ABOUT
My first introduction to meditation was inspired by the Beatles in the 60’s. I hitched across country to take took courses in Transcendental Meditation with the Maharishi in Humbolt County, California. And for a “wild child”, it was the beginning of slowing down enough to “feel”, “see”, and “be” in life moment to moment. And the beginning of a wondrous path of what the Buddha calls 10,000 joys and 10,000 sorrows.
Being a hippie in the 60’s and early 70’s- I was one of those screaming “Beatle Maniacs” at their concert at Shea Stadium; I got mazed in the face during a peace march on Washington D.C. ; run over by barbed wire during the Chicago 7; lived by Ram Das’ book “Be Here Now”; burned my bra at Big Sur; and stayed awake all night to hear Jimmy Hendrik singing “Freedom” at Woodstock. And underneath all that, “all I was sayin was- “give peace a chance”
My travels drew me to Santa Barbara where I decided to get my Masters in Education. Santa Barbara was a spiritual hub at that time. I could go to the olive groves in Ojai and listen to Krishna Murti’s Sunday morning talks; stop by and do yoga with Swami Satchidananda; hear talks at my university by Buck Minister Fuller; or drive to Santa Monica and do meditation intensives with Swami Muktananda.
As my love for yoga grew, I started taking classes four times a week. My teachers had been students of Desikacharya and B.K.S Iyengar. Their classes were an amazing balance of outer dynamism and humor, and inner awareness and breath. After studying with them for a few years they decided to leave town and asked me to take over their classes. I was both shocked and honored, but longed to have more knowledge. So after covering their classes for a year, I moved to San Francisco to attend the Iyengar Yoga Institute.
I was overjoyed to be in the company of such masterful teachers as Mary Dunn, Kofi Bufia, Manuso Manas, Felicity Hall and Ramanand Patel. I absorbed everything like a sponge! The greatest honor was getting to take intensives with B.K.S. Iyengar at his institute in Pune, India. His masterful eye and deep wisdom continued to ignite my passion, enthusiasm, and devotion to this practice and path.
After graduation from the Iyengar Yoga Institute, I moved to Berkeley to assist in Donald Moyer’s classes at the Yoga Room. In Berkeley, I got introduced to the teachings of Chogyam Trungpa and his truly remarkable approach that steadily rejected aggression as a strategy for overcoming obstacles, and instead, inspired a deeper and more powerful well of gentleness and compassion. This awakened a new tenderhearted bravery to both my yoga practice and my life.
Then my yoga “karma” continued to call as one night while attending a chanting and meditation program at the Siddha Yoga Ashram in Oakland, I as invited to join a world tour headed by meditation master Gurumayi Chidvilasanada to teach yoga classes, workshops and teacher trainings for the next decade,. It was such a honor to play a small part in spreading the gift of yoga to so many new people, and who knew that by 2020 “Om” would be a household word, a yoga mat would be in everyones’ carry-on, and most doctors would be recommending meditation for good health…… It takes a village!
The next decade I returned to the Northwestern corner of Connecticut where I founded “Yoga Sangha”, a community with heart. Thirsty for more wisdom, I continued further studies in meditation with such spiritual luminaries as Narayan Liebenson, Pema Chodron, Thich Nhat Hanh, and Roshi Daido Lori.
A few years later I got introduced to Anusara Yoga. This new hatha yoga paradigm consisted of applying principles of alignment, and balanced actions for the inner and outer body that were in harmony with the pulsation of the Universe. The first one being- “pause, be aware of your breath, soften inside and open your heart and mind…. It was a match made in heaven, so after continued study and practice, I got certified in this new methodology and continued offering Anusara classes, workshops and Immersions for the next decades.
In 2012 one of my students introduced me to Life Coaching and the practice of mind inquiry work with Byron Katie. I had such incredible shifts in my own life, that I completed the training to become a mind/body coach, and added that as an offering in my life’s work as well.
I still continue to teach private and public yoga classes, workshops and trainings. My devotion to the practice of yoga has never waned. B.K.S Iyengar said that “yoga is a light that once lit, never goes out”, and I am forever grateful this practice.
In 2020, during the pandemic, my first book of poetry “wrote me”. The book is called “Pure & Simple Poems,” and is available on Amazon. It was so unexpected, and I am tickled to be able to offer it. My second book is calling, and so are memoirs of my wild and wonderful life- so stay tuned.!
My body turned 80 this year, but I still haven’t caught up with it yet! I keep up my yoga practices, breathing and meditation daily to support my body, mind and heart. But it is in my life off the mat that I notice the true gifts of the practice. I pause more- not because i am an old fart , but because I don’t want to miss the sacredness of all of life. And I spend summers in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where I get further inspiration from my great love the sea.
Thank You for visiting my page and I look forward to hearing from you.
Namaste
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