Paul Clare – RYT-200
Paul formally came to yoga in 2012, practicing a modified 1
Hour Bikram style at Floo-id Yoga in Scottsdale, Arizona. Under the guidance of
teachers like Vicki Herron, he overcame a partial hip and femur replacement to
develop a strong practice, with the help of modifications that allowed him to
deepen into poses he never believed he could attain. He stopped saying that he
would never be able to reach full expression in certain asanas, and began to
ask how he could slowly move towards them. He believes with proper
modifications and alignment that yoga can be accessible to everyone.
Paul began to practice Vinyasa yoga in 2014, outside of his
comfort zone of a hot and humid studio. New challenges were presented by flow
classes, and he struggled with the lack of rigid instruction that Bikram
classes are known for. Vinyasa was like learning a second language, and he
realized he needed to take a drastic approach to learning it. He decided he
would take an intensive teacher training in Hatha Vinyasa. Researching schools
and curriculums led him to immerse himself in recommended readings, and he awoke
to the greater teachings of yoga, and realized he had been practicing yoga for
his entire adult life, if not longer.
In February of 2016, Paul graduated from the Maui Yoga Shala
in Hawaii, under the tutelage of Nadia Toramon and Karin Kuhn. The concentration
was on alignment, anatomy, connection of movement to breathe, and proper
vinyasa sequencing, along with deep study into the philosophy of yoga. He
incorporates the Maui Aloha Yoga spirit every time he steps on the mat.
Paul’s impressive lineage from Nadia includes connections to
Sri K Pattabhi Jois, developer of the Ashtanga vinyasa style of yoga, with whom
she studied directly, and to B. K. S. Iyengar, through her teacher Kofi Busia,
whom studied directly with Iyengar throughout the 70’s and into the mid 1980’s.
Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois are among the world’s most renowned yoga teachers,
and were students of the “Father of Modern Yoga”, T Krishnamacharya. He
continues to seek out the foremost teachers to practice with and learn from,
while applying their lessons to his own practice and teachings.
Paul has developed his own unique workshop, Yoga 101: Back to Basics, incorporating
philosophy, anatomy, alignment, breathe control and modifications. He believes
that most yoga students get thrown into the deep end of the yoga pool, and are
largely left to learn to swim on their own. When teaching a class, his desire
is for each student to learn something, whether that is something new to them,
or a different way of thinking about something they already knew.
Paul is available for private instruction, one on one or
with small groups, or to conduct his workshop at your studio or home. For more
details, please feel free to contact him at paul.s.clare@gmail.com or call
602-793-3488.
