Juliet Wing

  I started practicing Hatha Yoga in 1986. In 1989 I received my Hatha Yoga teachers certification from the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbra, California. Ganga White and Tracy Rich were my teachers. They taught Astanga Yoga, which is the 8-limb path of Patanjali’s, also called Raja yoga. I have been a member of the Arizona Yoga Association since it conception in 1992 and helped organized the first yoga teacher’s directory.         

I have continued my yoga education over the years by attending yoga workshops and studying with Bill Counter and Darren Roads at the Yoga Oasis in Tucson. A large part of my yoga study though, comes from my own practice, Svadhyaya. Svadhyaya means self-study and is one of the niyamas (observances) in Astanga yoga. I am constantly reading books about yoga from modern authors and the ancient sages of India.

I received a degree as a Shiatsu therapist in 1993 at the Desert Institute of Healing Arts in Tucson, Arizona. I studied traditional Chinese medicine and also anatomy and physiology. I volunteered 2 years as a Shiatsu therapist at UMC’S CUP program in Tucson. The CUP program consisted of medical students treating illness and disease in Central American refuges under the guidance of attending physician’s. I worked mainly with people who had survived being tortured.

That same year, I taught hatha yoga to first year medical students at UMC. From 1997 to 2001 I taught yoga at Gold Medal Fitness in Tucson. I taught hatha yoga at Gila Community College in Payson for 14 years. I also teach classes on meditation, pranayama and chanting mantras.

            The hatha yoga classes I teach are a mixed level class for beginners as well as continuing students. It is balanced program of postures, which are designed to develop strength, flexibility, and endurance. The hatha yoga classes also included breath work (pranayama) and relaxation techniques.

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I believe that hatha yoga practice is for anyone who wants better health, mobility, and strength, regardless of their age or physical abilities. I feel that to often we settle for “just not being sick” as an indicator of health. Instead, we should strive for optimal vitality and that hatha yoga practice is the way in which we can achieve it.