Sean Johnson was born and raised in the city of New Orleans amidst the soulful flavors and sultry sounds of jazz, blues, r&b, and hip-hop.

A powerful and versatile vocalist, Seán began singing at an early age in musical theater and The New Orleans Symphony Children's Chorus.  He later studied sean-nós (old-style) Irish singing in college, an ancient form of song known for its elaborate ornamentation, and has since made many trips to Ireland to sing.  Inspired by a powerful chanting experience with a Sufi teacher, he began exploring Eastern music and Sanskrit chant. Seán founded the innovative world music ensemble the Rishis, a band of eight New Orleans musicians blending Indian, Middle Eastern, Irish, and Spanish instrumentation, ecstatic chanting, and mystical poetry.  In addition to performing regularly in clubs, theaters, churches, and yoga centers in and around New Orleans-- Seán has performed at many diverse venues including The Convergence Festival in Dublin, Ireland; The Omega/New Age Journal Conference in San Francisco; Techno Cosmic Masses and lectures in Oakland led by Matthew Fox; labyrinth walks hosted by Dr. Lauren Artress in New Orleans; Casa de Luz in Austin, Texas; and recently at a Sound and Spirit Music Festival on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Sean plays harmonium and percussion and often accompanies on tanpura traveling Indian classical musicians at concerts in the New Orleans area.  Seán's musical influences include Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Dead Can Dance, Russill Paul, Jai Uttal, Krishna Das, Marvin Gaye, Tim and Jeff Buckley, Sheila Chandra, Musafir, Joe Heaney, Iarla Ó Lionáird and others.

Seán comes from a family of Catholic priests, nuns, and monks and despite the fact that his mother was a Poor Clare nun and father a former Jesuit seminarian, he was raised with no formal religion. He has a deep appreciation for the universal spirit awakened by the spiritual practices of the world's wisdom traditions. Currently his spiritual practice integrates song, chant, yoga, and pranayama. Seán is a certified yoga instructor and a Registered Yoga Teacher with The Yoga Alliance, a national non-profit organization that sets standards for qualified yoga instruction and supports yoga teachers and the diversity and integrity of yoga. He taught for four years at The New Orleans Yoga Center before founding his own yoga studio in 2002 called Wild Lotus Yoga.  He teaches and practices two styles of yoga: serenity yoga-- a slow meditative blend of gentle postures with strong emphasis on inner awareness; and power vinyasa yoga-- a vigorous, graceful flow of postures harmonized with the breath. He has taught yoga classes at The University of New Orleans, Loyola University, Delgado Community College, and other regional yoga studios.  Seán hosts chanting and yoga workshops at centers throughout the U.S. and twice a year in Ireland. He has attended classes, workshops, or retreats with Thich Naht Hahn, Clarisa Pinkola Estes, Caroline Myss, S.N. Goenka, Amachi, Dr. Matthew Fox, Kabir Helminsky, Dr. Dorranne Crable, Laura Ates, Bekir Algan, Doug Swenson, Patricia Dunbar, Sarah Sadler, kirtan with Krishna Das and Jai Uttal, and others.

Seán has studied Irish sean-nós singing with ethnomusicologist Sean Williams.  He completed an intensive apprenticeship in mantra yoga, devotional singing, and meditation with South Indian chant master and Gaim recording artist Russill Paul at the Naropa Institute in Oakland, California where the focus of his research for his M.A. degree was sound and music as spiritual practice.  He has studied Indian vocal music with Dr. Guy Beck, author of "Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound", Shuboshish Mukerjee, and Nayan Ghosh.

After beginning his studies at Tulane and Boston Universities, Seán completed his undergraduate work at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, an innovative Liberal Arts school with an interdisciplinary approach to education, where he received a B.A. in Cultural Studies and Comparative Spiritual Traditions.  There he did intensive work in Irish Studies and worked closely with Dr. Doranne Crable, a professor and yoga teacher who helped guide deep interpersonal learning through the tools of art, spiritual practices, and performance. He went on to complete an M.A. in Creation Spirituality from The Naropa Institute in Oakland, CA., and his thesis project was a teacher's training in sound and music as spiritual practice.

"Sean's chanting classes allowed me to,
for the first time in my life,
open my heart and SING!"

