MEET SETH LIEBERMAN
From the unique vantage point of a classically trained musician and seasoned yoga teacher with over 500 hours of training, Seth provides a holistic foundation for practice rooted in structure, rigor, and attention to detail balanced with flexibility, ease, and creative inspiration.
Seth's background as a yoga and meditation teacher lends an authentic approach to his practice, rooted in ancient traditions while tailored to modern day living and seasonal wellness. As a music teacher, Seth combines his extensive musical training and sensitivity to the intricacies of the body, mind, breath, and language to create a holistic and integrated music lesson tailored to each student. Through it all he shares how the potential of the mind when allied with the protective practices of mantra, yoga, and music can change the ordinary into the extraordinary. Through his classes, workshops, and private sessions, Seth has guided many students to develop their own practices in yoga and music, and apply their newfound techniques to enhance the rest of their lives.
SETH'S JOURNEY
From an early age, Seth was destined to disturb any semblance of peace and stillness in the quiet Brooklyn, New York City neighborhood in which he was born. He was making music, sound, and using his voice in a way that was soon to become a passion, a calling, an inseparable (and sometimes insufferable) part of his life and the lives of those around him.
Seth, after a relocation with his family to Northern, New Jersey, spent most of his free time seated at the piano, singing, or playing a wind instrument, transforming his house and cul-de-sac into what his younger brother once described as a “1920s ragtime lounge.” The air was thick with dizzying melodies rooted in jazz, classical music and theater tunes, all of it interwoven with his own interpretations and improvisations. Making music, whether alone or with others, and especially the act of getting lost in long improvisations, was Seth’s entree into self-healing, therapy, spirituality, and coping with the challenges of everyday life. Music was his sanctuary.
The choice for Seth to study music in college was obvious. At the music conservatory at the University of Maryland, his studies significantly expanded his knowledge of and appreciation for music as he focused his studies on clarinet performance and music theory and composition. However, he lacked a clear identity as performer, composer, or educator (the 3 tracts of study offered), contributing to a period of confusion connected to anxiety and depression. This experience propelled him to put his pursuit of music on pause and seek out ways of overcoming emotional and psychological difficulties. With the support of family and friends, and a deeply rooted connection to faith, Seth was determined to find his way back to happiness, creative expression, and ease. Ultimately it was yoga he sought, and yoga that helped him rediscover his wholeness.
Seth finally found the spark he needed to ignite his yoga practice when he began taking yoga classes with Michael McArdle at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Manhattan, New York, where he was working as a staff member. The fire of practice began rapidly growing and Seth decided to teach yoga and share what had made such an important impact on his life. After his first 200 Hour training in 2009 in Brooklyn, he immediately began teaching and took on more an more work as a yoga teacher, phasing out his full time work at the JCC. He would eventually complete an advanced 300 Hour training in 2013, and an Anatomy for Yoga Teachers training in 2016 as he continued teaching throughout New York City.
Music also found her way back into Seth's life, initially through Kirtan and the harmonium, both of which he was introduced to in his first teacher training in 2009. With the encouragement of one of his teachers, he began teaching harmonium lessons and eventually started incorporating more vocal work into sessions. He also began bringing live music into other teacher's yoga classes. Seth began developing workshops for yoga studios and teacher trainings, in addition to teaching yoga classes and working privately with students, which he continues to do to this day.
Seth is still exploring the many areas where yoga, mindfulness, and music intersect and how he can provide education and experience for those interest in exploring their musical, creative, and spiritual potential. He is inspired by both the vastness and universality of both yoga and music and how when the two meet, there is a seemingly limitless landscape in which to play, study, and tune to one's deepest, truest nature. He is excited to continue to explore, develop, and grow personally and collectively with his students through the many gifts and blessings that come with a life dedicated to yoga and music. Seth currently resides in Kingston, New York in the Hudson Valley, just outside of New York City, where he teaches yoga, meditation, harmonium, and performs as a musician.
SETH'S TRAINING & EXPERIENCE
YOGA
Anatomy Studies for Yoga Teachers 108 HR - New York, NY 2015-2016 Advanced 9 month training in Musculoskeletal Anatomy, Injury Awareness and Prevention, Biomechanics and Kinesiology. Lead teacher: Jason Ray Brown
Yoga Sukhavati 300 HR - Brooklyn, NY 2012-2013
Advanced 1 Year Hatha/Vinyasa with emphasis on seasonal asana and energetics, Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Buddhist meditation and philosophy, Sanskrit, women's practices. Lead teachers: Summer Quashie and Leigh Evans
Greenhouse Holistic 200 HR YTT - Brooklyn, NY 2009
Hatha/Vinyasa Training with emphasis on the foundations of teaching asana, meditation, pranayama, anatomy, philosophy, mantra, and chanting. Lead teachers: Summer Quashie, Leigh Evans, Paul Manza
Braham Yoga Reiki Level I - Rishikesh, India 2012
Private Level I Reiki training and attunement. Lead teacher: Swami Deepak Anand
MUSIC
University of Maryland, Bachelor of Arts in Music - College Park, MD 2005
Studies focused on Music Composition, Music Theory, and Clarinet Performance. Private clarinet study with Ed Walters and Loren Kitt and participation in various instrumental and vocal ensembles.
Voice - New York, New Jersey & Maryland 2000-2015
Private Voice instruction with Forrest Munger, Membership in University of Men's Choir with Patrick Walders, membership in professional Spanish Catholic church choir at St. Matthews cathedral in Washington D.C., participation in a variety of mixed choirs.
Clarinet & Saxophone - New York, New Jersey, & Maryland 1995-2005
Private weekly instruction on clarinet and saxophone with Rick Shapiro, clarinet with Ed Walters and Loren Kitt. Membership in a wide variety of wind, orchestral, band, and jazz ensembles as a clarinetist and saxophonist.
Piano - New Jersey, Maryland 1999-2003
Private instruction with William Hargrove, University level group piano classes.