Shannon Paige

Living fully as an author, sacred activist, motivational speaker, dedicated teacher of Shiva Rea’s Prana Flow, and founder of Anjali Restorative Yoga and Bhava Vinyasa Yoga, Shannon is an expressive student of the symbolic nature of Tantra and mystic poetry. She interweaves her student’s unique purpose driven inspiration into the divine play of body and breath to unlock the secret wisdom held within the heart.

Her classes are dedicated to a sense of mystery and wonder within a vinyasa of self-honoring, self-cultivation, and radical self-participation.

Shannon is the founder and director of Om Time yoga centers, tours, teaches and speaks nationally and internationally.

Shannon is inspired by those who have the courage to show up to themselves on and off the mat. She draws her creative influences from her many teachers: Shiva Rea, Douglas Brooks, Lorin Roche, Sianna Sherman, Chris Tompkins, Harrish Wallace, John Friend, and Paul Mueller Ortega.

When spending time off the mat, Shannon strives to support non-profits and direct inspiration and resources through her relationship with Zobha’s Circle of Grace and Off the Mat Into the World to many causes and populations of need of love, devotion, and energy.

Links to Information About Shannon

What people say about Shannon…

Stepping into one of Shan’s classes is like opening the door to a world of possibilities. She’s more than a yoga teacher – she’s an insightful, wicked funny, talented guide toward YOUR OWN inner wisdom, light, and power.

Christine Walderhaug, Teacher, Student

Shannon is an amazing teacher, both on and off the yoga mat. Take a class with her and you’ll move physically, mentally, and emotionally in ways you never thought possible. Off the mat, her love, light, and unabashed enthusiasm for life will make you smile—she’s easily the perfect antidote to the blues.

Linda, Sparrowe, Master Teacher and Author

I have been practicing yoga for over 4 years and I also own a yoga studio. Once I started taking Shannon’s class my practice evolved to a place that has for one changed my postures but more importantly has changed my body and mind awareness. She has truely helped in my self confidence. Her teaching will resonate to any level of a practitioner and leave you feeling so amazing you will crave more. I would highly recommend seeing how Shannon can transform you and your practice in no time.

Sam Ezrol, Studio Owner, Colorado

I started going to Shannon’s classes about two years ago. My first classes with Shannon I was completely torn: her words inspired me to move so fabulously that I couldn’t stand to miss one second of the flow, but at the same time, she spoke POETRY, and every word was so inspiring and precisely worded I felt compelled to drop out of the flow and write every word down because I couldn’t stand to forget them. Shannon inspires me to move so gracefully that I called a friend while walking home from class to tell her that I had never felt so beautiful in my entire life. Shannon’s words are amazing. She teaches your body, fuels your soul and can read and respond to any atmosphere in a room. I have never heard someone speak with such spontaneous grace in my entire life. After years of working with her in class and in three separate teacher trainings, I am starting to understand her modalities, but she is still able to open and integrate all parts of my body in ways that I cannot comprehend. I am a professional athlete and as such, I have a very intimate and important relationship with my body. Shannon has allowed me to expand my athletic potential as well as to come into still greater understanding of my body. Because my body is such an important tool of my work, I trust very few people to tell me how to move it. Shannon can make me feel physically liberated and can trick the tightest muscles in my body into releasing.

What is further extraordinary about Shan is that she can have the same massive impact that she has had on me on everyone. She can read within minutes of meeting a person, through their physical cues and words, EXACTLY what that person needs, and give them that. She is generous and nurturing and spends every ounce of her energy in creation of beautiful community. She can make anyone feel valuable and welcomed, and she uses that talent with such generosity that it seems like she has boundless energy. She is successful and adored, and yet is constantly in pursuit of the next evolution, of how to better herself as a teacher, of how to bring more clarity and precision to the practices that she offers.

Yet for all of her talents, Shannon still knows how to laugh at herself and remain a human figure, even when the thing I want to do most is place her on a pedestal. She is always available and always real, through challenge and through good times. She is passionate about so many things and shares them with us all– we are so lucky to be inspired by someone like her!

