Teacher Feature; Aaron Ali

After taking his first yoga class in 2003 and developing a regular practice, Aaron Ali took the next step in his journey with yoga. “I’d always considered taking a yoga teacher training to help my own practice evolve,” he says, “At one point, I had a friend who was going through a training and after looking at the books she was required to read (anatomy, philosophy, etc.), I knew it was something I really wanted to do. The next year that it was available, I signed up for teacher training and haven’t looked back since.”

After deciding to deepen his practice, Aaron began his first teacher training at Spynga. The teachers and fellow students, so he says, had a deep and lasting impact on his practice. “One of my teachers in the program also taught Yin Yoga, which led me to study that style with her immediately after my initial training,” says Aaron, “This was a very transitional and challenging time in my life, and my training really provided a necessary focus and goal to work toward. My training provided me with some truly invaluable personal development strategies that I still utilize today.”

After his training, Yoga Tree was fortunate enough to welcome him into its arms. “Teaching at Yoga Tree provides me with a consistent opportunity to learn and grow from an amazing community of members and teachers,” says Aaron, “I’ve had the opportunity to meet some pretty wonderful people since teaching here. It’s incredible how much you can learn just by observing the practice of others.”

Being an avid lover/teacher of Yin Yoga, Aaron has the opportunity to teach a lot of people who are just beginning their practice. For him, the first step is mindfulness. “Approach your practice mindfully and with patience. Ask questions when you are uncertain, and take your time. I started out wanting to learn the toughest poses right away, but I eventually realized that it’s important to truly master the basics first. Every body is unique and every day is different. Try not to have expectations of where you should be on a given day. Just work from the condition you are in at that specific point in time.”

As for his favorite asana, Aaron loves a good back stretch. “I really enjoy Supta Virasana, or reclined hero pose right now,” he says, “It targets parts of my body that very often need a stretch.”

Be sure to enjoy one of Aaron’s classes at our Downtown or Midtown locations! And remember, if you are interested in deepening your own practice, join us for our Yoga Tree Teacher Training Open House at our Midtown location on May 11th from 1:00PM to 2:30PM!