I discovered Hatha, the physical practice of Yoga, in 1988, after receiving my B.A. in broadcast journalism in San Diego. I attended a party at a Yoga teacher's house and was very impressed by the people there. At the time I was working in television news and was used to going to media parties where I always felt lonely and out of place.

Here, at the Yoga teacher's party, people were very friendly, inquisitive, and welcoming. Amazingly, people who were 40 and 50 years old looked like they were 20 and 30! I knew right then and there that I wanted to be like these people. So, for the next two years I attended Yoga classes, often times twice daily, with Ashtanga teacher Tim Miller in Encinitas, CA and Iyengar teachers, Sunny and Aman Keays. Back in those days there were often only a handful of students in Tim's, now world-renown, Ashtanga classes.

Upon moving to Minneapolis in 1991, I was "discovered" by a local football coach who asked me what I did to stay in shape. When I replied "Yoga", he immediately hired me to teach Yoga to the Concordia College Football Team. During my first year with the team, the players sustained only a single injury, came in second place and moved up a division. What really moved me, however, was the transformation in energy that would take place from before class when the boys were "bouncing off the walls" to afterwards when they were peaceful and full of gratitude, (not to mention having had a blast working with them!)

At the time I realized I was working with all these athletes’ bodies and knew next to nothing about structural anatomy and physiology. To enhance my knowledge, I enrolled in massage school where I received my certification in that field. Thereafter I supplemented my Yoga teaching while working as a massage therapist at a spa, "The Marsh", in Minnetonka, for the next eight years.

During that time period, in 1995, I enrolled in the Barbara Brennan School of Healing, (BBSH), a four-year healing college. I describe BBSH as spiritual and emotional bootcamp. The college incorporates Yogic subtle anatomy with psychological analysis and healing techniques. This was the education I needed to explain the healing and energetic phenomena that I could feel take place during a Yoga class, and it gave a Western scientific model to identify and implement ancient Eastern esoteric healing and spiritual principles.

I was then invited to take all my education; Yoga, massage and subtle anatomy work and create a curriculum in Yoga for the University of Minnesota BFA/Guthrie Theater actor training program, where I served as a faculty member for three years. My work with the theater students involved teaching them ways to use Hatha Yoga as a tool to assist them in embodying character and setting scene. I also used my mentoring skills to advise the students with any issues they were dealing with outside of class.

What I realized from my work with the theater program was that I had the ability to take all I'd learned over the past 20 years in Yoga and everything associated with the practice, and articulate it in a way that I could speak to whomever I needed to teach.

I have applied this "fusion" successfully to the following groups:

• To high school students, where I teach a class geared to all, from the jock-types to the not-so-physically inclined. With these teenagers, I weave in lessons to help shed light on issues they are oftentimes dealing with, from gossip to body image.
• To the University of Minnesota Gopher Football team, where I tailor a program to develop strength and flexibility, and I teach them techniques that increase alignment, focus and teamwork.
• To my regular classes at the St. Paul Yoga Center which are multi-level and open to the public. There I teach adult classes of all ages who get a great workout (and whatever else they set their intention on,) from cleansing their minds and bodies, to sweating and moving, to developing spiritual connection.

I have a couple goals for the future of my teaching. First, to continue to create ways to teach Yoga to diverse communities; from corporations, to schools, to at risk girls and to any other opportunity that arises. My second goal is to create classes, workshops and retreats that teach the energetic aspects of Yoga, what I call the "juice" of the practice, that allows people a transformative experience by accessing their innate intelligence. I am inspired by the possibilities and grateful for the opportunities that are available to me!