Amazing Yoga - Instructors

Shadyside
5823 Ellsworth Ave.
Shadyside,PA 15232
412-661-1525

Wexford
11967 Perry Highway
Wexford, PA
724-935-2240


			Karen Conley, RYT Karen created Amazing Yoga to share the transforming powers of yoga that she has discovered. Through her compassion and commitment, it is her desire to inspire others to embark upon the yoga journey. She gets excited to share all the discoveries that her continuous practice has revealed. The movement of yoga has become her medicine. Yoga has become a place for her to reconnect with her own spirit. Karen graduated from Fordham University where she studied English. She began teaching in several public school systems. She later began leading teenagers in outdoor education where they would spend an extremely challenging week in the provincial parks of Canada. She loved helping people see their potential. After taking a workshop with Baron Baptiste she realized this was the perfect blend. Witnessing students use the yoga practice as a place to face perceived challenges in a safe environment and move beyond where they were was life changing. Karen has been assisting Baron Baptiste and leading workshops and teacher trainings for the past 6 years. She is a certified Baptiste teacher. As a new overly exhausted mother, she found this practice healing. She gets excited to share this practice with her students. Her classes are energetic, challenging and will awaken your spirit. She is thankful to Baron for creating a spark within her to share this practice and way of life with her students and her family. Having 4 children has a way of keeping life real for Karen. Yoga for me is practice that insists that I continue to take a closer look at how I can create change and balance in my life. I use that as a platform to inspire others to really invest in their own lives and to get passionate about themselves and all they have to offer. This yoga can do that for anyone. I invite you to come and experience the life changing power of vinyasa flow yoga!.

			Sean Conley Sean, co-founder and instructor, discovered the benefits of yoga during the later stages of his 4 year career in the National Football League. After stints with the Detroit Lions, Indianapolis Colts, New York Jets, and the Scottish Claymores (World Football League) Sean was forced to step away from football due to multiple back and hip injuries. Sean began to practice Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga. He was inspired to teach after attending a Master Class by Baron Baptiste in Seattle, WA. (also some persistence from Karen helped). Baron Baptiste spent 3 years with the Philadelphia Eagles as their Peak Performance Specialist and the results were amazing! Sean believes that Baptiste Yoga is the BEST style of yoga available for athletes. Due to Sean's past limitations from injuries he brings compassion, wisdom, and humor to help students reach their full potential. Sean has completed the highest level of training with Baron Baptiste. In addition to Baron, Bryan Kest and Karen Conley have also influenced his teaching tremendously. Sean has been leading teacher trainings and retreats with Karen for the past 5 years. He regularly holds in-depth workshops for Beginners which details the principles and foundations of vinyasa yoga. Additionally, he leads numerous Master Classes (Intensives) and various workshops on alignment. “During our classes, teacher trainings, and workshops we attempt to create an environment which allows students to tap into their true potential! After each session, it is our hope that every student leaves with a tremendous sense of empowerment. Power Vinyasa Yoga allows us the opportunity to ask more of ourselves, while at the same time being true to ourselves. It has been an honor to share this transforming style of yoga with so many people.”

			Lisa Nalepa Failla Lisa is a certified yoga instructor who has been able to integrate the principles of Vinyasa Power Yoga into her study of sports and the enhanced training of athletes. Lisa's athletic background includes over ten years of competitive gymnastics, high school and collegiate volleyball, and track. Lisa has earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Pittsburgh and a MSEd in School Counseling from Duquesne University. She has been employed as a high school counselor and Psychology teacher for the past six years.



			Nancy Gatti Nancy was lured to Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga by the heat, flow and intensity of its style. Upon experiencing her first class with Karen Conley, she found a connection to her gymnastic background incorporating body awareness, mental focus and expression. She has completed Level 1 Teacher Training with Baron Baptiste. She has also studiedwith Karen and Sean Conley and has attended workshops with Baron Baptiste, Gregor Singleton and Beryl Bender Birch. Nancy has a degree in HR Management and worked as an HR Consultant prior to being a full-time mom to 4 young boys - where most of her strength and endurance are gained!

			Erin Bosniak Erin is an Occupational Therapist working in the Allegheny County schools by day. She discovered the Amazing yoga studio when she moved back to the Pittsburgh area in 2003. She had experimented with many styles of yoga but fell in love with the challenge of the Baptiste flow in the cozy heated studio. Erin believes the wonderful thing about the Baptiste style is it’s accessibility to all people and how this style of yoga motivates individuals to challenge themselves. She would like to share with her students the beauty of just moving the body, and perhaps a little mindfulness in the process. Erin completed her teacher training with Karen and Sean in 2005 and has since completed weekend workshops with Baron Baptiste and Beryle Bender Birch. She continues to blend her knowledge of the physical body with her love of the yoga practice, and the joy of just sharing in the energy of a room full of students breathing and moving together.

			Darcy Lyle Darcy sort of stumbled into teaching yoga, similarly to how she came to do most thins she does... She was working as a group exercise and swimming insructor at a fitness center when the yoga teacher on staff took a leave of absence. Having praticed a variety of styles of yoga off and on over the years, she was called upon to fill in “short term.” She found that teaching yoga came naturally and felt like home. After seeking a teacher training program, she landed at Amazing Yoga with Karen in the fall of 2004. Darcy fell in love with the athleticism of the Baptiste practice. Her teaching style is guided by her love of good, strong, challenging work blended with the calm to take it all in stride.

