1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?:
When I was a child, my mother would read biographies of yogis, spiritual masters and people doing amazing healing with vegan diet, Energy healing, and meditation, and then tell me their stories. I was inspired by those stories and watching her rheumatoid arthritis go into remission. I was an athlete and had a natural inclination to improve physically, mentally, and spiritually. What
started as means to be successful football when I was young and as a track and field sprinter in college and elite level turned into my primary focus of my sadana to self realization, God realization, and how much can I fully embody the divine presence in every thing I do. Growing up our family, Guru was Sri Sathya Sai Baba. I taught Sathya Sai Education in human values (like a Yoga Sunday school) while I was in college at San Diego State University. In the summers, I went to college courses in India at Sathya Sai Baba College where Sai Baba was the teacher learning Indian culture and spirituality. In between seasons competing and semester breaks I got certified in clinical Hypnotherapy, NLP, Rieki master teacher and Pranic Healing. This training went perfectly with my degree in physical education/ fitness and training. So right after college I taught in schools as a PE teacher and coach, and started a business ‘Inspirational Hypnosis’ Energetic work, where I teach yoga and trained athletes for speed and conditioning. Still at it 22 years later. It’s a lifestyle of healing and service as natural as breathing.
2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?:
I never took a yoga teacher training. But before teaching, I had a lifetime from childhood with the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba, Hinduism, Yoga (inner Yoga), Buddhist and Taoist healing and spirituality, training in hypnotherapy, various meditations, and energetic medicine; plus my physical education major understanding how to teach exercise, movement and physiology.
So my cousin’s yoga teacher/ girlfriend was going back to school and asked if I would take over her yoga classes. I already had an idea of how I wanted to teach and the physical and spiritual experience I wanted to share with students through the medium of a hatha yoga class.
3. What makes your classes unique?:
I definitely have a unique asana flow sequence. Like everyone, it’s how a teacher guides students to notice inner awareness, breath and asana that makes us all unique. You may notice the mindfulness, hypnotherapy, and energy healing background in the language I use in my yoga classes.
4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?:
I grew up singing and chanting mantras and Hindu Bhajans, so I personally love this fusion of east and west. Good music puts me in the zone where my words are flowing with the music. When the music is new and I really like it I can barley teach because I’m so drawn into a meditation.
5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online:
My next big event is Tuesday 11/14. An awesome evening:
6:45pm Yoga with Me
8:00pm Energetic Healers Network, where energy workers from different modalities gather to connect share knowledge and experiences, and learn different ways of applying Energetics in a free mini session. All are welcome.
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