My Practice and Philosophy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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MY PRACTICE

I've been practicing yoga on and off for nearly 15 years, finally "on again" with it the past eight or so years. I maintained a home practice and attended various studio/gym classes as finances would allow. Yoga is something I regard as radical self-care. The time I spend with myself in/for my practice is truly mine, and no one else can take that away from me for those minutes/hours I'm there.

I reached a point where I knew I needed some coaching/guidance to take my practice deeper, I began private study with Amie Vilt-Peck, and then I finally applied for a Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) program. I graduated from KC Yoga Kula's 200-Hour program May 2019 with Nancy Sargent Kaul, and loved that studio SO MUCH that I also completed my 300-Training there in May 2020. These women are my yoga rocks (and rock stars) in this world! I became really excited to learn to teach yoga for all kinds of bodies, so I also earned my Yoga for All Certification in July 2019. In 2020, I was set to attend Accessible Yoga training live here in KC when the pandemic hit, so I shifted gears and completed AY certification in September 2020 online.

This deeper practice allowed me to joyfully and compassionately acknowledge these important truths of our yoga practice:

1) Yoga is for anyone who wants to practice it. There is something for everyone.

2) Everyone deserves a space to practice with compassion, with autonomy over their own bodies so that they might be able to connect with themselves again.

3) Anyone who tries to tell you THEIR way is the only correct way to practice yoga is wrong, OK? If you don't connect with someone, if you feel uncomfortable, trust that feeling. There are other teachers. You have permission to STOP and to LEAVE.

4) Yoga practice doesn't have to be soooo serious. There are joys and laugher and connections to be found in the midst of our serious study and self-realizations.

CLASS STYLES I OFFER:
Gentle, Chair, Restorative, Yin, Slow Flow Vinyasa, Yoga in the Workplace, Yoga for Everybody

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT IN CLASS:
As of this writing (Winter 2024), I still mostly teach classes online. I have a home studio in Waldo Neighborhood, Kansas City, MO for in-person practice when we feel safe to do so!

I practice progressive sequencing (We start warming the body with a variety of versions of movements/postures with options to add more intensity/complexity as class moves on). I lead classes where variations are offered to include all abilities of students. I also am very silly in my seriousness and will use humor and stories to guide our reflections as we move through the practice. It is my priority to ensure a welcoming place to practice where you feel in control of your own participation.

In person, I use consent cards and will only offer physical assists/adjustments if you give me permission. "No, Thanks" is an absolutely valid option. Both on the mat and out in the world, OK?! Online, I've set up my classrooms to be 'camera-off' unless you opt in to be seen. As long as you can see and hear me, that's what's important!

If you are looking for someone to offer beer, dog, goat, any yoga that adds gimmicks to the mat, I am not the teacher for you. Over the years, I've begun to understand how the commodification, commercialization, appropriation of yoga is harmful to the South Asian cultures where yoga originated. As I deepen my personal practice, I try to create class offerings that honor those roots as best as I can.

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