What is

Katonah Yoga?

Katonah Yoga® is a syncretic Hatha yoga practice developed by Nevine Michaan over 40 years. She and her teachers incorporate classical Hatha yoga with Taoist theory, geometry, magic, mythology, metaphor, and imagination — in a practical framework designed to potentiate personal and communal well-being.

Framing the practice, maps of time and personal space are defined and refined. Themes using asana as origami, manipulating form for function, and developing a sense of personal measure are incorporated in Katonah Yoga practices.

Katonah Yoga is organized around three principles of esoteric dialogue: all polarities are mediated by trinity; the universe has pattern, pattern implies intelligence; by virtue of repetition there is potential for insight.

Revelations are revolutionary.

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Katonah Yoga®

Katonah Yoga®

How does Katonah Yoga differ from other styles?

1. Ask a question

A Katonah yoga class is more of a workshop-style focus. Students have time to learn instructions, utilize props, receive hands-on adjustments and ask a question to help them understand their body. The practice can be described as ‘human origami’ where each pose is meant to “fit.” For example- your body fits from thigh to chest, knee to armpit, hand to elbow, hand to heel, palm to sole and shoulder to knee. When you accomplish this, you gain stability. Each shape sheds light on your habits, offering fresh perspective and insight. Through a Katonah Yoga practice, you may begin to ask yourself: How do you get out of my own way? How do I get over what I hold onto?

2. Work smarter, not harder

Stability is created through alignment of angles of the structure of bones and joints. Think of a building, its strength comes from its structure (or bones) not from the cement (which is compared to muscle). When you use your bones as a boundary, you can only go so far, making you less likely to injure yourself or overstretch. According to Chinese Medicine energy moves through organs, bones, and joints, as opposed to muscles, which are too dense and hold patterns. So a well-aligned posture allows energy currents to move through you, making asana feel effortless.

3. Organize yourself

Organs will work, no matter how much space they have. Whether your structure is like a snail shell or high rise building. Through the practice of Katonah Yoga, you will optimize your organ function. Daily life commands prolonged sitting, standing, slumping, overworking, and over-muscling which takes its toll on our organs. Through the lens of the 5 Element theory each posture creates a dialogue for your organs to exchange. The element of Fire builds heat, the Earth element promotes healthy digestion, your digestion produces the Metal element that melts into liquid and supports the Waters of your body that flush your kidneys and nourish your Wood element that supports your liver function.

4. Cross-Reference

Alignment not only focuses on the bones and organs but on the space between them through the principle of “cross-referencing.” Imagine trying to find the same distance from your right shoulder to your left hip and your left shoulder to your right hip—giving your organs maximum space and your bones a solid and stable shape. Like a the crossbars of the Eiffel Tower, the relationship between two body parts can create stability in a pose and engage your imagination.

5. Practical Geometry

Geometry is at work throughout class- foundation is built from the ground up to create stable angles. The focus starts with a 90 degree angle that is considered the most stable. For example, a in the Katonah Yoga practice, a downward facing dog is considered a 60 degree angle from the hips to the ankles to the heels, and is measured from a 90 degree plank pose. Through every shape, the structure holds up the frame, boundaries frame up the structure, spins and turns generate currency, and cross referencing helps bring a sense of dimension.

6. Props are tools

🧱 Blocks are bones
🪢 Straps are ligaments
💪 Sandbags are muscle
👑 Blankets are thrones

This practice engages with students to encourage building technique around utilizing props. Postures are made better to support practitioners to scaffold and create a boundary to explore and move more freely.

  • "Really interesting combination of style and poses! We did some exercises I hadn't done before, like wrist exercises and building heat through cat/cow on our knees. The instructor was very involved in class and I enjoyed it."

  • "LOVE this studio and the Katonah Yoga practice! The studio has a very warm and open energy with highly skilled teachers. My lungs feel expansive, my breath deeper and I feel more present in my movements and in my body. So happy this studio exists."

