Tony Howard relocated to Portland from Chicago, and was originally trained in Detroit by Katherine Lucas of Karma Yoga. Tony studies extensively with Shiva Rea and teaches Shiva's Prana Flow style. He is also strongly influenced by Erich Schiffman's Freedom Yoga and by his studies of Mentastics and the Trager Method.
Tony works with the assumption that there are at least 3 main centers of conscious awareness in the body: mind, heart and body. Tony guides students to awaken the body's intuitive intelligence in order to improve body awareness, release tension and facilitate healing. Our mind and heart don't always give the body a chance to have its voice heard (which is why our bodies sometimes shut down in protest!)
Prana Flow is a Tantric-based vinyasa practice that expands the body's limits with compassion and creativity, increasing fluidity and decreasing rigidity in the body. Expect to learn new ways of moving through postures and enjoy creative namaskars and sequencing.
Prana Flow Vinaysa
Shiva Rea's
creative Prana Flow style helps awaken the body's intuitive intelligence. This style of yoga helped Tony heal from a yoga-related injury by introducing more balance and fluidity into his Ashtanga practice. Through that process he began to trust his body's innate intelligence, following its impulse
to move in ways that help him heal, expand and grow stronger.
Watch an interview with Shiva Rea here.
Yoga not only heals and strengthens your body, but can also deepen your awareness of self, and of the mind-body-heart connection. Too often these 3 parts of ourselves don't connect. When you approach your body with respect, compassion and an attitude of curiosity, you learn and grow more than you could by pushing and forcing.
Tantra teaches that in the awakening of the pulsing creative spark to move that lies within, opening takes the place of obstruction.
What is a Private Yoga Session Like?
In a private yoga session we work together to create a practice tailor-made for your body. This could include fine-tuning postures,
exploring new movements and learning how to develop a personal practice. I will assist you with hands-on modifications, coaching your body into healthy alignment.
Astrology and Yoga
Astrology is one of Tony's passions. Tony is the creator of FindAnAstrologer.com, a website designed to help people find an astrologer to work with. A student of Steven Forrest, Tony practices Evolutionary Astrology, a form of Western Astrology that encourages a paradigm shift in astrology, to one which includes the role that the individual plays in the co-creation of experience. Tony brings astrological concepts into his yoga practice - for instance, aligning the energy of the practice with the sign and phase of the moon.
For more information about astrology, check out some of the many astrology blogs listed at FindAnAstrologer. An excellent beginning astrology text is The Inner Sky, by Steven Forrrest.