Stephanie Rider has been practicing asana since 1999, her first teacher having been Asha Wolf (currently of Boulder, CO). In 2001 Stephanie completed the 1,000-hour Iyengar-based core program of the Southern Institute of Yoga Instructors in Nashville, TN under the loving tutelage of Betty Larsen and John Charping. In 2004, she had the opportunity to join Sue Reynolds as co-owner of ClearSpring Yoga in Chattanooga, TN, a studio that had been started by Sue Reynolds and Becky Dempsey in 1999. There she teaches beginning and continuing hatha yoga classes, as well as prenatal and restorative series. Stephanie received the majority of her prenatal training from Mary Barnes who is a certified Anusara teacher, and her knowledge of restorative yoga came from Roger Cole (Iyengar). Stephanie’s training further includes a smorgasboard of various approaches, including workshops with Mary Paffard, Angela Farmer & Victor van Kooten, Erich Schiffmann, Doug Keller, Ramanand Patel, Jill Miller and Elise Browning Miller, among others.
If pressed to define her “teaching style” Stephanie would say it is rooted in Iyengar principles, while being nourished and inspired by every single teacher (and student) she’s been around. Stephanie teaches relaxation, acceptance and happiness with a light-hearted and often humorous approach. Stephanie’s “money” job is the marketing of construction equipment, and she sure feels blessed to have learned how to breathe! She endeavors to teach her students how to open to the breath and how to use breath to relax. Stephanie agrees with the fact that it takes asana practice to open the body so the breath can be received and relaxation can deepen.
The latest buzz about Chatt town is Twitter (I had no idea what it was until last week either). One can sign up for free at twitter.com and then collect friends (in this case called followers) to whom you can send short text messages via cell phone.