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Meet Our Instructors - Carrie |
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I began practicing yoga 8 years ago in preparation for the birth of my first daughter. As a result, during both of my labors and deliveries, I experienced the amazing harmony of breath, mediation and focus during physical challenge. As a lifelong athlete, I have enjoyed pushing my body and spirit to its edge. Years as a gymnast and dancer led me to find flight, openness and focus while embracing the performance nature of these sports. I then turned my energy toward endurance sports and enjoyed years of training and running marathons. Power yoga has synthesized my physical passions and reminded me that all of our physical abilities stem from that which lies within each of us.
It was in birth that I found yoga, however, it was in confronting my own life and death that I returned to my yoga practice. Just a year after my youngest daughter was born, I was diagnosed with a grade IV brain tumor and given a bleak prognosis. I immediately turned to running as a means of finding strength as well as detoxing my body from chemotherapy. I completed 2 marathons while undergoing chemotherapy and was able to raise funds and awareness for brain tumor research. It was during one my long training runs that I ran past the Haslett Hilltop Yoga studio and picked up a brochure. After reading Hilaire's bio, I literally stopped, and knew that this was exactly where I needed to be. After my first class with Hilaire, I was challenged on so many levels and I knew I had found a teacher and home that could offer healing and hope. Through 4 years of chemotherapy, my yoga practice has given me the opportunity to detoxify my body, strengthen my
mind and allow my spirit to soar!
Shortly after I was diagnosed with cancer, I was given a card and quote that I carry with me, "When you come to the edge of all the light you have known and are about to step off into the darkness, faith is knowing one of two things will happen, you will find something solid to stand on or you will learn to fly." Every time I come to my mat as a student I am reminded that in this next breath, anything is possible! Letting go of fear and finding strength along with grace can take us places we never imagined we could go. There is so much opportunity that can come when life turns upside down.
I completed 300 hours of teacher training for many reasons. I am forever a student and will continue to challenge my own limits while finding peace as I breathe through whatever life holds both on and off my mat. I am passionate about working with people of all ages. Teaching yoga has reconnected me with my training as a clinical social worker and psychotherapist. I recognized that we all have a story that is our own. To peel back the layers of the past, to plant seeds without anticipating the future and to breathe into the present is a powerful gift that I seek to bring to my own practice as well as offer to others. I enjoy teaching a challenging power yoga class yet seek to bring softness to the asana practice. I also believe that there must be joy, playfulness and lightness in order to grow. I am unbelievably grateful for the teachers that inspire me, the friends and family that lift me to new heights, my husband and little girls who make each day a true gift, and to my students who remind me that we all have the ability to find strength and grace in each new breath!
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