An Embodied Life School of Yoga Therapeutics Is Introducing Nine Foundationally Trained Yoga Therapists to the Capital Region
Content sponsored by An Embodied Life
Based in the Saratoga area, Ann Saffi Biasetti is a certified yoga therapist and licensed somatic psychotherapist who melds the worlds of psychology and yoga therapy. Her school, An Embodied Life, offers three levels of training programs in the mind-body yoga therapy approach.
In May 2019, Biasetti is sending out the graduates of her new foundational yoga therapeutics program into the Capital Region. Through these students, she hopes to introduce the community to the wonderful world of yoga therapy and its many benefits to one's mental, emotional, and physical body.
Meet the Capital Region's Nine New Foundationally Trained Yoga Therapists
Ground row: An Embodied Life Owner - Ann Saffi Biasetti (center), Katie Veltum (right)
2nd row left to right: Jody Ference, Jenn Gerber, Kristin Brenner, Tina Fetten
Back row left to right: Sue Taylor, Karen Clark, Karen DeJoy, Rebecca Spataro-Kearns
Biasetti's foundational yoga therapeutics program is a 300-hour training designed to bring her students' individual backgrounds into their yoga practice and teachings. Her nine recent Capital Region graduates come from different backgrounds, ranging from occupational therapy to speech pathology, nursing, exercise science, teaching, and social work.
These graduates are certified yoga teachers who underwent extensive training to become foundationally trained in yoga therapy. They started out by taking Biasetti's Level 1 and Level 2 Restorative Yoga Training Programs, which utilize the mind-body approach of psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and spirituality. Completing Levels 1 and 2 made them eligible to take her 300-hour program.
Now that the graduates have finished this comprehensive training, each one is ready to work 1:1 with members of the local community. Their practicums include yoga therapy for parents and caregivers; patients with chronic Lyme Disease and chronic pain; and those seeking an improvement in their overall health, wellness, and spirituality.
They all share a common desire to help people in a significant way and are armed with the tools to achieve this through their foundation in the art of yoga therapy.
Pictured above, their names are Katie Veltum, Jody Ference, Jenn Gerber, Kristin Brenner, Tina Fetten, Sue Taylor, Karen Clark, Karen DeJoy, and Rebecca Spataro-Kearns. You can find them in Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa, Schuylerville, Utica, and other parts of the Capital Region.
What Is Yoga Therapy?
You may be wondering what yoga therapy is, and how a foundationally trained yoga therapist can help you. According to the International Association of Yoga Therapists, "Yoga therapy is the process of empowering individuals to progress toward improved health and well-being through the application of the teachings and practices of yoga."
Building off that definition, a foundationally trained yoga therapist is a certified yoga teacher who has gone on to train in an additional 300 hours of focus in restorative yoga, advanced restorative yoga postures, and techniques that work specifically with the nervous system and various internal organ functioning to promote deep relaxation and internal restoration of body and mind.
These teachers have also learned how to apply skills in self-compassion and mindfulness throughout a session. They have been trained to create and apply specific therapeutic restorative sequences based on an individual's needs.
The nine Capital Region graduates have spent many hours working 1:1 with individuals under Biasetti's supervision. Their training culminated in a 6-week long group practicum project in which each practitioner created a program of healing, based on their area of expertise, to bring into the community.
Learn More About Biasetti & An Embodied Life
Biasetti has been a practicing psychotherapist for over 26 years, and she discovered yoga about 20 years ago. After taking her first 200-hour training, she went on to complete her training in restorative yoga, advanced anatomy and yoga therapeutics, and over 1,000 hours (in her training) to become a certified yoga therapist.
An Embodied Life is Biasetti's school of training programs, in which she teaches others about mind-body and restorative yoga therapy.
Her yoga training programs include:
- Restorative Yoga Teacher Training Level 1 - Open to yoga instructors and students who have had a dedicated practice for at least two years
- Restorative Yoga Teacher Training Level 2 - Open to those who have completed Level 1
- 300-Hour Yoga Therapy Training Program - Open to those who have completed Levels 1 & 2 and are a yoga teacher at the 200-hour level or more
Biasetti's Level 1 and 2 programs take place at Yoga Mandali in downtown Saratoga Springs, and she also regularly teaches there on Tuesday and Friday mornings at 9:30am.
Sign Up for a Yoga Therapy Session
Are you interested in attending a yoga therapy session in the Capital Region? Contact one of Biasetti's graduates and ask about their program of healing. You can get in touch with them on their individual websites or by email.
Contact Info:
- Sue Taylor (Saratoga area) - https://www.yogamandali.com/sue-taylor
- Jenn Gerber (Saratoga area) - http://www.vivabalance.info/
- Kristin Brenner (Saratoga area) - https://www.integritymindbody.com/about
- Tina Fetten (Ballston Spa area) - https://www.facebook.com/TinaFettenRestorativeYoga/
- Katie Veltum (Schuylerville area) - https://maitritherapeutics.care/
- Karen DeJoy (Guilderland/Altamont area) - https://www.yogamataji.com/
- Karen Clark (Canajoharie area) - karenclark2020@yahoo.com
- Jody Ference (Slingerlands area) - jference3@gmail.com
- Rebecca Spataro-Kearns (Utica area) - https://www.facebook.com/rebelrootsyogacny/
You can also visit Biasetti's website for more information on her training and services »