PRANA MANDIR Yoga
"The inherent freedom of being is spontaneously, primordially present."
- Nyoshul Khenpo
Our Four Legs
1. Yoga Practice
Working with students to personalize and refine their approach for self-mastery through yoga classes, one-on-one sessions and Yoga therapy for holistic recovery.
Each month has new themes and unique events.
2. Teacher Training and Higher Education
Mentoring, and training for teachers is a key intention. Certifications in Vinyasa Yoga and an advanced yogic education course: AGNI: Kundalini Kriya Yoga Intensive Training in Yoga as Therapy
PRANA MANDIR has periodically hosted Ayurvedic Yoga Teacher Trainings in partnership with Dinacharya Institute, the highest level of education available outside of India.
3. Community Service
PRANA MANDIR is dedicated to extending the harmonious work of yoga to individuals and communities in need. Since its inception, through Manhattan fieldwork PRANA MANDIR was on the cutting edge of discovering the benefits of complementing modern medicine with yoga, with classes at Beth Israel Continuum Center, case studies in Yoga for Stroke patients at St. Lukes Hospital, classes for HIV out patients and organizations like Women In Need. Benefits for such not-for-profits include Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders.
4. Art and Culture
Art and creativity are a rich and inseparable part of a joyous, evolutionary lifestyle, elevating our minds and spirits. Programs includ Kirtans, sacred chanting, music and dance concerts, film screenings, photo and painting exhibits.
Yoga Teacher's Philosophy and Code of Ethics
"May each practitioner capture the attention
of their own heart,
spark their true creative essence,
and see the inner flame known to Yogis
by the power of Sri Kundalini. " - Lea
1. Love all. Respect all. See your Self in everyone.
2. Respect each student and their unique individual unfoldment.
Realize each of us walks “the path" at our own perfect pace, and moves perfectly in our own unique way.
3. Teach through experience.
Know the value of the teachings by developing a steady, personal practice. Use it to stay humble beyond measure.
4. The joy that comes from mastering the teachings of Yoga cannot be overstated
5. Until all states of desire can be conquered, cultivate the correct, personal desire, " I want Yoga."
Ethical integrity leaves no mistaken obstacles on your path. Your conduct is paramount to the energy and vibration in your class.
6. Practice kindness and compassion.
The most highly valued ethic, a gem for all Yogis. Adopt a Sattvic lifestyle to cultivate peace in your actions, in your speech and in your thoughts.
7. Share the (dharma) teachings skillfully, naturally and conscientiously.
In this age, all spiritual teachings belong to all members of the human community.
8. Always keep the practices of Yoga fresh, a living, breathing science.
Become personally involved in the continual integrity of Yoga as it evolves throughout time.
9. Offer precise, timely postural enhancements and individual qualitative feedback. Offer appropriately detailed instruction for pranayama and meditation.
In each asana – let there be glorious choices!
"I live by my own truth,
the wisdom of my inner being.
Bliss is my reality,
the bestower of the highest joy.
Some call this self-knowledge God.
as it is unlimited, like the sky,
the One eternal pure steady witness."
- A Yoga teacher's prayer from Lea
Ades tisai ades.
Ad anil anaad anahat.
Jug jug ayko veys.
- The Call of the Yogi from Guru Nanak’s Jap Ji Sahib
PRANA MANDIR was established to teach pure forms of Yoga, as received from our teachers, and the keepers of the tradition keepers.
Greater health, happiness, and wholeness (attunement with one Self) can be gained through the practice of Yoga and Meditation. We support non-violence, community service, and working to establish peace, prosperity, and kindness in our world.
Retreat Teachers
Nidhi Huba
Wisdom Yoga Mama, Light Seeker, Creative Channel, Spirit Spinner and Chanting Culinary Siren.
She forges practice with all the reasons why, who, what & when to help bring evolutionary positive change in the DNA pattern and lineage. She helps with tools of yoga, energy healing, counseling, hypnosis, EFT, and Crystal therapy to instill Grace and Ease in her clients lives.
Her tattva power is also the water and she is happiest chanting on H2O and creating Flow for all who seek her.
She has studied and practiced the Vedic Sciences since a child, learning from her matriarchal lineage in India and from the many Wise Masters she has met on her path.
Celina Jacques
has been facilitating retreats since 2016. She specializes in using creativity and ritual for healing the heart, mind, and spirit. She holds a masters degree in Psychology and Art Therapy, a BA in Psychology and BFA in Studio Art.
As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Board Certified Art Therapist who is also learning about ancestral healing practices, Celina shares both the neuroscience and cultural knowledge at the intersection
of creativity, mental health, and Indigenous wisdom.
Celina has 20 years of experience in the mental health field, she now has a private practice and exhibits her artwork in the Los Angeles area.
