DEREK’S TEACHERS
Alison West
“In August of 2017 I began Alison West’s 200-hour teacher training at Yoga Union in Manhattan that, over the next five months, required a weekly commute from my residence on a farm in rural Delaware. My enrolling wasn’t a matter of getting certified to teach, or to learn how to master inversions, yet it was the most consequential decision in getting my health back on track. With a unique mix of Iyengar and vinyasa styles – in combination with her intellectual firepower and devotion to imparting the principles of yoga – Alison’s training enabled me to start connecting the dots and working through the obstacles in my body.”
Alison West, Ph.D, E-RYT, C-IAYT is director of Yoga Union and the Yoga Union Backcare & Scoliosis Center. She first established Yoga Union in 1996 in SoHo after studying widely and teaching Yoga in NY for ten years, both at the Sivananda center and at Jivamukti. She practiced Astanga Yoga for a number of years, studying in NY with Eddie Stern and in Mysore with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. During this time she continued studying Iyengar Yoga for alignment, working in particular with Kevin Gardiner, the late Mary Dunn, and, later, Genny Kapuler. Alison has also traveled to Pune to study with the Iyengars as well. Her first studies at the Sivananda centers of Munich and NY in the early 80′s have led to a life-long interest in Yoga philosophy and the subtle practices of pranayama, meditation, mantra, yantra and mudra. She furthered her meditation studies with TKV Desikachar at a retreat at Colgate University in 1993 and went on to the Shambhala trainings in NYC. Her spiritual teachers include Ramana Maharshi and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj.
Prior to her becoming a full-time Yoga professional, Alison obtained her Ph.D in Art History (1985) at NYU’s renowned Institute of Fine Arts under H.W. Janson and Robert Rosenblum. Her now-classic book on French Sculpture, From Pigalle to Prèault: Neoclassicism and the Sublime in French Sculpture, 1760-1840, was published by Cambridge University Press n 1998 and reviewed in all important publications including The New York Review of Books. Alison was born and educated in Europe before returning to the States for university.
Jason Crandell
“In late 2019 I came across Jason on his wife Andrea Ferretti’s podcast, Yogaland, a platform largely devoted to the teacher/studio owner community and not necessarily new yoga students, but a recommended resource for anyone looking to learn more about yoga. Jason’s ability to communicate with clarity and understanding for both the mindset of the teacher as well as the student caught my attention, and is what led me to his 300-hour teacher training program in San Francisco. Jason’s passion for teaching anatomy, and the expertise he has developed in analyzing postures and designing class sequences, greatly aided my own approach to breaking down the asymmetry and dysfunction from my past injuries.”
Jason Crandell is a natural teacher and author with more than 20 years of experience. Named “one of the teachers shaping the future of yoga,” by Yoga Journal, Jason has been an in-demand teacher at conferences around the world for more than a decade. Considered a teacher’s teacher, Jason has taught on countless teacher training faculties, leads trainings globally, and regularly presents teacher training content at esteemed conferences. Jason’s primary teacher is Rodney Yee—who was kind enough to say, “Jason is taking the art of teaching yoga to its next level.”
For the past 10 years, Jason has honed his approach by looking to peers outside of the yoga community, in the fields of physical therapy, orthopedics, traumatology, and sports medicine. These collaborative partnerships have enabled Jason to offer the most up-to-date to asana technique, cueing, injury management, and hands-on adjustments. Jason’s goal is to blend the timeless wisdom of yoga philosophy with evidence-based information to create yoga curriculum that helps modern practitioners grow and evolve.