By Juliana Hoft
Staff Writer
The goal of yoga is to put the mind, body, and soul into balance. Achieving this goal is not easy. Teaching others to reach this goal requires commitment and the great love for the practice of yoga.
Tyler Stroh, a MCHS sophomore, is a qualified yoga teacher who has been practicing for 5 years on a regular basis. He is certified as a yoga teacher, which allows him to teach at studios and gyms. He remains passionate about deepening his knowledge.
“I first began practicing yoga regularly in a studio when I was eleven years old,” Stroh said. “I was introduced to yoga when my mom started practicing “mommy-and-me” yoga with my younger brother.”
The first step that Stroh took to become a yoga instructor occurred when he enrolled in 200-hour foundation training with Jamie Horgan of Julie Rader’s Mukti Yoga School—a yoga school that has certified hundreds of yoga teachers. The class included learning how to teach yoga, the anatomy of the human body, sequencing a class, and giving adjustments to potential students. He started the training in the fall of 2010, completed the course in April of 2011, and become a certified teacher.
“There are many aspects to yoga. There is the physical exercise, there is mental calmness, and there is the aspect, which leads me to live with a positive outlook on life,” Stroh said. “Without the three aspects of yoga, my life would not be the way it is.”
To expand his understanding of yoga Stroh decided to become involved in Julie Rader’s 500- hour graduate training. In this extensive class, Stroh learns how to instruct more advanced yoga poses while intensifying his comprehension of the spiritual side of yoga. He started this graduate training in January of 2012, and he will be finished in April.
“I leave a class with what the yogis, or anyone who does yoga, call a “yoga brain”— you are in a state of bliss and are almost in your own world,” Stroh said.
Stroh is also actively involved in the Manhattan Beach Studio, the Green Yogi. He is a teacher’s assistant there. He helps out while gaining hands-on experience with alignment cues and adjusting the poses of students in the class. He also participates in classes at the Green Yogi and another studio called The Yoga Loft.
“Yoga is a great activity, not only for the exercise aspect but also the mental aspect of it,” Stroh said. “All yogis that I know are the nicest people and have the most positive outlook on life.”
In a few weeks Stroh is going to begin teaching the yoga classes at Mira Costa at least once a week. In the future he wants to substitute for yoga classes at local studios and also hopes to teach his own classes soon. In college Stroh hopes to teach his fellow peers and people of all ages to give them mental and physical benefits of yoga. After graduating from college, Stroh would like to pursue yoga part time.
“Tyler’s achievements are simply pure product of the yoga he has found to have a strong passion for,” said P.E. teacher and yoga instructor Ms. Tower. “ We don’t see too many young people in the community pursue such a passion at a young age.”
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