Yoga Studio in Jasper, Arkansas

Mission Statement

To provide Jasper quality Sports Recreation assistance as a Yoga Studio, Yoga Training, Yoga Teacher and Yoga Classes.

Circle Yoga Shala meeting your Sports Recreation needs since 2009.

Reviews

Non-Rated Service

Be the first to Write A Review for Circle Yoga Shala.

We are a residential yoga school focused on consciously embodying the unbroken wholeness of existence by surrendering our lives into the rhythm of the natural order, working to support and nourish that order by living sustainably, and celebrating the kind of unparalleled opportunity for authentic evolution that this work offers.

Circle Yoga Shåla is a transformational school which employs the techniques of classical Hatha Yoga as inquiries into the multidimensional structure of the human being, and particularly its inherent tendency to function mechanically, without a felt connection to action, emotional response, and thinking.

As a transformational school, we are first and foremost about waking up. The training we provide clarifies and reinforces the occasional, natural disposition in which one is consciously immersed in a felt connection with actuality. By way of simple, relevant work in nature, the opportunity to communicate openly in the mirror of authentic relationship with others, and the steady practice of classical techniques, we invite the student to return to that disposition, and eventually remain in it, regardless of activity, environment change, emotional upheaval, and so on.

Circle Yoga Shåla is surrounded by a National Forest and is part of a 25 acre working homestead located on Shiloh “Peace” Mountain in the Ozarks. On the property is a mature fruit orchard, a small grape vineyard, more than 1/2 acre beyond organic gardens, pasture land, and walking trails.

Key Contacts

Matthew Krepps, Co-owner

Matthew Krepps, Transformational Teacher And Chef: I Have Always Been Constitutionally Disposed To Enjoy Discipline, Uniqueness, Philosophy, And Art – – In Particular Music. As A Teen Aged Boy Growing Up In A Small Arkansas Town, I Somehow Encountered The Ideas Of The Buddha And Could Not Shake The Feeling That The East Held Something Crucial For My Destiny. I Soon Became A Vegetarian, Began To Learn Cooking – – As My Dear Mother Was Not Sure What To Make Of These Culinary Changes – – Started Racing Bicycles, Distance Running, And Dreaming Of Moving To Kyoto To Live In A Zen Monastery. by The Time I Attended College, I Had Ditched Road Racing And Had Taken Up What Would Become A Life Long Love Affair With Drumming. I Studied Literature And Continental Philosophy In School And Was Fortunate Enough To Encounter Two Teachers Of Unusual Quality, Both Of Whom Told Me To Promptly Leave School Upon Graduation And Move – – For A Time At Least – – Away From Academia. (thank You Conrad And Charlie.) I Spent The Next Three Years Playing In A Rock-n-roll Band, Traveling The Southwest Region Of The Country, Reading Nietzsche, Heidegger, Thomas Mann, Nikos Kazantzakis, Dostoyevsky, And Developing A Wicked Case Of Carpel Tunnel Syndrome From A Subtle Flaw In My Drumming Technique. after The Band Imploded, I Landed In Austin Texas, Where All Of My Loves Would Finally Coalesce Into The Beginning Of A Single Direction. With No Travel In The Picture I Got A Job In A Local Restaurant And Apprenticed Under A Remarkable Human Being (thank You Paul, I’ll Always Love You) And Was Trained In The Cooking Profession. I Studied With A Percussion Teacher Who Corrected My Hand Technique, And Decided To Take Up Yoga As A Way To Naturally Address The Problems In My Wrists. now, Fast Forward Through Ten Years Of Formal Kitchen Work, Maintaining A Steady Yoga Practice Through The Kitchen Madness, Neurotic Levels Of Reading And Study (thank You Patanjali, Darwin, And Nisargadatta Maharaj), Falling Head Over Heels In Love With My Smokin’ Hot Wife, Meeting My Yoga Teacher On An Island Off The Coast Of Barcelona (thank You Godfrey, I’ll Always Love You), Owning A Yoga Studio (after Swearing To Never Work In A Kitchen Again), Teaching Publicly And Privately, Training Yoga Teachers, And Becoming Disenchanted With All Of It – – Except My Wife (thank You Hollydevi) . . . Whew ! two Years Ago, Holly And I And A Couple Of Close Friends Decided To Buy A Working Homestead In The Ozarks, Intent On Developing A Retreat Center. Enter Circle Yoga Shala, Where Folks Come To Be Immersed In Nature, To Train In Classical Yoga And Other Forward Thinking Modalities, To Eat The Food We Raise On The Property, And To Drink Living Water From A Local Spring: Basically To Heal And Realize Their Highest Potential. The Shala Is The Embodiment Of Everything That Has Been And Still Is Important To Me: Food, Philosophy, Activity, And Inquiry. Regarding The Food Here, I Am Adept In Cuisine From Every Continent And Use The Principles Of Ayurveda In My Preparations. It Is Our Example Of What It Means To Live A Life That Is Intent On Thriving. It Is An Offering To Our Fellow Students, Teachers, Friends, And Mother Earth, In Service Of The Possibility That Humans Can Evolve Consciously.

