Bonnie Tarantino C-IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist
2000/500 RYT, Usui, Karuna and Holy Fire Reiki Master.
I took my first yoga class in 1987 in a little practice gym as a sophomore at George Washington University. During the relaxation part or savanna, I found myself floating high up in the rafters. No, I was not high, I actually had remembered something. I knew yoga deep in my bones. I also knew that I would spend my life studying yoga and sharing it with anyone who would trust me! Back in the 90’s few people actually practiced yoga. I was a little odd, for sure, and it didn’t help that I was also studying to become a Reiki master as well. Back in the early 90’s, in order to find a Reiki teacher you would have to be introduced to one. No one was advertising Reiki or yoga. Back in 1998, there were only around 20 yoga studios in NYC. Most people who did yoga, knew each other… imagine that! My first yoga teacher training was in NYC and was a rare class to find. Shortly after my first YTT, I moved to Storrs CT where I opened a yoga studio and found out I was pregnant with my second child! My first yoga studio, Room For Spirit was the only studio for a solid 30 square miles. Almost everyone who came into my studio had never done yoga before and before I moved in 1991, most of them had become Reiki masters.
Eventually life brought me to Baltimore where I now live with my husband and our three children.
Moving to Baltimore brought me a unique opportunity. From 2002-2018, I had the privilege of starting and directing the yoga programs at The University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Integrative Medicine. In 2008, I was awarded a grant to set up training programs for medical professionals to help combat compassion fatigue. This grant allowed me to introduce a program I co-created with nurses called Healing Pathways. For ten years this program reached over 500 professionals in the medical community and trained them in yoga, meditation, the energy system and Reiki.
With so many people in the system practicing these tools, it was no surprise that Reiki and yoga became part of the scope of practice offered within the hospital and even at the bedside. For two years I had the privilege of offering Reiki and meditation in the acute setting of R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. Healing Pathways eventually evolved into a 9 month yoga teacher training, which not only trained practitioners to become yoga teachers, but also trained them to walk in the health care world as Reiki masters.
Healing Pathways and the Yoga Teacher Training Courses allowed us to train over 1000 practitioners during my time as Director. In 2019, I resigned from the position and now enjoy mentoring one on one, both in person and over the phone. I hold small intimate trainings that sometimes take to the road. To date, I have led spiritual trips to India, Hawaii, Peru, New Mexico, Ireland and Colorado… with more to come.
Presently, I offer online self study trainings, coaching sessions and outdoor social distancing experiences.
Here are a few wonderful videos made during my tenure as Director;
Yoga Teacher Training Testimonials 2013 https://youtu.be/VXkMpf9_jBc
Yoga Teacher Training 2016 https://youtu.be/Ovm_bK8BvQc
Shock Trauma Video https://youtu.be/NUPNF0OL2m0
Research
Bonnie Tarantino1, Michael Earley, Donna Audia, Christopher D’Adamo, Brian Berman
