My Yogi Statement

I have been practicing yoga and mindfulness for over a decade. I discovered yoga while living in the San Francisco Bay Area where I started my studies as a therapist! Coming from such a small town in Western NY, I was not familiar with this kind of practice or lifestyle. Living in the Bay Area really helped me grow as a person both professionally and personally. I started taking yoga classes all over the Bay Area finding my favorite styles and teachers over time. It began being my to-go self-care practice. Yoga and mindfulness helped me protect and restore from general stress. It also provided me with a vessel for healing. The moment I started doing yoga, my life changed and I can only think of it as a lifestyle that I live now. I take everything I cultivate and learn on the mat with me in my everyday life.
 
I was waiting to find the right yoga training or studies for myself as I picture myself more as a Yoga Therapist and not a Yoga Teacher, but I decided to just dive into foundation training for Yoga Teacher first and continue to grow from there. I learned that most advanced yoga programs require basic 200-hour Yoga Teacher training anyway.
 
After taking my 200-hour Yoga Teacher training, my outlook on yoga changed. I learned that yoga is such a highly personalized tool, and therefore I am more interested in Yoga Therapy as well as Trauma-Informed Yoga. I am excited to continue my studies in yoga and mindfulness. I have studied with some Mindfulness and Yoga teachers throughout the years and some of my favorite teachings are in Buddhism, called the Five Noble Truths.
 
To me, yoga is union. Yoga is not about the poses, meditation, pranayama, the goals you must get your body in a certain position, it’s not about how you look or how flexible or strong you are. Yoga is our relationship with our practice. Our relationship with self. Why does one practice yoga? To understand the true nature of the self.
 
I have some experience helping athletes (mostly soccer players) incorporate yoga in their workout regime to prevent injury and to promote clarity and purpose with their sport.
 
My goal is to possibly post here about my yogi journey and have yoga services that I can offer to the public, however right now I am currently more involved with my personal journey of yoga and spiritual activism. I feel yoga is activism and to me, yoga is an act of service, the basis of yoga has humanitarian roots. Healing ourselves through yoga is how we are able to heal the world and that is the purest form of activism to me. I have training in restorative yoga and chair yoga as well and continue to do much self-study and look forward to my continued growth and study in the field of yoga and to share some things along the way! I hope to connect with you through yoga in this sweet life we get.

Kamama Mama, Yogi