About Me...

Growing up in a big, beautiful, and fun-loving family, my cousins and I were always using our imagination to create endless hours of play. The power of imagination and play was ingrained in my DNA. As an adult, I learned that play  can also be a tool for self- discovery and healing.

I started my own  yoga practice when I was 16 years old. I found myself in a Bikram Yoga class and quickly took to the physical transformation and calm it created within me. The thirst for more yoga and realization of its power to transform the body, awaken the spirit, and gain a deeper understanding of what goes on  "inside" of our bodies is what lead me to exploring different styles of yoga and get the itch to become a certified yoga teacher in order that I could share this practice with the populations I served in my everyday work.

In 2010, I attended a 14 hour Children's Yoga training with Full of Joy Yoga in San Francisco. While a Freshman in college, I started offering children's yoga at Prana Power Studio in Tallahassee, Fl and teaching children's yoga at different community events. After graduating with my undergraduate in Family and Child Sciences and Anthropology, I moved to Asheville, NC to do AmeriCorps.

My AmeriCorps placement was with the Arc of Buncombe County. I was charged with the great opportunity to create a health and wellness program for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This was where I fine tuned my skills and developed a holistic program that used yoga and other wellness modalities to empower people with differing ABILITIES. In 2013, I received my 230 hour Teacher Training at Asheville Yoga Center and received my Basic Certification in Yoga for the Special Child, Sonia Sumar Method.

The AmeriCorps position evolved into a job and four years later, I was offering Health and Wellness to close to 200 individuals, ages 3-80, with a disability, a week. I learned that everyone could access yoga with the right accommodations and a format that was easily digestible. This access point for me was play. I shaped the poses to be images and things that any person could brew up in their imagination and express through their bodies. Whether we are answering our foot phones, hiding out in our turtle shells, or practicing elevator breath, children and adults of all ages can be engaged in this playful approach.  

Always being a student first, I'm excited to constantly be learning new tools, like the Community Resiliency Model and Somatic Therapy that I can incorporate into my classes. I'd love to host your next yoga birthday party or have you join me for Family Yoga. Check out my offerings and I look forward to seeing you soon.