Yoga Instructor?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

After some research and a few conversation with fellow practitioners I’ve decided to look for a credible instructor. If you haven’t seen my previous thread, I’ve decided to utilize yoga to help correct my knock knees. If I’m not mistaken, I’m looking for a good Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga instructor in the Northern New Jersey area.

I’m currently in college so I can’t afford anything too expensive and with my schedule and lack of a car I won’t be able to lock in any long term commitments. What I’m looking for, if possible, is someone who can assess what my goals are and help guide me in the right direction.

All recommendations and help on this topic are greatly appreciated. Hope to hear from some of you soon. Thank you.

#2

Why would you believe an Ashtanga Vinyasa Teacher is what you need to help you? Just curious because I would think someone more attuned to an alignment based practice would be of more use if you are trying to correct a medical condition.
In my own experience, a credible and certified Iyengar Teacher would be able to help you work with specific medical ailments.
I don’t know the area you live in, but perhaps you can google search for an Iyengar Teacher in your neck of the woods!
Just a thought:)

#3

I have to agree with A Better Me. I think you want an alignment based practice to help with a structural condition like knock-knees. The focus will be more on placing the skeleton correctly in poses, and will focus on using your muscles to retain correct postures and alignment. See what you have around you!
I have few yoga studios to choose from myself, everyone (of the few there are) seems focused on Bikram and Vinyasa. :frowning:

#4

Two approaches:

One, find a studio that will allow you to do work study or volunteer or barter. Or make the appropriate changes in your living to bring the money that you need into your life. Actually BOTH would be good:-)

Therapeutics using Yoga require a certain eye, a certain understanding, a certain depth of training. There is a benefit to doing postures just as there can be a harm to doing them (when they are done in certain ways, certain durations, with certain intentions). Therefore the term therapeutic yoga does not refer to the benefits one receives when they go and take a generalized asana class. Benefit, yes. Therapeutic, not particularly.

When the student wants to correct a pattern they’ve built up in the physical body over time it is very unlikely that can be done while hurriedly moving from one posture to the next in a rush to I-don’t-know-where. The history of “speedy” asana practice is a history of occupying the furtive mind of adolescent boys. It is not a therapeutic practice just as Tai Bo or Step or 45 minutes on the eliptical are not. This does not mean there is no value to it or that it cannot serve a purpose and for some it clearly serves a deep and meaningful purpose. But again, it is not therapeutic.

The more a practice requires you to fit it (meaning the less it bends itself to you) the less likely it is to have profound therapeutic qualities across the board. Find a practice that can change to fit you. Find one that not only teaches alignment but one that also has compassion and an understanding that alignment precedes strengthening. Additionally you would be well served to find a place where the teachers are not dogmatic and are not asserting that one things fits every body.

#5

The reason why I though a vinyasa instructor was appropriate was because up until this point the only thing I could find for helping to correct knock knees were poses like Tree, Warrior II, and Triangle. So I was mistaken. In my search to find an alternative to surgery for correcting my knees, no one until now has mentioned Iyengar. I am excited to look into this. I will do more research. Thanks for all the replies everyone.

#6

how long / is it tough to become an instructor?

#7

[QUOTE=ladybug;46471]After some research and a few conversation with fellow practitioners I’ve decided to look for a credible instructor. If you haven’t seen my previous thread, I’ve decided to utilize yoga to help correct my knock knees. If I’m not mistaken, I’m looking for a good Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga instructor in the Northern New Jersey area.

I’m currently in college so I can’t afford anything too expensive and with my schedule and lack of a car I won’t be able to lock in any long term commitments. What I’m looking for, if possible, is someone who can assess what my goals are and help guide me in the right direction.

All recommendations and help on this topic are greatly appreciated. Hope to hear from some of you soon. Thank you.[/QUOTE]

I would suggest Iyengar or any alignment based practice. Yoga therapy would also work. Ashatanga is a very demanding practice and sometimes is taught at the fast pace that is not helpful at all for people with problems like yours.

#8

This isn’t really part of this thread but…

Are you asking how long before one can tag themselves as a “yoga teacher” or are you asking about actually becoming a teacher such that you can impart the practice in its entirety to others with safety and effect?

#9

[QUOTE=CityMonk;46622]I would suggest Iyengar or any alignment based practice. Yoga therapy would also work. Ashatanga is a very demanding practice and sometimes is taught at the fast pace that is not helpful at all for people with problems like yours.[/QUOTE]

So what other styles focus on alignment besides Iyengar

#10

If your unable to find an Iyengar studio, perhaps you might find a certified Anusara teacher. John Friend developed this style just over 13 years ago, but his many years of practice included studying with Mr. Iyengar. A little more light hearted of a practice yet still using principles of alignment that apply in all the asanas.

