Peace Prayer from the Upanishads

The Teacher-Student Prayer

Om saha nāvavatu

Saha nau’ bhunaktu

Saha vīryam karavāvahai

Tejasvi nāva-dhitam-astu

Mā vidviṣāvahai

Om śantiḥśhantiḥśhantiḥ

 Translation

May (God/the Whole) protect us both

May (God/the Whole) help us both to enjoy the fruits of scriptural study

May we both exert together to find the true meaning of the sacred texts

May our studies be fruitful

May there never be discord between us.

Om, peace, peace, peace.

Our Director, JJ Gormley, MS, C-IAYT, CN, E-RYT 500, RPYT, RCYT

SCHYS Executive Director | School and Program Director | Certified Yoga Therapist | Certified Nutritionist | Certified Yoga Teacher

JJ Gormley is the Director of Surya Chandra Healing Yoga School. She is the core faculty and co-leader of all programs, and has been dedicated to teaching yoga since 1989. She is committed to the School, her students and faculty, and more importantly, the clients she serves as their Yoga Therapist and/or Nutritionist.

JJ received a B.S. degree in Mathematics and taught high-school math for several years. Post-graduate work led her to receiving a M.S. in Complementary Integrative Medicine and a Graduate Certificate in Nutrition (CN) (double-major). This education serves her well in running the training programs, as well as in her private practice as a Holistic Nutritionist and Yoga Therapist. She is a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) with the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT), and Registered with the Yoga Alliance as an Experienced Yoga Teacher (ERYT500), Prenatal Teacher (RPYT), and Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT). She has been and continues to be a student of yoga (since 1979), teaching yoga since 1989, and running teacher training programs since 1994. Her teacher training programs have been registered with the Yoga Alliance since 1999 and her Yoga Therapy Certificate Program with the International Association of Yoga Therapists IAYT since 2017.

JJ has studied from some of the worlds leading teachers including TKV Desikachar and his son, Kausthub Desikachar, John Friend, Rodney Yee, Erich Schiffmann, Patricia Walden, Barbara Benagh, Donna Farhi, Richard Freeman, K.Patabhi Jois, George Purvis, Dean Lerner, Baron Baptiste, Swami Satchidananda, and many others. She has studied from many of the major yoga traditions including Integral Yoga, Kundalini, Iyengar, Anusara, Ashtanga, and Viniyoga. She has also had the privilege with working with yoga teachers: Claire Collins, Kate Holcombe, Leslie Kaminoff, Gary Kraftscow, Richard Miller, Sonia Nelson, Larry Payne, and Amy Wheeler as the event coordinator for the Yoga Therapy Summit in 2013 and again in 2017. She has also had the pleasure of presenting at the annual yoga therapy conference called the Symposium for Yoga Therapy & Research (SYTAR) sponsored by the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) several times, taught an eight-week series on yoga philosophy for the Smithsonian Institute’s Resident Associate Program, has been a presenter for the Yoga As Medicine conference in Washington, DC, served on a panel on Yoga for Systemic Lupus at the National Institute for Health in Bethesda, MD, has served on the IAYT Accreditation Committee’s Peer Review Board, and is on the Advisory Board for their Yoga Therapy Today magazine. She has also published many VHS and DVD recordings, a chanting CD, numerous yoga and yoga therapy training manuals, co-authored Holistic Healing with Yoga Therapy, and has been featured in numerous magazines articles.

In her spare time JJ loves to walk, hike, kayak, or can be found reading, knitting, gardening, or hanging out with friends who like to play cards, enjoy good food and good company.

YouTube with JJ Gormley:

Message from the Director

Welcome to the wonderful path of yoga!

 To become an advanced Yoga Teacher or Yoga Therapist is quite an accomplishment – there is so much to learn! In ancient India, the birthplace of yoga, students lived with their master for years before they began teaching or helping others in a one-on-one setting.

The intention of Surya Chandra Healing Yoga School (SCHYS) is to condense the vast knowledge of yoga and integrate it into a comprehensive learning program that meets the needs of today’s students. The hope, of course, is that this will allow the student to deepen their own practice and strengthen their commitment to the study of yoga. Once it is realized how much there is to know and we allow the ego to take a back seat, then proceeding through our studies with humility can begin. It is bringing up that beginner’s mind, becoming a student again even if we have been a teacher for many years, that allows us to be in a place where learning can begin again.  SCHYS motto is “teaching students to become teachers and teachers to become students.”

Whether your goal is to become a better yoga teacher, or you wish to become a Yoga Therapist, please embrace this training as a unique opportunity for self-growth as you are on quite a journey. No matter your reason for joining SCHYS, a mentor will help you when you come up against any wall that seems too high to climb by yourself and will hold up a mirror allowing you to see your true nature.

