Each morning opens with seated meditation, followed by pranayama and chanting. Sarah then guides students through a led class and/or Mysore-style Ashtanga yoga. Drawing on training with her teachers David Garrigues and Dena Kingsberg, she teaches with verbal cues, hands-on adjustments, and demonstrations. She has practiced through the Advanced B series of Ashtanga Yoga. Both newcomers to Ashtanga yoga and students working with the advanced series are warmly welcome.
The retreat also includes four afternoon workshops devoted to exploration of asana, bandha, mudra, philosophy, and chanting. These sessions are designed to deepen and enrich your practice. In addition, each student will receive one-to-one time with Sarah during the retreat.
"This is my third year returning to YogApulia. Each time I come, I bring my bright energy, my unwavering love of Ashtanga yoga, and a soulful, caring heart for the students who attend. I am grateful to be returning in August 2024, and I look forward to time in the sea, swimming, the lovely food Mark and Nicola and their amazing team create for us all, and quiet time devoted entirely to my students and to yoga."
Raised in Reno, Nevada, USA, Sarah spent much of her youth skiing in the Sierra Nevada mountains near Lake Tahoe. At seventeen, she began practicing hatha yoga to strengthen and heal her knees after competitive skiing. Five years later, in 2000, she saw an Ashtanga yoga demonstration while studying at the University of Oregon, and from that moment she committed herself to the practice.
She first studied with Nancy Gilgoff, Christine Hoar, and Randa Chehab. Her desire to learn more led her to Mysore in 2008, where she studied with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Jois, and later with her beloved teachers David Garrigues and Dena Kingsberg. She also developed a deep love for Sanskrit and Vedic chanting, studying with David Miliotis at Ashtanga Yoga Orange County.
After eight years of practice, Sarah began teaching in the Mysore method. From 2008 to 2011, she founded Ashtanga Yoga Boise in Idaho, where she gained experience managing, owning, and operating a studio while running a successful Mysore programme.
Between 2011 and 2012, she moved to Philadelphia to study and assist David Garrigues, support the opening of the Ashtanga Yoga School of Philadelphia, and teach while he traveled. In 2012, she relocated to Scotland, where she launched a Mysore programme in Aberdeen at Love Yoga, offered workshops in Glasgow, led retreats at Ecoyoga Scotland, and later served as Morning Mysore Director at Meadowlark Yoga from 2014 to 2019.
Sarah is a Senior Yoga Teacher registered with Yoga Alliance. She teaches workshops throughout Scotland and Ireland and offers retreats in Spain and Italy. David Garrigues has guided her through the third series, and she is currently working on the fourth series with both David and Dena Kingsberg.
Her daily yoga sutra practice helps her stay balanced and calm, softening the intensity of the physical practice. Motherhood has made seated practice even more essential, so chanting and meditation are now as important to her as the physical side of yoga. Sarah has two sons, Dashiel, born in 2014, and Calvin, born in 2019.
Returning to advanced practice after having children has been both challenging and deeply rewarding. Sarah is experienced in helping mothers adapt their practice during pregnancy and supports women after birth with a practical post-practice approach to safely return to traditional Ashtanga yoga. She believes motherhood has deepened her appreciation of Ashtanga yoga and her gratitude for Guruji’s teachings. When she is not on the mat chanting or practicing, she is playing with her sons, climbing, or studying Sanskrit.