoga. She also focuses professionally on bringing wellness to the workplace.
Kirsten travels globally offering retreats and workshops and is always looking for new places and to meet amazing people like you!
Yoga as a Lifestyle Choice
Wellness in the Workplace
You can't deny that the stress and strain of the past few years is getting to people. It wasn't amazing before, but now more than ever we're seeing businesses dealing with high rates of burnout with critical fields like health care and schools losing workers to every day stress. What else is possible? We help businesses develop plans for the workplace to incorporate the tools of yoga to assist in mitigating high pressure, high stress, environments as well as cultivating a culture of wellness.
Consultations are available for workplace looking to incorporate yoga and tools for more consciousness into the workplace wellness program.
Wellness in Schools
There is a growing trend for bringing wellness into the school day. The obvious benefits of the relaxation gained from pranayama breathing techniques, the sharpened senses and awareness as well as the calm focus derived from mindfulness & meditation, and the stength building physical movement of the yoga asana. In combination all of these have benefits is
Consultations are available for schools looking to incorporate yoga into the school's wellness program.
Styles of Yoga
Hatha Yoga & Iyengar-style
Restorative Yoga
Equine Yoga
Hatha Yoga is considered that basis of yoga and typically refers to any yoga combining asana, pranayama, and meditation.
B. K. S. Iyengar developed a style of Hatha yoga which emphasizes proper body alignment. Most of the time these classes use props to allow each body to find its best expression of each asana. Props used include, bricks, blocks, straps, blankets, chairs, etc. Poses are typically held for longer periods of time. My training emphasised Iyengar's style of yoga and teaching, and was not an official Iyengar teacher certification.
Restorative Yoga is a gift that allows the body to access a deep state of relaxation and repair. Props are extensively used in this practice allowing the body to release deeply held tightness in a way thatmost yoga classes can't touch. It is different than gentle yoga and yin yoga in part because postures are held for longer. Yoga props used include, bricks, blocks, straps, blankets, chairs, etc.
Yoga on horses, yoga with horses. Seems straightforward, but its more nuance than that. Engaging with the 8 limbs of yoga with a horse includes all 8 limbs. It is an invitation extended to them to play with you. Horses are not a prop to be used in this case; they are a partner in this equine yoga practice.
Pranayama
Aerial Yoga
Children's Yoga
Pranayama is a breathing practice used in yoga to bring awareness to the body. Each breath style has different benefits for the body and mind.
In Aerial Yoga silk hammocks are used as a prop to assist in the deepening of an individuals yoga practice. The suspension allows individuals to access inversions and postures in a different way than on the mat.
This is yoga for bodies under 18. Often shared in the school setting, Children's Yoga is often offered in schools or as a series at a yoga studio giving children and outlet for fun and increased body awareness.
Yoga Events
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