One to One Sessions:
Yoga Asana Alignment
Rehabilitation and Foundational Alignment
Muscle Imbalance Correction through Strength and Posture
Every building needs a strong foundation to stand on and our bodies are no different. Your skeleton is like the bricks and your muscles the mortar. Any skilled craftsman knows where and how much mortar to place on the bricks to make the building stand structurally correct. If there is too much mortar in some places and not enough in others, the building becomes unstable. Think of this in terms of living tissue and it is easy to realize how this could cause a lot of unnecessary discomfort.
I did a 6-month personal training internship at the Michigan Athletic Club, where I shadowed and received instruction from a staff of over 30 personal trainers. Some were nationally recognized in their chosen field of sport and our head trainer Chris Johnson,has since written his own exercise and nutritional books and now owns his own company - On Target Living. Four of the trainers I worked with are now running a successful independent training center – The Trainer’s Studio. The MAC itself was attached to a hospital, hence the training I received was very much based on foundation and rehabilitation. We trained 5 days a week and were expected to practice the postural techniques we learned every day, some though everyday activities and then the same things in conjunction with weight training. I have now been practicing these techniques for over 14 years.
One of the most vivid testimonies to correct rehabilitative training would be the complete recovery of a once paralyzed individual, trained by Chris himself. This man, who was told he would never walk again, is now functioning without a trace of paralysis and became a personal trainer himself. I gained a great deal of respect for all of the trainers I worked with and was so inspired by the outstanding physical healing this training accomplished. To finalize my own personal training qualification I got certified through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine.)
It was then that I was encouraged by my teachers to try yoga. I fell in love with it from my first class and soon got my certification through YogaFit. My understanding of posture and alignment has been essential to my understanding of the yoga asanas and continues to improve my practice. That, and as any yogi knows, a healthy dose of patience. I have been practicing and teaching yoga for 10 years now.
The individual sessions I teach are all based on this corrective form of strength training. Weights may or may not be used, depending on individual circumstances. Sometimes bodyweight is all that is needed. If you require specialized instruction in either asana performance or strength correction/ stabilization, book in for someprivate sessions.
image credit: khunaspix at FreeDigitalPhotos.net