Asana, Pranayama, Meditation & More
Martha Quick, a graduate of Georgetown, has been practicing yoga joyfully daily since 1996, no matter what was going on in her life. She has been teaching yoga since 2012 when Tom Abrehamson invited her to become a teacher. She has taught studio and corporate yoga classes and retreats in the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Martha has been teaching yoga as an adjunct faculty member at the Institute of American Indian Art (IAIA) since 2015.
Over the years, Martha has tended to practice on her own and then is led to teachers when they are needed. She met a yogi who was reversing his HIV numbers naturally through yoga and diet, and he encouraged her to cast her net wide into as many styles of yoga as she could find before settling into any one style.
In addition to learning from her long personal practice, Martha is humbled to have been able to study yoga intensively with some of the best yoga teachers in the world. In addition to her first 200 hour training in Ashtanga yoga, she has about 200 hours of study with Manouso Manos, one of the top Iyengar teachers in the world, including being in his level IV class for a year, and many asana classes with Dharma Mittra. Since 2009 Martha has practiced in the tradition of the Himalayan sages and has a 300 hour certification and an additional Yoga Nidra Certification in that lineage. She also has been studying and practicing with the Mohan family in the Krishnamacharya tradition since 2013 and has a 300 hour certification in the Foundations of Yoga Therapy from them. She has a Yin certification from Melissa Spamer and a certification in therapeutic yoga from Cheri Clampett and Arturo Peal.
Martha’ first teacher, Elise Miller, captivated her imagination of the idea of yoga being transformational by telling her story of ameliorating her scoliosis through yoga. At the time, Martha’s spine was a disaster from two very bad car wrecks. After a few weeks however, she was virtually pain free.
Martha also found the practice made her much more productive and able to focus at work in her stressful job as an affordable housing developer in Silicon Valley.
Another teacher introduced her to pranayama and she was able to scuba dive comfortably (not a natural activity for someone raised in the desert!).
Words about Martha’s Teaching from Her Students at IAIA
Martha is a humble fount of knowledge. She uses her vast experience to listen to students and meet them where they are on their individual fitness journeys. Her dedication to paying close attention to the needs of her students is striking. Her ability to translate thousands of years of cultural practices into a form which becomes free of the pressures of cultural appropriation makes her class feel welcoming on another level.
Martha is super focused on integrating student emotional & physical needs at the forefront of our class's yoga practice - It's a fabulous course to have access to because of this. Receptive to students advocating for themselves/interests and needs
Martha is great, she has clear concise communication. Her flexibility and openness with the class makes me comfortable. She has great understanding with her students and their bodies. Her ability to make on the go adjustments to accommodate the needs of the student on the day of is impeccable.
Having access to yoga practices I can adopt and use to establish groundedness during stressful times during the semester - it's been a lifesaver, reconnecting with my body.
This class helped me make it through the semester.
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Martha Quick enhanced our long-established yoga program and we recommend her as a teacher to both beginning and advanced students. Starting out as a substitute she then attracted her own following of students when she received a weekly slot. She was able to keep her students focused and engaged in both their asana practice and lying-down meditative practices, even while weight lifters were practicing in the same facility. She sometimes drew the lifters into her class, enabling them to discover that yoga would release those parts of their body that had been perhaps overused. Natalie McMahon,
Fitness Specialist SRI (Stanford Research Institute) International
Martha established a weekly asana-pranayama-meditation program for our company that was both attractive and challenging for those trying yoga for the first time as well as for more adept students. Our employees found her classes to be a valuable therapy for stress reduction while working at a high-growth startup. We greatly enjoyed having Martha work with our team and would happily recommend that she bring her expertise to your group. Dan Smolkin Manager Human Resources Quixey
We chose Martha to teach at our studio both because of her extensive Iyengar training, and because we felt from our students' feedback that her studies in the most advanced classes offered, along with her long-time personal practice, had well-prepared her to pass on solid knowledge of asana and pranayama.
We were not disappointed. She took over a class from one of our best and most beloved teachers and was able to keep his students interested and challenged--not an easy feat. We highly recommend Martha.
Sabina and Joseph Hentz Co-founders Yoga is Youthfulness www.yogaisyouth.com Voted Best Yoga Studio in Mountain View, California, for many years including 2014
Martha taught a chair-yoga class for our seniors here at Santa Fe Pacifica Senior Living for fifteen months. Her students had conditions ranging from simple Arthritis to Parkinson’s, many types of dementia and end-stage cancers. Many were in wheelchairs and/or on oxygen. The class was basically aimed at keeping or increasing their range of motion and building their strength. Martha’s training enabled her to identify issues in each student’s body and to then create personalized instructions to address their individual needs. Martha exceeded our expectations in all regards and her students loved her class. The staff and residents here at Pacifica Senior Living highly recommend her.
Connie Garcia Director of Social Interaction
Pacifica Senior Living Center