“Class is where you learn to understand your body, rather than force your body to fit a mold. No rushing, no forcing, no chasing difficulty, no comparing—but learning to listen to your body’s language more clearly.”

— Amy Duong, Yoga & Pilates Instructor

Amy Duong – YOGA & PILATES INSTRUCTOR

Amy doesn’t build classes to make you feel “really good at practicing”, but to help students:

  • Understand what their body needs
  • Know when to progress – when to pause
  • Practice as part of life, not an obligation
Amy’s training philosophy is based on 3 principles: STRENGTH – STRETCH – CONTROL
Every movement needs just enough strength, appropriate range of motion, and control from within.

+7 years

Teaching Yoga & Pilates experience

+1,330 hours

Professional certifications & Yoga, Pilates training

+500 students

Have trained with Amy on their practice journey

AMY’S PRINCIPLES

The principles guiding all teaching and class design

STRENGTH

Strength to protect the body

Amy believes strength isn’t about straining or enduring, but about protecting joints and spine in daily movement. Lack of strength causes force to concentrate on joints and spine, easily leading to pain and recurring injuries. Strength should be built gradually, with correct muscle groups, not chasing the feeling of “getting tired fast” or “burning more”

Stronger so the body is safer, not to force the body to endure.

STRETCH

Stretch so the body moves correctly

Amy thinks you shouldn’t stretch at any cost. Body sensations like numbness, deep cold in joints, or loss of muscle support often show movement has exceeded the body’s load capacity and is starting to put force on joints or ligaments. Stretch should go with breath and observation, to know when to continue and when to stop.

Stretch correctly so the body moves naturally and safely, not to be more flexible at any cost.

CONTROL

Brain controls body, not momentum

Amy believes control is the core element for safe and sustainable practice. Lack of control makes movement easily led by momentum or old habits, doing more than necessary without effectiveness. Amy thinks practitioners should be guided to know what they’re doing, which muscles they’re using, and when to stop to be more proactive with their body.

When you control movement, the body will be safer, less painful, and progress sustainably over time.

Amy’s Professional Journey

(Not just credentials, but the process of teaching and observing real bodies)

Amy built her teaching method from years of directly teaching classes and observing many different bodies. In that journey, Amy has worked with: people who never exercised and didn’t know where to start, those returning to practice after long breaks, students with back pain, neck and shoulder tension, insomnia, lack of energy, and even those who practiced long but still felt their body “wasn’t right”

Each student group brought a different question, and Amy continuously adjusted her teaching: from focusing on form to focusing on sensation and control, from “being able to do the movement” to understanding why the body reacts that way, from practicing to exhaustion to practicing to stay long-term,…

These observations are the foundation for how Amy designs today’s classes: clear foundation, logical progression, always prioritizing safety – sustainability – maintainability.

CONTINUOUS LEARNING, always grounded in teaching reality

Amy continuously learns through professional training courses, advanced workshops, and self-study on movement and breath.

However, for Amy, knowledge only truly has value when tested through real teaching experience and brings clear benefits to students in class.

In nearly 7 years teaching Yoga and over 3 years teaching Pilates, Amy has accompanied nearly 500 students of various ages, physical conditions, and movement levels. This consistent teaching process helped Amy understand that: Each body reacts very differently, and there’s no fixed formula for everyone

Regarding professional foundation, Amy received formal training with:

200-hour Yoga certification, 300-hour Yoga in India, 300-hour Yoga – Yoga Alliance (USA), 100-hour certification – Vietnam Yoga Federation

Along with specialized training and learning programs:

Advanced Vinyasa – 30 hours, Advanced Pranayama (Breathing) – 30 hours, Yin Yoga – 50 hours, Pilates Matwork – 3 months, Pilates Reformer – 3 months, Classical Pilates – 3 days

All this knowledge isn’t kept by Amy as “certificates”, but continuously refined and adjusted to suit students’ bodies in each specific class.

FROM CLASS EXPERIENCE to BLOG SHARING

Much of the content Amy shares on the blog is formed from questions, concerns, and experiences in class

👉 You can read more of Amy’s posts here