Teachers

At the Balance Center, all teachers have been personally certificed by Jean Couch in the methodology she has deveoloped to teach Balance. Teachers each bring a wealth of prior educational and physical expertise to the Balance studio, and each imparts a unique perspective and style to the student's experience while teaching the fundamentals of Balance personally and effectively.

Jean Couch is the author of The Runner's Yoga Book, which has sold over 150,000 copies. She co-hosted "Yoga for today" on KQED TV in the San Francisco Bay Area. Jean has presented workshops and lectures throughout the U.S. and Canada on yoga, movement, stretching for runners, and Balance. Since 1988 she has been involved in empirical research studying populations of people who have no back or joint pain. She is the Founder and Director of the Balance Center, where she has developed methods for teaching concrete guidelines for pain free posture. She teaches Balance, yoga, and the Balance Teacher Certification Course. Jean has a B.A. from the University of Iowa and a Master's Degree from Stanford University in Education. Sources such as The Yoga Journal have called her "a remarkable teacher." She is an inspirational speaker, and has dedicated her life to helping people conquer their pain.

Dana Davis is a Senior Certified Instructor at the Balance Center. She graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. in Psychology and has a M.A. in Spirituality from Holy Names College. She graduated from the Authentic Movement Institute and has studied Dance Therapy. As a flamenco dancer Dana performed with Yaelisa and the Solera Flamenco Dance Company, Flamenco de la Bahia, and Sol de Espana. Dana has studied yoga extensively both with Jean Couch and other Iyengar teachers. She teaches Balance and yoga classes. Her teaching style is characterized by being particularly clear and kind, buoyed by a generous sense of humor.

Jay Bunker is a Certified Instructor who received his doctor of chiropractic degree from Life Chiropractic College West in 1992. His practice runs the gamut from people suffering with accident or work injuries to helping healthy people of all ages feel better and enjoy life more. He specializes in gentle, low force adjusting styles and a relaxing office atmosphere. His interest in movement education began in 1983 when he studied with Joseph Heller and began practicing as a structural bodyworker. He brings his enjoyment of people and his knowledge of human structure and anatomy into his teaching.

Jean Farmwald starting practicing yoga in 1990, in part, to relieve back pain that she had since the age of 11. Yoga gave temporary relief, but the pain always returned. She also tried massage, chiropractic and physical therapy, with no lasting results. In 2002, she walked, into the Balance Center for the first time and experienced immediate relief from her chronic low back pain. Jean was hooked and stayed on to take classes, eventually completing the 2 years Teachers' Training program. She now teaches Foundations, yoga, privates and is the COO for the Balance Center. In the Fall of 2007 she had the privilege of traveling to Paris to study with Noel Perez at the Institute Aplomb. Jean loves teaching others how to become pain-free through Balanced alignment.
Jean

Sukha Carfagno has studied and taught hatha yoga, Iyengar and Anusara, for 30 years. She finds the quiet intelligence of Yoga in Balance appealing, and appreciates how these movements naturally integrate into the activities of daily life. She holds a BFA from the Art Institute of Chicago, and received a degree in Nursing from Deklab Community College in Decatur, GA. Sukha works as a graphic designer and paints avocationally. She is a Certified Balance Instructor teaching Foundation and yoga classes, as well as offering workshops that enable meditators to sit with ease.

Barbara Wilkens is a Certified Balance Instructor. She holds a B.A. and M.M. in Piano Performance and Pedagogy and has also studied the Taubman approach to the piano. Because Balance was the only approach that gave her relief from her own shoulder and neck pain she includes Balance as well as the Taubman information in her work with RSI and injured musicians. Barbara has performed in the Bay Area and beyond for many years and has recently produced a CD. She has also authored a video "Sitting in Balance at the Piano." You can find more information on her website http://home.earthlink.net/~barbwilkens/index.htm.

Teaching Methods
The Balance Center is a teaching institution. While we continue to do original research into Balance, our main contribution to Balance is in the teaching. Jean Couch has developed a visionary method for making concepts of Balance clear, accessible and individualized to all students. All Balance Center teachers share concrete guidelines and specific directions, combined with a hearty respect for each student. We take pride in learning from everyone who studies with us.

•The teaching at the Balance Center is concrete and specific. For example, you will be instructed while sitting to move your back in a particular way so you feel your body weight in your buttock bones.

•Much of the teaching is done through contrasting how you feel and look when you are in and out of Balance. Looking at yourself in a mirror, you will see when you stand in Balance your legs are vertical, when you stand out of Balance your legs are slanted.

•You will learn to distinguish the difference between relaxation and tension. Stressed areas of your body are tense. It is crucial that you learn to perceive your tension. You will have many experiences of tightening and loosening your back, and tight areas specific to you. Relaxation is a key component of being Balanced. Relaxation is a key component of reducing pain.

•Each Foundations class has slide shows to give you visual images of how people look in and out of Balance. The people pictured come from all over the globe- Portugal, Bali, Peru, Greece. They vary in age from toddlers to seniors. They come from all walks of life -construction workers, great athletes, and computer scientists. You will see images of people standing, sitting, sleeping, walking, bending, lifting, and carrying. These images help you understand the characteristics of balance and motivate you to practice.

•The teaching is interactive so students are encouraged to ask questions and comment to help everyone understand the guidelines of Balance. Instructors are skilled in listening. Only you know how you feel and it helps us guide you when you tell us what's going. We want to be in conversation with you. Learning Balance is accelerated when the experience is collaborative.

•Instructors will place you in Balance and give you individual feedback. You will get the feel of Balance and be given individualized directions appropriate for you.

•You evaluate how you feel at the beginning and at the end of the Foundation Series and measure your progress. You will also learn to use a plumb line to qualitatively measure Balance while standing.

•While the instruction is serious the tone is encouraging, up beat, and inspirational. The curriculum for Foundations is predetermined but is taught informally so that the environment is relaxing. Balance consists of aligning the bones naturally and relaxing. We do all we can to make people comfortable emotionally so the body can relax. Our teachers are optimistic because we have seen so many people get better. Many times people with long-term pain are discouraged because nothing has worked. We welcome people like this because students who practice get better. It's easy to be enthusiastic because we have such a consistent track record of success with difficult cases!

Click here to read reviews of our classes by students.