David Helfand

The following exert is taken from my website:

David’s path to becoming a yogi began during High School in a rural, Vermont town. His parents, who are both Marriage and Family Therapists, gave him a biofeedback machine to use in his senior project on Child and School Psychology. After experimenting with the machine for a few weeks and realizing the potential of this meditation for self-healing, David was hooked. He brought this enthusiasm with him when enrolling at the University of Vermont and sought out more opportunities for a similar exploration.

David attended his first mindfulness meditation group during sophomore year at his University, which further emphasized the powerful affect of tuning into the body and mind. Shortly after that experience, he purchased multiple passes to local yoga studios around Burlington, VT and actively searched for a style that best matched his curiosity of digging deeper as well as receiving maximum physical and mental benefits. During an independent study in yoga for college credit, David met a Kripalu yoga instructor. Kripalu’s emphasis on self-inquiry, as opposed to a strict idealism of what postures should look like, was exactly what he was looking for in a yoga practice.

In his senior year of college, David volunteered two evenings a week leading mindfulness meditation groups for the counseling center on campus while simultaneously offering those same teachings to the at-risk youth population he worked with at the drop-in center downtown. He continued his study of self-reparation and mindfulness by becoming a Level Two Healing Touch Student and experienced firsthand the healing power and energy within the body. Upon completing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, David packed up all his belongings and moved down to the Boston area where he continues to study yoga and advance his career as a counselor. He eventually received his 200-hour yoga teacher certification at Kripalu Institute in the Berkshires of Massachusetts and currently teaches in the greater Boston area in addition to working as an In-Home Counselor for troubled children and adolescents at Germaine Lawrence in Arlington, MA.

David is currently enrolled at the Massachusetts School for Professional Psychology in Boston, MA working towards his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. He plans to incorporate his studies to continue helping people heal and rejuvenate themselves through counseling and yoga. The dream of owning a yoga studio or operating a larger center is always on his mind, but he’s pursuing his dream one step at a time.