About Catherine —
Catherine Gignac, PC, RYT-200 is a certified professional coach and yoga instructor with a background in corporate design, UX, and marketing. She founded The Retreat in 2018 to merge together what she values most — community, travel, adventure, and connection.
At 25, yoga led Catherine to be more aware of her body and and through this awareness, to a rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis, which despite its challenges, has changed her lifestyle and overall health for the better.
Over the last 10+ years, she's customized her practice to fit her body’s strengths and weaknesses and she is constantly inspired by how many of us overcome our struggles, both physical and emotional, on our mats.
Portraits by Morgan WhitneyThis has undoubtedly influenced her teaching, which is very much the opposite of arthritic.
She teaches her own movement method, Collective Move + Flow, blending together vinyasa yoga with cathartic cardio, which puts less emphasis on perfecting movements and much more on allowing the practice to flood our bodies and take on its own shape.
She wants the practice to feel methodical and rhythmic, with vulnerability and honesty at the forefront, so we can find those qualities both with others and within ourselves.How she got here —
The Retreat Founder
2019 – Present
Aerie Pop-Ups + Solstice in Times Square
2016 – Present
Duquesne University
Certification in Professional Coaching
2019
Local Pittsburgh Studios
Instructor + Teacher Training Facilitator
2012 – 2023
Registered Yoga Teacher
2012 – Present
Catherine’s Offering
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Feeling stagnant in your teaching? Not sure how to differentiate yourself?
Catherine understands how it feels to get certified and then wonder what comes next. She offers one-on-one mentorships for yoga teachers looking to stretch themselves and expand their teaching capabilities and strengths beyond what is taught in 200-hour trainings.
With her certification in Profession Coaching from Duquesne University and experience facilitating YTTs, leading sold-out retreats and creating her own method and style of teaching, Catherine will help you define what your teaching values and vision are. Then she’ll attend your class (virtually or in person if based in Pittsburgh), give feedback that ladders back to your teaching goals, and assist in your growth and confidence.
Pricing and time spent is based on the unique need of each client.
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With seven sold out retreats in her back pocket and five more on the horizon, Catherine specializes in helping retreat leaders reframe their approach to marketing and sales.
Using her corporate experience in digital e-commerce, graphic design and marketing, she’ll help you attack nearly very angle of your retreat planning and operations, so you can focus on the good stuff (what happens when your feet hit the ground on day 1) and no stress about the backend stuff.
Pricing and time spent is based on the unique needs of each client and the approach ranges from knowledge-transfer sessions to full-on operations outsourcing. Reach out for details.
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Hire Catherine to lead workshops as a guest teacher or speaker at your next studio or corporate event.
Offering includes any or all of the below:
— Collective Move + Flow Classes
— Values Workshops
— Boundaries Workshops
— Intuition Workshops
Want to work together and have an idea? Reach out. We love a good collab.
From her clients —
#AerieREAL Solstice in Times Square —
It’s been one of the biggest honors of her life to represent Aerie three years in a row (2017-2019) at Solstice in Times Square, where her corporate day job merged with her love for collective movement.Roll out your mat and check out Catherine’s 2019 class here.
