My name is Diane Feingersh and I am passionate about bringing natural, preventive health practices to my community. I’ve worked towards this goal by studying yoga, Ayurveda, herbal medicine and shiatsu massage. Since my youth, I wanted to follow in my father’s footsteps and his father’s as well, to practice a healing art. My grandfather, Floyd L. Woodard, M.D., shared my love of the more traditional, holistic forms of medicine such as in the use of natural herbs. He deeply cared about serving others and spent a few years of his retirement in the Congo administering OB/Gyn services to needy communities there. My father, John S. Woodard, M.D., spent a large part of his career studying brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Pick’s diseases, dissecting brains and recording changes associated with various forms of dementia. And so, I have in essence followed in both their footsteps. I studied natural medicine as a hobby throughout my life as my grandpa did and I contributed to the research and development of life-saving medicines for serious illnesses in my day job, similar to the scientific direction my dad took. I now live in both worlds, enjoying a slow transition from day job to fun job. I currently offer yoga to my colleagues at the large corporation I work for and also teach seniors in my community.
In my Ayurvedic training, I had the privilege of studying with such renowned teachers as Dr. John Douillard and Dr. Sarita Shrestha at the Mt. Madonna Ayurvedic program in Watsonville, CA. Here I learned a great deal about this “sister science of yoga”. A key Ayurvedic principle states that there are three primary pillars of health; food, sleep and loving relationships. Ayurveda also suggests that there are myriad ways to promote health, wellbeing and longevity:
- adjusting one’s diet or sleeping patterns
- proper exercise including a tailored yoga practice
- body work such as massage
- meditation
- listening to music
- being in Nature
- being in the company of wise and loving people
- taking herbs or other cleansing practices
- using essential oils on the skin and/or as aromatherapy
I recently completed the Yoga Therapy program at Niroga Institute in Oakland, CA. Here I learned about tailoring yoga practices for special populations to optimize benefits and reduce chances of injury. I had the pleasure of studying with several outstanding teachers including Bidyut Bose, Baxter Bell and Antonia Fokken. We examined how to create yoga protocols that are suited for people with limitations or illnesses such as cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, back pain, aging and trauma.
Education
B.S. Biology, CSULA, 1980
Shiatsu massage training (100 hour) – Body Therapy Center, Palo Alto, CA, 1996
Yoga and Ayurveda Intensive (100 hour) – Integrative Yoga Therapy, 2003
Therapeutic yoga teacher training (200 hour IAYT) – Integrative Yoga Therapy, 2005
Ayurvedic Practitioner Certificate – Mt. Madonna Institute, 2013
Yoga therapy training (1000 hour IAYT) – Niroga Institute, 2018