Why I started teaching yoga…
My yoga journey had many failed starts before it finally stuck. As a woman in a bigger body, I found most yoga classes to be an unwelcoming, “othering” experience. I did not look like the other students, I did not speak “the language”, when my body formed a posture, it did not look like the teacher’s shape. I left many classes feeling defeated, embarrassed, and angry with my body.
I recall one time a yoga teacher telling me that I was doing the posture correctly, even if it looked different and that the anatomy of the pose was what was important. Mind Blown.
What if the problem wasn’t my body??
It still took me years before I found a Yoga for All Bodies class taught by Katie Beane (who is now one of my best friends). When I attended her classes, I felt all the feels that I dreamed of when I started my yoga practice. Katie encouraged me to join an upcoming 200 hour teacher training. I thought she was out of her mind. But each week, as I was recruiting more friends to Katie’s class, I saw how important that space was for folx who thought yoga was not for them.
I joined the 200 hr YTT with Sacred Seeds Yoga School in early 2017. The students were diverse; men, women, different ages, experiences, and body types. Despite that, I still almost quit in my second month. The tipping point was when I almost threw up during a vinyasa flow.
Why am I telling you this?? Because I learned a big lesson. My ego had no place in my yoga practice. Jacqui Bonwell taught us, “you have nothing to prove and nothing to defend”. I wish I heard that way earlier in my life. Being one of the biggest people in nearly every exercise class, I always felt I needed to prove my strength, flexibility, endurance, etc. I pushed myself too hard and constantly compared myself to everyone else in the room. That was not yoga.
I never actually intended to teach yoga. I planned to use my YTT to deepen my knowledge of yoga so I could practice more comfortably. I was hesitant to tell anyone that I was in a YTT program. I feared their judgement (nothing to prove, nothing to defend) but nearly every time I shared someone replied, “I want to take your class!” I soon realized, I was not the only one felt unwelcome in yoga classes.
I also had the realization; all of the equity work I was doing in my past career was intersecting with yoga. Yoga was intersecting with birth work. Everything was starting to fall into place. People who do not fit into the mainstream image of a yogi (thin, blonde, able-bodied, super flexible, young, etc) deserve yoga. They deserve to feel safe and welcomed. Health and well-being is our birth right. Underrepresented populations should have access to health and wellness. After completing my 200hr certification, I went on to be certified in Trauma Informed Yoga from Mindy Muse Yoga which led me to become a teacher with Sea Change Yoga. Their mission is to bring trauma informed yoga to marginalized populations. I also serve as a member of the Sea Change Yoga Beliefs and Values committee. I have taught Yoga for EVERY Body classes at Rosemont Wellness Center and I have served as adjunct professor at the University of Southern Maine for their Feminism in Yoga class, presenting on Body Affirming Yoga.
In 2020, I completed Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training at Shiva Shakti School of Yoga and Healing Arts, another beautiful compliment to my soul work.
My vow as a yoga teacher is to never stop learning. I will share tips, tricks and modifications to make yoga safe, welcoming and affirming for every one.