Salt Lake Power Yoga

My journey into yoga is a bit different than most. I took my first heated Baptiste class at Amazing Yoga in 2008. I couldn't touch my toes or balance on one foot, and the constant sweating was disgusting to me. I was initially drawn to this style because I wanted a yogi body (who can blame me?), and had a friend who was completely obsessed with Lululemon and the practice. I struggled into the studio on a semi regular basis (2-3 times a month) for the next 18 months until completing a 30 day challenge that consisted of 30 consecutive days of yoga, no excuses. Fast forward four years later, and I truly cannot imagine my life without a daily practice. I can touch my toes now, still struggle with balance, haven't quite achieved a yogi body and have never been happier. This style of yoga is the first thing in my life that hasn't been a "passing fitness phase", and I have experienced a life changing transformation by incorporating the methodology into my daily life. I am proof that you do not have to be flexible or coordinated to love yoga, this is why it is an on-going practice. I love teaching and having fun in the studio with my students. I truly believe that how you show up on your mat mirrors how you show up in life and I am so excited to build a community in Salt Lake City!

In February 2011, I went through my first teacher training with Sean and Karen Conley at Amazing Yoga in Pittsburgh. I have attended workshops with Bryan Kest, Simon Park and Natasha Rizopoulos. We moved back to Salt Lake in August 2011, and I was devastated to find out that the closest Baptiste style studio was in Jeremy Ranch. I started teaching at Tadasana, and quickly fell in love with the community and the studio, but couldn't continue the 40 minute commute to practice and teach. In February 2012, I attended Level 1 Teacher Training with Baron Baptiste and I cannot wait to share this transformative yoga with the amazing people of Salt Lake! When not in the studio, you can find me chasing after our two ill-mannered dogs and hanging with my wonderful husband, Brian.

I started practicing yoga in 2006 and immediately fell in lovewith the way it shifted my body, mind and spirit. Yoga has made me love and accept who I am. I hold a strong commitment to empowering others to reach their highest potential by sharing the magic and power of transformation. I bring all of my love, joy and peace to my classes through the power of movement and breath. I encourage my students to approach their practice with gratitude and honor towards one's self to truly benefit from the practice of yoga.

I started my journey to become a Certified Baptiste Power Vinyasa teacher in October 2009 when I attended my first Level 1 teacher training in Tulum, Mexico. I have loved being of service in various bootcamps by assisting Baron Baptiste whenever possible. Working as a travel agent, I have travelled to various places for business and pleasure; hosting and organizing many group activities including retreats and vacation packages. I have practiced with many other inspiring yoga teachers along the way, including Sean Corne, Shiva Rea, and John Friend. I also serve as the Vice-President and Co-Creator of HitPlayYoga

I spent much of my life lost in thought, trying to please others so that I could feel safe and loved. I buried my head in the sands of Western knowledge, studying and then teaching comparative literature at Columbia University and Pace University in Manhattan. Because I felt less than people who had real jobs in the real world and who I imagined did not have my seeming wounds, I attended law school and worked for seven years in a large Boston-based national law firm doing multi-million dollar commercial real estate, environmental and other self-important transactions. Despite the accomplishments, I continued to feel afraid, alone and unloved. Yoga veered into me at a health and fitness club in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The physicality of the practice and the enigmatic fueling of the body by the breath imperceptibly began to stir me towards awareness, turning my mind from outward to inward inquiry and observation: the stretching and relaxation of muscles, the hinging of joints, the expansion of lungs in the chest, and the sensation of inner power stemming from the mysterious interplay of physical force and freedom.

After years of searching and sitting with non-duality teachers promising healing and enlightenment, I discovered Baron Baptiste’s style of yoga, with its heated flowing organic, natural intelligence. I had looked to the west, then to the east for answers. Finally, I was pulled inside. Discovering the blocks from my past became the first step in removing them. From there, hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting, smelling, moving, and thinking were registered as happening effortlessly. At Level 2 Baptiste Teacher Training in Mexico, Baron called me “A man who disrupts life with love.” I am passionate about sharing this vitality with all who are willing to inquire into their apparent limits so they can discover what is possible for them right now. I invite you to explore and question the illusions and voices that keep you from resting in and living from your authentic self. Presence, happiness and transformation can arise naturally when we break free from the unexamined asanas that invisibly pattern, shape, form and vinyasa each of us since birth.

Off-the-mat, life practices me as Co-Founder and Vice President of Greenfield Environmental Trust Group, Inc. Through various affiliated entities, GETG serves as a court appointed fiduciary and Trustee to manage, clean-up and breathe new life into hazardous waste sites nationally for the protection of human health and the environment.

Yoga combusts the physical, emotional, intellectual, and visceral within us, fueling movement from the mind-driven past projected forward to the right here, right now. When the energetic forces vibrating through us on the mat are seen to arise naturally and without egoic effort, then balance, alignment, flexibility, strength and growth are seen as happening off-the-mat as well. We can stand in our power, live with grace and ease, and source inspiration for ourselves and our communities.