Iyengar Yoga at Sand Hills Wellness Center

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What is Iyengar Yoga?

 

Iyengar Yoga is an approach to teaching, learning, and practicing yoga that was developed by yoga master B.K.S. Iyengar (1918-2014).  Mr. Iyengar developed a precise and systematic method in which the practice of physical postures (asanas) opens onto a deep exploration of our emotional, psychological, and spiritual selves.  His work, carried on by his family and the teachers trained in his method, has shaped the practice of yoga in the modern world.

 

Iyengar yoga teachers undergo years of rigorous training.  Iyengar yoga classes emphasize clarity of instruction, systematic guidance in the asana practice, and the adaptation of poses to meet the needs of individual students.  

 

Carol Cook, Ph.D,  CIYT

Carol is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher (CIYT) with two decades of yoga teaching experience.  She has studied with exceptional senior Iyengar Yoga teachers including Kevin Gardner, Mary Dunn, Dean and Rebecca Lerner, and Matt Dreyfus.  Her teaching aspires to help students hone their attention in order to understand their bodies and to work safely toward greater physical freedom and mental quietness.  This journey of exploration is not only fascinating--it is also fun! Humor and playfulness are essential to the process of discovering ourselves.

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David Thurn, Ph.D, CIYT

David is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher (CIYT) who has studied for many years with senior teachers in the Iyengar tradition, including Matt Dreyfus, Mary Dunn, Kevin Gardiner, Carrie Owerko, and Dean & Rebecca Lerner. David began his study of yoga with T.K.V. Desikachar in 1976, discovered the Iyengar method in 1998, and began teaching in 2002.

 

David’s teaching emphasizes precise alignment and a playful, deep exploration of the asanas (yoga poses) as a means of developing stability, flexibility, and balance in body and mind.  When these things come together, we touch the heart of yoga in an experience of equanimity, integration, and clarity of mind.

 

Yoga has a therapeutic value that extends far beyond the yoga mat. This is why David strives in his teaching to present each asana as an opportunity to discover the truth of your own experience, to expand your awareness of unhelpful habits, to develop the resources for dealing with challenges, to make clear-sighted choices, and to engage in wise, deliberate action.

 

David is also a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst with a private practice in NY and NJ.  As both a yoga teacher and a clinician, his goal is to help people to identify problems, to understand their sources, and to develop the freedom to make changes that will lead to a more creative, satisfying engagement with life.