Monia Fernandez (she/they)
Being a teacher of movement means being a student first. Yoga for Monia has always been the foundational tool to guide them through understanding the elements of fine tuning their practice of self discovery and self advocacy. Monia began practicing yoga in 2015 and immediately fell in love with the practice. Holding over 1000 hours of training and countless more of teaching, Monia uses their experience to inform their cueing to guide their students.
With the dynamic disability of multiple chronic illnesses of endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibromyalgia, myofascial syndrome and POTs; layered with C-PTSD, severe depression and anxiety, Monia knows how crucial it can be to build tools that are accessible to support how they may feel day to day or maybe even moment to moment. They use their lived experience as foundational tools to build off of rather than blockages that hinder growth.
Through their deep passion for anatomy and body reading, Monia fused their yoga practice of myofascial release, mobility training, joint stability, Katonah yoga adjustments, Iyengar and Ashtanga alignment and pranayama to offer their version of Somatic Integration; one on one bodywork sessions. Their one on one work with their clients not only highlights repeating themes relating to their chronic pain, but also shares their pain experience. These key practices help to build (or deepen) the self care rituals for their clients and students.
The teachings of Katonah yoga, Somatic Integration, Ashtanga, Iyengar and restorative yoga help influences Monia to create sequences that are playful, educational and deeply accessible. They welcome practitioners of all sorts; seasoned yoga students or people newly welcoming in what movement means to them.
You can find Monia teaching weekly classes, offering Somatic Integration Sessions, Katonah Body Reading, leading workshops and trauma informed teacher training programs.
Monia is a certified Katonah Yoga Teacher, Doula, Somatic Integration Bodyworker, Yoga Therapist in training, dog mom and a black/queer dynamically disabled person doing the best they can, as they can.
