Alison Donley

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Alison Donley discovered her love for yoga when at the age of she discovered BKS Iyengars Light on Yoga in the library of the small town of Waynesboro PA While she continued to practice yoga asana throughout the next years of competitive gymnastics the real journey began when the competition ended and the true practice of Yoga began Alison has been practicing yoga for years and teaching for over years  She started yoga programs for large health clubs in the West Chester area and opened The Light Within Yoga Studio in November of after she and her husband Dean and two children Rachel and Trevor moved to Southern Chester County  The Light Within Yoga Studio was featured in the October issue of Yoga Journal magazine as part of Omtown Heroes an article about small town yoga studios Before the studio was sold in it was rated as one of the top yoga studios in Pennsylvania Alison continued to lead classes and YTT at The Light Within until December Alison created two -credit electives Yoga I and Yoga II for West Chester University where she taught from -  In addition she co-created a Yoga III course and a hour yoga teacher training program at West Chester University and helped to get the Center for Contemplative Studies functioning  She trained in Mental Health First Aid Civility Diversity and Inclusion and completed the Citi Training to help construct and implement research studies at West Chester University Upon retirement Alison received Honorary Faculty status and was also honored as one of the Most Influential Women at WCU for the year celebration  In collaboration with WCU Alison is still one of the lead teachers for the hour YTT program there  https://wwwwcupaedu/OCA/conferenceServices/yoga-teacher-trainingaspx Alison has completed numerous teacher-training and certification programs through the years including guidance and training from The Mohans- https://wwwsvasthanet/ Tim Miller Richard Freeman David Swenson Beryl Bender-Birch and Jon Kabat-Zinn  She was also a hospice volunteer for years and spent a year volunteering for a child-abuse prevention program  Alison is the author of  Yoga: A Path to Wellness published in August by Kendall-Hunt Publishers   Alison has presented yoga-related topics at the county and state level for West Chester University at local in-services the Pennsylvania Athletic Training Society State Convention and AAHPERD She is an advocate for yoga in schools  She is a founding member of the Advisory Board for Unite For Her wwwuniteforherorg as the Yoga and Meditation teacher for their Wellness Days and online events She is a UFH Provider meeting with women remotely and in person to offer yoga and meditation She contributes articles on Yoga and Wellness for the organization and has presented numerous workshops to train yoga instructors to be UFH providers and on topics such as Yoga for Pelvic Floor  She also provides weekly Cardiac Care Yoga sessions for wwwnudjhealthcom monthly webinars for Chester County Human Resources and teaches private remote therapeutic yoga and small group Yoga for her small business Cage Free Yoga LLC  In addition she offers occasional workshops on numerous topics as a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider                                    Alison believes that her strongest quality as a teacher is her passion for sharing yoga and her love for her students She is infinitely grateful for the love and support of family friends and students and for the ability to share this ancient and AMAZING system of self-care.