Practicing yoga allows me to experience life more fully and love myself. Teaching yoga makes me feel vibrantly alive. Encouraging, inspiring, and empowering others through yoga fuels my passion and purpose for life.
I initially came into yoga as a teenager for 2 specific reasons: to workout and because I heard it was good for back pain. At this time I was already suffering with what I came to find out is chronic low back pain for some time. As a child I trained competitive gymnastics and remember specifically and constantly feeling pain in my back. I said nothing about it assuming it went along with the territory, only to find that the terrible sensation would linger in my body at varying intensities for many years. After leaving the sport, going through my preteen and teenage years without the rigorous training schedule wreaked havoc on my body image. It seemed like everything started changing in ways I was very uncomfortable with, especially my body. A vicious cycle then started to form in which I would workout to achieve some standard of fitness I felt necessary, but would inevitably ignite that pesky to, at times paralyzing, back pain. I tried yoga and ahhh the relief...until backbends and then returned the pain.
While completing my undergraduate degree at Lehigh University, I picked up a job helping out at my Chiropractor's office, after seeking his help and treatment. It was through this job that I discovered my love and apparent talent for understanding anatomy and the body's limitless capacity for healing. With only ever having recieved one very short massage I felt called to attend massage therapy school at Health Options Institute. Working as a massage therapist proved immediately to be a great fit for me and confirmed that healing can happen in so many ways if one is open enough to explore the best path. No single body is the same, nor can be treated as such. Each client/patient that I encountered and worked with has taught me invaluable lessons about anatomy and how I can continue to grow and adapt in my services as a therapist. Through this, I was again brought back to the practice of yoga, although with a whole new perspective and appreciation for what it could offer: therapy, healing, and I would come to find out acceptance and love.
It was at Kula Heart, with their heartfelt, open, sincere, healing-focused, and well trained teachers that as an adult I started doing big, full backbends with NO back pain, balancing inversions that I could have only dreamt of doing on the balance beam so long ago, surprisingly found comfort in splits AKA Hanumanasana, and above all truly fell in love with my body and my self. "What" I saw was not so very different, but "how" I saw was so very different. I saw myself as valuable, beautiful, strong, and intuitive. Suddenly my whole world started becoming visible through this lens and my world started to shift. I vivdly recall standing up from Uttanasana one day being literally head of heels in love with myself. I had never felt anything like it! This minor miracle was something I knew I needed to pass on to as many people as possible; offering others the oppurtunity to simply feel well and feel awesome!
In the same way that I was called to Massage Therapy school, I found and enrolled in yoga teacher tranng without having logically considered the painfully obvious obstacles to the overall goal, which were seemlingly innate to my personality. When I was young, I was held back for an extra year of preschool for being too quiet and having no friends. My University English advisor constantly urged and at times begged me to talk in class or attempted to trick me into sharing my thoughts in class, claiming that I had "things to say". It wasn't only his classes in which I filled the role of "quiet girl". Even in grade school and high school, despite having an active social life, participating in sports and doing well academically, I was very quiet and reserved, turning a hot, bright reddish pink whenever I spoke in class or even in a group of friends. Through yoga teacher training, I somehow transformed from the shyest of the shy to bursting at the seams to spread the good yoga word. These days, I never ever feel more like myself or more alive than when I am teaching. I feel free, I let my personality run wild and have so much fun. I am serious about the yoga, the alignment and what is happening below the surface, but many of my students have told me that they have fun in my classes; which I am delighted to hear.
I pride myself in making yoga and what most students think is impossible in their bodies, possible. Accessibility is key for me. If I can offer a student the tiniest of steps toward or even just get them to consider thinking about moving toward what they wish was in their reach, assuming that it is somehow not, I have done my job. If I fail to empower my students, I am not doing my job well enough. I strive to keep my students safe, while encouraging and inspiring them to find and expand their understanding of what is possible within themselves.
I am truly honored to be taking part in the 200 Hour Teacher Training to continue to share what I have learned through my experiences both on and off the mat and encourage others to explore their practices more deeply and share in their own way. Exponentially increasing the opportunities and possibilities for healing and happiness for so many.
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