-Beverly Morris, Kali Ray Tri-Yoga Instructor

"I am awed and inspired by Sean's sense of joy, wonder, playfulness, respect and spiritual attunement. He helps me tap into ancient wisdom and personal depths with his gentle tone, sincere attention and light presence.
 
Sean is a versatile, creative retreat leader. His kind and intuitive spirit considers the needs of each person in the group. He creates a sacred space in which tears, laughter and silence blend. The result is a rejuvenating and introspective experience.
 
Throughout the weekend we invoked the names of special guides  - Kwan Yin, Ganesha, Shiva - in meditative chanting sessions. When we closed our session by chanting the name of each person in our group, I was reminded that each being is special and that spirit lives within the sound of our name, the gleam of our eyes and the smile on our face.
 
Sean's musical gifts are so masterful that he can take a roomful of tone deaf but enthusiastic chanters and make us sound like angels.
 
Sean is one of the best yoga teachers I have studied with. His firm yet gentle touch encourages my body to release. I go more deeply into the postures and into myself under his expert and loving guidance."

-Linda Maestro, Freelance Writer and Kripalu Yoga Teacher

"I'm flying high from my weekend with Sean, feeling filled with love and prana. I've been doing workshops with Sean for two years now, and each time my mind and soul are illuminated more. His work goes beyond words and is a healing balm for my soul. Sean is a gentle spirit who has blessed us with wisdom, kindness, and compassion and a gentle intuitive way of awakening the inner healer that lives in each of us. He is much more than a yoga teacher, he's a soul man and a very generous one at that"

-Samantha McCall, Gardener

"I always blossom in Sean's yoga classes. The combination of posture flows, chanting and sacred ritual is sublime. I feel more comfortable in my own skin after a session with Sean. Sean has a gentle wisdom and a great ability to create expereinces that are both fun and sacred. His music is uplifting and powerful!"

-Tom McCall, Professional Photographer and Kripalu Yoga Teacher

"Sean is a masterful in bringing together a program of chanting and yoga that freshens and deepens the body-mind-spirit connection. I see each workshop as a definite "do-not-miss" opportunity."

-Dick Smith, Computer Technology Instructor

"Taking a workshop with Sean is a life-changing experience. The combination of yoga and chanting takes me to a place of depth that is hard to explain. I feel I learn and grow tremendously in his presence, and it's fun at the same time. Sean is truly a gifted teacher, with an amazing presence, which is gentle and powerful at the same time!"

-Katherine Johnson, Business Manager

"Sean has a true gift of being able to blend his yoga and his music to draw people into a deeper connection to spirit, a letting go into the Self. The synergy in his work enables me to let go and surrender into the most tenacious holdings and slowly and gently gather enormous strength to fall into the Oneness."

-Barbara Haddaway, Massage Therapist

"Yoga is all about surrender, not the humiliating kind of surrender, but the kind where you surrender to something you yearn for, but may be afraid to embrace.  Sean Johnson's yoga is also about gentle surrender, rather than forceful or painful surrender.  The pain I have felt in Sean's class has almost always been pain that I have carried in my body and my spirit for years.  His gentle approach to yoga has helped me release this stored pain in a gradual, manageable manner, so that it doesn't overwhelm me.

It is so easy in yoga, and in life, to yield to the temptation to use strength for force, instead of using it for sensitivity and gentle nurturing.  Sean is able to convey the process of learning to be gentle with your body, so that you can grow strong without inflicting damage in the process.  Learning to respect and accept your body and yourself, where you are, right now, rather than where you want to be, or where you thought you were.  Only when you can see and accept where you are, only when you embrace the truth of who you are, can you realistically embark upon changing who you are and what you can do.

Sean has a unique talent for using his voice and music to establish a space of safety, to truthfully realize who you are, and to work with that truth.  The physical paradigm that yoga offers includes the breath, posture, balance, strength, flexibility, awareness, and movement.  By learning to manage my body in a gentle nurturing way, I have been able to extend this lesson to managing my actions, my feelings, and my life.

Sean's gift is to be able to create a space where this kind of work is possible, and to give me a good workout, as well!  He has encouraged me to creatively adapt poses when I have joints that are injured or not strong enough to support me in the traditional postures.  He has helped me see that I often hurt myself, trying too hard to do a posture "right" instead of "well". 

-Ruth Kaplan, Seamstress  

"Sean's beautiful voice and music convey a transcendental purity and truth that touches the heart and soul."

-Barbara Butler, Yoga Student