Photos by Miko Hafez for Yogalove Magazine

Yoga formally stole my heart during a massage residency program at the Heartwood Institute in NorCal from 1993-1995 with Gayna Uranski, although I practiced on and off with my mom since I was a little girl. I began teaching in 1995. My earliest influences are Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga. As time passes I'm losing interest in the linear, masculine and often rather rigid styles of asana (or are they releasing their hold on me?) and I'm fascinated with more gentle and subtle modalities of breath and movement that help to increase general positive body awareness, deep core stability and vibrant well being. I hold teaching certificates from The Ashtanga Yoga School, 8 Limbs Yoga Centers (200 and 500 hour) and Yoga Tune Up®. I am also the director of the Grounded Wisdom Yoga Teacher Training at 8 Limbs Yoga in Seattle. I teach with humor and compassion, because those are the tools I have found to be the most useful in my own life. My intention as a teacher (and a teacher trainer) is to create a safe and noncompetitive environment where people are encouraged to uncover their own particular brilliance, and begin to recognize themselves as the amazing beings that they truly are.