美國最具影響力瑜伽老師百名榜
(2016 by sonima.com)
這些為瑜伽深深奉獻的老師們塑造了美國人練習瑜伽的方式。了解一下他們的影響力，看看他們可以教給你什麼。
Contributing Editor 特約編輯 http://www.sonima.com
True teachers remind us of what’s most important. They remind us how to practice when we lose our way. They illuminate our paths, they challenge us to grow, they delight in our evolution. A teacher-student relationship is one of the most sacred ties we have. In his seminal book, Light on Yoga, B.K.S. Iyengar implies that this connection between teacher and student is the most central in our lives.
真正的老師會提醒我們什麼是最重要的。當我們迷失方向時提醒我們如何去練習。他們照亮我們前行的道路，帶給我們挑戰和成長，並為我們的進步而欣慰。老師與學生之間的師生關係是我們所擁有的最神聖的關係之一。在B.K.S艾楊格大師最具影響力的書《瑜伽之光》中曾說到，師生之間的聯結是我們生活中最核心的部分。
The following list highlights the top 100 influential yoga teachers in America, who have dedicated their lives to spreading the practices of yoga, and in doing so, have impacted millions of new yogis around the globe.
We measured influence based on a variety of factors, such as depth of study, community impact, social media following, and contributions to yoga’s many aspects, from philosophy to physiology, tradition to innovation. These teachers each play a profound role in the dissemination of the practice from its roots, and the perpetuation of modern day parampara, the acceleration of lineage and teachings passed down from teacher to student over time.
這裡所列的是全美最具影響力的一百名瑜伽老師，他們一生奉獻於瑜伽的傳播，也正因為這樣，他們影響了全球數以百萬的瑜伽人。
我們對於影響力的衡量基於多種因素，譬如對瑜伽的深度研究，對社會的影響，社交媒體的關注度，以及對瑜伽的各方面的貢獻，從哲學到生理學，從傳統到創新。這些老師們在瑜伽的傳承中（parampara），即老師和學生之間關於傳統和教學的繼續，起到了重要而深遠的作用。
While this feature is extensive, it is by no means exhaustive—yoga’s landscape is vast and more multifaceted than ever, and there are more inspiring teachers doing good work than we can name here. But by highlighting the following influencers and innovators we hope to guide you toward people and perspectives that may deepen your practice in whatever direction you choose.
We also hope to provide some contextual understanding of individual experiences in studios from coast to coast. The manner in which we all practice has been molded by the following individuals, through contributions both sweeping and subtle. Read on and let them show you the ways.
即便此百名榜範圍很廣，但也不是詳盡無遺，因為當前世界瑜伽是前所未有的廣闊而多面的，還有更多鼓舞人心的老師們是我們無法在此列出的。但是通過列出的這些影響者和創新者，我們希望指引你走向那些可能會影響你深入練習方向的人和觀點。
我們也希望你可以藉此了解一些美國各地瑜伽館的歷史和信息。或多或少，我們的練習方式都是由下列這些老師們塑造的。了解他們，並讓他們繼續指引我們前行。
Rodney Yee Sag Harbor, NY
In the early 『90s thousands of Americans started practicing yoga because of Rodney Yee. His yoga DVDs, produced by Gaiam, continue to be some of the most popular ever made. Yee has been practicing yoga for almost 40 years and teaching for almost 30. Yee is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher who first studied with the lineage’s namesake founder, B.K.S. Iyengar, in 1987. Yee has since developed his own teaching style that incorporates a hawk-like attention to alignment, intense verbal cues, and elegant, flowing movements influenced by his study of ballet.
Yee travels around the world to teach both on his own and with his wife, Colleen Saidman, with whom he co-directs the Yoga Shanti schools in New York. Yee also serves as yoga director with Saidman for the Urban Zen Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Donna Karan that seeks to bring complementary practices, including yoga and meditation, into the mainstream health care system.
