I have been practicing yoga for over 25 years and have been a certified instructor for 18 years. My introduction to yoga started with a Religions of Asia class in college (Duke University), which included basic yoga, meditation, and Tai Chi as a "lab" component. I then practiced (before studios were common) with VHS and DVD tapes of Rodney Yee from Gaiam. These helped me with the profound stress and anxiety I experienced in medical school. Shortly after graduation I became confused about my path, so I again turned to yoga for healing and grounding.

 

I discovered Integral Yoga, Swami Satchidananda, and his ashram "Yogaville" synchronistically when I drove by a sign for the ashram during a road trip in college. The name caught my attention, so I looked it up. I decided to go there (6-7 years later) when I became unsure about whether I wanted to practice medicine. I drove across the country (I was living in Colorado) and immersed myself in the yogic lifestyle, practice, and philosophy at the ashram (located in a bucolic setting near Charlottesville, VA). It was profoundly healing, as I'd imagined. The ashram environment felt like home. I completed a 200hr yoga teacher certification while there.

 

I taught and practiced Integral Yoga, a relaxing style of yoga that integrates chanting, breath work, philosophy, asana, yoga nidra, and meditation, for two years after leaving the ashram (eventually returning to medical internship). I then taught special full moon "yoga ritual" classes alongside and after my psychiatry training. I've taught at Telluride Yoga Center, Tucson Yoga Center, Anjali Yoga (Tucson),  Ah Haa School for the Arts (Telluride), and Mystic Mandala Medicine (my healing center in Tucson), plus a few special retreats and workshops in other locations.

 

During my years in Tucson I became strongly influenced by Anusara yoga, which was very heart-centered and enlivening. Tucson had a large community built around this style of practice. After the Anusara phase, I practiced Vinyasa, Kundalini, Iyengar, and various other styles of yoga. I also became very interested in meditation during my time in Arizona, doing a training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction with Jon Kabat Zinn, as well as three-, five-, and 10-day meditation retreats with Sharon Salzberg, Thich Nhat Hahn, and John Kornfield/Spirit Rock, respectively. I published a book chapter on "Mindfulness, Meditation, & Yoga" for the Handbook of Wellness Medicine (Cambridge U Press) in 2020. It's quite a good book, and there is loads of wonderful spiritual + evidence-based scientific info in my chapter. You can read a sample on Google books.

 

In 2021 I began practicing Ashtanga with a beloved teacher in Sayulita, Mexico (where I was living at the time). Ashtanga introduced a challenge that took my relationship to yoga to a new level. Though I have loved yoga for over two decades, after discovering Ashtanga I found renewed depth, wonder, and growth within my practice. I don't always feel drawn to practice in an intense or demanding (Ashtanga) way, however. Many days I do gentle yoga, focusing on flexibility. Other days I do a harder, strengthening practice. If you ever find yourself feeling kinda down, join a yoga studio and go to class 3-5 days per week. This is a frequency that results in notable mental and physical benefits. Yoga is a guiding light in my life. It can help you, too!