Amy Barnes
Amy is a seasoned yoga practitioner who began practicing in the late 1970's. A Nashville native, she grew up with a yogini/artist Mom, and a grandmother who practiced to the "Richard Hittleman" (1950's) yoga albums. Amy's dad, Rev. Bill Barnes, also a Nashville native, is a Methodist minister who was a Civil Rights Activist in the 1960's and is a life long instigator and servant of social justice.

The seeds of yoga took hold early in Amy's life. Yoga is a large part of who she is, not just what she does. Amy's own teachers are many, but the most influential are: Julie Russell (Mom), June LaSalvia, Erich Schiffman, Gayna Uransky, Richard Freeman, Sharon Gannon & David Life, Shiva Rea, and Saul David Raye. Jai Uttal has been her Bhakti Yoga inspiration for the last several years.

Amy's practice of asana (posture), kriya (intentional action), pranayama (breath awareness/extension), dhyana (meditation) and KIRTAN, chanting the Divine name, continually deepen her understanding of the effects of practice. We become more sensitive, aware, and alive. Embodying & radiating this awareness helps us respond to ourselves and others from a natural and authentic state of kindness. Living in this way, in Divine Service, transforms our lives, our relationship with all sentient beings and global communities, into a more loving and joyful experience. Amy's playful, passionate, and energetic style encourages students' inner curiosity, listening, spontaneity, and exploration of one's unique experience...opening to the possibilities of living the wonder of our human AND divine nature.

Amy teaches from a life richly lived, drawing on her background in the arts, theatre, dance, and music. She administered therapeutic body work for 12 years which lead into her 4 year psychotherapy training. She is a certified (body centered) psychotherapist and worked with individuals, couples, & groups Boulder, Colorado for several years. She is currently working with clients in a wholistic healing modality.

Amy discovered the magic of KIRTAN, singing with Dave Stringer at Yoga Source Nashville in 2000, and has been passionately exploring the practice and mystery of Bhakti Yoga ever since. She has been devotedly studying with her teacher Jai Uttal for the past several years, allowing this to become the center point of her creative and spiritual life. She currently leads kirtan in Nashville, Boulder, and other sacred places. www.amybarnesyoga.com. Feel free to contact her at: amy@amybarnesyoga.com

Amy has been a residential realtor since 1997 with Village Real Estate Services, so if you are looking to buy or sell a home in Nashville, contact her through www.villagerealestateservices.com or amy@movegracefully.com.

Amy Barnes's yoga class has changed the way I am in my body. I leave her class a little larger each week. I feel like Amy is part healer, part minister, and fully yoga teacher.
I would drive from two counties away to experience her healing touch during savasana.
-- Jill Webb-Hill

A bhakti yoga weekend retreat with Amy Barnes more than amazed me. It fulfilled my deepest desire to find a teacher of the yoga path that lights up my soul fire...and right here in Tennessee! How wonderful indeed! Her "bhakti soup" cooks up so artfully the blend of yogas - the fluid, flowing hatha, pranayama breathing, repetition of mantras to music, and the bhakti, the yoga of love and devotion expressed through her presence, voice and healing touch. It makes for a totally unique and integrated experience that took many if not all of the participants, myself included, to new highs, expansions, and ecstasy.
I've been up close to many masters and heavy-duty spiritual teachers, feeling their darshan. The feeling that Amy exudes is right up there with the best of them, imbued with her special musical talent and the vibrations of all of her teachers, of India and Hawaii, and all the delightful essence of Shakti. We are very fortunate to have her presence in our area. If passion for the Divine is your calling, she might just be the one with whom to fly to the Higher Planes of existence.
-- Kathleen Rosemary