Our Teachers

Unity Woods prides itself on offering the highest quality of yoga instruction. Our teachers collectively have more years of training and more teaching experience than the staff of any other studio in the Washington metropolitan area. Although legally almost anyone can hang out a shingle as a yoga teacher (sometimes after only hours or days of teacher training) we believe that yoga is a discipline that rewards deep study and rigorous teaching standards.

Here at Unity Woods, most of our teachers are certified through the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the U.S. (IYNAUS). To be certified means that our teachers must have:

• Studied for three or more years with certified Iyengar Yoga teachers while maintaining a continuous regular practice
• Completed a two to three year teacher training program or 150 hours of apprenticeship
• Passed a rigorous initial assessment by three senior teachers

That assessment includes:

• A written exam on aspects of anatomy, philosophy and teaching
• A demonstration of mastery of various asanas and pranayama techniques
• A teaching demonstration to evaluate teaching technique

If the teacher in training passes that first assessment, they must continue to study with a mentor for at least another year, and then take a second assessment with more difficult asanas and a more challenging written exam. Only after that is he or she awarded an Introductory teaching certificate. Many of our teachers have invested additional years of training and practice to be certified at even higher levels.

Of course, credentials are no guarantee of quality teaching. However they do give you an idea of the knowledge and competence the teacher brings to his or her teaching. We’re very proud of our teachers at Unity Woods.