Namaste ~
Welcome to Divine Eye Yoga, offering yoga instruction in Petaluma, Sonoma County, CA. To open, a Peace Mantra for students and teachers:
AUM saha navavatu, saha nau bhunaktu
Saha veeryam karvaavahai
Tejasvi naa vadhita mastu
maa vid vishaa va hai
AUM shaantih, shaantih, shaantih.
Let us together (-saha) be protected (-na vavatu) and let us together be nourished (-bhunaktu) by God's blessings. Let us together join our mental forces in strength (-veeryam) for the benefit of humanity (-karvaa vahai). Let our efforts at learning be luminous (-tejasvi) and filled with joy, and endowed with the force of purpose (-vadhita mastu). Let us never (-maa) be poisoned (-vishaa) with the seeds of hatred for anyone. Let there be peace and serenity (-shaantih) in all the three universes.
Antonia Kao ~ Biography
I took my first yoga class while at Wellesley College in the early 1990s, then continued in Taiwan in the mid-90s. It was not until the late-90s, while at USC graduate film school, though, that yoga became a practice for me. I first fell in love with Kundalini yoga, then discovered Ashtanga Vinyasa during a teacher training at Avalon Yoga. Since then, I have focused on Ashtanga with many veteran teachers, including my current teachers John Berlinsky and Lea Watkins, and, at the Sri K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore, India, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath Rangaswamy. I have additionally been nourished by Yin Yoga, yoga nidra, and eclectic mind-body-spirit practices such as Skan Reichian Therapy and hoop dance. I have taught children (age 3+) through seniors, including those living with challenges such as visual impairment or multiple sclerosis, or moving through life transitions such as pregnancy, since 2003. It is with deep gratitude to my teachers that I share this practice with others.
Trainings: 200 hour Yoga Alliance certified Teacher Training at Avalon Yoga (2003, mentor: Anirudh Shastri ), advanced studies/teacher training with Erich Schiffman (2004), 3.5 months at the Sri K Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore India (2005-2006), Yin Yoga teacher training with Sarah Powers (2008).
