Yoga in Sacramento with Bill Counter
About the teacher...
Bill
Counter has been teaching yoga to all levels of students for
over 15 years. His playful style encourages students to have a good
time with the practice and gradually improve their skills in a
non-competitive atmosphere.
 Bill has studied with leading teachers in a
variety of traditions including Iyengar, Ashtanga and various
lineages of more traditional hatha yoga practice. As a result, his
classes offer a synthesis of the best of ancient and modern yoga
teachings.
Both his own daily practice and his teaching
style emphasize a meditative focus, attention to the breath and
awareness of good body mechanics.
There are a lot of gentle
hands-on adjustments in Bill's classes to help students find the
perfect pose -- and that means not some classic ideal of a pose but
whatever is "perfect" for you today. Sometimes backing off, some
days exploring more deeply.
 Bill
feels that the practice gets much more fun when we drop our focus on
performance and goals in the poses. It's better to judge the success
of your practice by how it affects your life when you're NOT on the
mat.
Prior to moving to Sacramento, Bill was owner and
principal teacher two yoga studios: Yoga Bhoga in Portland, Oregon
and (prior to that) Yoga Oasis in Tucson, Arizona.
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Contact us
Bill Counter
(916) 441-4914
e-mail: bill@gottadoyoga.com
Shanti Yoga Studio
907 Howe Avenue,
Sacramento, CA
95825
(916) 525-YOGA www.sacramentoyoga.net
FAQ's
about
Bill's classes...
What should I
bring?
Just come with clothes you'll be happy in
for stretching, jumping, and lying around. The practice is done
barefoot. Yes, we have areas at the studio for changing and stashing
your belongings.
Do I need to bring my own
mat?
No. At Shanti Yoga Studio we have loaners
for new students to borrow at no charge. We'd like to encourage you
to eventually acquire your own mat. It makes sense from a hygiene
standpoint. 
What class should I start
with?
If in doubt start at the moderate end of
the spectrum. Perhaps classical hatha rather than vinyasa or power
yoga, for example. Try a few different classes. See how you feel
about it.
The perfect class is one where you can't do
everything. You want enough that's comfortable for you to do but
always a few impossible things to challenge you to develop new
skills.
How often should I come to
class?
It depends on the kind of results you
want. Doing a practice more frequently will allow your body to
retain more of a memory of what it has learned. Generally, it'll be
better doing a more moderate practice on a more frequent basis
rather than a very hard class only once in a while.
If you
can only come once a week, try doing short practice sessions on your
own every day (or few days) once you start learning enough about the
poses. 
Do you do your classes in a
hot room?
No. That's because we want you breathe
more comfortably and work harder. If you're doing an energetic
vinyasa or ashtanga style practice you'll sweat but the heat should
come from within by doing challenging poses and breathwork rather
than by turning up the thermostat. We run the temperature for most
of our classes 74-76 degrees.
Isn't a hot room necessary
for injury prevention?
No. Most yoga teachers
emphasize a practice structured with an adequate warm-up period,
doing easier preparatory versions of some poses and entering all
poses with mindfulness.
Are your classes Iyengar
yoga influenced?
Yes. We talk a lot about form
and alignment in the poses and most of that body of knowledge comes
from the work of BKS Iyengar. Iyengar has been greatly influential
over the last 50 years in applying good biomechanical principles to
yoga practice through the use of props, modifications to standard
poses and insistence on precision.
How about in an Ashtanga or
Power Yoga class? I heard that was sloppy
stuff.
Traditionally Ashtanga yoga (like a number
of traditional yoga practice styles) was loose and not concerned
with alignment. In our vinyasa style classes we teach the
traditional forms of the Ashtanga system with an overlay of
Iyengar-inspired concern about good body mechanics.
Where's it all
headed?
Well, traditionally hatha yoga practice
is a meditation. Both in the sense of it being a meditation on the
body and breath while you're in the poses but also as a prelude to
deeper seated medation practices.
You'll appreciate the
physical benefits of the practice starting with your first class. As
the practice deepens and it becomes more meditative, you'll also
appreciate the calmness, tranquility and meditative awareness that
an ongoing practice provides.
See you in
class!
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