About Melanie Green
"My own personal practice feeds my teaching. It is what helps me understand the body and the science of yoga. It is what helps me understand humility and grief in the practice."
MY PRACTICE
My personal practice is the Ashtanga practice. I practice six days per week at home. I was a student of Tim Miller's in the 90s and early 2000's. In 2001, I completed an Ashtanga Teacher training with Tim Miller and in 2003 with David Swenson. I was also a student of Sri K Pattabhi Jois many times between 2002-2009. My primary teachers for the last two decades have been the beloved Dena Kingsberg and Jack Wiseman, from Byron Bay, Australia. I have also studied with various Bay Area and international teachers over the years.
I have been given postures in the Advanced series. However, my current practice balances between Intermediate and Primary series. They feel like home. After an injury in a yoga adjustment in Dwi Pada Sirsasana, which left me unable to do many of the asanas for several years, I backed off from the Advanced series to create more ease and heal. For years I pushed myself incredibly hard in my asana practice. In recent years, I have stopped striving and created more focus on stability. Settling into stability has been good for me on all levels. Each road block, injury, difficulty, and moment of frustration has made me a smarter practitioner and a much better teacher.
I LOVE practicing Ashtanga. I love that it puts me right in the center of myself, brings me face to face with fear and humility, helps me to feel strong, deal with grief, and have a way to anchor my mind. I love that is offers the Eight Limbs as a foundation and a roadmap.
To me, there is no way to teach without consistent practice. It is my own personal practice which feeds my teaching. It is what helps me understand the body and the science of yoga. It is what helps me understand humility and grief in the practice. It is what helps me know my elation and joy in postures. It is what helps me communicate about the postures in a clear and intelligent way. Without practice, my teaching would be shallow, mundane, and flat. I am steeped in gratitude that I have a body that carries me through, but not without fail. We must remember that the body is temporary, and we only have it for a short time. Prana (breath) is what sustains us and is what we will have much longer than mobility in the body. The breath is the most important part of the practice. It is our life force. It is what will leave us last. It is what we have with us all of the time. It helps us calm the mind, body, and emotions.
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LISTEN TO YOUR BODY
If you are looking for a yoga teacher who will meet you where you are, help you honor your body, and allow space for you to be yourself on the mat, come try a class with Melanie. She strives to make yoga accessible to all students. While encouraging students to focus on their breath, bandhas, and sensations, she also teaches her students to deepen their practice as they deepen their understanding and acceptance of their bodies. Yoga is a gift from India, and at its roots, is a means for liberation.
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Melanie values the spiritual aspects of yoga integrated with the asanas as a way to become better humans and to create a more just world. The physicality of the poses are just as necessary as the profound inner lessons of yoga: attention to the breath, letting go of thoughts and ego, perseverance through practice, and radical acceptance. In each class, the student is invited to let go and have fun. Melanie teaches from the lens of being a householder as a queer woman dedicated to social equity.
Melanie continues to learn and grow as a yoga teacher and as the yoga studio steward of The Berkeley Yoga Center, as well as how to best support all peoples who come into her classes. She has been practicing yoga for over 30 years and teaching since 2000. Her yoga background includes extensive study in Ashtanga. She has also trained in Hatha, Iyengar, Pre/Postnatal and Vipassna Meditation.
All of Melanie's work in the world and her daily life stems from being on a yogic path. Melanie has volunteered her time teaching yoga to children in Berkeley public schools, to the BHS Mountain Bike Team, to Yoga for Freedom - teaching yoga to previously incarcerated men and women, as a Stephen Minister, and often teaches yoga to raise money for folks with food insecurity.
" I believe in living a life rooted in Ahimsa - to do with love - free of judgement and filled with gratitude. These feelings inform and guide my teaching and practice, which is focused on helping others better connect to themselves, their truth, and their bodies. Book a class now and start living the life you love and loving the life you live."