AAAI/ISMA (Phase I & II, Advanced), Samatone Yoga (2,100 teaching hours since 2006)
My yoga journey began in 1999 when I met Suze Curtis at a
Martial Arts center where I was taking kickboxing lessons. She was
teaching power yoga out of the same facility, and I was immediately
impressed not only by her beautiful physique, but also by her loyal
following that always showed up for each and every packed class. I
didn’t have the courage at that time to try yoga ~ I still didn’t
believe it was a “real” workout ~ but I never forgot about her or her
sweaty yoga class! It took me nearly three years to finally try it, and
by this time she’d opened her own studio in Addison. I’ll never forget
the feeling of leaving my first yoga class with Suze…I was physically
spent, mentally clear, and I had the distinct impression that I’d never
be the same again! Even so, I didn’t live close so I spent the next
three years “dropping in” to Suze’s whenever I could and trying
different yoga classes around the Metroplex and in other cities where I
traveled…never able to replicate that “feeling” I had whenever I walked
out of a Suze class. So in 2005 I made the decision to move to North
Dallas, partly to be closer to the DPYP! studio so I could commit to a
regular practice, and it has been life changing! Within a few short
months of that commitment the emotional eating habits I’d struggled with
throughout my twenties went away, my weight and my hormones stabilized,
and I had truly found a new home at Suze’s and on my mat! When I
expressed my gratitude to Suze and told her that I had aspirations to
one day be able to give back by becoming a teacher, she immediately took
me under her wing. By the next year, I continued my journey becoming a
certified yoga teacher. Thanks to Suze, I have had the amazing
opportunity to share this wonderful gift with others for the past six
years! I have gone from a young, broke, and single
twenty-something to a happily married new mommy with a successful career
and have experienced everything in between ~ job changes, falling in
love, saying goodbye to loved ones, getting engaged and married, being
pregnant and becoming a mom ~ but my yoga practice and my yoga family at
Suze’s is always a constant. It always feels like home.
It has been said that yoga, much like life itself, is a journey and not a destination and I am a testament to that. As a Personal Yoga Guide at DPYP!, I have worked with brand new students as well as students that have
been coming for years and have reached a “plateau” or become “stuck” in
their practice. Often in a private session, we just need to be shown
one thing we can change about or incorporate into our practice and that
carries with us for weeks or months to come. It can be surprising that
such a small change can affect our practice so dramatically and that
often comes with a perspective shift as well. Again, our yoga journey “on the mat” mirrors our life “off the mat”!
A few of the “Suze-ism’s” I’ve picked up over the years have been
“There is No Change if There is No Change”, “Shift Happens”, and more
recently that it’s not about how you end up or look in your “pose” but
more about how you handle the transition or the spaces in between. My
journey at Suze’s as both a student and teacher has certainly taught me
how to “handle the transitions” with more beauty and grace, and I
continue to be a work in progress.
It has also been said that people come into each other’s lives for a
“reason, season, or lifetime” so whichever of these have brought you to
the DPYP! studio, know that you are a part of the family and we welcome
you for however long you choose to stay. We’re looking forward to
sharing the “spaces in between” with you both on ~ and off ~ the mats.
I am also available for (one-on-one) Private or In-Class Personal Yoga Guidance
Photos Courtesy of John Pokrassa