Meet Trina Altman, a member of our teaching team who teaches Yoga Tune Up® at Equinox Santa Monica and Equinox Palos Verdes, Pilates Deconstructed™ Reformer classes at The Moving Joint in Mar Vista, and YTU Teacher Trainings nationally.
How did you discover Yoga Tune Up® and why did you decide to become a teacher?
I discovered Yoga Tune Up® before YTU was even official! I took a workshop with Jill Miller at Yoga House in Pasadena in 2007 while visiting relatives in LA and fell in love with the work right away! I purchased every single DVD and the upper body “Jill Miller Yoga” self-massage CD that came with a 8.5 x11 piece of paper with some black and white pictures of the various ball locations. I lived in Iowa at the time and immediately began integrating what I learned in the workshop, DVDs and CD into my classes. When my husband and I moved to LA in 2010 and I got an email from YogaWorks about the Level 1 training, I knew I had to take it…the rest is history!
What advice would you give a new student just starting a YTU practice?
Enjoy the process of uncovering your body blind spots and the empowerment that comes with a deeper sense of embodiment. You are now on a lifelong journey of somatic exploration.
The Yoga Tune Up motto is “Live better in your body”. What does that mean to you?
Learning to “Live better in your body” requires a passion for self-knowledge and self-care. These are two very important concepts that I have learned over the past 5 years from practicing and teaching Yoga Tune Up®. I feel fortunate that I now have the tools AND the knowledge to help myself and others to “Live better in their bodies” on a daily basis.
If you could only choose one YTU movement or therapy ball technique to take with you on a desert island, what would it be?
Lillee Chandra’s “Dock Block” technique for the upper trapezius!
Here’s how to tame your upper trapezius:
First time I saw this technique ,I will try for sur .Thanks for sharing with us!
I just led my sister-in-law through a little neck and shoulder YTU ball sequence. She is pretty separated from her body in various ways and I noticed that I was struggling sometimes to communicate in a way that was meaningful to her, which is one of my main goals as a teacher. I wish I had read this post before that rather than after! The advice, “Enjoy the process of uncovering your body blind spots and the empowerment that comes with a deeper sense of embodiment,” is exactly what I would have liked to communicate and didn’t have the words for. Next time!
Hi Sun,
Thanks for reading this! I hope to meet you in person some day too:-).
Oh! & I really love your interpretation of “live better in body” on basis <3
I love following your work in social media-& Now I am fascinated to read your journey here on YTU blog and get to know you better! I hope to meet you in person one day:)
This “dock block” looks very intriguing, will definitely give it a try! Can’t get enough help for the trapezius muscles.
I’ve been trying this roll daily because I am SO tense here. I’ve noticed a real difference.
I wasn’t familiar with this ball technique. I will try it right now!
I love the video associated with your dessert island ball exercise. As a massage therapist I am really
great at helping people release their traps through trigger point therapy. As an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach as well, it is my goal to teach my clients self care techniques. Not everyone can afford in time and money yo have regular massage, but they can learn tools of self care. It is my strong belief that the yoga balls are the best tool on the market to reach all the necessary places. I do a daily 10-15 minute minute practice and when I get up, I feel as though I’ve had parts of my body massaged.
I’ve loved getting to know Trina as she teaches the Level 1.
Love the Dock Block! And it shows so perfectly what you have been trying to teach us: be creative and keep developing the method beyond the original techniques to fit our and our students needs. There is so much trust in us future YTU teachers with this approach. And i feel so honored that we are doing the training with you at the exact same location you discovered YTU.
I Love that dock block technique!!! That is a great one for the crossfit athletes I work with who are always in need of ways to release their traps!!!Thanks for sharing Trina!
Thank you, Trina, for helping to keep me on track to live better in my own body. Your passion for self-knowledge and self-care is contagious.
Thank you Trina, for sharing your experience with us. The hardest part of starting something new, ie: training to become a YTU teacher, is trusting the process and being patient with oneself throughout this process. It is about coming to terms that it is a lifelong journey and that we are always students.
And I will definitely try the Dock Block tonight to relieve my trapezius.