ABOUT ME
Whitney Arvin, C-IAYT
Since 2009 I have been consistently teaching classes and working with individuals through yoga. After personally experiencing ongoing benefits, relief from various health issues, and transformation through continuous practice, it became clear that this was going to be part of my daily lifestyle. I also realized that I care deeply about sharing it with others.
For me, Yoga is a lifelong practice and study that is my mission to share. These teachings are beautiful, authentic, and relevant.
My Story
I’m a mother of a typical teenage daughter and a rambunctious young son. I started dealing with chronic and debilitating back pain at the age of 12. There were times I could not walk. Doctors prescribed medicine for the pain and that was all they could do. I began going to yoga classes and the pain was significantly better. I came to yoga in 2005 and it was this practice that healed my back and addressed other complex health issues. Over time, I was able to stop taking all prescription medications and start feeling more connected to myself and my health.
This motivated me to become a yoga teacher so that I could share the benefits with others and keep myself immersed in the process. I was enthralled with yoga’s wisdom and the benefits that I was seeing. In 2010, I completed a 200 hour teacher training order to share this practice with hopes of helping others. Eventually I began another training and one of the requirements was to work personally with a mentor in the same tradition. Since then, not only is my chronic back pain completely GONE, many of the other basic life issues have improved and actually transformed.
This practice has taken me beyond overcoming physical issues and improved my most important relationships. Yoga helped me to become a better parent to my children, to leave a bad relationship, and to live my life with presence and joy.
In 2015 I began another teacher training within a lineage of yoga called Viniyoga (meaning “appropriate application”) that is maintained by a teacher-to-student tradition. The concepts and ideas were passed down by Krisnamacharya to his son T.K.V. Desikachar who were both exceptional healers and teachers. Much of the yoga we know in the West came from their teachings. In 2016 I received a 300 hour certification in this tradition and in 2021 completed a four-year, 1008+ hour yoga therapy program within the same lineage.
My training and experience are approximately equivalent, in terms of time and requirements, to a Ph.D in the therapeutic application of yoga.
MY TRAINING
I have completed four yoga certifications:
- 200-hr Teacher Training
- 300-hr Teacher Training
- 32-hr Yoga Intensive
- 4-year, 1008-hr Yoga Therapist Certification
I teach and practice in the lineage of T.K.V. Desikachar and T. Krishnamacharya. What does this mean? T. Krishnamacharya was a healer, teacher, and scholar, to say the least, and was considered to be the father of modern yoga. He was the teacher of many of the yogis we know today such as B.K.S Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, and Indra Devi to name a few. One of his students, Mr. T.K.V. Desikachar, was also his son. My teacher, Mr. Chase Bossart (The Yoga Well Institute, CA), was a student of Mr. T.K.V. Desikachar for over 20 years.
I continue learning from my teachers and am in 4 hours of weekly ongoing classes. I practice yoga every day and live what I am here to share with you.
It is my intention to form a relationship with you in order to share the depth this practice has to offer, and connect with the innate wisdom and potential that resides within each body, mind, and spirit.
It is my great joy to pass on what I have learned to those needing help or wishing to learn more about the deep benefits of yoga.
TESTIMONIALS
I have felt better physically and mentally.
Whitney is an extremely talented yoga teacher and individual. She takes her time with you to make sure you understand what to do. She does not press you to do more than you are capable of doing. I have been with her for almost 18 months and have felt better both physically and mentally. She is a great instructor and person.
-Ellen Z, Retired.
The pain of old mental scars are fading away...
When I retired, I wanted to take my new found free time to do something for myself that I thought I might enjoy and be good for these stiff old bones. I am now able to bend and stoop to pick something up from the floor without groaning and getting short of breath.
But, that’s the least of what I’ve gained. The pain of old mental scars are fading away. My view of this world is so much brighter and fuller than it ever was before.
As a physician specializing in neurology and psychiatry I am familiar with our ability to diagnose and label a problem, but healing it is something else altogether different. I have found yoga as she is teaching me to be more therapeutic and rewarding than any medicine can provide.
She is, indeed, a gifted teacher and I am so blessed and grateful to be her student.
-Michael, Neurologist
Teaching me how to breathe, particularly with movement, has made me lighter and more coordinated...
Working with Whitney has had real benefits for me. She has honed in on my weak points and developed an individualized care plan. Teaching me how to breathe, particularly with movement, has made me lighter and more coordinated. Yoga has helped me be more flexible. I would recommend individual yoga sessions for anyone who has chronic problems.
-Margaret, Retired Nurse Practitioner
Simple and short is emphasized over complex and lengthy...
I am a retired senior with a slew of bothersome medical issues amplified by stress. Itching eczema that wakes me up in the middle of the night, elevated high blood pressure that medication can’t relieve, a sore knee, an ankle that suddenly drops, and a shoulder injured by repetitive “healthy” exercise. Whitney has been someone to attend to all these conditions — in ways that my doctors can’t. She has developed for me a daily breathing yoga practice that first and foremost helps calm me down. She has customized the practice to my particular needs and abilities, creating simple movements in which deep inhalation and exhale are made the priority. Simple and short is emphasized over complex and lengthy. She has also adjusted the practice over time — with fine patience on her part — to fit the coming and going of each malady. And, she has periodically tweaked the practice to keep it fresh and me alert. Whitney has been extremely tolerant of my gradual pace of learning and cheered incremental, positive change. She is bright — in both meanings of the word, experienced, intuitive, generous and kind. I recommend her to everyone as the perfect gift to yourself or someone you love.
-Daniel, Retired Community College Math and Statistics Instructor
San Francisco, CA