I have come a long way from that girl taking Hatha yoga classes at the town community center close to two decades ago. Very soon after my discovery of Hatha, the Vinyasa boom hit our market. My Hatha teacher invited me to her ‘practical’ exam for her teacher training at a place called Open Doors Power Yoga. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but went anyways as I found so much value in the yoga education and experience I was getting.

Open Doors was THE PLACE. Hot. Steamy. Mats nose to toes. An antique building where a dance studio previously resided. The vibe was eclectic and this thing called Vinyasa felt amazing in my body. I took to it like a fish to water. 

Open Doors has multiple studios, driving distance from my house, so I kept showing up to sweat out all the things that needed to be sweat out. I got strong, even though I was still a hot mess at the core of my being. I felt so much value in the transformation that was happening that I saved my pretty little pennies and joined the Open Doors 200HR Yoga Teacher Training to simply ‘deepen my practice’.

At that time I had no frikkin’ idea that yoga was an ancient practice. I did not know that there were books upon volumes of books on the subject. Some ancient texts, some modern. I was blown away by the rich history and philosophy behind what I was doing. I have been a yoga nerd ever since.

WHERE AM I? 

I am still teaching. I am still practicing. I am still learning. I will never stop. What yoga brings to my life is more than a physical practice. It is community. It is connection. It is spirit. It physically enhances my being. It stabilizes my mind, body and spirit. It is amazing. 

I have been teaching for almost 15 years and practicing for much longer than that. I have studied with some of the most inspiring leaders from the local community. I have also had the wonderful opportunity of studying with some the great teachers from our national market. I won’t go into a laundry list of the who’s and the what’s. Just know that my life has been enriched at quite a profound level by simply stumbling upon the practice of yoga in the basement of the community center because I was looking for something to fill up the empty space in my life. It has been a continuous practice of persevering and embracing all things yogic with an open mind. Trust the process.

I lost my big girl job due to the pandemic on April 1st, 2020…Happy April Fool’s Day! Accept, it wasn’t a joke. I promised myself from that day forward that I would not fall into an abyss of depression, fear, worry. I chose a positive pandemic. I have spent the last several months finding a groove with freedom. I have taken a bunch of professional development courses. I took off for twenty days in my car with my dog during the first height of the pandemic. I spent lots of time at beaches, at pandemic safe outdoor concerts and BBQs with friends and on my SUP and with my PUP.