As someone who grew up in a small farm town without access to things like yoga, I feel very blessed to have found such an incredible yoga community in Madison. I moved to Madison to study Psychology at the UW, where a class on Psychology of Stress introduced me to the practice of yoga as a tool in managing stress and anxiety. After graduating in 2007, I finally had time on my hands and attended my first classes at Inner Fire Yoga, changing my life forever.

My yoga practice has evolved over the years. It has been a source of power and strength, a source of quiet and calm. It has taught me to slow down, to take the time to really listen to my body. As a student, I was so grateful for the changes I’d been seeing in my life from my yoga practice, so I decided to pursue teacher training. If I could change the life of even one student, I thought, it would be worth it. I started teaching immediately after completing my 200 hr training at Inner Fire Yoga, and I knew right away that it was what I was meant to do. So I walked away from the stability of my office job and began teaching full time in 2014. I’ve been so honored to touch the lives of so many students since then, and to have inspired some students to become teachers themselves. 

I like to describe my yoga classes as a bit of a “choose your own adventure”. I offer plenty of options so students can choose to make class as challenging or as gentle as they need. I encourage students to work on building awareness in their body, listening to the feedback it gives in order to create a practice that’s truly supportive, and to practice letting go of expectations to allow ourselves to just be. Honoring the breath, and knowing that we are only ever just a few breaths away from being present. 

Yoga opened up the doors to other movement practices for me, including aerial yoga and aerial dance. (Nowadays, if I’m not in the yoga studio, I’m typically spinning around in the air covered in spandex and glitter performing for a crowd). My yoga practice informs my dance practice, and my active flexibility and aerial dance training have helped inform my yoga practice and teaching. I’m addicted to learning, and I love being able to share my unique perspective and what I’ve learned through the act of teaching.

TRAINING | CERTIFICATES

• Theresa Murphy Therapeutics Training - 2016

• Core Strength Vinyasa Training – (in progress)

• Advanced Unnata Aerial Yoga Certification, August 2015

• Unnata Aerial Yoga Certification – Unnata, 2014

• 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training, Inner Fire Yoga, 2014

• Erica Mather – Forrest Yoga Workshop: Rock You to the Core, 2014

• Sadie Nardini – Core Strength Transformer, 2012 Total Yoga Transformation, 2013

• Rolf Gates – Vinyasa Workshop Weekend, 9 C.E. credits, 2013