Alex Schatzberg
Ashtanga yoga instructor
Alex Schatzberg has been teaching and practicing yoga since 2006. Dissatisfied with multi-method and corporate yoga studio environments, Alex opened New Vibe Yoga in New York City's East Village in 2014 as an Ashtanga yoga school — a home for an authentic, therapeutic approach to the practice. The studio went on to be recognized by Time Out New York as the #1 Best Yoga Studio in NYC.
Alex has studied closely and trained with some of the West's early adopters of classical Ashtanga yoga, including Christine Hoar, Guy Donahaye, David Williams, Nancy Gilgoff, Ruth Lauer-Manenti, Sharath Jois, Maty Ezraty, David Life, and Sharon Gannon. Alex is grateful to Sanskrit teacher Kiki Flynn for instruction in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, to Christine Hoar for an introduction to the principles of Ayurveda, and to Sherene Vismaya Schostak for guidance in Jyotish astrology — and draws further inspiration from the teachings of Baba Hari Das, Dr. Shankaranarayana Jois, Dr. M.A. Jayashree, & Dr. Vasant Lad.
Alex teaches the Ashtanga yoga method in what he calls the “New Vibe Style” - modifying the series to be accessible and safe for all levels of practitioners. Having learned the system in full, he is able to reduce it to the most meaningful, healing, and meditative elements. In addition to physical yoga practice, Alex maintains a daily kriya, meditation, and mantra practice.
Alex has taught publicly at premiere yoga centers in NYC such as YogaWorks, Equinox, Exhale Spa, Yoga Vida, Ashtanga Yoga Shala NYC, Yoga to the People & Go Yoga, as well as to private clients, corporate groups, and celebrities. In 2014 he open his own studio New Vibe Yoga, and since 2018 has offered his signature Fundamentals of Ashtanga Training Program.
After 20 years in New York City, Alex relocated to his birthplace Marin County, California, bringing New Vibe Yoga into a new chapter: live virtual classes, private online sessions, and in-person private lessons across Marin and San Francisco.
Alex and New Vibe Yoga have been featured in Wallpaper*, Architectural Digest, the New York Post, New York Magazine, People, TimeOut, T Magazine, and more. [See the full press coverage →]
Alex was drawn to Ashtanga yoga at a young age after exploring different yoga modalities. Ashtanga's appeal was its clean energetic output and quiet meditative quality.
A year ago, when a fall down a slippery hillside resulted in a broken leg and two months in a wheelchair, Alex modified his yoga practice to keep it going through recovery, using it much like a physical therapy routine — and has since fully recovered. That experience deepened Alex's belief in Ashtanga as a practice that can be adapted, not abandoned, aiding in self healing — and it now greatly informs how Alex teaches students working through their own limitations.
It is Alex's intention in teaching to help people discover the many gifts yoga can offer — from strength and flexibility, mental clarity and stress reduction, to personal and spiritual insight as well as a sense of community. Ashtanga is a practice built on consistency and focus, and Alex's teaching reflects that same steadiness — meeting each student where they are, whether they're brand new to the practice or years into their own.
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