I began taking classes in 2009 because my husband and I were looking for a workout activity that we could do together. I love ballet and he likes going to the gym. Yoga seemed like a good meet in the middle choice for us. The practice of moving my body in conjunction with focused breathing had an immediate benefit of calming my mind and bringing my awareness to the here and now. As my practice deepened small aches, pains and tightness loosened and in some places went away altogether. I could also see that I was physically growing stronger. My upper body has always been weak and I relied heavily on my legs to do all the work. As my upper body grew stronger I found that it could easily carry me through a vigorous vinyasa class. It was a beautiful thing to experience my mind being able to focus more clearly and my body feeling great again. So inspired, I decided that I would like to have the tools to share these ancient teachings with others. In 2013 I completed a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training at Mind Body Zone in Fremont, CA and I am a registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance.
I like to bring a sense of playfulness to my yoga classes because, first of all, doing yoga should be fun! Next, I carefully watch my students as they move through their poses because many factors impact how a student’s yoga poses will look and feel. Each person has a unique skeletal structure, joint mobility, flexibility of their muscles and tendons including where and how these connective tissues are attached to their skeletal structure, strength, pregnancy, injuries, surgeries, whether there is or has been some type of sickness or illness, eating and drinking habits, sleep patterns and other exercise habits. Each of us is truly one of a kind! Informed by my observations, I begin to have a dialogue with my students about what is right for their body. I am a hands on yoga instructor. The human touch can be healing, comforting and soothing. A gentle touch also makes it much easier for students to understand where in their body they should be feeling the pose and helps to focus their breath work. This also gives me a chance to check in with my students and continue to offer options to them so they will experience the yoga pose that is right for their body. Through observation, conversation and hands on adjustments I invite my students to begin their own journey of discovering what their body and mind are capable of achieving.
Today’s world leads to lives that can be hectic, confusing and sometimes scary. There is still so little available to teach adults how to be happy human beings and then foster and support them to make changes. As a society we need to commit to do more to foster the way we nurture ourselves and others. I believe that we are in this world to be life-long learners. On that journey we should be trying to love and support one another to be the best people we can be. Each day is different and challenges will have to be met. At some point every human being experiences a need to believe transformation is possible. For many, yoga can be the practice that teaches fortitude and resilience which are the founding ingredients of transformation. A core tenant of yoga is that there is a connection between us all. I know this much, we are stronger when we are in community with one another.
For me, teaching yoga is like being given permission to be in my authentic self while sharing love, community and acceptance in a safe space.