If you’ve been searching around for a yoga teacher training, especially one in Costa Rica, you have probably come across the name Yogi Aaron. So who is he? What does he represent? What makes him unique? What are his teachings and offerings?
Well, that’s exactly what you’re going to learn here. Below we answer each of these questions so at the end of this post, you will know exactly who Yogi Aaron is . . .
Yogi Aaron is a liberator and a change initiator. He is a Master Teacher of Yoga, an International Retreat Leader, an author, podcaster, sought after speaker, the founder of Blue Osa Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica, a born adventurer, and an avid animal lover.
His message is one of conquering fear and saying “yes!” to life with courage, faith, and grace. His intention is to inspire all of us to realize our inner strength and cultivate indomitable will, so we’re able to reveal our best Self and shine brightly.
His is a story of becoming unbound . . .
Yogi Aaron’s Background
Like many contemporary teachers Aaron wasn’t born into yoga, it chose him.
A product of the 70’s Aaron grew up in British Columbia, Canada. A confrontational childhood and brutal boarding school education set him on an altogether different trajectory.
Instilled with steely determination and love for the great outdoors he strove to understand himself in untamed landscapes. The wilds of northern Canada, the underwater wonderland of the Caribbean and the Holy Himalayas all provided a rich playground for his unraveling. Lost in nature, he found his true nature.
It was Aaron’s natural inquisitiveness, the influence of his new-age mother and an interest in maintaining good health that delivered him to yoga at just 18. It sparked a flame that he could not quell.
Yogi Aaron felt called to yoga. It kept him awake at night until he made a lifetime commitment to becoming a devoted student of yoga.
He started to travel the world in search of the most highly regarded spiritual masters of his time (something he still does today). He made pilgrimages to ashrams and retreat centers in order to understand the Vedic tradition and Tantric path. Driven by his desire to help others he went to great lengths to explore the wisdom passed to him.
There is no denying his own life experience has molded him into the charismatic man and compassionate teacher he is today. Yogi Aaron’s students observe how he has a special way of stripping yoga down to its bare roots and packaging its pearls of wisdom in a way that makes it easy to connect with, practice, and apply to modern-day life.
His personal journey to free his own identity provided fertile ground for healing and growth. It honed a philosophy and attitude to life that was to become the cornerstone of his teachings itself.
Yogi Aaron’s Teaching Career
He began instructing students in yoga asana, pranayama, and philosophy in 1997. By 2001 Yogi Aaron notoriously exploded onto the New York yoga scene and became an overnight sensation. By creating a haven for people to come, practice, and be themselves he became a prominent figure in the yoga community. That recognition led him to start leading workshops and retreats internationally.
In Yogi Aaron’s signature style of always striving to contribute more, he felt passionately compelled to open a retreat and cultivate a yoga community in Costa Rica. Fueled by a dream to share the leanings of his life’s work ‘Blue Osa Yoga Retreat and Spa’ was born.
Blue Osa is a picture-perfect, ocean-kissed sanctuary tucked away on the Osa Peninsula. It provides people with space to recharge and reconnect, free from everyday distractions and stress.
Blue Osa welcomes 800 yogis per year and is the setting for Yogi Aaron’s own fully accredited Yoga Teacher Training. Thanks to his investment in professional development he offers comprehensive training for new and advanced teachers with 200hr and 500hr residential programs.
Yoga is a way for us to tap into the reservoir of greatness, of unlimited potential, within us that would otherwise remain hidden and dormant.
– Yogi Aaron
What is Applied Muscle Activation Technique?
After a lifetime of practicing traditional yoga which encourages and glorifies flexibility and stretching, Yogi Aaron arrived at a crossroads. He had developed chronic back pain from the very practice that his entire life revolved around. He had also noticed the same kind of yogic injuries happening or existing in a lot of his students. At that point, he knew there had to be a better way, and that’s when he created Applied Yoga Anatomy + Muscle Activation™ or AYAMA.
Simply put Yogi Aaron has flipped the script on the glorification of stretching, teaching his students the importance of muscle stability and strengthening practices. His revolutionary techniques and teachings have helped hundreds of people live pain-free.
For a complete introduction to Applied Yoga Anatomy + Muscle Activation™ or AYAMA, watch:
Yogi Aaron’s Other Offerings
Yogi Aaron has created multiple offerings to make his teachings available and accessible for everyone across many platforms.
YogiAaron.com
If you are new to Yogi Aaron and his teachings, this is where you should start.
YogiAaron.com is a central hub where you will find access to Yogi Aaron’s online offerings including his free Dare to be Pain-Free 15 Day Challenge and his 7 Day Free AYAMA Series.
You’ll also find his podcast Stop Stretching: The Podcast here along with tons of blog posts and links to his books Stop Stretching: A New Yogic Approach To Master Your Body and Live Pain-Free and Autobiography of a Naked Yogi.
Work with Yogi Aaron in Person
If you’d like to work with Yogi Aaron in person, he has three offerings:
Yoga Teacher Training
Dive deep into the art of yoga teaching with any one of the Yogi Club’s Yoga Teacher Training Programs™ at Blue Osa for a profound and spiritually awakening experience.
Muscle Activation Technique Massage
Eliminate pain and restore strength, stability, range of motion, and a sense of youthful vitality in your body with a Muscle Activation Technique Massage.
AYAMA™ training
Here you can bring the revolutionary practice of AYAMA™ to your yoga teacher trainings and events.
Yogi Aaron is also available for a limited number of speaking and training engagements.
The Yogi Club
The Yogi Club is a platform for yogis who through a membership will gain online access to Yogi Aaron’s yoga classes, meditations, trainings, workshops, series and courses including yoga teacher development. This is a great resource for yoga students and teachers, especially teachers who are interested in hosting retreats.
Author
In addition to the two above-mentioned books, Yogi Aaron has also written and published two cook books so he can bring the delicious clean-eating recipes from Blue Osa to kitchens all over the world:
- Eating Clean in Costa Rica: Simple, Easy Recipes from the Kitchen of Blue Osa and Chef Marie
- Eat To Feel Happy And Healthy: Rainforest recipes that bring you joy
Yogi Aaron
Yogi Aaron is the full embodiment of living a true yogic path. Not just in the work he puts out into the world and not just becasue he’s been practicing yoga for most of his life. It his daily devotion to becoming the best version of himself, leading by example and encouraging and supporting others in doing the same.
To learn more about Yogi Aaron’s journey watch: The Inspiring Life Story of Yogi Aaron.
Yogi Aaron’s greatest desire is for people to realize the fragility of life and savor every precious moment. He believes too many of us live in the shadows afraid to embrace the abundance that will deliver us to our destiny.
His mission is to hold space for those curious enough to become still and discover their own unique brilliance within. If you resonate with Yogi Aaron and his teachings, we encourage you to click the button below to learn more about Blue Osa’s Yoga Teacher Training Immersions in Costa Rica.