Holly Krepps, Co-owner

Holly Krepps, Transformational Facilitator Via The Methods Of Yoga And Self-inquiry: Approximately Twenty Years Ago, As A Single Mother Of A Beautiful Two Year Old Son, I Began Practicing Meditation As Part Of A 12-step Program That Is Still The Foundation Of My Spiritual/mental/emotional Well-being. During The Same Period, I Returned To My Catholic Roots Drawn To The Religion For Its Mystic Tradition Apart From The Dogma I Grew Up With. At That Time, As A Result Of Grace, I Began An Unintentional Journey With An Awakened Kundalini For Three Intense Years. My Experiences Were Confusing And Extraordinary. Not Having Any Prior Understanding Or Basis For Them I Was Quite On My Own, Until I Was Blessed With The Introduction To A Catholic Priest From Portugal, Who Preferred To Use The Language Of The Holy Spirit Instead Of Kundalini. We Had Many Sweet Moments Discussing The Joys Of Connection With The Divine. Eventually, He Felt That I Would Find More Direction And Support Outside Of My Religion For My Experiences And Turned Me In The Direction Of The Bhagavad Gita And The Yoga Tradition As A Whole. Thank You, Father. Please Note: He Was Not Suggesting I Should Leave My Religion Entirely. throughout Those Years I Found Refuge, As Well As Exact Accounts Of My Experiences In Gopi Krishna’s Autobiography, Living With Kundalini, And In The Writings Of Swami Muktananda, C. W. Leadbetter And Others. I Was Also Led To My First Teacher, Shri Ananda Ma. This Body-mind Has Never Been The Same. Although A Dramatic Shift In Personality And Consciousness Occurred, The Experience Has Been Followed With Years Of Practice And Further Self-observation To Ground The Awareness In A Unified Center. five Years Later, I Met Matthew And He Introduced Me To Ashtanga Yoga. We Eventually Married, Had A Son Together And Began Our Decade Long Run As Owners Of Barefoot Yoga Studio. in Addition To Matthew, My Main Asana Studies Were With Ana Forrest. I Met Her Through The Studio During The Early Years Of Ownership, And There Was An Instant Connection. She Encouraged Me To Participate In Her Upcoming Teacher Training, Not So Much From The Aspect Of Learning Technique, But Rather For Focusing My Intuitive Abilities To Read Energies, Which She Said She Could Address And Also Noticed In Me From Our First Meeting. I Received A Lot From My Time With Her. Mostly, I Gained A Compassionate Ferocity For Truth And Authenticity. i’ve Had The Chance To Work With Many Wonderful Teachers Thanks To The Studio: Erich Schiffmann, Doug Keller, Godfrey Devereux, Shiva Rea, Dr Svoboda And Others. i Have Been Greatly Influenced By Bill W., Robert Svoboda; Byron Katie, Nisargadatta, Patanjali, Gurdjieff, My Friend, Red Hawk; My Beloved Shri Ammachi, Shri Ananda Ma; Ramana Maharshi, My Mysterious Relationships With The Blessed Mary And Kali, A Community Of Earnest Practictioners, And Ray Metzger – May He Be Resting In Peace. For A Little More Than A Decade I Have Now Also Been Deeply Affected By The Lakota Tradition Via Sweat Lodge Ceremonies, And Most Recently Through Vision Quest. if A Practice Has Culminated From All Of The Above, It Is That Of Surrender. Surrender To The Divine And To What Is Happening In Each Moment, Maintaining A Felt Connection To Self Which Is The Opposite Of Getting Lost In Mechanical Action Is The Basis For Joy And Peace In The Midst Of This Beautiful Play Of Ma(ya).

