How I got here…
I found a love for movement in a small studio called “Dance Designs” by the Cape Cod Mall, where I grew up. I often think I’ve grown up just to return to what made me feel the happiest and freest as a little girl. Which is also to say, I feel very lucky to be spending my life this way.
As a teen, I struggled with self-esteem and school work, which led to an ADHD diagnosis. The label provided some clarity, but the medication would provide fuel for an eating disorder. Ultimately, I dropped out of two colleges and never got my degree. I felt like the eternal fuck up. (This is dark, I know. But I promise it gets better.)
While at my second college, FIT, a classmate brought me to a small donation-based studio on St. Mark’s. It was called “Yoga to the People.” I skipped art classes for yoga and trained with them in 2011 after relocating to San Francisco. They’ve since closed their doors, but their message and accessibility left a lasting impression on who I would become as a teacher.
Their motto was as follows:
There will be no correct clothes
There will be no proper payment
There will be no right answers
No glorified teachers
No ego no script no pedestals
No ‘you’re not good enough’ or rich enough
This yoga is for everyone
This sweating and breathing and becoming
This knowing glowing feeling
Is for the big, small, weak and strong
Able and crazy
Brothers, sisters, grandmothers
The mighty and meek
Bones that creak
Those who seek
This power is for everyone
Yoga to the People
All bodies rise
The eternal fuck up, the girl who felt broken and crazy, grew to realize she was simply diagnosed with the human condition, which is to sometimes suffer and found freedom and belonging on a yoga mat.
That is not to say, “I am healed.” I don’t particularly like being told that something will “heal” me. I don’t think the holy land of fully “healed” actually exists. I still struggle with confidence, accepting my body, and my ADHD, but I’ve also got this: a community created around a love of freedom of expression, resilience, empathy, humor, and FUN.
To me, my class is sacred, but sacred is not synonymous with serious. Joy, dancing, crying, laughing—all sacred. I’ve been told many times over the last 14 years that my class is “not real yoga,” and I always say, “Okay.” I don’t need to fit into a certain mold or gain the approval of everyone, and neither do you. There is no way to do this wrong, other than not listening to and trusting yourself first. I can’t know exactly why you show up to a class, but that’s not my job. My job is to create a space where you feel safe enough to provide that for yourself. This space is an anchor for you as you devote time to getting to know yourself and your body in ways that surprise, challenge, comfort, and delight you. You will want to come back, because you’ve made a home for yourself and filled it what all the things that remind you of your power and innate goodness.
Some of my training and work history:
I trained in Vinyasa yoga in 2011 and began teaching as a career immediately after. I went on to do another 200 hours of Bhakti training, but stopped before doing the full 300, because it wasn’t speaking to me or my style.
Before the pandemic, I was teaching about 20 classes a week for 8 years. That was exhausting, but it also made me an expert in what I do.
In 2017, I did a trauma-informed immersion that changed how I approach my teaching and my own practice. That same year, I did my first of three Nonviolent Communication trainings with Judith Hansen Lasater, which changed how I approach my entire life.
I was the first yoga teacher at Open, back when it was a small in-person studio in San Francisco. When the world shut down, we pivoted to create what Open is today. We parted ways in 2022, when all operations moved to LA.
For the last 7 years, I was also the yoga model for the Down Dog App. Through that platform, I have practiced with millions of people, millions of times, all over the world. I left that part of my work in 2024, and my body is deeply grateful for that ending. It also freed me to do what I really wanted to do, which was to grow LRY with you.
My need for novelty has led me to loads of Pilates privates, strength training classes, and other unique platforms that inspire and inform my teaching style. I’m grateful to all of them and can’t wait to explore even more.