I am a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance.
Yoga Bio
I base my yoga classes on compassion, beginning with compassion for the Self. I carry in my heart (and soul) a lesson from my first yoga class, “There is no competition here. Where you are today is where you need to be. You are already perfect.”
Living in the fast-pace of New York City, and working in the highly competitive world of art and music (I was a lead-singer in a psychedelic punk band and various other music projects), I soon realized that yoga not only helped my back and body to feel good, but it helped me let go and stay calm, grounded and refreshed. What a relief!
I seriously began practicing at Jivamukti Yoga in 1994 where Sharon Gannon and David Life were among my teachers. (I met them both several years before as a teenager when I was working at Life Cafe in the late 80s. They were just starting Jivamukti back then). In 1996, I completed Yoga Teacher’s Training at Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in Woodbourne, NY. Since then, I taught hatha yoga sporadically in New York City while working, performing in a band, and finishing school. When I moved to Arizona in 2007, my yoga practice picked up, and in 2008, I began teaching several classes a week.
My interest in the chakra system and energy work also began in the early 1990s when I first experienced reiki. Around the same time, my mother introduced me to Caroline Myss and her work, Energy Anatomy and Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can. I found the connection between our energy systems and health fascinating. I also spent a lot of time at the New York Open Center as both a student and a volunteer. In 2007, I received my certification to teach reiki in the Usui Method of Natural Healing. I studied with Marion Leone Wanagi Wi and Geordie Numata.
In conjunction with movement and yoga, I am interested in exploring healing through writing and the creative process. I am interested in getting past the mind-stuff and the ego, and getting into intuitive, primal responses to life. I believe that everyone is innately creative, and, if given a nurturing space to explore, may uncover long-forgotten talents or discover new ones. I enjoy combining healing and creative work with a sense of playful curiosity, relaxation and fun.
The best thing I love about yoga (and any creative work) is that I never stop learning. Yoga is a slow and steady path – I look forward to the lessons taking lifetimes.
When I practice yoga, physically I feel great, mentally I am clear, emotionally I have a light heart, and spiritually I am at peace. Yoga has been one of the joyful gifts in, for, and of my life.
As far as formal education goes, I received my BA in Creative Writing and Art from Hunter College at the City University of New York in 2004. My wonderful teachers included Suzanne McConnell, Regina McBride, Jan Heller-Levi and William Pitt Root. After receiving my degree, I continued my studies with Nada Gordon at the Poetry Project and at louderARTS. My work has been published in Cosmopolitan Magazine, Night Train, Earth’s Daughters, Elephant Journal, Creative Essence Magazine, and currently, I am a featured guest poet for bentlily.com.
Places where I teach:
Urban Energy Medicine – Phoenix, AZ
Moderate Hatha – 5:45 to 7:00 Wednesday evenings
January 2013 ~ Current
Blue Lotus Good Heart Yoga – Tucson, AZ
Moderate Hatha – 7:00 to 8:15 Monday evenings
October 2011 – January 2012
Paititi Institute – Peru
August 2011
Forest Highlands Golf Club – Flagstaff, AZ
Summer 2010
Harmony Studio – Flagstaff, AZ
September 2009 through April 2010
Mountain Waves Healing Arts Center, Flagstaff, AZ
October 2008 though October 2009
Madison Wellness Center – New York, NY
April 2006 through June 2007
Workshop Creator and Facilitator:
Firefly 3rd Annual Forest Gathering 2012: Partner Journey through the Chakras – An Exploration of Energetic Boundaries and Exchange
Coconino County, AZ – July 2012
Flagstaff Yoga Festival 2011: Finding Your Voice, Speaking Your Truth, Claiming Your Power
Flagstaff, AZ – August 2011
Flagstaff Yoga Festival 2010: Writing the Energetic Body
Flagstaff, AZ – August, 2010
Bisbee Yoga Expo 2010: Writing the Energetic Body
Bisbee, AZ – February, 2010
Meditation and Movement Leader for Deer Spirit Reiki Circle
Madison Wellness Center, New York, New York – January 2010
Flagstaff Yoga Festival 2009: Journaling through the Chakras
Flagstaff, AZ – August 2009
Oms and Eats – 2007 (New Year’s Eve Meditation, Goal Setting, and Celebration): Mountain Waves Healing Arts – Flagstaff, AZ
Online Workshop
Writing the Energetic Body Online Workshop
4 Week Online Course ~ Shedding Inhibition and Divining Your Intentions Workshop ~ 28 Days of Writing Past the Mind and into the Chakras
~ March 11th to April 2013
~ January 27th to February 23rd, 2013
~ June & July 2012
~ May 2012
~ February & March 2012
Education:
Anatomy & Asana with Indeera Johnn
Aligning the Spine: A Body-Mind Centering® approach to yoga
Workshop
October 2011
Treehouse Thai Massage Spa
certificate (5 CEU’s), Introduction to Thai Massage
July 2011
Deer Spirit Reiki
certificate (master), Advanced Reiki/Reiki Teaching
2007 – 2007
White Tail Center
certificate, Reiki Levels 1 and 2
2004 – 2004
City University of New York-Hunter College
BA, English-Creative Writing, Art – Painting and Etching
1994 – 2003
Magna Cum Laude
4.0 in Major Fields of Study
Lenore Lipstein Poetry Prize
Activities and Societies: Phi Beta Kappa
Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center
Yoga Teacher, Yoga, Vedic Philosophy
1996 – 1996
Activities:
Arizona Yoga Association
board member
October 2011 to present
The 1st chakra is our energetic body foundation. Without a strong sense of grounding, we have a difficult time in the physical world. This is where our most basic needs get met, and development of this chakra begins at birth (some say before birth, when we choose to manifest on the earth plane), with the most rapid development happening in the first few years of our lives. If we felt safe and nurtured growing up, we have a good chance of having a balanced first chakra. If we had dysfunctional families, we might need to do a little work (or allow ourselves a little play) to feel safe, grounded and balanced.
