A woman with curly blonde hair smiling at the camera, wearing a sleeveless patterned top, in a brightly lit indoor setting.

my yoga journey: anxious teenager to grounded yoga instructor

Yoga has taught me gratitude. Gratitude is my daily mantra, it equips me to climb out of deep ruts, find new beginnings and enjoy the journey. My mother introduced me to yoga, at the age of 13. I grew up a gymnast, jungle gym guru, tree climbing ball of energy. I quickly found the connection between breath and movement to be an incredible practice for my scattered, anxiety ridden brain. I continued practicing yoga through high school and then began teaching in college, at Butler University in Indianapolis. This chapter of my teaching career really cultivated my love of exploring with and empowering students through fitness.

Following my first year of teaching, I obtained a certificate in Children’s yoga and incorporated that into my activities through College Mentors for Kids, a local nonprofit. After 4 years in Indianapolis, the joy of bringing yoga to college students brought me back to Chicago to complete a 200hr training at Yogaview in Chicago. In the years following my certification, I spent hundreds of hours teaching at big name studios, corporations, and school all across the Chicagoland. Since finishing my training, I’ve spent time empowering elementary girls with the power of yoga as well as teaching hot yoga, and dynamic vinyasa focused classes.

When COVID hit, many studios quickly furloughed or fired their staff. It was a huge shift to my routine and schedule. After the first day of the Chicago COVID shutdown, I immediately saw a shift and a need so I made a zoom account and posted on social media that I would be leading a virtual yoga class. That was March 17th, 2020. Since then, I’ve taught live weekly yoga classes via zoom. The capacity of how often I teach has shifted through the years amidst a cross country move, getting married, a masters degree and other major life events, but I still love showing up and drawing inspiration from my online community.

Most recently, I’ve completed my Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from Metropolitan State University of Denver, with the aim of becoming a Registered Dietician. I’m hopeful to fuse my long love and admiration for the physical body with nutrition, and yoga.

My classes are taught to empower the student, giving them the space to learn their from their practice through positive language, leveled options of difficulty, and reminders to smile and appreciate the process. Come join me on your mat. 

With gratitude <3