As a child I played everything from soccer to softball. But I also had a passion for fluid movement, which I found in figure skating. After I went to college I found the unavoidable “gym” and even did the aerobics thing for a while (aging myself here). But “working out” never really “worked” for me! I didn’t have any heart or drive behind it other than trying to get me into my “skinny jeans”. Skating was spiritual to me in movement but my skating days were over so I decided to try out running. Not like Forrest Gump running, but participating in local long distant races to give me a goal and some spirit behind my efforts and to just feel the wind on my face again!

After completing my first Marathon in 2000 I imagined an amazing career as a marathon runner but after my second marathon I suffered knee injuries that led me to my first yoga class. At first I was just in search of some stretching and knee therapy but then something happened; I found all the fluid movement I remembered so well from skating! It had an athletic feel and was empowering. I knew from the start that yoga was going to change my life but I had no idea how much.

I attended my first teaching training to better my practice just 2 years later in 2002 with Baron Baptiste and followed up with Baron’s advanced teaching training that Fall. With a strong foundation in both the practice and the theory behind teaching I found my own voice and began teaching full time. Over 9 years of teaching I have added multiple styles and inspirations to my yogic experience practicing with a variety of teachers such as Vinnie Morino, Sarah Ivanhoe, Shiva Rae, Seane Corn, Ana Forest, Rodney Yee, Rusty Wells, Simon Park, and many more. Through conferences and travel I have been able to study and practice with some of the best.  I believe it was my trip to India where the sights, sounds and smells opened me to a whole new level of my teaching and personal practice. I still find myself rooted in a very practical and accessible style of class from my Baptiste inspiration but with a sprinkling of all my deepest yoga moments threaded through.

My first 5 years teaching were spent at Yoga Pearl in the Pearl District of Portland and also at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, OR where I collaborated on yoga  products with the Nike designers. I sought out to begin teaching on the road, teaching in such places as LA, Aspen, Mexico, Spain, and Shanghai, China. But soon the call to settle down and start my own studio was loud and strong and so I found myself in Chicago again where I had gone to college with hopes of my own studio and starting a family.

In 2008, I returned to Chicago to settle down and open Vessel Yoga Studio. With 20 classes on the schedule and the birth of my son Kingston last December, life shows no signs of slowing down and I can’t wait to see what’s next!

I’m currently setting intention, and seeking challenge and growth through not only my body on the mat but my spirit off the mat and I continue to be amazed at where life has taken me, and I can honestly say it has been through my love and practice of yoga that all of this has happened!