Power yoga?

I often refer to myself as a power yoga teacher. Why? As I understand power yoga, it focuses on complete whole mind/body engagement for every pose and transition throughout an entire vinyasa practice. I seek to engage my students in this process so that their practice is a complete experience, one that grants them the ability to release in the final asana of corpse pose. This posture represents the goal of a successful yoga class permitting them to access the stilling of the mind described by Patanjali. Since power yoga asks the participant to travel  through this state of constant engagement of mind and body then there is a better chance for one to arrive at a true resting pose. This is my why. 

What is Hot Yoga?

I am primarily a hot yoga instructor and many of my classes fall under this style. Even though I teach these classes, I am often puzzled over how to describe exactly what this nomenclature means. What exactly is "Hot Yoga"? To answer such a question in a comprehensive way, one might be better off writing a book of many volumes. For this blog’s purpose, let me describe my personal understanding of this tradition. As I comprehend it, hot yoga takes its literal inspiration from the land of origin, India. Although a land of many geographical regions, many locations in India are both hot and humid. This is even truer for several of the regions that yoga has come from in recent times. If one has ever spent time in such an environment then one realizes the added benefit to flexibility in such a combination. Turning up the heat in a yoga room imitates this, creating an environment that promotes a persons ability to sink into and perform poses. To achieve the desired effect, the heat is turned up to at least 85 degrees and sometimes humidifiers give an extra touch of moisture to imitate an Indian environment. This sets the context; from here, it all depends upon an instructor’s lineage and choice of poses. Sometimes, it is predictable such as in an Ashtonga, Moksha or Bikrim class. Regardless, there are elements and common poses that one will find in all hot yoga sessions. If you attend one of mine, expect a heated room between 90-100 degrees, a vinyasa style flow and an awesome sweat!

Individual Sessions

How about an individual yoga session? Enjoy the personal attention and unique guidance of this one on one opportunity. I can help you discover variations and simple adjustments that will help deepen your practice. Using my experience as a certified personal trainer and registered yoga instructor, I will help you discover variations designed especially for you and your practice. Try one of these packages: One session $40 Three sessions $110 Five sessions $150 Send an email or call to let me know when we can start furthering your practice. Your mind and body will love you for this. westlake.david@gmail.com 607.262.0318

Dreaming and Goal Setting

Dream big! Set goals and achieve them! Powerful words but how does one move in such a direction. Rather than recreate the wheel let me point to some inspirational and helpful advice. Lululemon offers some fantastic tools for goal setting in one's life. Check out this link and enjoy. I found it very helpful. Namaste!

Facebook Novel

Check out my FB novel!

Certified Personal Trainer

Awesome! I completed my personal trainer certification program and passed the test with flying colors. I am now official.

New Yoga Bio

I attended my first yoga class ten years ago while living on the coast of Maine at the request of a friend. At the time, I practiced numerous intense physical activities such as sport fencing, running, and endurance hiking; yoga didn’t seem to fit into my scene. Yoga went on to challenge all my unwarranted presuppositions and to turn my understanding of physical practice on its head. That began my journey into the profound depths of yoga. Since then, I have studied at a variety of places with a number of teachers ultimately going on to complete a 200hr teacher training. I call my personal style of yoga “Contemporary Vinyasa” which blends a flowing set of traditional poses with new variations, intentional transitions and active core strength. This is set to inspiring music and combined with levity and mind/body philosophy. Questions? Comments? Come to one of my classes and discover more. Namaste!