Vinyasa Yoga
Teacher Training
Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training is a Level 1 Certification with Lea Kraemer, joined by a unique, highly experienced group of guest teachers.
Certification covers:
1. Asanas and their benefits. Constructing a Vinyasa Flow to challenge and motivate learning through delight
2. Alignment and anatomy. From the bones and muscles to the whole human being. Giving adjustments. From a light to a deeper touch in honor of the energy and breath of each student.
3. Pranayama
4. Meditation techniques for all levels of students.
5. Unity of mind-body-spirit
Training explores:
1. History of Yoga in its relevancy to our own lives
2. Yogic and Tantric Philosophy
3. Spiritual lifestyle, including but not limited to thought, diet, sleep, environment and daily practice.
A Deeper View of Vinyasa Yoga
Vinyasa is a flow, the movement between actions.
Vinyasa Yoga moves dynamically from asana to asana with constant attention to breath. In this way Yogis research the flow of life, and that which appears, is sustained, and re-dissolves back into the universe (i.e. the human body).
Learn to teach through inner and outer alignment with an emphasis on
Balance
Power
Fluidity
Flexibility
An open heart allows the beauty of each asana to be experienced from within as well as from without. Regular Vinyasa practice frees the body of impurities like stiffness and tension and leaves the mind clear and relaxed. Through teaching yogic breath, your students will come to know their minds more closely, and may realize a desire to know the Self more deeply.
Kriya Yoga Intensive and Teacher Training In Yoga As Therapy
Currently online, with limited spaces available in person in California, the Intensive is a dynamic course of study, contemplation, and higher learning.
See more about Yoga as Therapy Teacher Training:
www.AgniYogaIntensive.com
AGNI was designed for Yoga teachers and practitioners with a desire to enrich their personal practice and knowledge of Yoga.
Presented for the first time in September of 2001, AGNI is open to experienced students, Yoga teachers, and healers of all traditions. Concentration is on the power of Prana and the grace of Sri Kundalini.
AGNI covers:
Yoga sets & series
Meditations
Kundalini Yoga Kriyas, the true teachers.
Teacher training courses are available everywhere, but forums for higher learning
are more rare.
AGNI is for those souls who wish to dive into the experience of Sri Kundalini and to study with others of a similar thirst. Its intention is to present Yoga as therapy, and to give you excellent tools to transform your teaching and healing practice.
An exploration into Self, teachings cover:
1. Physical alignment and asana
2. Holistic Anatomy
3. The Pranic Body
4. Nadis / Rivers of energy transit
5. The Subtle Body & Chakras
6. The Mind and Soul.
Study the art & knowledge of yoga through
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, The Kriya Yoga Upanishad, Vijnana Bhairava and other historical texts, as well as more recent texts.
The AGNI Intensive is offered
in the hope that students seek
the inner flame through constant effort,
luminous attention and divine love.
Guest teachers are notable doctors of Western and Eastern medicine and well established medical revolutionaries, teaching physical anatomy and leading discussions on wellness and wholeness with regard to our own unique emotional and physical relationship.
About the Director
Lea Kraemer is the founder of PRANA MANDIR Yoga, and is a Yoga Therapist and Teacher Trainer with a background in Ayurveda, Ashtanga, Hatha, Kundalini Kriya and Vinyasa Yoga, Breathwork, Energy healing and Meditation.
Lea trains and mentors teachers through AGNI, her Yoga as Therapy Intensive which began in NYC in 2001. She has been part of Teacher Training faculties all over California at such spaces as Yoga Circle, Aireal Yoga and Sat Nam Yoga and is also a guest Teacher Trainer at schools and conferences around the world.
Lea began as a professional modern dancer, performing for companies in NY, NJ, Colorado and in Asia. Her love for the study of the conscious art of Yoga has been life long. Early influences were Jivamukti Yoga and Sri Dharma Mittra. She received Tibetan Buddhist teachings through the Nechung Monastery in NYC and in Dharamsala, India starting in 1995. She began studying Kundalini Kriya Yoga with Ravi Singh in the early 1990’s, practiced Ashtanga Yoga with Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India and senior teachers in the US. She completed numerous classical Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga certifications.
PRANA MANDIR Yoga was founded in 2002 with a NYC studio which ran for nine years. PRANA MANDIR Yoga Studio was the first in the U.S. to present Ayurvedic Practitioner training directly from India and Kerala Ayurveda.
PRANA MANDIR Yoga Studio had a strong outreach program involving research into the application and effects of Yoga at NYC area hospitals. Lea still often mentors teachers and is a guest trainer at studios in California and across the U.S.
Currently she lives in Pasadena, California and is blessed to share pure Wisdom teachings everyday. Alignment principles for the physical body and the inner most Self are her focus. Healing sessions and classes with Lea are dynamic and encourage exploration, compassion and balanced self-inquiry.