In the teacher trainings I have taken from Shan I have been further able to appreciate the precision of her work. In a sequence, every single pose, every pulsation, every lift of an arm or an eyebrow is calculated toward her peak pose, or toward the purpose of her class. She crafts classes with the aim of giving something specific to her students, and there is not one movement or word that is wasted, habit, or throw-away. As we learn to sequence with her, she makes sure that we know that she expect the same from us. This has expanded my understanding of the flow of asana so greatly that I can attend very few yoga classes… because there are few people who have the patience or knowledge to create such precisely functional pieces of art as Shannon’s sequences.

Shan has taken care of me for the last two years, brought me into her community and given me support and direction in my life that I don’t know where I would be without. She makes time for everyone, notes and encourages special gifts. Without her to lean on when I need it, I would feel much more terrified of the world.

There is no one in the world like Shannon Paige Schneider. Not only is she talented and brilliant, but she genuinely follows the yogic path and shares that with everyone around her. She is breathtaking, in form and in action.

Mara Katherine Abbott, Professional Athlete

The Root 200 hour Tillai University teacher training with Shannon Paige Schneider changed my life to say the least. I stumbled upon the training without having ever practiced with Shannon, and I understand now most deeply that the Universe was offering me something that I was unaware I had been seeking. Almost immediately upon starting the training Shannon begins to cultivate the essence of each student’s dynamic identity. It is not what is beyond yourself that Shannon gives you in this training, it is what she inspires you to find in yourself that is integral to the journey of becoming not just another yoga teacher, but the teacher that intrinsically and authentically defines you. She encourages you to radiate from the space of yourself in a way that will guide you to that which you want most. It is from the stability and foundation of embodied practice that this radiance is ignited. Shannon does not give a generic textbook template for teaching – what she provides is a collection of moving parts – simple to complex sequencing which is organized in a way that enlightens key actions in the body to fully integrate what is fundamental in a peak pose. In addition to this, I learned from Shannon how to employ pulsations in the body that dance with pranic movement as a way of more deeply embodying the key actions of a pose. It is from this space of embodiment that I feel I have grown to be a teacher.

The notion of ‘kula’, or tribe, is also very important to Shannon – throughout the training I felt beautifully held and supported by Shannon, my fellow trainees, and the mentors. Tillai has given me the tools to expand into the vastness of my identity as a yoga student and teacher – I am excited to play in the beauty and the joy of my creativity, my knowing, and my love.

Ashley Hall, Yoga Instructor

As a co-teacher and collaborator with Shannon, I can say that the gifts she brings to the world are rare and precious. She enlivens her yoga courses with her attention to alignment and flow with an aliveness that is infectious. Shannon is alive, an embodied yogini who is both fearless and vulnerable in her practice. She brings an authentic wisdom stream of living yoga to her students who’s lives are transformed through their practice with her. Shannon is the Mother Muse of Vinyasa Flow, inspiring all of us to deepen within ourselves and find the ways to offer our depth out into the world.

Aditi Devi, Yogini-Scholar

Shannon is a deeply gifted yoga instructor whose physical and emotional strength inform and infuse her every class, allowing students to access both profound internal resources as well as to master external forms (asanas) that had previously eluded them. As a clinical psychologist, mother and yoga instructor myself, Shannon’s deeply poetic classes nurture me to be fully present and responsive to what is, whatever it is, as it arises. When I practice with Shannon I am filled with the sense that everything and anything I could possibly need is to be found right on the mat, as if the entire universe is contained in the breath and the movement, affording me a deep sense of peace even in the midst of difficulty. Shannon’s lyrical, mindful movement and language provide all of us an entryway into a life in which greater internal and external strength, as well as deeper meaning, is fully accessible.

Dr. Ann Bortz, Licensed Clinical Psychologist

In March of 2009, I found Shannon Paige Schneider and began to find that part of myself that had ‘lived’ before I became quite ill in 2003. In 2003, my world had gotten very small due to illness. My family and friends cared for me so I knew I was loved, but I lost that spark for life. Shannon helped me rekindle that spark for LIFE!

Shannon helps me to laugh, especially when I don’t feel like laughing – like during a forearm plank or some crazy arm balance. With her guidance I have proven that I am stronger than I think I am and that I deserve great things in life. She has pushed me and prodded me into this state of LIVING. Shannon offers me a forum in her classes, in private instruction, in workshops, on retreat, and in teacher trainings, where I can fully be MYSELF. I can engage in my passions and know that I am supported. I can test new things and challenge myself without forcing myself to be anything or anyone other than ME.

