Biff Mithoefer has taught yoga at Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica, Omega Institute in Rhinebeck N.Y., and at workshops in Vermont, Hawaii and California. He is a 500-hour Yoga Alliance registered teacher and has trained and taught extensively with Don & Amba Stapleton. He has also received training as an Advanced Yoga teacher in Forrest yoga, Yin yoga and anatomy by Paul Grilley, and Yin and Hatha yoga by Sarah Powers. He has studied shamanism with teachers of the Shapibo tradition of Eastern Peru, and is a student of cross-cultural shamanism, as taught by Angeles Arrien. He lives in Vermont with his wife Amy and their two sons, Ben and Peter.
Yin Yoga
Yin Yoga uses gentle long held postures practiced with an attitude of compassionate acceptance to awaken the more Yin parts of our physical, emotional and spiritual selves. By promoting the flow of energy (Qi) through the energy channels (meridians) of our deep Yin core we can help bring health to our bodies and balance to our busy Yang style lives. In my classes and workshops on Yin Yoga participants learn the theory and practice of Yin Yoga while gaining a basic understanding of the Chinese meridian system and it's relationship to Yogic chakra theory. We also look at how our basic anatomical differences ultimately effect our yoga postures , helping us to bring a sense of self acceptance to our practice. We balance the Yin practices with more Yang style practices based on Hatha and Taoist tradition.
Anatomy
In my workshops I spend time in the discussion of comparative anatomy as it relates to the practice of yoga. We examine how, at our deep skeletal level, we are all very different and how it is these differences which ultimately make our practices unique. We learn by demonstration and by looking at ourselves and each other how just as our faces are all different, so are our bones. By understanding that we are all unique in the way our bones are shaped and therefore how our postures look and feel , we are more easily able to drop the need to have our practice look like anyone else's. We can let go of our need to strive to be different from who we are. This sense of acceptance is the Yin path.
Interdisciplinary Yoga
I have been trained in Interdisciplinary Yoga, assisting and teaching in teachers trainings at Omega Institute and Nosara Yoga Institute. Interdisciplinary Yoga was developed by Amba and Don Stapleton Phd. and is a form of Hatha yoga with an emphasis on finding our own inner teacher, in connecting with the wisdom of our own hearts and bodies through the practice of yoga. The practice is beautifully explained in Don's book Self Awakening Yoga.