About

Before beginning my life as a yoga instructor in 2013, I had been teaching in various capacities since 1998. These past lives include that of a fourth grade classroom teacher, reading tutor of students from ages 5 to 75, teacher trainer and co-author of a strategy book for teachers, and Director of Education for several New York learning centers. These varied educational experiences have taught me to remain flexible in the face of teaching and learning challenges and receptive to new ways of sharing and receiving information.

My personal practice of yoga – and my teaching style – stem from my deep belief in the transformative power of compassionate self-inquiry and customized self-care. Practicing yoga helps me to know and understand myself better so I can better care for myself and others; at the same time, it helps keep me grounded and connected to something bigger than me. I practice because I want to feel better; I teach because I want to help others learn how to make themselves feel better.

By honestly sharing my own experience of asana (physical poses) – and attempting to find the humor in life’s daily challenges – I aim to create an atmosphere of curious investigation and self-acceptance in every class I teach. My invitation is always the same: notice what the body-mind intuitively desires and allow yourself to move towards what feels good. Through playful experimentation with mindful movement, personal alignment, and conscious stillness, together we hone the highly personal skills of listening to the body and responding intuitively based on what is observed. By slowing down and allowing plenty of space for exploration, we build confidence in our ability to skillfully care for ourselves and respond to the continually changing needs of the body-mind.

Both the chronic pain associated with spinal asymmetry – aka, scoliosis – and the challenging experience of living with Endometriosis, constantly inform my life and teaching, repeatedly reminding me that less is often more when it comes to physical practice. As such, I am passionate about sharing the power of supported, reclined poses paired with guided breathing and relaxation techniques to change the body-mind’s relationship to physical and emotional pain patterns. This emphasis makes teaching gentle and RESTorative yoga my specialties.

One of the great gifts of these bizarre Covid years has been the necessity of finding new ways to give and receive support, both on and off the mat. As a life-long writer and collage lover, my more recent pairing of yogic ideals with intuitive collage and writing has been a fun and fascinating journey. As another way to listen and respond to the body-mind’s unique needs and inherent intelligence, this evolving practice is rooted in the basic formula:

Connecting to INTENTION + Allowing INTUITION to lead + Paying ATTENTION = POWER

I have been hosting online groups for intuitively playing with images and words since 2020 and sharing this creative exploration in community with others is one of my most favorite things.

I will be forever grateful to my first yoga teacher, Jill Gnassi, whose expert Iyengar instruction taught me how attending to small details could make a huge difference in life. I am thankful for every student who kept showing up – thus giving me a reason to keep showing up – as I figured out how to translate my understanding of those details into my teaching.