			Catherine Bookhout Catherine first tried yoga over 5 years ago and was instantly hooked. Over the years she has practiced many styles of yoga but became loyal to Baptiste Vinyasa Flow after practicing at Amazing Yoga. This style seamlessly merged her favorite elements from other styles (i.e. heat, flow, alignment) into a cohesive, challenging, practice that teaches reliance on your inner wisdom. Catherine received her master's in psychology in 2005 and her teaching draws from her understanding of the connection between physical and mental well-being. When she is not practicing yoga she works as a Market Research Analyst at an advertising agency in downtown Pittsburgh. Catherine completed her teacher training at AY with Karen and Sean in 2007.
			Stacey Morrison-Vespaziani Stacey took her first yoga class to fulfill a fitness credit while in college and was hooked from that first Downward Facing Dog. Over the past six years, Stacey has studied at OM Yoga, Laughing Lotus, It’s Yoga and Jivamukti before relocating to her hometown of Pittsburgh, PA and finding her yogic home at Amazing Yoga where she completed her teacher certification. Stacey is honored to be teaching under the wisdom and guidance of Karen & Sean Conley and the whole of the inspirational AY staff. She recently founded Human Race Yoga, a “Pay-What-You-Can” community yoga program serving the greater Pittsburgh area and feels blessed have so many opportunities to share the life changing power of yoga with others.

Katie Clark
Katie had her "aha!" yoga moment back in 2002. After trying (and not liking) several types of yoga, she was given an Amazing Yoga gift certificate and was immediately hooked. Since then, she has practiced almost daily, drawn to the athleticism of the power yoga practice as well as the calming and healing effect it has on her mind and body. She even quit her stressful career in fashion merchandising in order to devote more time to her practice and to "give back" by becoming a teacher. She has completed AY Teacher Training with the Conley's and Level 1 Teacher Training with Baron Baptiste. She has participated in numerous workshops across the country with Baron, Gregor Singleton, Ana Forrest and Beryl Bender Birch. As a teacher,Katie's goals are to help her students become more mindful and present while challenging them with an intense physical practice.

Laura Gorham
Laura was born to practice yoga. Her yoga practice began on her
living room floor in 2001 when she opened a yoga book a friend had
given to her as a gift. Though completely new to her, she founding
the practice rewarding and soothing. Laura quickly became a
dedicated Ashtanga Yogi at Cincinnati's local studio, It's Yoga, for
two years before her medical career brought her to Pittsburgh, PA.
She searched for a studio in Pittsburgh that would offer yoga to fit
her style of practice. Laura was thrilled when Amazing Yoga opened
in 2004 and realized her instant compatibility with Baptiste style
yoga: it was the ultimate practice combining heat to loosen the
muscles, meditative breathing to quiet the mind, and physicality to
build strength. Laura completed her teacher training in spring 2006
with Karen and Sean, and with time finally permitting, began teaching
at Amazing Yoga one year later. She enjoys sharing her passion for
yoga, enhanced by a unique medical knowledge of the human body, with her yoga students.

Monica Cornett
Monica had been practicing yoga for a few years before attending the Baron Baptiste weekend hosted by AY in 2005. After that, there was no going back to non-heated yoga! Monica’s favorite aspect of yoga is the intense workout that you get practicing a heated vinyasa mixed with a spiritual connection. She took the AY Teacher Training in 2006 as a way to deepen her knowledge of yoga and learn proper asana alignment. She has studied with several traveling yogis including Baron Baptiste, Sean Corne, Bryan Kest, and Gregor Singleton. She enjoys incorporating their techniques into her classes. When she is not practicing yoga she works as a Merchandise Planner at a Retail Company in the Southside and enjoys doing downward facing dog at home with her loving Chihuahua Lola.

Nancy Malone
Being athletic has always been second nature to Nancy. For fifteen years Nancy was a flight attendant and would explore each city she visited with her long distance running. She eventually trained for and completed three marathons. She always complimented her running with biking swimming, and of course yoga. Nancy decided to begin teaching yoga when her three children were all in college. She attended training with Karen and Sean Conley at Amazing Yoga, and then studied with Baron Baptiste in Mexico. She has also attended workshops with Bryan Kest and Gregor Singleton. Nancy and her husband David reside in Gibsonia along with their children Zachary, Max and Callahan.

Jessica Smith
Jessica Smith walked into Amazing Yoga when the Shadyside studio opened in October 2004 and has pretty much never left. After years of jumping between various styles of yoga, as well as other exercise regimens, she was captivated by the challenging, yet calming practice of the Baptiste style of yoga. Inspired by and passionate about vinyasa yoga, sharing this dynamic and life-changing practice through teaching was a natural progression for Jessica. When not at the studio, Jessica is a non-profit development professional - raising money to help fund vital social service programs and agencies both locally and globally. Jessica completed her training with Karen and Sean in 2007, prior to which she completed weekend workshops with Baron Baptiste and Beryl Bender Birch.