在90年代初，數以千計的美國人因為Rodney Yee而開始練習瑜伽。他的瑜伽DVD是由Gaiam製作的，是有史以來最暢銷的瑜伽DVD之一。Yee練習瑜伽將近40年，教授瑜伽將近30年。Yee是一名艾楊格瑜伽認證老師，1987年，他成為最早學習並傳承以創始人B.K.S艾楊格大師的名字命名的瑜伽體系的老師。此後，Yee開創了自己的教學風格，融合極度順位（像鷹一樣精準），密集熱情的口令和流動的動作（源於他的芭蕾經歷）。
Yee與他的妻子Collen Saidman遊走於全球各地教學，並共同指導位於紐約的Shanti瑜伽學校。他們還是Urban Zen 基金的負責人，這是一個非營利機構，由Donna Karan創辦，旨在將瑜伽練習（包含體式和冥想）作為輔助方法進入主流醫療體系。
Sharon Gannon
Author of five books and co-author of another three, Sharon Gannon is a prolific creator. In 1984 Gannon co-founded with David Life the Jivamukti yoga method, a system that sprung out of the Ashtanga lineage, and pivots on five main tenets, including shastra(scripture), bhakti (devotion), ahimsa(non-harming), nada (the yoga of sound and vibration), and dhyana(meditation). The method has been informed by Gannon and Life’s study with their gurus Swami Nirmalanda, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati.
Presently there are 14 Jivamukti Centers in New York, New Jersey, London, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Spain, and Russia, and 34 affiliated studios across the world. Gannon is an activist for animal rights, an avid vegan, and a spiritual leader to thousands of yogis around the globe.
Gannon’s most recent book Simple Recipes for Joy, is a vegan cookbook, with playful photos of her life and kitchen in Woodstock, New York. Gannon is often seen wearing all white, and she is a highly devotional leader, who is drawn in to the yoga practice through chanting, scripture, and proper alignment of the body through breath and movement.
Sharon Gannon是一位勤勞多產的創作者，她個人著有五本書，並與他人合著三本。1984年，Gannon與David Life 共同創辦了Jivamukti瑜伽，這是從阿斯湯伽瑜伽裡發展出來的一個體系，有五大主要原則：Shastra研習經典，Bhakti虔奉愛，Ahimsa非暴力，Nada音樂與共振，以及Dhyana冥想。這是Gannon和Life向他們的的老師Swami Nirmalanda，Sri K. Pattabhi Jois和Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati學習得來的。
前全球有14個Jivamukti直屬瑜伽中心，在美國的紐約和新澤西州，倫敦，德國，澳大利亞，墨西哥，西班牙以及俄羅斯，還有34個特許瑜伽館。Gannon是一位動物保護主義活動家，一位狂熱的嚴格素食者，也是全球數以千計瑜伽修行者們的靈性導師。
Gannon最近出了一本書《簡單食譜的喜悅》，這是一本嚴格素食者的烹飪書 ，書中有一些她在紐約Woodstock生活和廚房中的照片。Gannon是一位非常具有奉獻精神的領導者，她常穿白衣，通過唱誦和研讀經典，呼吸和動作配合順位的方法進入瑜伽的世界。
Sri Dharma Mittra
New York, NYYou』ve probably seen a photo of Sri Dharma Mittra at some point during your yoga practice and didn’t know it. The Brazilian-born yoga teacher, who founded the Dharma Yoga New York Center in 1975, is best known for creating the 「Master Yoga Chart of 908 Postures」 poster, featuring 1,350 photographs of postures (300+ were his own invention!), as a gift to his beloved guru, Yogi Gupta, some 30 years ago. It has since become a crucial teaching tool in yoga communities around the globe. Mittra also wrote the book Asanas: 608 Yoga Poses, and launched the DVD series 「Maha Sadhana:The Great Practice」 (levels 1 and 2).
He has dedicated more than five decades of his life to teaching spiritually grounded yoga—specifically classical Hatha and Raja—and it shows. The jovial, kind-hearted, silver-haired man doesn’t look a day over 50 even though he turned 76 last year. Attend one of his weekly classes (yes, he still teaches!) to see for yourself. If you’re lucky, maybe you』ll catch him performing his world-famous handless headstand.
