Yoga

My Approach to Yoga

There’s no one way to practice yoga. It’s all an experiment, an exploration, a practice of building present moment awareness to gain self-knowledge & self-love.

When I’m teaching yoga, I am always thinking to myself “How can I make whatever we’re exploring safe & accessible for this student or students?” Because when a student feels safe, they are free to explore. They let go of fears of not being good enough, flexible enough, or whatever enough to begin to experiment with being aware of what’s happening in their body – the whole body. Not just what’s happening in the physical, but also what’s happening with the breath body, the mental, the emotional & spiritual bodies. Noticing without judging.

And when we can have awareness of our selves through a lens of non-judgement, we develop compassion for ourselves. And, here’s the big leap, the big pay-off of yoga to me: once we gain some mastery over compassionately observing ourselves, we can then explore the practice of compassionately loving others. Not just people like ourselves – all people – all races, all genders, all points of view. People who seem to have it all together. People who might be struggling. What a world that could be! A world of people practicing compassion – loving themselves and others.

I teach yoga for all bodies

I’ve been a yoga student since the early 1990’s – more than 30 years. I’ve watched yoga evolve from when there were only a few places to take classes – no yoga studios then – to the explosion of yoga everywhere – gyms, studios, parks, libraries, Ys, chiropractors, hair salons, grocery store rooftops, etc – to it’s newest online home. I became a full-time yoga teacher over 15 years ago, owned my own yoga studio for 8 awesome years, taught lots of classes and workshops, and led 200 & 300 yoga teacher trainings. I am most passionate about and skilled in teaching beginners yoga. I love to share yoga with people who think they can’t do yoga.

I teach yoga gently. I use clear language & build poses step-by-step from the ground up. Often I encourgage students to pause during practice. To notice breath. To integrate the practice by allowing & noticing how the body responds in it’s own unique way. I like to incorporate props like blocks & blankets. Besides traditional yoga classes that incorporate standing, bending, twisting, balancing, & resting poses, I also love to teach Chair Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga & a personal favorite – Yoga Nidra.

I’m knowledgeable in offering modifications based on the thousands of hours and students I’ve taught over the years. But most of my knowledge comes from my own practice, learning from my own body. I have osteoporosis and arthritis (recently had a total knee replacement) and I know how to adapt yoga for those conditions. I know yoga has kept me strong and flexible while dealing with these conditions. I know I can also support you.

I’m a Kripalu trained, 500 hour E-RYT (that means Experienced – Registered Yoga Teacher) registered with Yoga Alliance. I’ve taken advanced trainings in Ayurveda, Meditation, Yoga for Special Populations, Kids & Prenatal Yoga. I’ve guided over 60 students in 11 trainings during the 200-hour Anahata Yoga Teacher Training Program. I’ve taught over 6000 hours of yoga in the past 16 years.