Who I am
doing one of my favorite things: helping to marry some beautiful people in joshua tree with my husband eric
Since a young age, I have been interested in a few key things: interconnection, what is essential, and a faith in the conversation of our inner life and our body. These paths led me to become a Yoga Therapist, End of Life Doula and Chaplain, and over the years, practice and my relationships with my students lead me to devote myself to a life of service and spirit.
As a teacher, I am passionate about honoring the depth of contemplative practice. It was studying at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai where I discovered that the yoga practice I loved is rooted in a tradition which understands yoga as relationship, whose tools should be made appropriate for every individual, and whose practice is steeped in the work of awareness and connection to spirit. This work was deepened for me when I began studying Buddhism, particularly with Michael Stone. After almost 15 years of study and teaching, I feel the privilege of having received these teachings, I understand the daily challenge of them, and I work to uphold the depth of these traditions in all I do.
As a caregiver, I hope to be of service. For me, this goal expresses my view of the people I work with as whole. People who don’t need fixing or help, but multi-dimensional individuals who have everything they need inside of them to show up to what is needed in their life. As a Yoga Therapist and spiritual caregiver, I approach practice with respect and sensitivity to trauma, ability, difference, and our unique and powerful subtle bodies. My work is to shine a light on my students and clients, to walk alongside, and to guide steadily with a spirit of curiosity and not-knowing.
As a practitioner I am dedicated to waking up, which includes engaging in all of life, as it is, both beautiful and difficult. I see practice as a foundation to show up to our world, not just for ourselves, but for all beings. Our inward work turns us towards considering our place in the world, reverberates in our relationships, our purpose, and our responsibilities as citizens. Nothing gets left out. I ground my own practice in the ethical teachings of Yoga and Buddhism, in understanding my own awakening as intrinsically bound to all beings and the work of social, racial, environmental, and economic justice.
I am indebted to my primary teachers, Danielle Tarantola and Michael Stone, to the source and inspiration of my tradition, TKV Desikachar and T. Krishnamacharya, and to my contemplative caregiving community and teachers: Sensei Koshin Paley Ellison, Sensei Robert Chodo Campbell, Barbara Doshin Ende and Reverend Trudi Hirsch. My work would not be possible without the love of my family, especially my husband Eric and my young son, Santino. I live and teach in the Hudson Valley, on the unceded land of Munsee Lenape, Mohican, and Wappinger tribes. My pronouns are she/her.
“You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.
Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.
Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn
anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive
is too small for you.”
Certifications and Trainings
Clinical Pastoral Education with Reverend Trudi Hirsch at Vassar Hospital/Jewish Theological Seminary 2017-2019
IAYT Yoga Therapist Certification 2017
End-of-Life Doula Certification with NYZCC 2017
Foundations of Contemplative Care with NYZCC 2015-2017
500hr yoga certification in the tradition of Krishnamacharya/Desikachar with Danielle Tarnatola and Healing Yoga Foundation 2010-2013
Intensive study at the Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Centre, Dharamsala 2009
Heart of Yoga intensive study at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandirm 2009
200hr Vinyasa yoga certification with Stacey Brass and Bryn Chrisman 2007