Amy Pearce-Hayden

Amy Pearce-Hayden discovered yoga at eleven when she stumbled across a book about the practice at her local library. Her formal study of yoga began in the Iyengar tradition with Gabriel Halpern in 1995 while she was also working toward her BFA at DePaul University’s Conservatory Professional Theatre School in Chicago. After relocating to NYC in 1997, she studied with Lisa and Charles Matkin, Rolf Sovik, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Sandra Anderson, Shari Friedrichsen, Dharma Mittra, and Sharon Gannon and David Life. After eight years of devoted study she opened her own school in 2003, The RajaHatha School of Yoga, which offers both 200 & 500 hour Yoga Alliance recognized teacher training programs. During her first pilgrimage to India in 2005 she began the formal study of Ayurveda, and has been inspired to continue further studies in both the Yogic and Ayurvedic traditions. During her 2009 pilgrimage to India, she was again re-inspired to take a closer look and study with mantra as practice. Her movement toward recording has been a byproduct of her love of music and belief and deepened exposure to mantra. Her most recent album can be found at: https://cgandthehonkyshamans.bandcamp.com/ Before selling her first studio, TheYogaScape & Spa in New York, she was honored by Hudson Valley Magazine and its readers multiple times by naming it the Best Yoga Studio. Pearce-Hayden was named Female Entrepreneur of the year by The Professional Women of Putnam Association in 2011. And, she has been featured regularly by Yoga International as a contributor with her online classes as well as a cover model in summer 2012. In 2013, 2014, 2018, and 2019, she co-hosted the Times Square Summer Solstice “Mind over Matter” event with 10,000 yogis practicing in the heart of New York City. Living the Sutras is her first book and was born out of her personal study and application of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras for 20 years coupled with her 14 years of Yoga Teacher Training instruction. Since the publication of Living the Sutras, Amy and Kelly DiNardo co-host an off-shoot podcast, called "Living It" now beginning it's 3rd season. "Live Your Yoga", a 54-Card practice deck will be released July 2021. As a recognized international yoga teacher she is sought out for her expertise in linking classical yoga with modern living. She specializes in addiction, trauma therapy, and whole-family living. Amy’s Midwest yoga studio TANTRA Wellness & Yoga is located in the heart of downtown Madison, WI where she now lives with her partner Jorge, her son Pearce, and her daughter, Love.