yoga facilitator

Happy invitation to practice yoga with me

I offer yoga in all level group settings or privates, both in person or via zoom. The practice I share with you is accessible and trauma-informed. There will be active movement that includes building strength, but also aims to release tension. We’ll find time to slow down and find some ease. Consent is essential. There are no hands on adjustments.

The practice of yoga can be a helpful tool to access our parasympathetic nervous system to feel more focused, grounded and at ease. No matter if we practice 5 minutes, 20 minutes or 75 minutes: yoga can be the pause button in our busy lives that slows down our fast minds and gives our achy bodies some relief. There are no expectations. All that I ask you to bring with you is curiosity for your own body mind. It does not matter if you are familiar with yoga or if our shared time together is the first time you explore the practice of yoga.

When & where

I am based in Ridgewood NY, USA, the traditional land of the Lenape People. On a weekly basis, I currently facilitate yoga for the work crew at Death by Audio, privates via zoom and in-person sessions at Monte Nido, an eating disorder day treatment. Besides teaching yoga, I am working remotely as a SEO manager and consultant. I also tour as the drummer for Ceremony East Coast and A Place to Bury Strangers. That keeps my work schedule and travel itinerary fluid. Feel free to send me an email to schedule a practice with me. No matter if you are looking for a private via zoom or a group session for your stage crew at a festival: I am happy to connect.

love your brain certified yoga facilitator

I am a certified Love Your Brain Yoga facilitator and completed two teacher trainings to facilitate TBI accessible yoga.

Love Your Brain offers research based yoga and mindfulness programming to empower communities and individuals after traumatic brain injury.

I have also been training with Accessible Yoga School. Accessible Yoga provides teacher trainings, workshops and tools to invision yoga classes led by equity and community for all bodies.

Acknowledgement – what is yoga –

The practice of Yoga is an ancient tradition that originated in South Asia over 5.000 years ago. Everything I share with you I have been learning from my teachers that learned from their teachers and so forth. There are many different yoga traditions and the history of yoga is – like all history – versatile and multi-layered. Western medicine has just started to recognize the benefits of yoga for better health – physically and mentally. And while I am super excited about all the studies that are being released, it is important to me to acknowledge that we – here in the West – are tapping into an ancient wisdom that is not ours but that we have to treat with respect. Yoga is a philosophy, not an exercise program. Among other building blocks, the practice of Yoga includes movement, breath awareness, mindfulness and meditation. How you beginn your practice is up to you. Everyone is different, every day is different. We grow and change – hopefully with lots of curiosity.

RYT-500 and how it started

I have been a practitioner and student of yoga since 2015. In 2019 I received my first 200-hour yoga teacher certification at Art of Balance Yoga in Fredericksburg, VA where I taught vinyasa, restorative and all level. I have been working with Veterans Yoga Project and volunteered at Greenfield Senior Living and Sunshine Lady House for Recovery in FXBG, VA. Since 2021 I am a registered RYT-500 after completing a 300-hour Trauma-Informed Yoga and Ayurveda Immersion teacher training with Indra Yoga Institute. My personal yoga practice is my crucial foundation to navigate through this wild ride called life with lots of curiosity and an open heart – oftentimes easier said than done.

CERTIFICATIONS

03/2024 20 Hour Love Your Brain Facilitation training level 2
10/2023 20 Hour Love Your Brain Yoga and Mindfulness after TBI training level 1
02/2023 38 Hour Accessible Yoga Training
04/2021 300 Hour Yoga Teacher Training with Indra Yoga Institute; Trauma- Informed Yoga and Ayurveda Immersion
12/2019 Veterans Yoga Project Mindful Resilience Training
01/2019 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training with Art of Balance

WORKSHOPS & more training hours

3/2024 16 hour The Essence of Yoga: Making Yoga Philosophy Accessible w/ Jivana Heyman and Anjali Rao
01/2024 Glutes to the Max w/ Mary Richards, M.S., C-IAYT, E-RYT500
01/2024 Experiental Yoga Anatomy w/ Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., Physical Therapist
04/2023 Pranayama Workshop with Adriana Adele; Three Queens Yoga, Philadelphia PA
10/2022 Practicing Patanjali w/ Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., Physical Therapist
05/2022 Catch the Breeze: Acclimate with Pranayama w/ Mary Richards, M.S., C-IAYT, E-RYT500
02/2022 Winter’s Fire: Deep in the Belly w/ Mary Richards, M.S., C-IAYT, E- RYT500
08/2021 How to Work with the Traumatized Brain w/ NICABM (The National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine) and Bessel van der Kolk
02/2021 Anatomy Yoga Myths w/ Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D., Physical Therapist
12/2020 10 hour ParaYoga Nidra w/ Rod Stryker
10/2020 Zoom in on the Spinal Twists w/ Mary Richards, M.S., C-IAYT, E-RYT500
08/2020 Zoom in on the Shoulders & Wrists w/ Mary Richards, M.S., C-IAYT, E- RYT500
07/2020 Zoom in on the Knees & Ankles w/ Mary Richards, M.S., C-IAYT, E- RYT500
07/2020 Zoom in on the Hips w/ Mary Richards, M.S., C-IAYT, E-RYT500
05/2020 Teach People, Not Poses: Asana-based Therapeutics & The Physiology of Stress + Rest w/ Mary Richards, M.S., C-IAYT, E-RYT500
02/2020 Techniques Lab: Debunking Alignment Myths w/ Mary Richards, M.S., C-IAYT, E-RYT500
11/2019 Hormone Yoga Therapy Workshop w/ Anne Petrov E-RYT500
09/2019 For the Love of Meditation w/ Elsa Nicholson