by Sivana: Who is Sarah Platt-Finger:

Sarah co-founded ISHTA Yoga with her husband, Alan Finger, in May 2008 and is the Managing Director of its two Manhattan studios. She holds the title Yogiraj and developed her own signature class Sweat and Samadhi, which is taught by ISHTA teachers worldwide.

She has also been instrumental in the development of ISHTA Teacher Trainings, which are offered in Stockholm, Berlin, London, and Japan. Sarah aspires to share the joy, inspiration, and self-transformation with her students that she has received through the practice of yoga. She is the brand ambassador for Lululemon and on the board of Directors for Exhale To Inhale, a non-profit organization which teaches yoga to survivors of domestic violence.

Her daughter, Satya, inspires her every day to live a life based on love and self-empowerment.

My Goals:

To bring the transformative powers of ISHTA Yoga to people around the world, especially to young women struggling with lack of self-empowerment.

Truly my goal is live each day fully with integrity and an open heart: To be present for my daughter, who teaches me every day what it means to love unconditionally; to be a conscious business person that is driven by universal wealth, to inspire others to love and accept themselves more fully and completely.

Why I became an instructor:

Sometimes I think that yoga chose me rather than I chose it. 😉 I started taking yoga classes consistently when I lived in Taiwan 15 years ago. It was a very different type of yoga than what I practice now; there was less attention to alignment and more influence of Tai Qi and qi gong but the instructor used to ask me to teach portions of the class at a time.

It was all in Mandarin and much of it was simply counts but somehow I managed to do it and it cultivated an inner knowing for me that this was my calling. Once I completed my ISHTA Teacher Training 11 years ago I realized that there was something very profound in what I was offered and that I could share with others: how to connect to the essence of your true self.

Where I Teach:

At ISHTA Yoga Downtown and Uptown

What I Teach:
I teach only ISHTA, which stands for the Integrated Science of Hatha Tantra and Ayurveda and also means that which resonates with the Individual Spirit. ISHTA essentially blends alignment-based flow with attention to the breath. The practice integrates the subtle body with the physical body through visualization (Kriya), pranayama (breath work) and meditation.

The ISHTA approach is about connecting to your true source through humor, focus, and surrender. But within that practice I have developed a signature class called “Sweat and Samadhi.” This brings together strong vinyasa flow, restorative postures, and meditation into one class. I also teach beginners, Open level classes, Meditation, and have just started to integrate some of the profound benefits of Yin into my teachings.

Who/What Inspires You:
My husband, Alan Finger, inspires me every day to not take life or myself too seriously. He is such a master of yoga and has literally lived it for the last 50 years of his life. Sometimes as yogis we forget to bring joy and pleasure into the practice and take a “no pain no gain” approach but that is just another belief system that limits us.

Inspiration does not come from trying it comes from being.. I am also inspired by the tantric idea that we all have the tools for transformation and self-empowerment within us. All the knowledge, wisdom, light, and love that we look for outside of ourselves is right there within us. If we quiet our minds enough we can access that field of unbound potential and let it inspire each moment of our living.

My Mission:

One of my missions is to empower young women to feel connected and safe in their bodies through the practice of yoga. I have had a checkered past as far as my relationship to my body is concerned. Yoga has taught me that my body is in fact my power because through it we can access that part of ourselves that is unlimited. That is what the tantric saying “We use the earth to get up off the earth” comes from.

We use our body to move away from the limitations of the body and the mind to transcend the mind. I have been involved with a non-profit organization called Exhale to Inhale, which brings yoga to women in shelters who are survivors of domestic violence.

I cannot think of a better way to share the gifts I have received from this practice than to bring it to those who may not otherwise have access to it. They are the ones who can benefit from it the most.

Favorite Quote:

I have so many but right now I suppose it is this verse from the Upanishads:

“You are what your deep, driving desire is. As is your desire, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.”