I feel I am a twenty-something in a mid-fifties body. My dominant feeling in life is delight. "Life is for constant exploration in ourselves, relationships, food, and travel".
I found yoga in 1992 after the birth of my third child. After years of feeling constrained my yoga practice left me feeling released. I cried. With all the early busy years of starting a family I felt lost to myself. Yoga opened the door to feelings that I had suppressed. It started me on a journey to let go and finally I ended on the doorstep of joy!
By 1997 I decided to be part of Teacher Training with Bhumi, a Kripalu-trained instructor who had recently returned home to Cleveland. It was a study of myself in postures on the mat, that moved to a study of myself and my world all the time. The stillness of time became a part of her life. More joy was found in the little moments that before seemed annoying. Life began to flow more smoothly. If I let go... if not forced into doing... all seemed to flow. I found parking spots for one!
Ashtanga became a part of my life in 1998 when I took my first class with the "Grateful Dead" instructor Larry Schultz from San Francisco. In a ballroom on the third floor of a Bexley estate in Columbus, 70 people practiced. I found joy and challenges in the practice. Since then many great teachers have instructed me through this journey. Martha Marcom, co-owner of Yoga on High in Columbus, was my first teacher. Martha started on this path many years earlier and I saw the Ashtanga group in Columbus as healthy and strong because of her. David Swenson and Tim Miller began almost yearly visits for workshops and teacher trainings and I attended all that I could. In Cleveland I photocopied a page of the Primary Series and began a Primary Series Flow class at 5 PM on Saturdays at any studio that was receptive. A small group practiced for years with the "cheat sheets" and the Cleveland Ashtanga community was born. When Pattabhi Jois visited the states for the last time in 2005 I practiced with the Master. Read more and find info about yoga retreats at my home in Costa Rica at http://ashtangacostarica.com/index.htm