Claire Mark: The People’s Yoga Teacher
By: Jenny Boeder, courtesy of Yoga Chicago. Photo: Scott Shigley.
In 2005, I was at a dinner party seated next to an Australian woman who was new to Chicago. The conversation turned to yoga, and she asked me what teachers I studied with. “Claire Mark,” I said, and she immediately beamed. “Claire Mark! I’ve heard about Claire–she’s the people’s yoga teacher!” That phrase stayed with me because I thought it described so well Claire’s teaching, her students, and her life philosophy.
As a teacher, Claire is very much a populist: though she’s been a dedicated practitioner for more than 15 years and has a breathtaking asana practice, she’s just as interested in and enthusiastic about helping a brand-new student to work with tree pose as she is in instructing advanced students in complex inversions, arm balances, pranayama, or meditation–all aspects of the yoga practice engage and fascinate her, and that feeling is contagious. Her teaching itself is democratic in nature: she presents philosophical ideas in the spirit of group inquiry, and you feel that she is studying, questioning, and working with these concepts alongside you, as a peer and fellow yoga student. Claire’s approach to yoga is not about hierarchy, but about bringing greater numbers of people to “equal standing.” More than any other teacher I’ve known, Claire approaches her students without judgment, without expectation, and without any agenda. As Claire’s student, you know that whatever stage or level of practice you’re at, whatever you’re coming to class for, she respects it, and is there to help, guide, and support you.
Claire also possesses those intangible qualities that draw students back to her classes again and again. She has one of the loveliest, most soothing voices around, and her manner is warm, welcoming, and down to earth. She has a great sense of humor, and brings an atmosphere of lightness, reverence, and genuine enjoyment to the room. Her relaxed presence and easygoing nature has led many of her students to dub her class “Claire-apy.”