About Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson has been teaching yoga in Dallas since 2003 and nationally since 2011. A former music educator, Amy teaches flowing yet powerful classes infused with the rhythm and grace of her music and movement days. Her path in sharing Yoga is not far off from her approach to teaching music—instilling discipline for practice along with encouraging freedom and creativity. Amy's classes create a sense of community and connection where students can grow and explore without fear or judgment. She believes nobody should ever have to “sit” due to a physical limitation therefore incorporates several modifications for the beginner as well as adding layers, or kramas, for the seasoned practitioner. Amy went through her first teacher training in 2003 at American Power Yoga and her second with Shiva Rea in 2010. In addition to these formal trainings, she continued to study her craft with any teacher/any style she could. Having the opportunity to learn from seasoned teachers such as Beryl Bender Birch, Rod Stryker, Dharma Mittra, Aadil Palkhivala, Ana Forrest, Jason Crandell and Maty Ezraty to name a few, have shaped her teachings and are threaded throughout each class. Amy has taught yoga for almost 20 years and combined with her prior teaching career, has 28 years of professional education experience. She has been a presenter at the Telluride Yoga Festival, Texas Yoga Conference, Austin Yoga Festival, OYUSA, and the I AM Festival in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition, Amy has also consulted, taught classes, workshops and teacher trainings, throughout Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Colorado and West Virginia.
In Her Words
I came into this world with tap shoes in one hand and an oboe in the other, in the city of Garland, TX, about 20 miles outside of Dallas. Shortly after I arrived, we packed up and moved to the land of cowboy boots and BBQ dreams, Fort Worth, Texas. Raised by a single super mom, and a large family dominated by women, I was thrown into every activity known to man: gymnastics, dance, music, swimming, tennis, and even underwater basket weaving (if the latter was really a thing). But you catch the drift. With the exception of swimming, my sports career was short-lived. Making those points for the other basketball team was frowned upon so as far as sports go, swimming was it. I was a pretty darn good swimmer so I competed for a while and ended up teaching swimming lessons for many years.
The arts were really where I thrived though. Both sides of my family were extremely gifted in music and movement. My aunt was a professional dancer and owned a dance company with my cousin so by the age of 3, I was tumbling and twirling into the hearts of, well, my family. My maternal grandmother was a wonderful pianist and my paternal grandmother was the organ professor of Southern Methodist University, so, by the age of 4, I was tickling the ivories or attempting to at my young age. My father, who ended up a Civil Engineer, was also a jazz pianist. He played with his high school friend, Steve Miller, along with Boz Scaggs and Bobby “Blue” Bland. By 7, I was singing in the Texas Girls’ Choir and was fortunate to travel to over 30 countries by the age of 14. And then, when I arrived in 6th grade, the oboe, my next career, came into my life. I was 11, and it is still something I practice to this day. In high school, because oboes and bassoons can’t march AND I only survived a few weeks of drill team, I started with color guard. Who knew that learning to spin a flag, rifle and saber in high school would turn me into a visual designer for marching bands. So that’s what I did during college–coached color guards, taught oboe lessons and wisely hung up my tap shoes.
Contact
I'm always looking to help yogis further their practice. Let's connect.
Tel:214.557.9354