你可能在哪裡見過Sri Dharma Mittra的照片，卻並不知道他是誰。這位出生於巴西的瑜伽老師，於1975年在紐約中心創辦了Dharma Yoga。他最有名的應該是大約30年前創作了「瑜伽908式」海報，他拍攝了1350張體式照片（其中三百多個體式是他自己創造的體式！），並將此海報作為禮物贈與他心愛的老師Yogi Gupta。這份海報從此成為全球瑜伽圈一個非常重要的教學工具。Mittra還出了一本瑜伽體式書：瑜伽608式，並推出了DVD系列「Maha Sadhana 偉大的實踐」（1級和2級）。
他投身於教授靈性瑜伽五十多年，特別是經典哈他瑜伽和王瑜伽。這個快樂而善良且滿頭銀髮的男人看起來根本不像五十多歲，而且去年他已滿76歲。去他每周的課程看看吧！（是的，他仍在教學）。如果幸運的話，你也許會看到他舉世聞名的無手支撐頭倒立。
Ana Forrest
Orcas Island, WA
Most people speak about Ana Forrest as if she were a force of nature or a mystical goddess from some lost world. In 1982 she founded the Forrest Yoga method, a system based on Hatha yoga that is intensely physical while incredibly subtle and encourages the practitioner toward an ethos of self-healing through an exploration of the feelings and traumas stored in the body.
Forrest leads teacher trainings and retreats all around the world, and has influenced the style and teaching of thousands. In addition to being one of the leading minds in the world of yoga and yogic philosophy, Forrest is also a practitioner of Native American medicine, a Reiki master, and a certified regression therapist (a mode of therapy focused on discovery of problems in present and past lives).
She released her first book, Fierce Medicine: Breakthrough Practices to Heal the Body and Ignite the Spirit, in May 2011. Forrest advocates eating and living in such a way that ahimsa, non-harming, applies not only to the outside world, but also to the self. She talks extensively about the morality of engaging with our human-animal selves.
大部分人談論到Ana Forrest都說她仿佛是來自消失的世界中的自然的力量或是神秘的女神。她於1982年創辦了Forrest瑜伽體系，這是一個以哈他瑜伽為基礎的體系，身體層面很有強度而又難以置信的微妙，鼓勵練習者通過探索身體內的情感與創傷的存儲從而得到精神上自我療愈。
Forest在世界各地都有教師培訓和靜修課程，並影響了成千上萬人的風格與教學。Forest不僅是全球瑜伽和瑜伽哲學的精神領袖之一，她也是美國本土醫學從業者，一位靈氣導師，一位認證的回歸理療師（一種探索今生與過前世問題的理療方法）。
2011年5月，她發行了第一本書《兇猛的藥：突破練習以療愈身體並燃燒精神》。Forest倡導自身和外界同樣的Ahimsa非暴力不傷害的飲食和生活，和人作為動物本身的應有的道德觀。
Maty Ezraty
Los Angeles, CACo-founder of YogaWorks with Chuck Miller and Alan Finger, and an internationally celebrated yoga teacher, Maty Ezraty has been teaching for more than 30 years. A student of Ashtanga yoga creator, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois,Ezraty was one of the first women to practice third and fourth series. (Ashtanga has six series of postures and very few people in the world advance beyond the third.) After traveling to Mysore for many years to study with Jois, Ezraty has more recently become interested in the Iyengar yoga method, traveling to Pune, India, to study with Geeta Iyengar, the eldest daughter of B.K.S. Iyengar.
Founded in 1987 in Santa Monica, California, YogaWorks now has over 40 locations and was one of the first organizations to offer standardized teacher training integrating many different styles of yoga. Many of today’s yoga celebrities, such as Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, Rod Stryker, and Kathryn Budig, were all students of Ezraty’s. In 2004, Ezraty sold YogaWorks, but she continues to be one of the most innovative and beloved teachers in the world.
