Bay Area Vegan Yoga
Her Inspiration
I first began practicing yoga in high school, originally inspired by my mother, and enjoyed the physical challenge, but it wasn't until college that yoga became a very personal practice. When everything was unstable and stressful, yoga class was the place where things made sense. I never thought I would teach until my favorite teacher and close friend moved away, and people started asking me if I'd ever considered being a teacher. When I found myself running (figuratively) to the yoga studio after work every evening, seeking some solace from a stressful and un-fulfilling career, I realized that I could pursue yoga, that it was possible to make one of my greatest passions part of my occupational identity. I understood that for me, honoring this practice that has helped me so much over the years meant creating an opportunity for more people to draw similar benefits from yoga.
YOGA business
I'm an independent yoga teacher, offering class both in studios and privately. Studying in India taught me about yoga as a holistic practice extending off the mat, far deeper than just a series of poses linked to breath. In my classes, I like to offer an intention, using the work of the asana practice as a metaphor for struggles and situations that we encounter in real life.
Mission, Goals and Accomplishments
There is something so powerful about yoga and it's ability to bring us completely in to our bodies. My goal in teaching is to create a space for students to bridge the gap between mind and body. In our asana practice, we learn how to move and adjust different joints and muscles that we didn't think we had access to, and we learn to listen to our bodies and find our own uniqueness and subtle limitations. I want to give people this power of awareness and mindfulness, and to teach other tools to cultivate calmness and resilience.
Any upcoming events
I'll be teaching a yoga class at Sanctuary Bistro on the first Thursday of every month starting in June! Each practice will have a theme and tickets will include lunch following class.
Community and Compassion
While yoga is a very personal practice, community plays a huge role in the modern yoga culture. Most people practice yoga in a studio, surrounded by like-minded people, coming together with very similar stressors, all seeking solace and healing. And yet we often come to class and leave at the end in silence, missing an opportunity to connect with people that we have a lot in common with! Simply opening up an atmosphere where people can connect and support each other is part of what I hope to do through my classes.I think that understanding our differences is an important step towards living with compassion. It's extremely helpful for everyone to move beyond the constant instinct to be competitive with our peers and see that each person is on their own path, has their own strengths weaknesses, but shares the same goal: to be happy. This applies in yoga class, in the workplace, in the grocery store line, in a traffic jam. Though sometimes we will be, we don't always need to prove ourselves or be the best or be first.
Tip on doing yoga
Many people are intimidated by yoga, or don't think they're flexible enough to practice, or judge yoga based on one not-so-great yoga class they went to five years ago. But I would encourage everyone to try a few classes and seek out a teacher or a style that resonates with them. Yoga is so much more about how it feels than how it looks, and in the end, all yoga means is connecting to self. If your yoga practice is simply 10 minutes of closing your eyes and doing some seated poses while breathing deeply, this is fine, and still extremely beneficial.