Ariele Foster, PT, DPT, E-RYT 500 is a doctor of physical therapy, yoga teacher since 2001, anatomy teacher for yoga teacher trainings, and founder of YogaAnatomyAcademy.com. She has a passion for creative, strength-based yoga instruction and for making yoga anatomy accessible.
Through YogaAnatomyAcademy.com Ariele runs the Online Yoga Anatomy Mentorship for yoga teachers and dedicated students of yoga. The Mentorship examines how yoga asana can better align with individual anatomy, best evidence, and real-world function.
Her interdisciplinary yoga teaching, workshops, and retreats are grounded in both the compassionate approach of Kripalu Yoga and her deep understanding of neuro-musculoskeletal well-being from working with thousands of patients.
Ariele’s physical therapy practice is founded upon treating the whole person. She uses hands-on manual therapy techniques along with precise, targeted strength training, myofascial release and neuromuscular re-integration to achieve optimal recovery for patients.
Ariele has been featured Yoga Journal, and is the teacher for Yoga Journal’s online course “Fascia Release for Yoga”. She has completed yoga teacher trainings in Kripalu, Anusara, Therapeutics, Hatha Yoga and multiple alignment-based vinyasa styles. She lives in Washington, DC.
Learn more at yogaanatomyacademy.com or sacredsourceyoga.com
Note: Physiotherapists, Physical Therapists, ‘physios’- all the same profession. Different areas use different titles.
[9:10] What sparked Ariele’s interest in anatomy
[11:50] From teaching yoga to becoming a physical therapist
[12:30] Advice to yoga teachers interested in becoming a physical therapist
[16:30] The importance of referring your yoga students to a physical therapist when experiencing pain
[21:00] Cost can be a hurdle when one is considering physical therapy- how to put that in perspective
[23:30] Ariele’s position teaching anatomy to yoga teachers, belief that there needs to be a baseline of understanding
[24:20] Principle 1 – Any Pose Can Harm. Any Pose Can Heal.
[25:05] Principle 2 – Every Body is Unique.
[25:45] Principle 3 – Think Critically “Don’t emphasize the alignment of the pose higher than the individual”
[27:35] Cueing Warrior 1 using critical thinking
[28:45] What is functional movement?
[28:05] Principle 4 – Most Yoga Asana is Specialized, Not Functional Movement
[30:55] Principle 5 – Flexibility is No Good Without Strength
[33:25] Principle 6 – Variety is the Spice of Life
[34:30] Principle 7 – Safe Strength Building Comes from Progressive Loading
[37:25] Principle 8 – Listen to Your Body Works 50% of the Time
[41:20] Principle 9 – Readily Refer Out
[44:20] Principle 10 – Honor Both the Science and “Mystery”
[45:35] How to study with Dr. Ariele Foster
Links:
Email: ariele@sacredsourceyoga.com
Yoga Anatomy Academy on Facebook
Yoga Anatomy Academy on Instagram
Dr. Ariele Foster’s Yoga and Physical Therapy Website: Sacred Source Teaching
Dr. Ariele Foster’s Facebook Page
Ariele’s YouTube Channel — many FREE classes!
PDF: 10 Principles of an Anatomy Informed Yoga Practice by Dr. Ariele Foster
Podcast: Heal Your Shoulder with Dr. Ariele Foster on the YogaBody Talk Show
Article: 7 Things to Ponder Before Going to Physical Therapy School: for yoga teachers, massage therapists and other holistic practitioners by Dr. Ariele Foster
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I thought the most intriguing part of the interview was when the host said, “I will honestly tell you that even you saying the words ‘go to the gym’ and the words ‘bench press ‘ makes me have anxiety”. This speaks to something important. Where does this feeling of anxiety come from? It is a question worthy of an entire show. Is this anxiety because women associate strength training with sweaty, smelly, grunting men? Is it because women are afraid their chests will grow hairy if they pick up a weight? Are they afraid they will get injured? What is going on here? I enjoy introducing ladies to strength training, but if I could know the source of their anxieties, then I could know how to address it. Any thoughts?
ps. I don’t mean to pick on women. Men have plenty of their own problems, but one problem at a time.
Hi Christopher,
Great observation and question. As the host who shared my feelings about the gym, I have to explain a bit more here now. I appreciate you asking me questions that made me ponder. For me, it isn’t about being a woman. I played hockey on a boys team, then a men’s team growing up, so fears of injury or of sweaty, smelly, grunting men are not the issue for me. They were the normal.
So if I dug in here a bit more and got vulnerable, it must be the fear of not knowing and looking like I have no idea. Also a few fears around doing movements that may cause repetitive strain injury.
This past weekend my kids and I found an outdoor gym and we had a blast there. Running from thing to thing (which had clear instructions) and it felt like play.
So to answer your question I think the anxieties are individual. I would love a gym night that was all about introducing beginners to the equipment. Fun and playful elements thrown in. Hope that helps!
> it must be the fear of not knowing and looking like I have no idea…
I can understand that. When I go to the gym, what I see is chaos. If I were thrown into this cacophony for the first time, I would similarly be lost. Furthermore, poor exercise practices abound at the gym. For example, Arielle Foster talks about how nonrepetitive exercise programming can be more healthy, and I totally agree (yea, Arielle!), but at the gym everybody is doing highly repetitive programs. They just don’t know any better. I watched a middle aged woman in the gym yesterday who must of done ten sets of the most ballistic crunches you can imagine. Stuart McGill would have thrown up his hands. Repetitive injury was written all over her exercise plan. It’s a jungle out there.
So well said! That is overwhelming and scary to me. I want to 1. Feel safe – physically and emotionally and 2. Trust that someone (who knows about the human body, injury, etc. is guiding me). That is why I follow people like Trina Altman, Kathryn Bruni-Young and Arielle Foster 🙂