I teach private and semi-private yoga classes to some truly beautiful people in Los Angeles. My teaching integrates the attention and precision of the Iyengar method with the vigor of the Ashtanga series and “flow” styles. Each private lesson is tailored to meet your needs, your body, and your situation – be it high stress, pregnancy/post-natal, weight loss, developing flexibility, recovering from an injury, deepening your yoga practice, or enhancing your current exercize routine. Amy Galland
I first decided to teach yoga while I was writing my Ph.D. dissertation. I noticed that the students in the art history sections for which I was a teaching assistant were totally stressed out about their homework and getting to class – and that they didn’t enjoy the time we spent together because of the stress. I love art, and thought that being an art historian would give me the opportunity to talk about it with others who love art, and introduce art to others who will, in turn, love art with us. But university is not necessarily the place for that.
Instead, I wanted to bring about for people one of the best hours of their week – not one that was cause for anxiety and sleepless nights. So I committed to my other love (outside of my pets, dear friends, and family), yoga. (And if you are asking your self … yes, I did finish my Ph.D.)
I completed a teacher training program at the BKS Iyengar Yoga Center of Greater Boston with a woman whom I look up to and think of with joy and awe, Patricia Walden. I am fortunate to have been able to have studied regularly with Patricia for three years – to learn from her how to care for my students, as well as from her deep and broad knowledge of the asanas, how to use them for healing as well as for strength, flexibility, and developing a “yoga body,” and the philosophy that underlies yoga practice.
Since then, I have taken workshops on several topics including: Pre- and Post-natal yoga, Therapeutics, Yoga for Depression, and Restoratives.
My formal training continued with a Yoga Alliance Certification through Yoga Works in Los Angeles. Yoga Works is an interesting, American, yoga system that combines the attention to alignment that is a hallmark of the Iyengar system, with the flow of the Ashtanga series and the dynamic movement of Viniyoga/ the Yoga of Desikachar. The result is a fun, energizing, class that provides a great work-out while covering all the “bases” – standing poses, twists, forward bends, backbends, inversions, pranayama (breathing) – while leaving you blissed out, knowing you just did something really good for yourself, and able to carry that feeling through the rest of your day.
My studies have continued – and timing, luck, and a credit card afforded me to also study with BKS Iyengar in Pune, India and Sri Pattabhi Jois for two summer-intensives in New York. I can hardly describe the experience – but I will try.
You can feel BKS Iyengar’s presence from across the room. A swell of energy introduces him to your space. And for all that has been said about his harsh ways, he truly loves his students and imparts his incredible knowledge to all of us with generosity and kindness.
Sri Pattabhi Jois is a loving teacher. His presence and his words inspire you to find places in your self (and yourself in places and positions) that you previously could not have imagined.
But imagining (visioning, but that sounds touchy-feelie) is the basis of yoga. Imagining yourself in a pose – a backbend, handstand, or touching your toes – and doing the work to get yourself there.
And then you reach the point where, as Mr. Iyengar says, “the effort flows effortlessly.”
And you are doing yoga.
If you are in LA, I’d love to share yoga with you. If you are a beginner, it will be fun to get started, and if you are an experienced practitioner, I will work with you to deepen your practice.
Please email me at:
yoga at haveanamaste dot net
to schedule an appointment.
