Iyengar Yoga in Ojai by Tal offers great handson group classes- April 2015

April 27, 2015 todd elliot

I have visited a couple times when I came to Ojai but plan on going anytime I am in the area. The stretching and techniques taught by Tal are amazing and create an incredible improvement of how I feel and get more flexible afterwards. I highly recommend checking it out as the husband/wife team of Tal and Etahl are the most hands on of any yoga class I have ever been to. They help you no matter what level you are at and make you feel comfortable while educating you in the proper practice and you will see results.

To build a strong building, you must start with a strong foundation. After laying the foundation, the floors are added in a successive order. When learning the art of Yoga, it is a similar process. If the foundation is not laid properly, the whole building is like a house of cards, unstable and ready to collapse.

Growing up in a rushed, ambitious society, we have lost the qualities of patience and forbearance. We want to be at the end result and not start from where we are. In Iyengar yoga classes we learn the basic foundation and proceed with patience and intelligence.

Class instruction is based on the needs and abilities of those who attend. It is part of the Iyengar method of yoga to use props such as blocks, chairs, straps, benches, walls, and ropes to prevent strain or injury, and to reap the maximum benefit of a pose.

General Class Description

The Center conducts regular classes for all. These include beginners, general and advanced classes. We offer ongoing weekly classes for students of all levels. Level of teaching will be adjusted to the group who attends each session. Therapeutic variations are taught within the class sequence. In the course of a month a full range of study of each type of pose is taught: standing poses, forward bending, backward bending, inversions, balancing, and twists. The last week of the month generally focuses on resting (restorative) poses and breath awareness or Pranayama.

Tal Messica the founder of the Iyengar Yoga Center of Ojai, Tal is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher who was born and raised in Israel. He began studying yoga as a young man after noticing that many people around him had health problems. He wanted a tool that would not only keep the body healthy, but offer the freedom to be responsible for one’s own health. He discovered the Iyengar yoga style and was fascinated by its depth and ability to teach individual students on many dimensions. When Tal received his Iyengar yoga certification in Israel his teacher told him: “Now the true learning begins!”
While in Israel Tal taught yoga classes at the Iyengar Yoga Center of Tel Aviv, assisted in yoga therapy classes, and took a 3-year course of Iyengar Yoga Therapy with Stephanie Quirk. He was deeply inspired when he met the Iyengar family in Pune and watched B.K.S Iyengar practice and teach his granddaughter Abi while he himself is still practicing Yoga at the age of 94.
He has been in the United States since 2011 and has taught at the Iyengar Yoga Center of Santa Barbara and at the Ventura Yoga Studio. He now lives with his wife Etahl in Ojai, California and together they founded the Iyengar Yoga Center of Ojai . “For me, Yoga is not a repetition of postures but a subject that unfolds itself with every practice and which opens new fields to explore, a journey for the rest of one’s life…”,,,

Etahl Messica, Founder and co-director of the Iyengar Yoga Center of Ojai, is a longtime student and practitioner of Iyengar yoga. She first started doing yoga when her mother was pregnant with her and later discovered it while looking at a book and comparing Iyengar pictures to Shivananda pictures and being amazed at the difference! She studied under the guidance of the Iyengars in Pune, India, and is currently working toward her certification with Marla Apt. Etahl has studied for many years and had gone through the Waldorf teacher training as well as Eurithmy training. She has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and has a dream to become a licensed midwife.

Iyengar Yoga is a unique form of Yoga that emphasizes correct alignment of all parts of the body within each yoga pose.This precision builds strength and stamina, balance and flexibility, and a new sense of well-being.The system of teaching Iyengar Yoga is methodical and progressive, emphasizing safety, alignment, and the development of exquisite self-awareness.

Iyengar Yoga Center Of Ojai
109B N. Montgomery St.
Ojai. CA, 93023 USA
(805) 889-7320

http://www.iyengaryogaojai.com/