Louanne Lawson, Co-owner

Louanne Lawson, Yoga Teacher And Gardener: It Seems As Though I’ve Always Been On My Way Here. Along The Way, I’ve Been Challenged By Many Teachers And Life Experiences And Learned The Value Of Love And Compassion, Joy And Equanimity. The Threads Running Through It All Have Been Gardening And Yoga. ever Since I Can Remember I’ve Been Sticking Seeds In The Ground And Watching Them Grow, Usually As A Way To Play In The Dirt And Get Away With It. Now It’s Also A Way To Practice Service And Stewardship (and Still Get Really Dirty). i Was Introduced To Asana Practice By Lilias Folan On Public Television, Then Through Books Like Richard Hittleman's Yoga: 28 Day Exercise Plan And Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class And Teachers Like Lynn Frazier, Nell Weaver, And Cliff Riggs. When I Met Matt And Holly At Barefoot I Found What I Didn’t Know I Was Looking For: That Yoga As Action, Both On And Off The Mat, Answered A Deep Yearning – For Stability, For Ease In Transition, For Balance. and Now, At Circle Yoga Shala, The World Opens Up In New Ways: Playing With Goats And Chickens And Rabbits And Bees And The Cats And Baby, The Dog. Learning How To Cook. Living The Rhythm Of The Day In Community. Praying In The Sweat Lodge. Practicing Dharma With Beloved Khentrul Lodro Thaye Rinpoche And The Excellent Assembly Of Sangha Nearby At Katog Choling Rit’hrod. Celebrating This Precious Human Life.

Jennifer Phillips, Resident Apprentice

Jennifer Phillips, Ryt: I Am A Resident And Teacher At Circle Yoga Shala, Where I’m Studying And Practicing The Interplay Between Bhakti And Hatha Yoga, Amid The Reflection Of Authentic Community And The Beauty Of The Ozark Mountains. Through The Study Of Classical And Modern Dance, I Discovered The Intrinsic Connection Between The Body, Heart, Mind And Spirit, And The Potential For Movement Practice To Be An Invitation To Deep Sensory Awareness Of This Connection. When I Met My Teachers, Robin Buck, And Matthew And Holly Krepps, True Yoga Practice Began In A Way That Overtook My Desire For Anything Other Than Sensitive, Open, Honest Self-inquiry, And The Transformation That Unfolds From Surrender. My Practice Continues To Grow Out Of This Willingness To Surrender To The Divine And To See Myself Clearly And Compassionately In The Mirror Of Ancient Wisdom. My Aim Is To Be Of Service By Sharing The Teachings With A Grateful And Courageous Heart, Learning How To Walk In A Good Way With All My Relations, And By Relaxing Ever More Deeply Into Being.

Rob Officer, Resident Apprentice

Rob Officer, Ryt 200: I First Practiced Yoga Nine Years Ago While Studying At The University Of Iowa. After Graduation I Moved To Encinitas, California To Continue An Education In The Arts, And Started A Continuous Asana Practice. Although Very Passionate About My Practice At This Point I Had Very Little Formal Instruction Or Understanding. After Four Years Of Continuing In This Way I Was Introduced To Bikram Yoga. A Love Affair Started Instantly. I Began Practicing Six Days A Week, Sometimes Twice A Day. I Excelled In My Asana Practice, And In 2009 I Competed In The Northern California Bikram Yoga Competition In Stockton, California. Later That Same Year I Moved To St. Louis, Missouri. It Was Soon After That I First Visited Circle Yoga Shala. This First Visit Was To Attend A Native American Sweat Lodge Ceremony. I Never Practiced Bikram Again. Asana Had Become Like A Diversion, Something I Needed As A Way To Feel Good About Myself. While Living At Circle Yoga Shala, I Discovered Yoga As A Path Of Self-inquiry And Spiritual Transformation. My Concept Of Yoga Completely Changed And Its Value Increased Dramatically. I Am Currently Employed At Circle Yoga Shala As A Resident Yoga Teacher And Long-term Apprentice Under My Teachers Holly And Matt Krepps. In Addition To Working On The Farm, I Am Continuing My Studies In The Process Of Personal Transformation.

Certifications

Services

Content Is Currently Under Construction.

Service Locations

Yoga Studio Jasper  -  Yoga Training Jasper  -  Yoga Teacher Jasper
Yoga Classes Jasper  -  Yoga Centre Jasper  -  Yoga Instructor Jasper

Citations

Circle Yoga Shala Photo Gallery
Updated as of 5/10/2024

Contact Information

Direct Email Contact