ALAN FINGER

 Yogiraj Alan Finger

Alan Finger began studying yoga at the age of 16 in South Africa with his father Kavi Yogi Swarananda Mani Finger. He rose every morning and practiced Asana and Tantra meditations for three hours, a dedication rarely found in teenage boys. But Finger was enthralled with the mystical world around him as his father transformed their home into an ashram and hosted some of the most renowned gurus of the last 100 years. 

Seeking to integrate and celebrate the different teachings and lineages that passed through their doors, Mani and Alan created ISHTA Yoga. ISHTA aims to give each student an understanding of how to incorporate aspects from Hatha, Tantra and Ayurveda practices in a way that best suits their individual paths. The combination of breath work, physical exercise and meditation create a deeper level of overall fitness and wellbeing. 

'The physical body is the densest part of our energy, but the least powerful. That is why we need to balance the physical and the spiritual.' Finger believes yoga is a science, a method of helping the body reach homeostasis. 'You need to stretch and release the physical tension in your body before you can go deeper. We need enough Asana to open us up and then Tantric meditation and Ayurveda to reach the causal energy of our being.'

In 1975, after teaching in South Africa for thirteen years, Alan imported this science to the United States. He settled in Los Angeles and founded the Yoga Tantra Institute, which catered to some of Hollywood's celebrity clientele including Barbara Streisand, Bill Murray, Jonie Mitchell and Robin Williams. In 1988 he co-founded Yoga Works, now one of the most popular yoga schools in the country. In 1993, Alan relocated to New York City and formed Yoga Zone, which became Be Yoga and expanded Alan's teachings into one of the most successful regional yoga teacher training programs in the country. Be Yoga joined the Yoga Works family in 2004.

As the culmination of his life-long development of ISHTA, Alan and his partners, Julie Wilcox, Sarah Platt, and Bruce Wilcox, opened the first ISHTA Yoga studio in Manhattan on May 1st, 2008. The studio is located at 56 East 11th Street between Broadway and University Place and offers classes by ISHTA teachers as well as ISHTA teacher trainings, ayurvedic treatments, western massage, workshops, and retreats.

Finger is a master in Marma points, an Ayurvedic treatment whose popularity has grown in recent years. Marma is a bodywork therapy that penetrates deep into the fascia to break up muscle and energetic tension. Once blocked energy pathways are clear, the body begins to heal and function properly. Finger has relieved a wide range of physical, emotional and mental imbalances his clients have suffered from including migraines, ligament/tendon strains, MS, Parkisons, anxiety and depression. Finger has also used Marma as an alternative to surgery for people with back and neck injuries.

Finger is 62 and lives in New York with his wife and his 3 children.