Maty Ezraty與Chuck Miller和 Alan Finger共同創建了YogaWorks，她是一位國際知名的瑜伽老師，她已經教授瑜伽三十多年了。Maty Ezraty是阿斯湯伽瑜伽的創始人Sri K. Pattabhi Jois的學生，她也是最早練習到第三和第四序列的女性之一。（阿斯湯伽瑜伽有六個序列，全世界只有少數人能練到第三序列之上。）在多次去到Mysore跟隨Jois大師學習之後，Ezraty開始對艾楊格瑜伽產生了濃厚的興趣，於是去到了印度Pune，跟隨B.K.S. Iyengar大師的大女兒Geeta Iyengar學習。
1987年YogaWorks創立於加州 Santa Monica，目前擁有超過40個分部。這是最早在融合不同瑜伽風格的基礎上創辦瑜伽教師培訓標準化的組織之一。當今許多有名的瑜伽老師，如 Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, Rod Stryker, 和 Kathryn Budig都是艾Ezraty的學生。2004年，Ezraty將YogaWorks售出，但她仍然是全球最具創新精神和最受愛戴的老師之一。
Alan Finger
Co-founder of YogaWorks, and a yoga instructor for more than 50 years, Alan Finger, also known as Kavi Yogiraj (master of masters), is one of the most celebrated teachers in America. The South African native learned yoga at age 16 from his father Kavi Yogiraj Mani Finger, whose teachers were Indian gurus Yogananda and Swami Sivananda. Finger and his father created ISHTA Yoga (Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda) in the 1960s and it now has a home base in two New York City studio locations he co-founded with his wife Sarah Finger, and Bruce and Julie Wilcox.
ISHTA aims to teach students how to integrate aspects from various yoga styles to best suit an individual’s practice. Finger has authored multiple books and DVDs, and also founded the Yoga Tantra Institute in Los Angeles, as well as Yoga Zone studios and a TV show of the same name in the early 1990s. Finger is known as a teacher’s teacher, and his lineage continues to spread all over the world.
Alan Finger是YogaWorks的聯合創始人，美國最知名的瑜伽老師之一。他教授瑜伽五十多年，被譽為Kavi Yogiraj(大師中的大師)。他16歲時在南非本土跟隨他的父親（也是一位大師中的大師）Mani Finger學習，他父親師從是印度大師Yogananda 和Swami Sivananda。1960年芬格和他的父親創立了ISHTA瑜伽（結合了哈他瑜伽科學，密宗和阿育吠陀），現在在紐約已有兩個工作室，這是由Finger和他的妻子Sarah Finger和 Bruce and Julie Wilcox共同建立。
ISHTA主要針對教授學生如何去整合不同的瑜伽體系從而更加適合個體情況的練習。在1990年初，芬格創作了多本書和DVD，在洛杉磯創立了密宗瑜伽研究院，還創辦了Yoga Zone瑜伽館以及同名電視節目。Finger被譽為老師們的老師，他的體系持續在全球廣泛傳播。
Richard Freeman Boulder, CORichard Freeman has been studying yoga for almost 50 years. Founder of Yoga Workshop in Boulder, Colorado, which opened its doors in 1987, Freeman was one of the very first teachers to be certified to teach Ashtanga yoga by Sri K. Patabbhi Jois. His style of teaching is called Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, and it has been influenced by his study of Iyengar yoga, which he began in 1974.
In addition to running his studio in Boulder, Freeman teaches globally, leading workshops, and continuing his study of Vipassana Buddhist meditation. Freeman is the author of The Mirror of Yoga and numerous yoga DVDs, and he is also a teacher on YogaGlo. Though his practice and his teaching are very physical, as it is rooted in Ashtanga, Freeman is one of the most well versed teachers on yogic philosophy, including the field of devotional chanting.
Richard Freeman 已經學習研究瑜伽將近50年。他於1987年在科羅拉多州的Boulder的創辦了Yoga Workshop。Freeman最早得到Sri K. Patabbhi Jois大師認證的阿斯湯伽瑜伽老師之一。他教授的風格是阿斯湯伽串聯瑜伽，這是受他從1974年就開始學習艾楊格瑜伽的影響。
除了Boulder經營他的瑜伽館，Freeman還在全球教授工作坊，並繼續他的內觀佛法冥想研究。Freeman是《瑜伽之鏡》一書以及頗多DVD的創作者，也是YogaGlo的老師。儘管他的練習和教學由於阿斯湯加的影響是非常專於身體層面的，但同時Freeman也是是非常精深的瑜伽哲學和虔誠唱誦老師之一。
David Life
Woodstock, NYIn 1984, David Life founded Jivamukti yoga with Sharon Gannon. Originally from Michigan, and a lifelong poet-artist, Life has studied under some of the greatest yoga masters, most notablyShri Brahmananda Sarasvati, Shri Swami Nirmalananda, and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Life was certified to teach yoga with Pattabhi Jois in 1984, spent several years as a renunciate monk, and received Kalachakra and Bodhisattva initiation from His Holiness the 14thDalai Lama.
