I offer yoga therapy to facilitate emotional and physical well-being. Yoga therapy sessions are individual, either at my yoga center or at you're place, whichever you prefer. In yoga therapy yoga postures are practiced in order to increase one's awareness of thought-patterns, emotional or physical issues that are inhibiting you're personal and spiritual development. Yoga therapy is not medical treatment, psychotherapy or mental health counseling, but distinct in that the yoga therapist does not offer medical or psychological insights, but rather serves in a healing role by witnessing and holding open positive space to support you're growth and development. Yoga therapy sessions are 75-min in length with the majority of the session time spent in yoga postures and a period of time after the yoga practice will be dedicated to the integration of the practice. My yoga philosophy is focused on mind-body-spirit integration through the compassionate practice of yoga.

About me:

John Rettger, Ph.D., RYT

John is a graduate of Yoga Tree San Francisco's 200-hour teacher training program where he studied under the guidance of Les Leventhal, Elise Lorimer, Stacey Rosenberg, Christopher Tompkins, Jason Crandell, Jane Austin, and his mentor, Darren Main among many other amazing teachers. John has completed continuing education trainings focused on teaching yoga to beginners, and is certified from It's Yoga Kids in San Francisco to teach yoga to children aged 3 - 13. In addition to completing yoga teacher training, John completed a 7-day Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher Training retreat in early 2009 with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli of the UMASS Medical Center. John has also completed training on teaching mindfulness to teens.

John's teaching and practice are influenced by yoga philosophy, as well as his research on psychospiritual integration in the context of mindfulness and yoga-based approaches to stress reduction and well-being enhancement. John received the Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in 2011. John is a cofounder and teacher at Blue Elephant Yoga & Mindfulness Center in Palo Alto, CA. In addition to teaching various style of yoga at Blue Elephant, John teaches Restorative Yoga at Yoga Source Palo Alto & Prajna Yoga & Healing Arts, and occasionally subs Prenatal Yoga at Day One Center in Palo Alto. John continues to be inspired by his study of spirituality and psychology, and also enjoys capturing his yoga experiences through poetry. John is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with the Yoga Alliance.

Off the mat, John works as a research assistant and lab manager in the Stanford University Early Life Stress Research Program. In addition, John has completed more than 2000 hours as a pre-doctoral clinical psychology intern at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology's Community Center for Health & Wellness.