Angela Cays, LPC, E-RYT 500
Licensed Professional Counselor, Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master Practitioner & Teacher
Angela has earnestly been on the path of practice since 1999 when a friend invited her to a Thich Nhat Hanh based sangha (meditation group) where she felt like she had come home. Having been a high school math teacher, licensed professional counselor, and a lover of dance and music; her evolution into teaching yoga was a natural one. She completed her teacher training at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in 2006, her advanced teacher training at Naturally Yoga in Glen Rock, NJ in 2011, and is registered with the Yoga Alliance.
Chanting mantra and singing (sometimes along with playing harmonium, guitar, or ukulele) are a regular part of her classes to awaken our sacred vibration amplified throughout the class with asana, mudra, pranayama, and dharma. Her classes approach the body mindfully, first shedding accumulated tension and defenses, then igniting inner fire and energy to expand into one’s innate power and divine spirit. She couples the teachings of Yoga and Buddhism with her training and experience as a Licensed Professional Counselor to cultivate a therapeutic effect in both her group classes and private sessions. She is available for private yoga, meditation, chanting, & harmonium lessons; as well as Reiki, and EFT Emotional Freedom Technique (Tapping), and Psychotherapy sessions.
With deep gratitude to her teachers and for the path of practice, Angela’s intention for right livelihood is realized by the opportunity to teach yoga, offer workshops and Reiki Trainings, as well as private healing sessions in multiple modalities. It is both for herself and her students that she works to create safe spaces where we can recognize the light and shadow within, realize our own healing transformations, and contribute to the collective body-consciousness lifting each other up in light, love, and deep peace.
Testimonials
“I love this studio and the new owners are wonderful people with their heart in the right place! Angela Cays is a dedicated and learned yoga instructor who has guided me on a 15 year + journey. She has taught us many tools that can help us with mindfulness and overwhelm. Her classes are not as fast paced as some but allow for body and mind connection which a fast paced class can’t capture. I would like to say that if you are curious about yoga and somatic practices, Angela is the teacher for you!” - SF
“The Reiki share session with Angela was great. She facilitates this beautifully with just the right balance of guidance and holding space. A wonderful opportunity to share and practice reiki with others. Thank you!” - DE
“Angela is an amazing instructor…I felt so peaceful, relaxed and grounded after her class. Thank you!” - RR
Get to know Angela…
What is a challenge in your own yoga practice?
Currently, I could name a challenge in my yoga practice as to how my body and life continue to change over the years. With the evolution of work, family, and aging, I notice changes in my schedule, body, energy, and time. This impacts how my practice has shifted over the years. As I’m noticing the changes, I am also aware of some fearful or critical thoughts about some of them. I am still dedicated to my personal practice and notice how all the layers of my being (the 5 koshas) continue to shift and evolve - some of which might be considered positive and others negative. However, with the gift of teaching yoga and being steeped in the teachings on all levels professionally and personally, I have been learning and practicing how to ride the waves of fear and criticism when it arises along with the presence of empowerment and confidence to honor my pace and process to make choices in my practice and my life to do what feels right in the moment, including meeting the inner invitations for strength and challenge as well as rest and recovery when needed both on and off the mat. The additional gift and reinforcement of this for me is that I get to share this in my offerings, inviting and empowering others to do the same.
What is something you’ve learned about yourself from teaching yoga?
To continue from above… I’ve learned how my self doubt and other channels of negative critical thinking are transformed when I allow the teachings that I’ve saturated myself with throughout my life to flow through me, arriving so completely in the moment with presence and connection of co-creation with my students to offer a powerful multi-layered experience in each class. I am so thankful to have encountered and been able to study so deeply yoga including: philosophy, asana, pranayama, mudra, mantra, & kirtan; as well as Buddhism, Mindfulness Meditation, and Psychology. I feel so blessed to align with, pulsate, channel, and share this energy each time I teach a class, offer a workshop, Kirtan, or Reiki Session. I’ve also learned a deeper sense of feeling into our collective energy and how powerful it is to practice together towards our collective healing and evolution.
What about teaching lights you up the most?
What lights me up the most about teaching yoga is how I continue to learn so many ways to come home to myself and therefore, how much I enjoy supporting and empowering others to do the same, including reminding them of their own agency and choice in their yoga practice and in life. I feel so much gratitude for the students who show up and share their practice in my classes. It is such a gift to observe their uniqueness in their expression of the postures and their choices of modifications as they listen to and honor all layers of their being (5 koshas) to optimize their own experience. Seeing my students arrive in their full light and presence in class ignites my heart with love and inspiration for them and the world, as to what is possible should we all show up to do this work and for what is currently happening because we are doing this work.
General Weekly Schedule and Other Trainings
Tuesdays 9:00am: Kripalu All Levels (In-Studio & Live-Stream)
Saturdays 9:45am: Kripalu All Levels (In-Studio & Live-Stream)
Reiki 1, 2, & Master Level Trainings; Reiki Share