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Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga

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Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga

https://rgyoga.com

Through his workshops, classes and individual sessions, Richard Gartner reaches 100 yogis a week in Pittsburgh and beyond. He fosters a non-dogmatic and compassionate attitude about students’ abilities and circumstances.

Richard’s style is paradoxically both unique and universal. His instructions allow for any student to approach the practice, embracing all levels of experience and ability. This allows for anybody to explore their own unique structure and make every practice their own.

This philosophy is carried over to Onward Facing Yoga, an app Richard released in September 2015.

The eleven sequences on Onward Facing Yoga playfully explore various aspects of yoga philosophy, anatomy and breathwork, at various levels of challenge. This results in a robust yoga curriculum that allows anybody to listen inward and choose a practice that’s right for them.

For teacher training programs looking to enhance their curriculum, Richard offers several modules. They include a 12-hour Yin Yoga module called ‘Guiding the Quiet Revolution’; a 15-hour study of the vertical fascial lines, using Tom Meyers’ ‘Anatomy Trains’ as a base; and a 12-hour Foundational Anatomy series that covers all the major joint and muscle functions.

Richard’s approach is influenced by his primary teacher, Tias Little. Tias developed Prajna Yoga, which means ‘the yoga of deep insight.’ Tias describes Prajna Yoga as a ‘style-less style’, where the yoga should fit the student and not the other way around.

For Richard, this ‘style-less style’ means a yoga practice should be vibrant, in-the-moment and multi-disciplinary. His teachings fuse traditional posture and breathwork with contemporary anatomy and bodywork. He draws from many forms of yoga, fascial release, mindfulness techniques, and common sense.

Everyone from the newbie yogi to yoga instructors can learn something from Richard, I know I did!
—Melita Mollohan

Richard helped me understand that yoga is not a substitute for something better, but indeed is the foundation of a complete physical regimen that can be as intense or as restorative as anyone might want.
—Clyde Jones

His knowledge of yoga and his willingness to give you advice allows you to improve your skills through a deeper understanding of your body. The benefits of this knowledge extend quickly beyond the yoga lesson to everyday life.
—Irene Arduini

Blog

Vaccination Yoga: What I Practiced Before and After my Covid Shot

It was 4:30pm, and my wife and I were wrapping up our volunteer work with Allegheny County’s vaccine program. We had helped about 330 people receive their first Moderna shot, […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 3 weeks ago

Blog

A Student Finally Found Me Out

I teach meditation classes. I don’t call it meditation, because we are moving around, standing up, standing on our heads, and breathing a ton. But we are meditating. I thought […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 02/12/2020

Blog

My First Mindful Decade

I think I just lived my first mindful decade ever. In reflecting on my last ten years, I’ve experienced more life than ever before. My memories are vivid and numerous. […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 01/04/2020

Blog

You Can’t Teach Both Alignment and Accessible Yoga

Every yoga class I teach is an accessible one. My students will never be subjected to my preconceived notions about what is correct. Tias Little calls his practice a ‘styleless-style,’ […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 11/24/2019

Blog

Yom Kippur Yoga (when you’re standing all day)

“Yes, one time my daughter passed out.” I was talking with a client about Yom Kippur and asked her if her family has ever had physical challenges during the service. […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 10/09/2019

Blog

Summer of Left

I am right-hand dominant. I catch myself thinking down the right side of my body. My right is more sensate, stronger, and more skilled with fine-tuned movements. As yogis and […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 07/11/2019

Blog

Can you be too blissed? In a car, yes.

I started practicing yoga in 2003, with my heart set on figuring out what bliss felt like. Bliss is one translation of samadhi, the last limb listed in the Yoga […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 06/05/2019

Blog

In Praise of Yawning

(Based on the lecture portion of my sleep workshop “Snoozefest: How to Practice Yoga for a Good Night’s Sleep”) Yawns are the best. Virtually all vertebrates do it, with humans […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 03/14/2019

Blog

Straight (and Curved) Lines to Trust and Beginner’s Mind

I am learning how to draw because I want to become a better visual communicator when I teach workshops. I’ve been drawing for about seven weeks now, and I’ve noticed […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 02/04/2019

Blog

Sparks light, but coals heat: Cultivating Resolve

(Originally published in 2015: Check out the app here) The first thing I’ll admit to in this article: It’s about me, working on an app called Onward Facing Yoga. The […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 12/11/2018

Blog

Yoga on Lockdown: Teaching Students During an Active Shooter Emergency

I’m not sure how long I’ll teach yoga—it could be two months or 30 years—but I’m sure the class I taught in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, on Saturday, October 27 will be […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 10/31/2018

Blog

Do You Have a “Triage Yoga” Routine?

In catastrophes and medical emergencies, caregivers rely on a process called triage. Stemming from the early 1800’s, triage is a method of prioritizing the care of many people based on […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 10/09/2018

Blog

“People aren’t broken. It’s our society:” An interview with Felicia Savage Friedman

I rolled out my mat and gathered yoga props for Felicia Savage Friedman’s class at the Kingsley Association Center, a community organization in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood. The class operates with […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 07/29/2018

Blog

Being a Big Baby

Why is it a good idea to let babies play with blocks? It’s a mostly neurological one. Stacking blocks, creating new shapes, seeing how gravity works; this all adds variety […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 04/28/2018

Blog

“Acknowledgements” from the Frameworks 300 manual

Too often I had assumed that others knew the intensity of my appreciation for them, only to discover otherwise. —Marshall Rosenberg, Nonviolent Communication My journey as a yoga teacher was […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 03/01/2018

Blog

Life Half-Dead: A Valentine’s Day Post

I turned 40 last year. Even if I’m lucky and try to keep myself in good health, I’m halfway done. This Valentine’s Day post begins with the Pali Canon, the […]

By Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga Posted on 02/13/2018

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