I began my adventure into yoga in 2011 after a hip injury forced me to find an alternative form of exercise. My mother in law always had a graceful gait, even into her mid 90’s and I decided it was more important to me to be graceful and flexible for the balance of my life than to be a runner or softball player in my 40’s. Despite being a life long athlete, I had never been very flexible and could
n’t even sit cross-legged until 2016! I was also a very impatient and restless person and yoga seemed to be the one exercise that could help me both internally as well as externally. The first few years my practice was very spotty and I really had a hard time learning to relax and breathing appropriately – I always felt like I was on an exhale when the instructor was telling us to be on an inhale and vice versa. I also had a difficult time keeping up with the “one breath one movement” mantra and became very discouraged until I learned even if I was just breathing or in child’s pose, I was doing yoga. I then discovered other paces of this practice – blend, slow burn, yin, ashtanga and all of a sudden my world seemed a little brighter. A few years later, when I was looking for a yoga studio close to my office, I happened to come across one that focused on alignment based yoga. I really had no idea what this would mean for me but knew I needed to learn more about how to be stable and balanced if I was ever going to make it to graceful. Learning all the basic ashtanga poses from the ground (feet) up has made such an incredible difference in my practice. I learned yoga isn’t about how your pose looks or how far you can fold or even how high you can lift your leg, its about being content with where you are now and who you are. It’s about starting with a foundation (feet) and moving upward from there, at your pace and as your body space allows – what a great parameter to work within! The more I learned the more I couldn’t wait to share with others – my all over body pain significantly diminished, my sleep was improving, my attitude was lighter, my head was more calm and my posture was improving. I even had someone ask me if I was famous because of how I walked even though I was in yoga clothes and didn’t have on any makeup! I was learning to have more gratitude and less expectations, I am less reactive and more thoughtful and patient, I am more calm and considerate. As I began thinking about my next chapter in life and thought about how much this practice had helped me in so many ways I decided to be come certified so I could learn more and then share this amazing thing called yoga with others. Many of my family members are in the health care field and practice alternative medicine as a way to stay healthy and happy. I had experienced how yoga had helped me and wanted to share it with communities of people who may not be 100% physically able to do a 90 min hot vinyasa yoga class. While I enjoy this style of class, I decided to focus my efforts in the “Silver“ community, physically limited community as well as beginners. With a daughter as a PICU nurse, I also enjoy sharing yoga and its calming effects on family members and friends of these little miracles who are spending their time in a hospital. I am currently a “traveling” instructor and go the various locations of my students. My guidance can be as simple as coaching breathing for relaxation, to helping people understand how to execute a few poses to stretch their bodies, to a class that is fully guided, to a complete vinyasa class that leaves my students sweating and feeling victorious. For more information on how we can work together, please email me at aventurayogawellness@gmail.com
