About YogaFit® & The Yoga Teacher Training System
Bringing Yoga to the Fitness Industry
The YogaFit® Story:
YogaFit (“Yoga for the Fitness Industry”™) was developed in 1994 by Beth Shaw. After practicing yoga since 1989 and taking several certifications, Beth began teaching at fitness clubs in Los Angeles. She soon discovered that while traditional certifications taught a lot about the history and philosophy of yoga, they did not address the challenges of teaching yoga in a health club: bright lights, cold rooms, bodies of all types and flexibility levels. She created her own style that combined fitness moves such as push-ups, sit-ups and squats with traditional yoga postures linked together in a flowing format. To make practice more “user-friendly,” she eliminated Sanskrit names of postures and avoided the ohming and chanting sometimes associated with traditional yoga practices. YogaFit was born, and Beth’s classes were packed!
Yoga Studio in Fitness Clubs:
In late 1994, the SportCenter Fitness in Redondo Beach approached Beth to create what would be the first “yoga center within a health club.” Together they converted a former golf room into a “yoga center” which Beth ran and staffed to overwhelming popularity.
YogaFit Training Systems:
In 1996, Beth started writing articles for trade magazines about bringing yoga to the fitness industry. In trade for a “homemade” ad, Beth's article appeared in Recreation Resources Magazine and got 250 responses. From those responses, YogaFit incorporated and produced their first training in Fargo, ND, and trained 26 fitness instructors from four different YMCA’s. The YogaFit Training Program was born. Specifically designed for presentation in health clubs, fitness facilities or other group exercise locations, YogaFit allows a facility to offer a complement to existing group exercise programming, which improves performance in all activities.
The company and training program have expanded and now feature internationally renowned programs for training fitness professionals in the YogaFit style. YogaFit has Teacher Trainings Level One, Two, Three, Four and Five in addition to specialties. YogaFit offers both a 200- hour and 500-hour RYT program.
The YogaFit Style:
YogaFit is designed to improve the health, performance, and mental acuity of athletes or individuals interested in improving their level of fitness. Based on the ancient fitness science of hatha yoga, it blends balance, strength, flexibility and power in a fitness format. YogaFit overcomes the mystery of yoga by delivering a practical, user-friendly style, which is accessible, understandable, and doable by individuals at any level of fitness. The YogaFit style reduces the risk of injury and augments recovery for ailments including stress, lower back pain and tension.
Taught by YogaFit-trained staff with in-depth experience and skills in yoga, anatomy and fitness, the YogaFit method is the only nationally recognized continuing education partner for ACE, and has been a member of IHRSA since 1997. It is also the only yoga instruction recognized by Town Sports International (NYSC WCS BCS PSC) Fitness Clubs. Team YogaFit has 50 national trainers, and YogaFit has trained over 75,000 fitness professionals and instructors at facilities in the U.S. and internationally.
YogaFit Clothing:
Beth had the YogaFit Proud Warrior Logo put on sweatshirts and bodysuits. The clothing line was so popular that Yoga Journal featured the apparel in 1994. Beth started by selling her wares out of her car trunk at the end of classes, and the comfortable, sleek YogaFit clothing line was born. The extensive line of merchandise includes yoga and fitness clothing, yoga accessories, organic clothing, Yoga DVDs, Yoga CDs, MP3 downloads, educational tools, and yoga books.
Mind/Body Fitness Conferences:
Yogafit runs nine Mind Body Fitness Conferences per year nationwide. YogaFit's Corporate Headquarters is located in Torrance, Ca. There are YogaFit Studio Partners across the world. YogaFit has trained instructors in every continent and continues to expand the horizons of fitness professionals and the masses around the globe.
YogaFit’s Community Service Mission:
The mission of YogaFit is to bring healing yoga to the masses. Yoga is a gift for the body and the mind. YogaFit began by offering classes for donation only. We believe that if everyone in the world gave one hour per week of community service work, the world be a better place. That is why we require every YogaFit Level One trainee to perform 8 hours of practice teaching in a community service setting before receiving a Certificate of Completion. Our trainees have brought the practice and benefits of Yoga to seniors in long-term care homes, disabled persons, incarcerated persons, the terminally ill, mentally challenged individuals and military servants. The Community Service Program gives trainees the opportunity to practice their new teaching skills in a less stressful environment with an appreciative audience. YogaFit encourages and supports the philosophy of “Conscious Business.” We believe that socially responsible companies prosper from good will and good Karma. Together we are changing the paradigm of what it means to do good business… really good business.
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