Daily Monday through Saturday

Location: The Studio, 297 E. Bay Street

Schedule subject to changes/additions.

Except where noted classes are open to all levels, allowing everyone to go to their level. It combines Hatha, Kundilini, Ashtanga and Raja Yogas. Emphasis is placed on stretching and strengthening the core of the body to help in doing asanas and other forms of exercise.

Instructors: Michelle Barnwell, Susan Cass, Sheri Cohen, Amy Jo Gengler, Mark Knowles, and Kimberly Naro (see bios below).

Fees:

$10: Drop-in per class to be paid to the instructor.

Private instruction may be arranged as well as your own group or class at a time you prefer. Feel free to inquire about rental of our space. For more information: call 843.720.8528.

Instructor Bios

Michelle Barnwell, a local artist and licensed coast guard captain, brings her connection to the outdoors inside to the yoga studio. Michelle is certified at the 200 hour level in Ashtanga yoga, also certified at the 40 hour level with David Swenson. Michelle has completed Bikram yoga intensives, and has been fortunate enough to have studied with Dharma Mittra, Shiva Rae, and Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa. To embrace the evolution of a personal yoga practice, to begin to feel the movement surface from the inside out, and to find the balance between movement and stillness are all goals of Michelle’s practice.

Susan Cass has been practicing Kundalini Yoga for over 12 years. She has been teaching for 5 years since receiving her KRI certification in her hometown of Chicago. With a life-long interest in the body-mind-spirit connection, Susan is passionate about helping her students access previously untapped energy that is stimulated by the steady practice of Kundalini Yoga. Kundalini Yoga awakens the "kundalini" which is the unlimited potential that exists in every human being. All classes incorporate pranayama (breathing exercises), postures, mudras (hand positions), mantras (vocalized sound currents), as well as deep relaxation and a meditation. Practicing leaves most students with a deep sense of physical well-being and a calm mental strength and clarity. These ancient teachings are designed to give you "hands on" experience of your highest consciousness. The class is only classic Kundalini as taught by Yogi Bhajan. Beginners are welcome. Come and experience your True self!

Sheri Cohen (Tej Kaur) considers the teachings of Hatha Yoga master Sri Swami Satchidananda and Kundalini/White Tantric Yoga master Yogi Bhajan as herspiritual teachers. Sheri considers her Hatha training as the foundation for her practice, however, it is the Kundalini Yoga that has been the sole focus and passion of her personal practice. Her certifications and formal traininginclude: Hatha Yogatraining from Yogaville, inSwami Satchidananda's Yoga lineage.She has beencertificatedas a teacher of Beginner's, Intermediate and Cardiac Hatha Yoga. She has been teaching Kundalini Yoga since 2002 and was certified through the Yogi Bhajan's 3HO teacher training in Punjab, India. Other teachers she has personally trained with include Ravi Singh, Stephanie Keach, Todd Norian, David Life, Doug Swenson, Don and Amba Stapleton. "Sat Nam" (translated as Truth is my Name) is themantragiven byYogi Bhajan for the Age of Aquarius. It is this premise on which all her classes are taught.Breathwork, exercise and mantra are thetechniques offeredfor students to find their way to, and ultimatelycultivate relationshipwith, their own personal Truth. Part of that truth is going at your own pace, honoring limitations as well as strengths. Please join her in a sometimes fun, sometimes serious, alwaysYoga practice. All levels are welcome.

Amy Jo Gengler is an Acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist here in Charleston. After finishing her acupuncture degree in China, she traveled to India and deepened her yoga practice by studying Yoga Vedanta at the Sivananda Ashram in Kerala, India. Amy Jo's primary focus is to ground the body and center the mind through breathwork and meditation, while working on the strength and flexibility of the body. Her classes emphasize stress reduction and increased physical, spiritual and emotional awareness by holding postures longer and incorporating breathwork (Pranayama) into the Asanas. Amy Jo honors all of her teachers in Seattle, India, and Charleston and especially the words of Gandhiji when he said 'my life is my message'. Hari Om.

Mark Knowles began studying Zen Buddhism and Aikido in 1990 with Master Robert Balker. From that point he studied many religions and wisdom traditions never really finding the practices or philosophies calling him. He developed a love for nature and became a bonsai master, but still felt restless and lost. His disconnection saw him spiraling downward into addiction.
After many years as a mate, he formally trained as a Ship Captain earning his Bahamian Merchant Master’s Licence and then his British Admiralty Licence from the Maritime and Coastguard Authority.
As captain aboard a yacht which visited Charleston, he attended a Jivamukti yoga class at Satsang and heard Jeffrey speak. He knew he’d found God in a system and philosophy which not only called to him but drew him in deeper and deeper with every breath.
After intense study of the Holy Scriptures and cultivating a strong daily practice his teachers gave their blessing for him to travel to New York for the 300 Hr. Jivamukti Residential Teacher Training program. Mark’s energetic asana classes are infused with his vast experiences, personal examples of utilizing the practices of yoga in life off the mat, humor and love.
He bows down at the lotus feet of his Blessed Teachers; Sharon Gannon, David Life, Manoramaji, Jeffrey and Andrea for allowing him to be of service to others by teaching that liberation is possible in this lifetime and offering a way to reach it, his parents, and to all the other teachers in his life seen and unseen.

Kimberly Naro is a certified Kundalini yoga instructor. She was certified in New Mexico where she received instruction from Yogi Bhajan, the Kundalini yoga master. For the past three years, she has been following her soul's calling and traveling in Mexico, Guatemala, Hawaii and Costa Rica, sharing the teachings in the places she has visited. She has been offering workshops and hosting Kirtans (chant gatherings), using the mantras from the Kundalini lineage. This winter she returned to her home in Charleston to teach Kundalini yoga classes and practice massage therapy, as well as yoga awareness therapy, at the Center for Holistic Health in Mount Pleasant. Kimberly has been a practicing yogini for eight years, with an emphasis on Kundalini for the past four. Yoga has been the main source of inspiration for her and is her life's work and path.