Katonah Yoga Training • Barcelona

Every body has a form, and every form tells a story. A story that is ever-evolving, shaped by time, habits, and circumstances. To reorganize the form is to reorient the narrative. This is the essence of Katonah Yoga: using the body’s architecture to shape its story.

In this 40-hour training, we will delve into the theoretical and practical principles of Katonah Yoga. You will work with the Magic Square, a Taoist space-time map, to read the body’s form, uncover implicit narratives, and reimagine patterns that better serve you. 

Through practice, we transform physiology to inform psychology, creativity, and personal evolution.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• Measure yourself: Discover the proportions of your body to adapt practice to your unique structure.

• Origami your body: Use folding and unfolding to make every posture a portal to organs and glands.

• Read the map: Use the Magic Square to reveal relationships between form, function, and personal story.

• Organize time and space: Find stability in mobility, and expand your range of motion with awareness.

• Move with the seasons: Design sequences that align postures with organs, emotions, and cycles of nature.

• Leverage props and partnership: Work with supports and partner assists to refine practice and teaching.

• Develop metaphorical fluency: Enrich your teaching with evocative imagery and deep insights.

THE MAGIC SQUARE: A BLUEPRINT FOR THE BODY

Imagine your body as a house with three floors, nine rooms, and ten portals. Each floor holds a purpose, each room an organ and an emotion, each portal a sense and a gateway. 

The Magic Square is your blueprint for navigating your internal landscape. It organizes the body into a cohesive, functional whole, bridging the connections between structure, psyche, and spirit.

By learning to read the body, you will recognize patterns—habitual tendencies, strengths, and vulnerabilities. With the map as your guide, you can reconfigure postures, breathwork, and meditations to ensure the body, mind, and breath work in synergy.

LEARN THROUGH THE PRACTICE OF REPETITION

Every system—be it a recipe, a technique, or a tradition—follows a pattern. Each begins with an idea, develops through deliberate action, and culminates in mastery through repetition. 

Repetition is where the magic happens: in refining technique, we reveal intelligence; in consistent application, we cultivate wisdom and joy. Then, becomes a skill we can share.

WHO IS THIS TRAINING FOR?

This module is designed for yoga teachers and dedicated yoga practitioners who wish to deepen their practice and teaching. 

It is an invitation to explore the intersection of theory and practice, form and function, and to enrich your understanding of yoga as a tool for personal and collective growth.

WHAT IS KATONAH YOGA?

Katonah Yoga®, developed by Nevine Michaan over the past 40 years, is a unique synthesis of Hatha Yoga, Taoist theory, sacred geometry, numerology, and metaphor. 

Rooted in universal patterns and principles, it teaches us to organize our bodies using the language of form—triangles, circles, and squares—to optimize functionality and flow.

At its core, Katonah Yoga is about connection. It harmonizes opposites—stability and mobility, strength and softness—while aligning individual practice with universal patterns. Inspired by Taoist philosophy, it integrates breath, body, and mind to cultivate balance and resilience.

Through archetypes and metaphors, Katonah Yoga transforms the body into a map: a symbolic guide for understanding self, navigating relationships, and exploring the world. It is both practical and esoteric, inviting you to engage in the art of living well.

AN EXCEPTIONAL TEAM OF TEACHERS

We are proud to host an exceptional team. This is an opportunity to study with expert trainers of Katonah Yoga.  A team of well experienced, certified and qualified teachers:

Melanie Hyman

Melanie Hyman has been teaching, mentoring and training students for the past 17 years. With a background of  gymnastics, movement and dance and has always found a tremendous amount of freedom, insight and joy through movement.

Melanie graduated from Syracuse University where she created her own major combining movement, psychology and education.

After completing a masters from NYU in dance and movement therapy, she pursued yoga as a way of transcending her love for movement into meditation.

In 2003 she was fortunate enough to find a mentor in Nevine Michaan at Katonah Yoga Center, where she has taught and been studying for over 16 years.

With a strong focus on breath consciousness and alignment, drawing from multiple movement modalities and yoga traditions, Melanie encourages students to flow with depth, creativity and playfulness. She hopes to help her students potentiate their well-being and gain insight through a transformative mind/body/breath experience.

Marco Migliavacca

His encounter with in 2005 yoga became a deep and passionate daily dialogue.

He opened in 2012 the first of two [hohm] street yoga studios, a landmark for the study and practice of this discipline in Milan, which over the next 10 years hosted international teachers and offered trainings and seminars.

Over the years, Marco travels to Spain, Germany, England, India and the United States where he studies with a variety of teachers, including John and Lucy Scott, Sharon Gannon and David Life, David C. Kyle, Leslie Kaminoff, Dharma Mittra, Bo Forbes, Angela Farmer, Rod Stryker and David Regelin.

Of particular importance in his training are his encounters with Biff Mithoefer, with whom he deepened his study of Yin Yoga and Taoism, Prema Mayi, who guided him on the path of Bhakti Yoga, and finally Abbie Galvin and Nevine Michaan, thanks to whom he discovered the Katonah Yoga© method, a syncretic practice combining hatha yoga, Chinese medicine and sacred geometry.

In 2021 he became a certified Katonah Yoga© teacher and he actually teaches in the mentorship of the Katonah Yoga© center in New York.  We love Marco's great heart and the way he transmits the teachings.

Alessandra Tisato

Alessandra was born as a photographer, always fascinated by the body and its language. 

Her passion for outdoor sports led her to the practice of yoga—initially for its physical benefits, but later developing a growing interest in the spiritual aspects of this wonderful discipline.

In 2015, she completed her first Vinyasa training at Loom Studio in New York, continuing her education in Milan with Marco Migliavacca and Giovanna De Paulis. 

Alongside dynamic yoga practice, she studied Yin Yoga with Biff Mithoefer and explored Yoga and Trauma with Matthew Sanford.

Her interest in the connection between yoga, anatomy, and neuroscience grew through the teachings of Lesley Kaminoff, Amy Matthews, and Bo Forbes. 

Naturally curious, she pursued further training at the Katonah Yoga Center in New York while simultaneously researching evolutionary female cyclicality with the Lunaria Institute.

The adaptability of practice to the student, respect for anatomy and individual personal history, openness to listening and experimentation, and the idea of being merely a guide to help students connect with their deepest selves are all key elements of her work. Her goal is to rediscover the innate integration between mind and body in each individual.

Your Journey Begins Here

The map is drawn, but the journey is yours. This training will equip you with tools to explore, refine, and expand your practice. It is a deep dive into the body’s intelligence, a method for mastering the craft of yoga, and a gateway to a story yet to be told.