Yoga For Climbers

Hi Steph,
I am a climber based in Ireland and am currently training to be a yoga teacher, qualifying in September. I am really keen to provide yoga classes for climbers. I have read your blog and was just wondering would you or have you ever run workshops for yoga with a climbing focus. I have looked a lot around different websites and contacted different people but there does not seem to be as yet any specific yoga for climbers certification.

I know you are probably extremely busy but if you were interested in running a course or workshop with this focus I would be really keen to come and meet you and learn more about how to combine yoga and climbing.

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Naomi

Hi Naomi,
I am not a yoga instructor myself, but luckily I know lots of people who know lots about yoga, especially through prAna. I asked my good friend Karen t’Kint for some references. She’s the Key Accounts Manager for prAna, as well as being a mom, a longtime climber, yogi (and new road biker!).

Recently she has been working on making connections for people who are interested in outdoor sports and yoga, so I knew she would have some good beta…. Thanks Karen!
Steph

Hi Steph,
Here is contact information for a woman who teaches yoga at a local climbing gym here in San Diego.

Mesa Rim offers a “YOGA FOR CLIMBERS” class. I’m not sure if Kati is the specific instructor, but perhaps she can help Naomi.

I called or checked out the websites of 20 of the top climbing gyms in the country and 17/20 offered yoga classes. Kinda’ says a lot about climbers understanding the value of yoga!

Here is another cool tidbit that I dug up: In Encinitas there are 16 places that teach yoga and only 5 Starbucks

Also, the Yoga Slackers are filming a video that showcases a yoga practice that is great for climbers. Not sure when it’ll be released, but it should be entertaining! They already run a teacher training program that includes the two disciplines (which could also be of interest for Naomi), and they also teach the annually sold out Intro to Climbing class at the Yoga Journal Conference.

Cheers,
Karen