JESSICA WILLIS

WHAT DREW YOU TO KATONAH YOGA?

Abbie and her teaching acumen of this material. I actually moved to NYC from Seattle to learn this practice and the Katonah material after my first class with Abbie, it was that good. I was visiting NYC and my boyfriend at the time told me I had to take a class with Abbie. In my first Abbie class, the pain I usually felt in my body did not show up. There was something different about this approach. During class Abbie told me to straighten my back leg in a lunge. She was on the other side of the room.  I just kept thinking, "it is straight, I am straightening it."

It is one of those moments I will never forget because it was such a vivid experience of me thinking I was doing something but the connection was not happening.  I learned how that happens in other ways in my life and it was and still is a powerful insight. In the end, Katonah is really about the person getting insight and insight leading to action. Action in the right direction, moves us forward.  

HOW HAS KATONAH CHANGED YOUR PRACTICE & TEACHING?

Katonah Yoga has completely informed and reformed my practice and teaching. In my own practice I have learned to listen to myself and what my body needs. My practice is now a process that says, I am listening.  In my teaching practice I like to challenge students, it is part of my nature, but I have learned that challenge comes in different forms.  Katonah has reminded me to soften.  It has taught and continues to teach me how to see people, both with physical acuity, but also to really see people, beyond their body.  

HOW HAVE YOU SEEN KATONAH CHANGE STUDENTS?

Students really light up with the Katonah practice.  They get excited when they make a connection neurologically and physically.  Discoveries in the practice have practical application in  each person’s life. One of my students decided to change careers because she realized, through this work, that she wasn’t setting herself up for joy and she needed to change directions.  Because the Katonah dialogue is so rich with metaphor and analogy, the material manifests itself in ways that surpass physicality and really move into the spiritual and psychological realms.