Yogini
My practice
My yoga journey began in 1990 when I started Humanities High School in the Chelsea neighborhood in NYC. I knew very little about yoga, except that it would be less strenuous than "regular" gym class. I don't remember too much of the classes, other than I loved the peace that came with the space, the gentle instruction of my teachers, and savasana.
I now so much more about yoga; it can be strenuous, it helps cultivate peace, and like kungfu, it can be practiced in any activity that cultivates discipline, concentration, and awareness. These are the lessons I attempt to pass on to my students, regardless of the discipline.
Karma Yoga
Teaching yoga is a service to humanity
My first experience with yoga teacher training (YTT) came in 2012, when we met Winnifred Edgerton, aka Ana Shakti, at Bloomington, Indiana's TMBCC, after returning from fieldwork in South Africa.
Winnie (as she is affectionately known) was offering donation based classes, which my partner and I began religiously attending. They were 3 hour classes of pure bliss.
A few months into practicing with her, and her students, we learned she was going to offer YTT. We jumped on the opportunity and few months later we were subbing for her to teach those same classes we had been enjoying as students.
Both my partner and I received two 500-hour yoga training certificates and a yoga-nidra training certificate. All the while we taught donation based classes in the spirit of karma yoga -- that inspires people to self-less action.
Since that first training, I attained a Yoga Alliance 200-hr Vinyasa certification through Vibe Yoga in Bloomington, Indiana to deepen my knowledge of the human body, alignment, and teaching. I also strengthened my wisdom through classes on Kinesiology, Sports Psychology, and Exercise for Special Populations as well as EMT training.
The wonderful teachers I've encountered through my studies reinforced either explicitly or implicitly the idea that teaching is service and thus karma yoga!
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