Breath is the Pulse of the Universe

Pam Johnson is owner and a 500hr ERYT Yoga Alliance teacher at the Heights School of Yoga.

Srivatsa Ramaswami & Pam

She began teaching yoga in 1998 and is a certified Senior teacher of the Vinyasakrama method of Hatha Yoga by her teacher of 13 years, Srivatsa Ramaswami. Ramaswami, is an extraordinary classical yoga and chant master from Chennai India.  He studied one on one with the legendary Sri T. Krishnamacharya for 33 years.

Ramaswami has dedicated himself to imparting the direct teaching of his guru. He has instructed Pam in asana sequencing, pranayama, chanting, meditation, Sanskrit, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Sankhya Karika philosophy, the Chandogya Upanishads, Yoga Makaranda, the Yoga Taravali, Yoga Rahasya and many other ancient Vedic texts.

Pam has demonstrated Vinyasakrama yoga asana for Ramaswami at the Southwest Yoga Conference, Austin, TX., The Vinyasa Yoga Conference, Miami Fla., Yoga Yoga, Austin, TX., Chicago Yoga Center, Chicago Ill., Loyola Marymount Univ. LA, Calif. and numerous trainings in Houston. Pam has hosted Ramaswami’s extensive teachings in Houston yearly since 2006. www.vinyasakrama.org

Tias Little

Pam has also spent 6 years learning the refinement of body alignment and anatomy for yoga asana with Tias Little. She has completed all 3 levels of Tias’ Advanced Teachers Training, and also joined Tias in Costa Rica for his 10 day teachers retreat.

Tias is an internationally recognized yoga teacher, teaching contemplative and subtle body yoga. As a certified Rolfer and crainoal sacral therapist Tias blends his keen knowledge of anatomy and eastern massage therapy with his background in the Inyengar/Astanga yoga systems. Currently Tias’ Prajnayoga trainings instruct teachers in hands on adjustments through therapeutic massage techniques. www.prajnayoga.net

Pam teaches on going yoga classes for all levels to veterans at HSOY through Expedition Balance a non-profit organization which is developed to help soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

These classes are personal and rewarding. The students report feeling more grounded and present, while gaining awareness of their body and mind through the teachings of movement, breath, balance and meditation.

Swami Vidyadhishananda

Pam has taught Vinyasa Krama yoga workshops for Swami Vidyadhishananda’s  VedaShiraskah,  Silent Retreat in Wimberly Texas, Samkhya Triveni 6 day silent retreat at the New Vrindavan Golden Temple in Moundsville, West Virginia and The Conscious Living Workshop at the American Bodhi Center, Waller TX.  These retreats have also been great opportunities for Pam to drink up Swami V’s teaching of Vedanta and Samkhya philosophy, rare Pranayama techniques and deeper understandings of Purusha and Prakruti to name a few of the teachings.

Swami Vidyadhishananda is a Kriya yogi, mystic and extraordinary scholar of Sanskrit and the ancient Vedic scripts. He is frequently hailed as an emissary of peace and for lucidly disseminating Sanskritic wisdom-teaching for the benefit of modern society.  www.swamahiman.org

Other Vinyasa Krama yoga workshops include, Yoga Yoga in Austin, TX, The Yoga Studio of the Woodlands, Woodlands, TX, Yoga West,Houston, TX, Santa Barbara, CA, East Side Yoga Austin, TX and annual week long yoga retreats to Maya Tulum, Tulum, Mexico.

A list of teachers who have impacted Pam’s teaching through certifications and practical study include 5 years with John Coon of the Yoga Center of Houston, Lex Gillan’s teachers certification in 2001. Ragi Ram, Doug Keller, Robert Svobota, Judith Lasater, Shiva Ray, Scott Blossom, Mark Whitwell, Dean Lerner, Carl Straub and Sean Tebor. Yoga Spirit teleconference extended courses include study with Richard Freeman, Donna Farhi, Judith Lasater and Roger Cole.

In 2001, continuing her investigation of the empirical aspects of yoga, Pam sought out Rice University professor of Sanskrit and Religious studies, Dr David Gray.  Dr Gray led Sanskrit classes in phonics, reading and writing of the Nagari script and sentence analysis. This study also included reading and discussions of the Upanishads and the Yogavasita.

Pam has dedicated her energy and devotion to learning the broad teachings of Yoga and to the propagation of Krishnamacharya’s Vinyasakrama Yoga. Her teaching taps into a multitude of these perspectives. They are grounded in classical structure and form, while weaving the threads of classical eastern and modern western teaching.

The teaching is focused on tapping into subtle body energy through synchronizing movement to the breath, pranayama and meditation techniques. The work is challenging, bone building, rejuvenating and deeply contemplative.