sitting with my teacher's teacher in pashupatinath / kathmandu

 
​Hello and thank you for being here. 
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I first discovered yoga and meditation during college studying Human Rights and Social Justice, but began deepening my practice while I was working as a Program Coordinator and Advocate Counselor for underserved and marginalized youth/young adults in New York City. My yoga practice quickly became a ritual of self-care; a space to breathe and feel and rest so that I could show up and do better each day. After five years of working in non-profit education and youth development partnerships in NYC, I moved with my partner to Abu Dhabi, UAE. 
  
​I completed my first Yoga Teacher Training in the sacred Kathmandu Valley of Nepal with Heather Elton.
I am also an Accessible Yoga ambassador, certified Yoga for All teacher, and hold additional training/certification in Therapeutic Crisis Intervention, Somatic Abolitionism with Resmaa Menakem, Teen Yoga, Prentis Hemphill at The Embodiment Institute, Yogic Studies with Seth Powell, Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) with The Justice Resource Institute, and Trauma Informed Yoga Therapy.

With a background in activism, restorative justice practices and social justice work, my yoga practice has and (inevitably) continues to align with the teachings of trauma-informed and trauma-responsive yoga.

​  I believe that yoga is a practice of liberation. It begins in the body, but it doesn't stop there. It is a practice of compassionate action. It is seeing the reality of injustice while envisioning something better for all of us. At the same time, I acknowledge and honor the deep roots of yoga and mindfulness practices, which ultimately are not mine to own or claim. 
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​I am a certified Yoga Therapist with the IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists). I am also on the faculty for Heather Elton's Yoga Teacher Trainings (London and Nepal) where I facilitate modules on the intersections of trauma, wellness, and systemic change.
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At the start of 2020, I returned to the United States to my home state of Michigan. I recognize that I am living and working on the indigenous lands historically occupied by the Ojibwe, Odawa, Bodewadmi nations (Three Fires Confederacy) / Kalamazoo, Michigan USA. 
I am a Racial Healing Facilitator for TRHT Kalamazoo (Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation). I am also an external member of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation's Anti-Racism Transformation Team which is committed to dismantling the racist policies and practices that exist within the foundation. 
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