My first introduction to fitness training was as a wrestler for four years in high school. My wrestling coach told me that the only activity that he believed was more physically challenging than wrestling was ballet. So, when I went to college, I joined a semi-professional dance company, Ballet Folklorico Ibero-Hispano, Inc. After the dance company moved to Chicago, for the next eight years, I studied and practiced aikido as a member of the Aikido Yoshinkai Association of North America. I have two degrees from Michigan State University in Natural Sciences and am working on a Masters in Holistic Nutrition.

I began taking yoga classes 20 years ago in college. After the semester was over, so was my intellectual curiosity (kutuhal). I thought I knew yoga. Approximately 10 years ago, I took a class on meditation and began to meditate on a regular basis, in groups and privately. So when I came to a yoga class at Hilltop Yoga six years ago, I came with a completely different intention – I came with the desire of liberation (mumuksha). There is a Buddhist proverb that states, “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” I completed the 300-hour Yoga Teacher Training at Hilltop in the Summer of 2008. Since the Autumn of 2008, I have been teaching yoga at Hilltop and have also taught yoga at Song of the Morning Ranch, Snap Fitness and the MSU Medical Club. I am enrolled in the Advanced Yoga Teacher Training from which I will eventually earn a total of 500 hours of training. I have also studied meditation, pranayama and Kriya Yoga through Ananda of Michigan and became a Kriyabon in 2005.

For the past 10 years I have been studying Esoteric Healing and have become a teacher of Esoteric Healing through the International Network of Esoteric Healers. I have also lead Ojibwa ceremonies for the past 20 years, including sweat lodges, vision quests and house blessings. My commitment to be of service to my family, my friends and my community is paramount.

Through my experience, I have found yoga to not only be safer than sports, martial arts and dance, but also to be more physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually challenging. From the breath work to strengthening the core, yoga also provides hundreds of health benefits. I incorporate aspects of the energy healing with my yoga classes to provide for mental clarity, for purification and to set the stage for liberation and bliss.