Margy Smariga, MA, E-RYT 500, CYT, is an experienced yoga teacher and yoga therapist trained in the Viniyoga tradition. Her specialty is adapting the practices of yoga to the unique conditions, needs, and interests of each student. Margy is honored to share her love of yoga with others and to help individuals of all ages and abilities discover the many benefits yoga offers.
Margy’s Yoga Journey
Margy came to yoga in 1999 to find relief from back pain. She quickly discovered the profound effects of yoga on multiple levels. Not only did a regular yoga practice help her back, it also improved her sleep, her mood, and her overall sense of well-being. Wanting to deepen her practice and her understanding of yoga, she completed Bagheera Yoga/Pruyoga’s 200-hour teacher training in Washington, DC. She realized she was drawn to share her love of yoga with others and began teaching group classes in 2005. Eager to continue her yoga studies, she began looking for advanced training emphasizing a therapeutic approach to yoga.
Margy began studying with internationally known yoga therapist Gary Kraftsow and the faculty of the American Viniyoga Institute (AVI) in 2007. She commuted to California for four years to complete AVI’s 500-hour advanced teacher training and AVI’s yoga therapist training (one of the first yoga therapy programs in the country to be accredited by the International Association of Yoga Therapists). Since 2013, Margy has served on the faculty of AVI’s 500-hour teacher training program (Foundations for Teaching and Yoga Therapy), and in 2016 she joined the faculty of AVI’s Viniyoga Therapist Training.
In addition, Margy completed Peggy Cappy’s Yoga for the Rest of Us Teacher Training and Silver Age Yoga’s Basic Certification Course, both of which emphasize adapting yoga to serve the needs of seniors; Yoga of Awareness for Cancer Professional Training at Duke Integrative Medicine in Durham, NC; and Leslie Kaminoff’s online Yoga Anatomy course. Margy is registered with Yoga Alliance and a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
In a previous life, Margy spent 30 years as a writer and an editor, and her strong communication skills have informed her work as a yoga teacher.
Testimonials
Frederick Therapeutic Yoga Phone: 240-490-5364 Email: margysmariga@gmail.com