the journey

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My yoga journey was not linear in any way. I did yoga socially here and there, but I was far from being a yogi for a lot of important years. Keep in mind when I say "yogi", I don't mean someone who can do handstands. I'm referring to someone who lives that yoga life off of the mat. I came to love yoga when I needed it most. My life was consumed with bad habits, and I was constantly finding my way into trouble. It was my luck that a friend of mine wanted me to come with her to a new studio. I fell in love with the teachers there, which made it really easy for me get into the practice. Soon enough, I began to replace all the negative things in my life that I was doing with what this practice and community had to offer me. It sounds like a cliche, I know, but this practice truly dug me out of a dark place and pulled me from a path that could have been very anarchic. For me, the physical aspect of the practice led me to connect with all the other limbs of yoga, which really helped in my healing. What this practice gave me is hard to put into words, but I know that I wanted to share this gift with others, which brought me to get my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training through the Yoga in the World school out of Hoboken, NJ in 2016. My two teachers had completely polar teaching styles, one being very traditional, and the other being a little more unconventional. This has given me a very eclectic way of teaching. I am forever grateful to these profound teachers of mine, but I am also really grateful for the students that have taught me more than they could ever know. Most good teachers understand that they will forever be a student.

Since receiving my 200-hour YTT, I have taken numerous trainings including Yoga for Trauma, Children's Yoga, and Chair Yoga, all while getting a master's in international business and my Master's in Nonprofit Management. Not long after getting my certification, did I start teaching group classes, private classes, and workshops. I've taught numerous events including donation-based classes for social causes, office/corporate yoga, puppy yoga, 420 friendly classes, senior classes, and children's yoga. All of these classes are available for private and group classes. Not only are my teaching methods beginner friendly, but I also have a multi-faceted way of teaching advanced skills. Currently, I teach a full moon class that is donation-based and open to the public, and I also teach private lessons to my students that would like more individual attention. either due to injuries or to deepen their practice.

To reiterate the cliche I mentioned earlier, the destination really doesn't matter when we can get so much out of the journey. The journey I intend to take is one that involves creating more classes for the community. I will be partnering more with organizations like Wishing Threads in order to raise funds for social causes. Workshops that will combine yoga and acupressure are soon to come as well and will be held in-person and online. More donation-based classes are going to be offered more regularly also. The goal is to make this practice as accessible as possible, especially to the people that have the least access to it, because it's likely they need it the most. What I am most excited about are the upcoming retreats that are going to be held in some of the most beautiful locations. I am going to be accompanied by a group of eclectic and talented teachers that will really make the retreats unforgettable. Stay tuned!