Life is a world-renowned spiritual teacher, and the Jivamukti trainings he leads with Gannon are considered some of the best in the world. Along with Gannon, Life is an animal rights advocate, and a longtime member of PETA. The two of them live in a 76-acre wildlife forest sanctuary near Woodstock, New York.
1984年，David Life與Sharon Gannon創辦了Jivamukti瑜伽。Life來自密西根州, 是一名詩人和藝術家。Life跟隨許多最偉大的瑜伽大師學過習，最著名的有Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, Shri Swami Nirmalananda和Sri K. Pattabhi Jois。1984年Life得到了Sri K. Pattabhi Jois大師的認證。他出家多年，達賴喇嘛14世為他開示，賜法號時輪菩薩。
Life是全球著名的靈性導師，而他和Gannon所帶領的Jivamukti瑜伽培訓被譽為全球之好的瑜伽老師培訓之一。同Gannon一樣，Life也是一位動物保護主義者和PETA的長期成員。他們倆住在紐約Woodstock附近的一個76英畝的野生森林保護區。
Nevine Michaan
Katonah, NY「We are not medical bodies, we are mystical bodies,」 says Michaan. Petite in form, yet expansive in presence, and with bright blue eyes of telling wisdom, Michaan has been practicing yoga for 40 years and teaching for over 30. Creator of the Katonah yoga method, which integrates Daoism, mathematics, and an eclectic fusion of yoga and spirituality and owner of two New York studios by the same name, Michaan draws inspiration from Taoist thought, geometry, and her own evolving practice.
Michaan has become renowned not only for her poetic metaphors and knowledge of yoga, but also for her keen ability to 「read」 people’s bodies almost instantaneously upon meeting them. When she’s not teaching yoga, she’s reading Goethe and Spinoza, refining her own practices for longevity, and sharing her infectious sense of joy with those around her.
Michaan說「我們不是醫學意義上的身體，我們是神秘的身體。」嬌小但寬廣的身體，藍色發亮的眼睛昭示著她的智慧，Michaan練習瑜伽四十年，教授瑜伽三十多年。她是Katonah瑜伽的創始人，在紐約有兩家同名的工作室。Katonah瑜伽融合了道教，算學和瑜伽的中庸和靈性，這些都來自Michaan的道家思想，幾何學以及她的自我不斷的練習。
Michaan的成名不只是因為她的滿腹詩文和瑜伽知識，同樣也因為她具有敏銳的讀解人體的能力，幾乎在見面的那一刻她便能解讀出對方的身體情況。當她不教瑜伽的時候，她會讀歌德和斯賓諾莎，精進她的自我練習得以長壽，並將她的喜悅分享給周圍的所有人。
Gabriel Halpern Chicago, ILHalpern is often referred to as 「The Godfather」 in the Chicago yoga world where he’s been teaching for the past 30 years, and where he’s influenced nearly every single major teacher at Chicago’s yogic strongholds, Moksha Yoga and Yogaview, where Halpern regularly leads workshops. Halpern holds degrees in philosophy and health psychology and was trained under the Iyengar yoga method in both San Francisco, and Pune, India.
He founded his River North studio, Yoga Circle, in 1985, and he teaches there and around the world, focusing on yoga therapeutics. His methodology for therapeutic classes are modeled on Iyengar’s techniques, wherein he begins with first giving relief to get a person out of pain and then correcting their anatomy, which sometimes takes years.
Halpern被譽為芝加哥瑜伽界的「教父」，在過去的30年他，他幾乎影響了芝加哥瑜伽界每一位重要的瑜伽老師。他經常在Moksha Yoga和Yogaview開設工作坊。Halpern具有哲學和健康心理學學位，並曾在印度Pune和舊金山學習艾楊格瑜伽。
1985年，他創辦了River North studio, Yoga Circle，他在這裡以及全球教學，致力於瑜伽理療。他的瑜伽理療課程基於艾楊格瑜伽的方法，即首先幫助緩解疼痛，然後矯正身體結構，有時候這需要好幾年的時間。
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