When did you start practicing yoga?
I started practicing in college, around 2004. When I was a kid my dad had a book about yoga. I remember that I practiced poses from the book, and I thought it was really interesting. Then when I got to college, I signed up for a college yoga class and loved it immediately. After college, my practice was sporadic. I started a regular practice in 2012.
Why do you practice yoga?
When I practiced yoga in college, it was because it helped me reduce my stress level; I felt much calmer after a yoga practice. I’d previously found that regular physical activity wasn’t particularly gratifying for me, but yoga was!
Then I moved away and got my first job after college, and I stopped practicing yoga for a while.
Fast forward to 2012… I had my daughter. When she was 4 months old, I started practicing yoga again, and I felt sooo much better. My body had changed due to pregnancy and childbirth, and when I restarted my yoga practice I felt like for the first time in a long time I was reconnecting with my body.
Over the years there has been an evolution in my practice. Now I practice primarily for the mental and emotional benefits - I’m more calm and focused. And I also like the therapeutic effect of my practice. When I have an ache or pain I do yoga postures and breathing.
What does your practice consist of?
I meditate first thing in the morning when I wake up. Sometimes it’s shorter, sometimes it’s longer. It depends on whether I hit snooze!
Several days a week I go into the yoga studio and practice 15-20 minutes before I teach. My practice may be restorative postures, sun salutations, or breathwork; it just depends on what I feel like I need that day.
In the evenings I always do yoga before I go to sleep. Usually it’s a practice lying on the ground; it always includes breathing, and it’s usually a therapeutic practice to help release the tension in my back before I go to sleep. Otherwise I wake up with pain in my lower back.
How do you maintain your motivation for your practice?
Commitment, and also noticing how I feel when I don’t practice. When you start practicing yoga regularly, you gain a more profound view of yourself. Your body awareness improves; sometimes you notice new things you’ve never noticed before. Once you develop that deeper awareness, you can feel the difference when you miss your practice. So for me, when I don’t practice, I don’t feel as well as I normally do. So you could say my practice is self motivating - I want to practice because it makes me feel better.
What part of your practice do you gain the most from?
Pranayama (breathing practice), especially breathing meditation, is where I get the most benefit because I struggle with anxiety. When I notice myself becoming anxious, I use yogic breathing as a tool to calm down. I’ve gained tremendous benefit from it.
What made you want to become a yoga teacher?
It’s the simplest answer, but it’s true: I love yoga! When I signed up for Yoga Teacher Training (at The Yoga Room), my primary objective was to deepen my own practice, but almost immediately after the training began, I knew that I wanted to teach yoga. It’s a joy to share yoga with others.
When did you start teaching?
I started teaching as soon as I completed Yoga Teacher Training in November 2015, so a little over 2 years.
What are your main objectives in your teaching?
To help people slow down and develop more self-awareness. We live life at such a fast pace. I want to help people notice things in their body or their breath that they wouldn’t have noticed before. That’s what I want people to walk away with.
I include restorative poses, pranayama, and meditation for the purpose of helping people stop and be still for a little bit.
Sometimes people have a hard time slowing down, but I believe everyone can slow down in their own way. For some people, slowing down requires movement; for others it means taking regular breaks during their relaxation or meditation. I encourage students to take breaks when they need to, so that they never feel “stuck” in a posture or practice.
What are you currently working on in your practice or as a teacher?
There’s a Pema Chodron quote I love about how yoga and meditation aren’t about trying to “throw ourselves away and become something better”; in her words, our practice is about befriending who we are already. This aligns closely with the yogic precepts of santosha (contentment) and ahimsa (non-harming). I’m working on being as gentle and forgiving with myself as I am with others, both in my practice and in my teaching.
