What is Yoga?:

+ Yoga keeps me in close touch with my breath so I can go to there for calmness, extra energy, and courage at any moment. My yoga practice helps me build strength and keep my bones aligned for good posture, grounded and graceful movement.

+ I came to yoga as a mature adult. Until 1996, I was a runner and enjoyed all my gym activities, including weight training, swimming, stair-climbing, kick boxing, high-impact aerobics. As I was training for a running event, I developed bursitis in my hips. In my zeal to run through the pain, I aggravated the injury, dropped out of the event, and, little by little, stopped all my physical activities except swimming. My friends joked that my training regimen was “Run, run, limp, run, run, limp…”

+ That's when I discovered Nia www.nianow.com, still my workout of choice. One of the great gifts of Nia in my life was introducing me to a regular yoga practice. Through studying and practicing yoga, I have learned what the voices in my hip had been trying to teach me. I slowed down and paid attention, I deepened my breath, I monitored my own energy and made more loving decisions about my body, especially my joints. I used my breath to lift my rib cage up and away from my pelvis, reducing the burden on my compressed hip joints. I flowed from one stance to the next, softening the impact on my body. I improved my posture, my functional fitness, my attitude of gratitude, and my ability to let go of tension.

+ After ten years of practicing yoga and Nia, I am running again and enjoying it. I run on surfaces that are more forgiving than concrete, and I alternate my runs with moves that elongate my body and create space inside my compressed joints.

+ I acknowledge wonderful teachers, Don Wenig www.dancingfeetyoga.com , Marsha Wenig www.yogakids.com , Gloria Gonzalez www.eightelementswest.com , and Roger Cole www.yogadelmar.com/rogercole , and others who have guided me to refine my practice and live my yoga on and off the mat. I appreciate the Iyengar foundations of my training and the playful and heart-centered elements that I have added.

+ I have seen the benefits for every body in the discipline of aligning the body through yoga. My youngest student was a 4-week-old infant at the beginning of a Mommy and Me class, my oldest a 98-year-old woman in an assisted-living chair yoga class. In between, I have taught boys and girls, men and women of all ages and fitness levels. Some thrive on a vigorous and athletic practice, while others nurture themselves with a more gentle practice. Yoga has something for every body.