My Yoga and Massage Background

I attended my first yoga class in May of 1998, promptly purchased a 20-class pack, and started attending classes 3-4 times a week. That was 6 months after having my first child; I practiced up to the day of having my second and third children. I can date my first steps as a teacher from this time, when I would assist the teacher in instructing and demonstrating poses for the other prenatal students. My mentor during teacher training was Eric Small, a pioneer in the adaptation of Iyengar Yoga for Multiple Sclerosis and other neurological issues. I spent 5 years attending and assisting his weekly classes, and taught weekly classes for the National MS Society for 8 years. My favorite thing about practicing yoga is how good it makes me feel in my body. My favorite thing about teaching yoga is figuring out how to help students find the modifications they need to discover joy and freedom in the poses. In addition to yoga, having often encouraged yoga students with stiffness and soreness to try therapeutic massage, I decided to enroll in massage school. I achieved my Massage Therapist Certification in 2018. My years of adapting yoga poses for students with varying balance, flexibility, and mobility challenges informs my application of massage techniques, giving me deeper insight into functional movement and how to address patterns of stress and strain.