I completed my 500-hour Gosh Lineage Yoga Teacher Training at the Yoga College of India in the fall of 2000. From there I taught Hot Yoga while attending the Boulder College of Massage Therapy. While in Boulder I studied Ashatanga Vinyasa Yoga at Richard Freemans Yoga Workshop from 2002 to 2006. The massage school training provided me a deeper understanding of muscle tissues and fascia, but I still wanted more. I became interested in the bioenergetic (body-mind-energy) connection so I attended the Colorado School of Energy Medicine (2004-6). This training provided me with deep understanding of Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy. I then opened Martha's Vineyards first yoga studio in 2007 but still feeling like something was missing. After discovering the Canadian Academy of Osteopathy I knew my mission was to become an Osteopath. Five grueling years later I graduated in 2012 with my Masters in Osteopathic Manipulative Science (M.OMSc.). This training gave me a new foundation, with an entirely different lens to view the body. Yoga became a process of healing and integration instead of just stretching or a workout. After 18 years instructing I closed my studio and continued to be an Osteopath. I provided yoga as therapy for my clients who needed exercises to match what was happening in with their bodies at that time.
At this point in my life I have decided that what I really want to contribute to the Martha's Vineyard yoga community is more along the lines of coaching/consulting. I treat many people in my private practice who need just a little more attention than what can be provided in a group setting. I look at their body patterns and help them adapt postures to work for their body type while providing the maximum benefits. I try to help people truly embody this concept that we are a whole person and everything is connected. My interestest in muscles and bones has shifted to the nervous system and blood flow. Your body is constantly adapting to the needs you place on it and muscles are usually just trying to compensate. If you free the nerves to the muscles and give them the proper circulation, strength and flexibility will be the outcome not the goal.This requires a new perspective and different way of thinking about yoga. Your thoughts, via your brain are constantly contributing to your nervous system. Are you willing to change how you view your yoga practice? I AM.
Yoga coaching is not a private yoga class or similar to a yoga workshop. You are not learning someone else's interpretation of the correct way to perform a posture. I will be tailoring the postures to your specific body, as well as, your personal goals in yoga. Try not to see it as a "modification" but instead an adaptation of asana. The focus is not on what you can't do, but on what your body already does well.