
Let your backbone flip and your spirit soar.
—Tom Waits
The Story
TRUST — ALLOW — BE
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Vinyasa = to set with intention
As we step onto the mat, we honor Self through honoring our own intention. Whatever that is for you — in that moment. I guide you to a place of grounding, focus and calm through the steady connection of breath to movement. As you face challenge on the mat, I guide you through the mental resistance to build resilience. As you find anchor in the breath, align your body, and focus your mind, the tension dissolves — mental, emotional, physical. The mat becomes a safe space to shed what is not longer serving you and to emerge feeling peaceful, centered and strong and deeply connected to your Self.
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Yoga is my solace, my friend, my home. . . I land on the mat and I instantly feel safe and at peace. I discovered yoga right out of college and have never looked back. I still remember every detail of venturing up the stairs at the original Jivamukti yoga studio on 2nd Ave. in NYC — the shelves of shoes outside the studio, the Asian carpets strewn on the floor, the altar including Glenda the good witch alongside all the other gurus, the mats so close together they were nearly touching. Sharon Gannon led that class and at the end I was in tears. Life made sense. All my training as a dancer (ballet then contemporary) and study of Comparative Religions at Vassar College came together in that moment — the teachings embodied in a Truth so much deeper and more profound than I could articulate. Jivamukti was my daily destination and Sharon Gannon, David Life and Katchi my teachers until a dance job took me to Barcelona, but yoga and their teachings stayed by my side from then until now.
Yoga is profound. It is a way of life, a practice and a way of being. It humbles you, opens you, grounds you and leaves you feeling a more pure version of yourself. The mat doesn’t lie and the practice is its own teacher.
I thank all the teachers along the way who have inspired, uplifted and enlightened me. . . Sharon Gannon, David Live, Katchi, Stephan Coburg, Stewart Gilchrist, David Swenson, Stephanie Snyder, Kathryn Budig, Elena Brower, Kia Miller, amongst others. . .
I thank the books I have read that have opened me to new ways of thinking and observing the world: Gabor Mate, Bessel van der Kolk, Marha Beck, Swami Satchitananda, Swami Vishnu Devananda, B.K.S. Iyengar, Ekhart Tolle, Brene Brown, Nischala Joy Devi and more.
I thank the beauty of silence and stillness to open the mind and heart to their true essence and the wonder of nature and all the lessons contained within, if only we choose to look and listen — the collaboration of tree roots deep underground to support the forest as a whole, the strength of roots to ground and support the plant as the wind blows, the ability of water to flow within and around the obstacles in its path and through the persistance of the tide wear a massive boulder to a tiny grain of sand.
Endless magic and learning surrounds us at every moment not only through nature, but through every encounter we have throughout our day and every apparent obstacle or opportunity that arises when we stay open, humble and present. . .
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Certifications
200hr Yoga
Sivananda Ashram
NY, 200040hr Astanga TT
David Swenson
Toronto, 2002500hr Vinyasa Krama TT
East London School of Yoga/Stewart Gilchrist
London, 201940hr Teen Yoga TT
Teen Yoga Foundation/Charlotta Martinus
London, 201940hr Menopause Yoga TT
Petra Coveney
On-line, 2023Mental Health First Aide
National Council for Mental Well Being
Ohio, USA, 2025Education
BA Comparative Religions
Vassar College, 1994