A Wisdom School located in the foothills of Arkansas’ Ozark Mountains.
We offer exquisite in-person programs that enhance longevity, vitality and personal evolution. Our offerings include
RYT200
RYT500
Visheshya: Performance Training
Yoga Therapy Training
“Lost Ways of Knowing” podcast
Affiliate Yoga School
Ayurveda Cooking Foundations
“Yoga in Action” Quarterly Magazine
Enneagram Course
Seva
Retreats
11/26/2025
✨ What does it really mean to belong to a lineage?
At Circle Yoga Shala, lineage isn’t a marketing word or a borrowed label—it’s a living relationship. A commitment. A way of honoring the teachers and teachings that shaped us.
In our newest blog, we explore:
🪷 What lineage actually is
🪷 Why it’s more than attending a class or following a famous teacher
🪷 How true mentorship forms: over years, not moments
🪷 Why giving credit strengthens, rather than diminishes, your own voice
🪷 What it means to receive your teacher’s blessing to share the work
If you’ve ever wondered what separates a lineage-based school from the rest—or why it matters for your practice and your training—this blog is for you.
👉 Read the full post at the link in our bio.
May we honor where our teachings come from, so we can carry them forward with clarity and integrity.
Sometimes, in the ancient texts, Yoga is described as the means, or the techniques, and sometimes it’s described as the goal, or what it looks like when it’s happening.
11/24/2025
🔥 Curious about the philosophy behind yoga practice? 🔥
Matt’s course, “Intro to Eastern Philosophy,” is now available to take at your own pace.
In 3 video lessons, you’ll:
🔥 Explore Samkhya Cosmology, the philosophical framework underlying yoga and Ayurveda.
🔥 Learn about the Pancha Maya Kosha, a five-layer model of the human experience.
🔥 Get access to a bonus lecture: The CYS Vision of Yoga Therapy.
The course includes over 2 hours of video content, plus full transcripts — designed for both practitioners and teachers who want to deepen their understanding of yoga’s roots.
Cost: Only $47
Unlimited access for the lifetime of the platform.
If you’re looking to bring more clarity, depth, or context to your practice or teaching, this course is a solid place to begin.
👉Click link to get started circleyogashala.com/eastern-philosophy
11/23/2025
Why we include philosophy in our yoga teacher training?
Matt provides the answer.
11/18/2025
11/18/2025
Some sweet photos from August 2019: Holly was leading a horse inquiry retreat for a group of remarkable women.
So much joy 🤩
11/17/2025
🔥 Join Matt tonight at 7 PM (Central) to learn about the 4 pillars of a ‘Spiritual Ecology’.
🔥 Tomorrow!! Join Matt on Monday November 17, at 7 PM (Central) to learn about ‘Spiritual Ecology’ 🔥
🪷 It’s free to join, you just need to register.
Follow the link in bio for more details.
11/16/2025
This land is so beautiful!
11/14/2025
After deep reflection, we’ve made the heartfelt decision to open the land that has been home to CYS to new stewards. Our property is listed publicly for sale. Realtor MLS listing in bio.
This transition is not an ending—it’s an evolution.
Our work continues through:
✦ Online programs & circles
✦ Hosted trainings & retreats across the country
✦ And, if the land remains through winter, a final in-person year in 2026.
This land has been our teacher. Now, we listen to what’s next.
With gratitude for every soul who’s practiced here — and for all the ways the Shala will continue to live through you.
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Circle Yoga Shala is a School for Yoga, Creative Movement, and Self-Inquiry in Arkansas’ Ozark Mountains. We are a Member School of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) and a registered school with the National Yoga Alliance.
At the heart of all we do is contemplation, self-observation, and service.
We offer yoga teacher trainings in our 200-hour, 500-hour, and 800-hour Professional Yoga Therapy programs. We teach principles and methods that are grounded in somatic inquiry, and not inherently limited to a style of practice. To take a posture that is filled with one’s attention, ‘sensing’ what is happening (seeing and recognizing rather than thinking about), and then responding intelligently is to move with reality rather than projecting onto it. This somatic inquiry is taught in asana (movement and stillness), in meditation (sitting and walking), and in a felt relationship to the three centers: head, heart, and gut. This method lays the foundation for self-inquiry and contemplation.
Join our Seva program available each June for an opportunity to immerse in practice, community and nature without enrolling in a formal teacher training.
We also specialize in developing movement strategies from the simple to the complex to the spontaneous. We work with professional athletes and are consultants on Team Slukova' and Hermannova', Czech Republic's Olympic Women's Beach Volleyball team.
The philosophical basis for our teaching comes from 'East meets West': the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Pancha Maya Model, the Five Elements, the Kleshas, the Gunas, Ayurveda, and the Enneagram, as well as evolutionary theory, neuroscience and bio-mechanics, and Integral Psychology.
The school is also a living farm. The property consists of approximately 1/2 acre organic vegetable gardens, edible flowers and herbs, an orchard, chickens and horses. The Shala is an approved farm with the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms Organization, WWOOF.
We focus on sustainability practices, including composting and water conservation. Life here is a living example of the inter-connectedness of all things.
All meals are served in part from the farm and constructed with an understanding of Ayurveda, and the most current scientifically backed practices in nutrition.
We can accommodate up to 20 people residentially at the Shala for scheduled activities only. There are spaces available for couples.
