Yoga has come a long way, baby. Just a generation ago, devoted yogis had to travel to India or help organize the occasional visit of their master teacher. Thanks to their dedication, many of them became master teachers themselves. Maty Ezraty and Chuck Miller, Patricia Walden, John Friend, Rod Stryker, and Shiva Rea, to name just a few, have taken the ancient practices and made them relevant for the next generation of American yogis.
Now that next generation is starting to make its mark. Here, we’ve gathered 21 gifted, well-studied teachers under the age of 40 who together represent the incredibly diverse and yet deeply connected character of yoga in America. It’s not an exhaustive list but a sampling of teachers who are shaping yoga’s future.
We limited our selection to teachers who are based in the States (which makes it easier for you to study with them) and who are in the trenches every day, either directing their own yoga studios or teaching around the country. Some are innovators—or yogic mutts, if you will—who have studied many traditions and are crafting their own unique interpretation of yoga. Others are meticulously preserving a treasured style in its pristine form. They may appear to have little in common, but they all share an inner calling to pass down a system whose goal is to encourage compassion and contentedness, ease suffering, and awaken us to our interconnectedness. We’re grateful to these teachers—and to all of the teachers and students out there—who are dedicated to exploring all that yoga has to offer and to sharing their discoveries along the way.