#11

The above suggestions are correct. I would look for an Anusara or Iyengar teacher. They will evaluate alignment issues as well as a yoga therapist. Ashtanga classes won’t give you the one on one you need and are very strenuous. There is little if any instruction.

In addition to what IA wrote, see if you can barter with a certified teacher who is alignment based and have her come to your home for a couple one on one sessions. Sometimes that is all it takes to move you in the right direction. Ask her if she can do an assessment and, based on that assessment, what type of sequence she would recommend. Have her write it down for you and also recommend a DVD perhaps to augment your practice. Most yoga teachers would love to do a private session with a new yogi! If I were close, I’d help you out!

Good luck and let us all know what you decide!

#12

Purna Yoga? and Viniyoga

#13

Wow, thanks so much for all the replies everyone. I’m going to look into all the stuff you guys suggested. I went to B. K. S Iyengar’s website and found a directory of teachers in my area. I’m going to email them and narrow down who I think is the best choice for me.

I’ll also look into an Anusara teacher but thats only if I can’t find a good Iyengar instructor right?

#14

Actually, I would suggest looking into both. Either would be beneficial, and if you talk it over with an instructor of each type, you may find one resonates more for you.

Personally I’ve read some info about Gordon’s Purna Yoga and I wish I could find an instructor in my area!

#15

I would not recommend ashtanga vinyasa when you think of some poses like supta virasana that require open hips.If the hips are’nt open enough the knees can take the strain.I had this experience and i told the instructor i need a block or i was’nt ready. Against mybetter judgement and her suggestion i did the pose but my knees did feel fuunny for a few weeks it took to recover from that.I would’nt have dreamt of doing it at home.

You could give it a shot though/FWIW I’m not up on knock-knees

#16

I don’t know anything about Jersey, but there is a teacher named Fran who teaches in Florida, New York. I think she is from New Hampton. She is a teacher and therapist in a vinyasa tradition, as well as all-around extraordinary person. She can be reached through contacts at: http://www.yogaforwellbeing.org/.

#17

Having looked at Fran’s web site it seems she is trained in the Krishnamacharya/Desikachar lineage which would lean more toward viniyoga (in which she has a certification) than toward vinyasa.

#18

I beleive that the Krisnamacharya/Desikachar lineage do not necsessarily call it viniyoga
anymore , I think im correct in saying that T K V Desikachar asked his students to stop calling it vini yoga , which some Teachers were not overly happy with , in that they had trained in that method and wanted to keep citing that name as I guess it had some reputation and brand awareness , Desikachar just wanted to get back to the idea of doing yoga rather than the sometimes confusing plethora of names for the same thing , B K S Iyengar often says that there is no such thing as Iyengar yoga , for example.
I beleive that students of Krishnamacharya , Im thinking of Srivatsa Ramaswami( see the complete book of vinyasa yoga )speak of the vinyasa Krama method in which there are over 1000 sequences , of which only a few are in popular use , Ramaswami says that the word vinyasa was used in describing all sorts of activities eg dance and art . We are talking about very specifically linking the breath to the movement , more often than not with Bandha especially jalaranda (sp?).
and sometimes chanting. I have had the delight to work with the excellent teacher Debbie Mills on Occasion in this method , she has a practise in Houston and travels , but I have only skimmed the surface.
Of course we have confusion over the name in that we have Ashtanga vinyasa brand , further confusion in jumping around yoga flow that brands itself vinyasa , that from hearsay( I have not attended a class) that seems to have kept the name but lost the practise or at least reduced it to a keep fit class.
So If Fran says that she , works in vinyasa tradition ,this is probably what she refers to.
I imagine vini is short for vinyasa . hope all that makes sense.

#19

[QUOTE=charliedharma;47089] and sometimes chanting.

I meant mantra

#20

[QUOTE=InnerAthlete;47057]Having looked at Fran’s web site it seems she is trained in the Krishnamacharya/Desikachar lineage which would lean more toward viniyoga (in which she has a certification) than toward vinyasa.[/QUOTE]

The website says her therapist training was from the American Viniyoga Institute, and I cannot relay whether they would say they teach ‘vinyasa’… but the site also states that she is a teacher trainer for KHYF-- the curriculum of which holds the concepts of vinyasa as a foundation both in course/sequence planning as well as the linking of movement with the breath.