Tell us a bit about yourself…
I am a somatic movement educator/therapist and also a trauma therapist. I have taught yoga for over 20 years and I have been integrating somatic movement to my yoga teaching for many years.
Now professionally, I go between teaching somatic movement as a faculty member of Emdboy-Move, teaching yoga and seeing private clients.
I enjoy explorative practices that continuously bring me back to here and now in my body-mind.
I use my touch to work with my clients a lot and teach how to use safe, conscious, embodied touch.
What does a typical day look like for you?
Each day and each week are so varied for me. I need to check my diary the night before to see what I am doing the following day! These days, I try to give more time to myself first thing in the morning to check in how I am doing through a simple sensing of the body and some movement to ease into the day. My life is a real combination of online & in person both teaching / seeing clients. It is crucial that I make time to move and to be me. I spend a fair amount of time on the floor, being with gravity, rolling, lengthening, breathing and more form based practice to feel and awaken the body or walking!
How did your yoga journey begin and what inspired you to become a yoga teacher?
I began practicing yoga without much thought then one day, I experienced something extraordinary during savasana. I was intrigued and started practice daily. I never thought I would be a yoga teacher. I just loved how it supported me in my daily life. Breathing, meditation, witnessing my mind & emotions from moment to moment and ease & strength in my body all helped me to stay calm and present in moments of stress at work and I was content with that. However, when I was asked to teach classes, I realised I was quite good at teaching. When my freelance work became less busy, following 9/11 in the US (due to clients not traveling), I had decided to take on more teaching jobs and then it became a full time occupation since. So it was not planned but called.
What inspired you to specialize in your practice?
While I was very involved in my yoga practice, I became interested in how it feels inside of my body and when I came across somatic movement practice (Body-Mind Centering® and other practices) I was deeply drawn to it. It affected how I practiced and taught. When I had an injury and could not practice yoga, I found ways to continue moving through a somatic approach, which kept me going. It helped my recovery from the injury too. I continue to combine those practices in my teaching to share more enquiry based practice and different ways into yoga and movement with my students.
How have you seen yoga benefit your students?
Where can I begin? Each person is different and the stories each student tells me about how yoga is helping them in their lives is unique. I always learn much from hearing them.
What comes to my mind is when I witness the level of their embodiment becomes tangible: their capacity to feel themselves is present and the choices they make according to their felt experience, shifts in the quality of their movement, instead of chasing after external forms, and their capacity to be with themselves and others in a more kind, honest and supportive way. I am also aware that it helps them greatly in their life, especially at times that require discernment and courage based on their authenticity.
What is your favorite quote or life motto?
“Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it” by Rabindranath Tagore
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