Sam Chase
Lead Kripalu Faculty
Sam Chase builds programs in yoga, mindfulness, and resilience for people who are building a better world. An incurable nerd—longing for a ladder from the ivory tower to everyday people—he graduated at the top of his class at Vanderbilt, where he competed for the international Rhodes and Marshall scholarships. He won, but then ultimately declined the award to pursue the work he continues today: to explore the science of the human mind and the tools that help people lead flourishing lives.
He brings that study back to the real world through his work with the United Nations, the National Guard, Columbia Medical School, Brooklyn Hospital Center, the New York City Department of Education, and many others. He is the author of the book Yoga & the Pursuit of Happiness, a down-to-earth look at how the philosophy and traditions of yoga and meditation intersect with modern psychology and neuroscience, and the simple ways ordinary people can use these tools to make extraordinary changes.
Sam has developed and directed the training of over 2000 emerging yoga and mindfulness teachers in over 60 programs nationwide, including a first-of-its-kind training for over 200 New York City public school teachers and most-recently the 200-Hour Kripalu Meditation Teacher Training.
As a Kripalu Lead Faculty, Sam designs and delivers curricula for all aspects of the organization, including the School of Yoga, R&R Programming, and RISE—Kripalu's evidence-based resilience training for frontline professionals in fields that serve the public good such as education, healthcare, and community safety.
Learn more about this presenter’s work:
Upcoming Programs
- December 10–13, 2024
- February 14–17, 2025
Resources
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How to Choose Happiness We've been conditioned to believe that we were either born with the ability to be happy, or not. But biology is not destiny.
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The Art of Haiku: Clear Eyes, Clear Mind I tried to describe the frigid lake, the singed pine needles, the sticky texture of my fingertips, and I fell into a self-directed calm that was new for me.
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Kripalu Perspectives: Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness with Sam Chase Yoga teacher Sam Chase tackles the topic of happiness in this edition of Kripalu Perspectives.
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A Meditation Practice You Might Actually Enjoy Metta meditation is about extending compassion first to yourself (a common place to start, though there’s no right or wrong way to begin) and then to others.
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From Yoga Student to Yoga Teacher: Getting Hooked on Inquiry Through immersion in the practice and study of yoga at Kripalu, Sam Chase discovered a calling to teach.
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Five Myths (Some) Men Believe About Yoga The first time Sam Chase went to a yoga class, he hated it. Growing up as a bookworm who suffered from asthma, he thought of his body as...
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