It is easy to underestimate what it takes to be a Yoga Teacher, Yoga Therapist, or begin the journey of self-discovery. I certainly underestimated what it would take to be a teacher of teachers. When I embarked on this path of teaching teachers in 1994 my intention was simply to fulfill the then-current need for more well-trained teachers – it seemed that training programs were popping up all over the place but they weren’t producing high quality teachers. In light of this, I decided to start teaching teachers myself. I have now been doing this for nearly 25 years – and it is my favorite thing to do, but also my most challenging. What I have come to enjoy most is seeing the journeys of self-growth that happen whether the students set foot in the classroom or become certified Yoga Therapists.

It is with great humility that I call on all the past masters, from Patañjali through Krishnamacharya and TKV Desikachar, to help impart the great Divine Knowledge that is Yoga to us today. On behalf of those reading this book, I ask the past masters to allow us to humbly align ourselves so that this information called yoga may flow through us and be passed along to those who are now beginning their journeys.

Namaste,

JJ Gormley, MS, C-IAYT, E-RYT-500

SCHYS Executive Director

SCHYS Yoga Therapy Certificate Program is accredited by the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT).

SCHYS History and Philosophy

The Surya Chandra Healing Yoga School (SCHYS) Yoga Therapy Certificate Program is based on and honors the teachings in the lineage of T.Krishnamacharya and Mr. TKV Desikachar.  Our Director, JJ Gormley, began offering teacher trainings in 1994 at her yoga center, Sun & Moon Yoga Studio in Arlington, VA. In 2009, these training programs with JJ became Surya Chandra Healing Yoga School.

We offer training programs designed for students seeking an opportunity to delve into the knowledge and experiences of yoga taught through the highest levels of innovative teachings. Our curriculum is based on traditional yoga teachings as gathered from the ancient texts.

Our philosophy is to offer an integrated curriculum that provides comprehensive study for students of yoga to continue their education and training. Our programs prepare students to become Yoga Teachers or Yoga Therapists and offer students a unique opportunity for greater study of yoga and self-development. Steeped in quality, excellence, and integrity, we offer a complete education in the art, science, and philosophy of yoga.

SCHYS programs preserve the wisdom of the ancient traditions while adapting them to meet the needs of our contemporary society and busy lifestyles. While our courses are intense and demanding, they are flexible and encourage students to cultivate their own inner resources with commitment and self-discipline.

The teachings of T. Krishnamacharya and TKV Desikachar inform and anchor all our programs. The diverse background of the faculty, who come from many other yoga styles and traditions but who have now steeped themselves in the Krishnamacharya lineage, adds the unique opportunity of studying in a defined tradition while adding depth from other approaches to yoga. Our students leave our programs prepared to teach to different populations in a variety of settings – safely, successfully, and compassionately.

Professional Associations

Yoga Alliance

SCHYS is a Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga School (RYS) for our 300-Hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training, and Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training Programs.

International Association of Yoga Therapists

SCHYS Yoga Therapy Certificate Program is an Accredited Program with the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT).   The accreditation process has strict guidelines that the IAYT continually revises.  SCHYS plans to continually revise and update the program to maintain, meet and/or surpass the standards set for accreditation for the foreseeable future.

administrators-All programs, all locations

JJ Gormley, Program and School Director

Barb Pishock, Admissions Director and Dean of Students

advisory board

The SCHYS Advisory Board maintains the vision, integrity, curriculum, organization, maintenance, and planning for the School.

JJ Gormley, Executive Director

Christy Rous, Board Member

Barbara Sager, Board Member

Frank Wooldridge, Board Member

ethics review board

The SCHYS Ethics Review Board is comprised of yoga teachers, students, legal, and medical professionals. This Board is in place should a student wish to lodge a grievance against the School.

Christy Fountain

Barb Pishock

Christy Rous

Barbara Sager

Rev. Cynthia Snodgrass

Frank Wooldridge

SCHYS has a unique approach to teaching yoga and yoga therapy that embraces many traditions and styles of yoga - we believe in inclusive teachings and inclusive language. Our Administrators and Boards have been set up to efficiently run SCHYS and maintain the integrity of the teachings inherent in yoga and yoga therapy. Each of our faculty members have been trained in more than one tradition or lineage of yoga and teaches to students of all backgrounds and capabilities. At Surya Chandra, we integrate the best of all the traditions from which we've studied. We unite the best of traditional yogic teaching methods with innovative and modern approaches to learning, so our students gain a comprehensive and holistic understanding of the art and science of yoga.