Shannon offers such intelligent sequencing in her classes that I never feel bored and my body always feels ready for the peak pose we attempt! Her knowledge of anatomy combined with her own embodied experience provides her the ability to offer asana instruction with such depth that I have been able to safely get into poses that never dreamed possible!

I put together a brief list of the lessons I have taken off the mat that Shannon has helped me to learn in the past 2 years:
* my physical body is not a problem to be solved but it is a means through which I can
experience this amazing journey of life
* the ability within me to say no….or yes-and that either is ok as long as it is MY answer
* the strength is within me but I still get to have others by my side
* it is ok to be ok / it is ok to NOT be ok
* the need to step back sometimes from relationships that are not providing me anything AND
the need to open to new relationships with both hope and caution
* I am enough and my story matters (the great parts, the icky parts, & everything in between)
* friendships are incredibly valuable and are something to be nurtured
* new things do not need to terrify me into paralysis

Shannon creates a space in her classes and holds that space for people to risk touching their souls. She creates a space where I can be in my own skin and feel and experience even when it is hard but in a way that feels hope filled instead of dark and overwhelming. She offers me a space where I can find ME with all my flaws AND all my beauty. Shannon has a way of touching souls (or whatever you call the core of my being from which we become who we are).

Nora Maginnis, Database Administrator

Perhaps Shannon’s greatest strengths of many are her authenticity and svadhyaya (self-study). Authenticity in that for Shannon, “yoga teacher” means one who is wholly committed to the path of living yoga. What she brings to the studio, into workshops, into private sessions and on retreats is coming from the fabric of her own experiences and personal integration, not just some nice sounding things she’s parroting or a part she’s playing. Through her teachings we can FEEL her commitment and her passion for not just living her yoga sadhana but also for illuminating the path for us. I find her dedication to the practice of svadhyaya extraordinary – she never stops learning, studying and seeking wisdom from within and without – she is a tremendous role model and an enlightening usher on this path.

Gina Caputo, Yogini

Shannon created this beautiful, flowing yoga sequence as a result of her own healing (Anjali Restorative Yoga). Her offering is one the most elegantly crafted healing modalities which combines meditation, pranayama, and supported poses that gently move the spine in the seven directions of its flow. Shannon weaves her heart-felt poetry into her guided meditations that creates a sacred space of deep healing and nudges open the possibility of the body’s own wisdom to not only heal and be healthy but to inspire a vibrant and full life.
Shannon has had a huge influence on my yoga practice and my zest for life, not only as my teacher but also as a mentor. I have followed her inspiration to become a certified Anjali yoga teacher so I can help spread the magic of Anjali Yoga.

Joyce Miya, Artist/Yoga Instructor

Rolling up my mat after a yoga class with Shannon actually unrolls something very beautiful. She gifts her wisdom to all her students teaching us to stretch ourselves physically, emotionally and spiritually. As she guides us through flow and movement, we take a journey inside that is a lovely trip lasting 60 minutes and then beyond. I feel so grateful to have found a guide that leads so many of us to a bit of magic that makes even the day to day glisten. You are in truly loving hands with Shannon, just trust and you will end up exactly where you need to be on and off your mat! Many Blessings

Priscilla Dann-Courtney, Author

The very first class I took with Shannon, I left with the feeling “that was the best class ever!” That still happens today after many classes and workshops. In literally every class, I’ve experienced a physical or mental transformation of some sort or gained new insight or awareness of the connection between my body and mind. Her process has significantly improved my health by increasing strength and flexibility and eliminating many injuries that had gone unresolved for years. She has made me mentally stronger and opened my mind to many new possibilities.

In the beginning, I had no idea how she did it. What I’ve learned is that she does everything in a very special way including the detailed planning of each class to ensure that it will convey her teaching. Then as the class unfolds, she skillfully evaluates her students and adapts her plans to meet the needs of those in attendance. The effect is a very persona lexperience for me and the feeling that she is teaching specifically to me. Even now, I look forward to each class with excitement and anticipation.

No one could be more passionate about their work and Shannon fully embodies everything she teaches. She brilliantly translates relevant personal life experiences into timely themes with universal meaning and intelligently connects the story to each breath and movement. She patiently, persistently, and powerfully teaches key actions that are important to realizing full benefits of the class and to convey her teaching. I leave each class knowing that I’ve learned something new and meaningful.

Bill Davis, Software Engineer