Yoga is a gift to humankind. It has certainly been for me, right from the start. Back then, in my early teens, I followed my mom around as she taught yoga, breath, and meditation to the ladies in our outback Aussie neighborhood. Before my eyes, I watched these very small town women transform. I realized then, and continue to be, in awe of yoga’s power and grace.

The practices of yoga and meditation helped me navigate the turbulence of adolescence; an eating disorder as well as a physically devastating motorcycle accident - helping heal the body-mind and eventually, my sense of Self.

And, while dear friends lost themselves to hard drugs, my practices gave me an underlying albeit still a vague sense of joy to lean toward when I felt overwhelmed by my own myriad dysfunctions.

These experiences gave rise to an understanding of working with trauma, the role mind plays in the body’s healing, a familiarity with addictive thinking and some of the mental health issues frequently underlying it.

I gratefully stand on the shoulders of many great teachers who go before me, especially those in the Yoga Therapy Rx program at Loyola Marymount. Through the influence and mentorship of Larry Payne, Robert Birnberg, Amy Wheeler (and others), I was introduced to the lineage of the late great Krishnamacharya and his son DVK Desikachar. While my classes may receive the occasional sprinkle of Kundalini yoga, I always return to Krishnamacharya’s individualized, breath-based approach to practice.

Yoga highlights:

Early teens Yoga found me!

1968 Initiated into Transcendental Meditation

1984 - 1986 Studied with teachers at the San Francisco Iyengar Institute

1985 - 1989 Studied meditation under the auspices of Sri Chinmoy

1990 - 1998 Became a passionista of dance with the Marianne Karou founder of Dance Alive,

studied yoga with Ana Forrest of Forrest Yoga and John Childers, Full Spectrum Yoga.

2003. 200hr Yoga Teachers Training Full Spectrum Yoga Newport Beach

2009 - 2011 300 hr Yoga Therapy Rx at LMU, Advanced Certification

2009. Worked privately with a large variety of students/issues

2014 Prime of Life with Larry Payne

2015. Affinity Recovery (early recovery, substance addiction) and

2015 - 2018 Sovereign Health (Eating Disorder program)

2016. Certified Yoga Therapist through IYAT

Currently, continue to teach in treatment and privately in my home studio located in a quiet corner of Irvine.

Memberships: *IYAT (International Association of Yoga Therapists)

*Advisory Board Healthy Campus, UCI

*WAAT (Women’s Association for Addiction Treatment)

Manuscript currently in progress yoga/addiction

The Blog

Thoughts, musings, and ruminations.