Anna ParkerAnna stayed active during high school and college through running, swimming, soccer, tennis, and aerobics.It wasn’t until after college, when she joined AmeriCorps and moved to California, that Anna discovered yoga.When she first joined a gym that offered yoga, Anna was doubtful.She wanted to burn calories, not relax.And since she was already flexible, why do yoga?When a new yoga/pilates combo class started, Anna began attending – for the pilates.But what she discovered was a love for yoga.Best of all, yoga was fun.It was a class she looked forward to all week, rather than something she felt obligated to do to make up for a questionable lunch decision.Over time, Anna became acutely aware of the transformative aspects of yoga.Because of hypermobile joints, she had suffered from joint and back pain for years.Her high school soccer career had been dependant on knee and ankle braces, and from the age of 20 she had experienced daily debilitating low back pain.Completely unexpectedly to Anna, the back pain slowly disappeared as she continued her yoga practice.Yoga strengthened the muscles around her joints, providing her with increased stability and balance.Anna discovered that yoga is definitely not just about flexibility and soft music – a lot of strength, balance, and sweat are involved!Anna has benefited most from the aspects of yoga that were hardest for her – strength and balance.She is much stronger and more balanced than she could ever have imagined before trying yoga.(If you’ve ever seen her fall out of tree pose several times in one class this might be difficult to believe, but really, the balance is exponentially better!) During the summer of 2005, Anna completed a 200 hour yoga teacher certification at Yoga Works in Los Angeles.In January of 2007, she finished the 300 hour Yoga Works Professional Program.That was an incredible experience for her, because in addition to the teacher training, she was able to become a regular student of some amazing teachers at Yoga Works in Santa Monica.She will complete an additional 100 hour Vinyasa Flow Teacher Training at Yoga Works in September.Anna aims to teach fun, creative classes that move and flow, yet retain an emphasis on alignment.Though yoga has healed Anna in many ways, it has also badly damaged her shoulders.As a result, she is a firm believer in the importance of good alignment.Anna is convinced that well-sequenced classes and proper alignment are essential for getting the greatest benefit from poses, for preventing new injuries, and for healing old injuries.
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Sisters Yoga (NW Corner of Willow/Nees) 2940 E Nees Ave, Suite 103 Fresno, CA 93720 (559) 298-1444
