My Bio

In 1996, I attended my first yoga class at World Gym in San Diego. The yoga teacher asked "why are you taking this class?" I answered, "to learn something new about my body". From that small beginning, I continued taking semi-regular yoga classes for a period of time until I became a devotee a number of years later. A driving force towards my yoga commitment was persistent back pain due to bartending in San Francisco. This pain began running down my legs and signs of sciatica were evident. So by 2003 I found a regular yoga practise. By practicing the strict alignment principles of Iyengar yoga with Tony Eason, I noticed that my sacrum area & lumbar spine had started to loosen and my back pain lessened. I also discovered the power of the deep breath connected to the movement, and the mindfulness of the practice.

Not long after this revelation, I started to apply the lessons of my Iyengar training while practicing Vinyasa Flow yoga classes with Joy Ravelli, Rusty Wells, Janet Stone, & Les Leventhal. Les Leventhal inspired me with his insightful, joyful, and challenging classes. Darren Main & Christopher Love 's Hawaii yoga retreat was also a celebration of the deepening of my yoga practice and my life.

It was Joy Ravelli who then suggested that I become a yoga instructor. At first I was in denial about the prospect of teaching yoga but eventually realized that I truly had a desire to teach this practice. Joy’s suggestion took root and sent me into a world of self-discovery, many yoga work-shops, and eventually to Seattle where I took my yoga teacher training with Ana Forrest (following Les's Leventhal's suggestion). My teacher training was very powerful for me in a spiritual, physical, and emotional way. My weeks in Seattle were a journey into a bold and beautiful new life for me. Life seemed more in focus, and I started to feel myself more aware of myself, and of my fellow man.