Move Better through Anatomical Insight

"In my youth, I took many years of dance, from classical ballet, tap, to modern jazz. From an early age, I was fascinated with feet. I would observe in wonder, how differently my left toes moved compared to my right. I was fascinated with the footprints kids made in the school yard dust on our way in from recess and how people’s shoes would wear because of the way they walked.

Taking on another form of sculpture in my teens, I taught myself to cut hair, thanks to my sister and brother’s good-natured willingness to get a free haircut. My husband is now the lucky recipient of my earlier training. In college I majored in art education and furthered my study of form. I worked as a ceramic sculptor for six years and then started a ceramics school for children and taught for 18 years.

My primary teacher for study of Hatha Yoga in the lineage of B.K.S. Iyengar has been the internationally renowned Ramanand Patel. Ramanand, trained as a civil engineer, instilled me with an understanding of sound structure and movement in the Yoga postures.

In 1987, I was fortunate to be in a group with Ramanand and 20 of his students in a 3-week intensive training at the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India. Iyengar’s daughter, Geeta was the main teacher for the 3 weeks, but Iyengar himself was very much in the room, and he would not hesitate to jump in at any time to drive home a point in his powerful and rather intimidating style.

I have the honor to claim to have had his toes in my nose. Yes. We were doing headstands and I never can stay up in a headstand too long because I jam up into the occiput. So, I came down and kept my head down to let that compression release. He came over, and standing over me bellowed “AND YOU?” I just pointed to my occiput.

He ordered me to the wall to do my headstand there. I popped up and he tells me to go toward my forehead. I was. He said, “More on your forehead!”, at which point he takes the ball and toes of his foot onto what he thinks is my forehead. It was my nose! Luckily, he didn’t push too hard and break my nose.

I have studied with other fine Yoga teachers, such as Kofi Busia, Judith Lasater, and Doug Keller. Moshe Feldenkrais’ Awareness Through Movement deeply influences my process of learning and teaching.

I am in constant learning mode with movement. My very own aging body offers lessons with each passing year. Great teachers and life’s daily lessons in the body all weave into the tapestry of my teaching style. I’ve come to appreciate the effectiveness and fun of balls,,,,balls of all sizes. The Melt Method uses small balls to hydrate the fascia on the hands and feet, having wonderful farther reaching effects up through the arms into the neck, and up the legs into the hips. The wonderful self-massage of Yamuna Body Rolling helps bring circulation and opening to dense and rigid areas of the body, allowing a student to connect more easily through the lines of their yoga poses. Big exercise balls offer a soft secure support for backbends and offer great ways to stretch and strengthen. A soft roller has become a favorite tool by all the students for decompressing the joints and bring a complete energy renewal for the body after a long day of doing what it had to do.  

In my classes I wish to bring the student into a closer relationship with their body and their being. I describe the intricacies of the poses, making suggestions to guide the focus inward, to build awareness of the rich interrelationship of the body, the breath, and the mind. It gives me great joy to take people on this journey.

Everybody needs to move and every body can move within the range of one’s abilities. Whether your body is too stiff, too soft, over-used, under-used, athletic, delicate, rugged, coming back from injury, yoga offers a wonderful toolbox for maintaining your body, the vessel for your mind, emotions, and spirit. It craves your care and attention.