Yogitimes, July/Aug 2004
 Thousands
of teachers, students and neophytes of yoga know Sarah Powers through
her trainings,workshops and classes,her numerous articles, and her audio/video
tapes. Her teaching seamlessly blends Buddhist mindfulness with a blend
of yoga styles into a powerful and transformative experience. There is
a luminosity as well as a peaceful ease and strength that radiates from
Sarah, reflecting the deep integration of her practice and teaching.
Eight years ago, Sarah and her husband, Ty Powers, moved from Santa Barbara
to the Bay area when their daughter, Imani Jade, was four years old. Sarah
began teaching at The Yoga Studio in Mill Valley,and stayed for many years,
eventually leading their teacher training program. She also began offering
workshops and leading retreats, as well as writing. She currently travels
worldwide (with her family) to teach, and teaches locally at the Deer
Run Zendo, a stunning hilltop temple with sweeping views and lovely gardens.
Sarah’s journey with yoga began after her marriage, while she was
getting her Master’s degree in Transpersonal Psychology. As part
of the curriculum, each student needed to study a body-oriented therapy.Sarah
chose yoga,mainly because her brother had a book on it while they were
growing up. She was so profoundly affected by the practice that she decided
to become a yoga teacher instead of completing her degree. Her first classes
were in the Sivananda style, and her first teacher training was at the
White Lotus Foundation.After about 6 months of study and practice, she
dove into teaching. The first class she taught was at YogaWorks, right
down the street from her home.“I was very new to what I knew, so
they gave me a slot that had no people... then 2 people, then 10 people.
It grew quite rapidly. It quickly became something I did, but I realize
I have to thank my partner because he was willing to support us.”
During this time, Ty’s support as well as his years of dedicated
study of metaphysics and consciousness expansion had a deep effect on
Sarah.When she became a yoga teacher,she felt she had finally done something
she could share with him,“I didn’t really feel we had equal
footing until I matured enough to start my own practice,learn from it
and then have something to give back.”Then, laughing, she says,“He
was my first student.”As Sarah’s teaching has grown, Ty has
remained an important part of her success.He continues to further his
own studies in yoga and Buddhism, recently completing the Community Dharma
Leader training program at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and also teaching
workshops.
While at YogaWorks, Sarah’s studies focused on Ashtanga and included
Iyengar and Viniyoga. Her main influences were Chuck Miller, Richard Freeman,
Erich Schiffman and Ana Forrest. She also studied with Pattabhi Jois during
his occasional month-long visits.During this time, she became fascinated
with Yin yoga, taught after her class by Paul Grilley.She found that Yin
gave her the consistent ease that she had been seeking in her body. Soon
she was experimenting with Yin and a blend ofthe more active (Yang) practices
she had been studying.
After ten years ofteaching,she began studying meditation,and began to
introduce silent sitting into her classes. Her classes evolved into a
blend of Yin/Yang yoga with a strong focus on Buddhist mindfulness, as
influenced by her studies with her Tibetan teacher,Tsoknyi Rinpoche,and
her Zen teacher,Toni Packer. After nearly two decades ofteaching,exploring
her own practice and raising a family,Sarah continues to refine the rhythms
of her life in order to nurture harmony and balance. “Guarding a
fresh, viable daily life from the overdoing, overexposure of the pieces
that are all so beautiful—but in excess become toxic in their own
ways.Like the balance and integrity of having a personal practice,family
relationships, mothering and homeschooling—and having alone time.”She
pauses and smiles,“The ascetic in me, and then the one in the world,
have found a friendship in the lifestyle that I have.”
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