I was lucky enough to grow up in a small community in northern Vermont, surrounded by natural beauty, vast forests, clear lakes and rivers and the Green Mountains.  In short, it was the perfect place for a kid to grow up outdoors.  My childhood was spent climbing trees, walking in the woods, jumping in rivers and skiing and snowboarding at our local mountain.  Movement was a constant part of life.  

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It seems inevitable that, as we get older, our time spent in motion decreases.  We tend to spend more time indoors—in classrooms and later in offices or other workspaces.  It took time for me to realize just how much this reduction in movement for large chunks of my day could really take a toll on both my physical and mental health.  My mind and body were craving movement.  When I took time to move, I had better mental clarity, more energy, and more optimism.  And the more I moved, the more my body wanted to keep moving.

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I began my yoga journey more than 15 years ago with a semester long yoga course at the University of Vermont.  During those months, I experienced first-hand the incredible impact that yoga can have on both physical and mental health.  My weekly yoga sessions were a time and place where I could let the stress of classes, exams and daily life melt away.  I learned to be present in my body and present in the moment.  There was something really special about uniting movement with mindfulness and tapping into the breath.  I began practicing yoga and meditation in my dorm room to keep that good feeling going.  I knew then that I wanted to one day teach and share the benefits of yoga with others.  

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After college, I moved to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany—another place where I could be surrounded by natural beauty and vast mountains, another place where I could spend my time outdoors and in motion.  I’m lucky to be able to walk out my door and go hike, bike, run, snowboard, downhill ski or Nordic ski.  My activities change with the seasons.  But my one constant is yoga.

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I have practiced various styles of yoga in the many years since that first class in Vermont.  Eventually, I chose to pursue a teacher training in Vinyasa Yoga and travelled to Portugal to complete a 200 hour course.  I am a Yoga Alliance RYT-200 with a certificate in Vinyasa and Ashtanga Yoga.  My classes focus on uniting breath with movement and cultivating the mind-body connection.  In addition to the Asana (the physical postures), some sessions incorporate breath exercises and/or guided meditations to give you the full mind-body benefits of yoga.

 

Yoga can be a very personal practice.  And the beauty of yoga is that you don’t need anything—just yourself and space to move.  I started Marigold Yoga Kula as a way of bringing people together through yoga, movement and meditation.  It’s a way to create a sense of community and to support each other. 

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It’s a way for us all to remember that we are never alone.  To know that when we step onto our mat, there are others taking that same step with us.  And we are all wishing the greatest good for each other.  

 

Whether we connect in-person at one of my classes or virtually in online spaces, we can share the act of kindness that practicing yoga truly is.  When we care for ourselves and treat ourselves kindly, we are better able to care for and treat others kindly. 

 

When we truly care about ourselves and each other, when we approach each other with kindness, we can make our communities and the world a better place.