I’ve been practicing yoga since my teens when Hatha Yoga became a popular new trend. I was drawn to healthy, creative activities like organic gardening, vegetarian cooking, art, spirituality, writing, and photography. Studying yoga on my own through books, classes, and personal practice became a passion.
Then life happened. Yoga came and went as I traveled on my life’s journey, and dealt with the inevitable speed bumps that life throws at you. Life is amazing but it isn’t easy. I kept coming back to yoga.
In 2018, I happened to see a notice about Yoga Teacher Training. At this point I wasn’t in the best physical shape of my life, and I was struggling with grief. I had not been doing much yoga, but somehow I knew that I needed to jump into this, prepared or not. I met with Suzanne and as she described the program I knew I wanted to do it.
In the first class, one of the returning yoga teachers mentioned that this course was transformative. I hung onto that word. I needed that. It didn’t take long to find out that it was true. I was the oldest one in the class. I wasn’t in good shape. Shortly after I started I had a torn meniscus in my knee and continued the class with my leg in a bulky brace.
It seemed like there were a lot of reasons why this wouldn’t work out but I was convinced it was the right path.
I’ve been teaching for almost 6 years now and it really feels like I found my calling. I’ve matured since I first tried Hatha Yoga back in high school, and so has yoga. That early physical practice now embraces philosophy, anatomy, neurology, meditation, and so much more. I teach Gentle Yoga and Chair Yoga with an emphasis on breathing, focused awareness, and simple movements with maximum impact. Stillness. Slow purposeful movements. A yoga practice you can take with you and benefit from in your day to day life. Breathe in love and strength, exhale into peace and stability. Yoga is a continual learning process in mind, body, and spirit. And yeah, truly transformative.