  • "I really enjoyed this class. I have taken many yoga classes before, but this class was different. This was more focused on mobility and breath. I also enjoyed using the yoga blocks, since I have barely used them in other classes. Highly recommend taking this class."

  • "This studio is a little gem that should not remain hidden. I have had to stop going to yoga studios because they are stripped of spirituality and overly focused on fitness. Yoga is so much more than asana. But Archetype Yoga is not that. Its one of the places which I found to be more aligned with true yogic principles."

FAQS

  • Katonah Restorative is different from other forms because of the physical adjustments and the style of postures incorporated. Other Restorative styles, may be more focused on relaxation and resting. The Katonah Restorative practice focuses on each shape as a means to fill up lungs, flush kidneys or stretch the liver rather. Each shape is paired with a physical adjustment so that students can begin to let go of the personal investment to find their way to calm.  A physical adjustment is more powerful than an assist or verbal cue because an adjustment informs a direction, vision, and an experience.

  • Our classes are a communal experience and based on who is the room. Students all face the center of the room, teachers may pause to deepen the exploration of a particular asana, break down a piece of theory, or look more closely at someone’s posture to help the entire class learn. This workshop style creates an environment for each student to refine personal skills by playing in an orchestra, measuring up, and learning from one another. This collegial setting facilitates a more dynamic group atmosphere than a traditional yoga class -- part of developing personal integrity is knowing how to participate in a communal and universal vision.

  • Nevine Michaan’s artful use of metaphor is one of her most well honed techniques when articulating her teachings, which are empowered by her practical approach to integrating the mind, the body and the breath. Born in Egypt in 1954, Nevine moved to New York at the age of three. In her early 20’s, while studying history and comparative religion at Vassar College, she discovered meditation. She understood that there is a function, a formality and a fit to the universe and that yoga is a tool, a technique – a practice with repetition which gives us the opportunity to participate in life with intelligence and joy. 

    Nevine started a daily practice in NYC with renowned yoga instructor Allan Bateman in the 1970s and became fully immersed in what would become her life’s work. She began teaching Yoga in 1980, and founded the Katonah Yoga Center in Katonah, New York in 1986.

  • Our instructors are armed with an arsenal of unique body-altering poses and adjustments that take students to a new level. They leave their mark by enhancing a students’ capacity for breath and achieving a level of alchemy that cannot be forgotten. Thus, our teachers leave a lasting impression by the potency of their work. And we talk alot... instructors incorporate “why” and “how,” informing students in a learn as you go workshop style setting. Every class piques curiosity and gives students a multi dimensional experience.

What drew you to Katonah Yoga?

Founder, Sara Blumenkranz

Sara with founder, Nevine Michaan

My introduction to Katonah Yoga began with an illuminating workshop. At the very beginning a student was chosen for a body reading. I remember that day, vividly etched in my mind, was a huge group of students gathered around with heightened energy and piqued interest as, Abbie Galvin, moved through the floors, doors and rooms of the body. I was instantly intrigued, overwhelmed yet curious and left that workshop stunned at the pedagogy of the material I had been so fortunate to witness.

How has your practice changed?

I learned quickly that you don’t show up to a Katonah Yoga class with an injury and leave without some insight. As I developed technique, the journey to orient myself on a plumb line, follow recipes to measure up and reference the archetype of every pose. Each class became more challenging, memorable and most of all, magical. The Katonah Yoga dialogue has the power to illuminate a practice, guiding students through theory and metaphor to receive insight. It gave me the tools to ignite those insights for others and become a more sustainable teacher.

How have you seen Katonah Yoga change students?

Built into a Katonah Yoga class is the communal orientation that offers students a chance to better engage with others, to smile from across the room and bear witness to each others transformations. It’s through conversation from one Katonah yoga practitioner to another, that we uncover and learn to better express the dialogue that can change our bodies, minds and lives. This creates a sweet vulnerability and a bond between students; an exchange of material, forging connections, enabling them to relate their own narrative to another, giving students an experience they will never forget.