My story starts in a small town on the coast of Oregon. I lived in that small town for 17 years. My parents moved there when I was 2 1/2 years old. I suffered a through a serious bout of pneumonia soon after we arrived. After that my health was never quite the same. I struggled with allergies, asthma and recurrent bronchitis for the rest of my 17 years on the Oregon coast. Just before I left for college a naturopathic doctor moved into town and changed my life forever. After a few simple treatments I felt stronger and healthier than I ever had before. Soon after that at the age of 19 I left for Colorado.
I attended Colorado College where I earned a degree in Biology but more importantly I found my true home -the mountains! My initial reaction to Colorado was ‘how can anyone live here it is so brown!’ but over the course of four years I fell in love with the mountains and the high desert. After graduation and a year in between spent enjoying the fruits of the Napa Valley, I ended up back in Oregon (Portland this time) at the National College of Natural Medicine. I spent five crazy, amazing, topsy-turvy, joyous, depressing, growing years at that institution and when I finally emerged on the other side I had no idea what to do next.
I had always been a student and now I had no books to read, no tests to take; I was lost. So, I got a job (waiting tables), paid my rent and thought about it – for four years! I started a homeopathic practice of my own. Nothing happened. I worked in the office of another doctor. Still nothing happened. I was passionate and excited about natural medicine but I just couldn’t seem to make anything work. I was wandering and it was becoming more and more obvious that I had lost sight of my true path in life. And then I found yoga – again.
I sweated and stretched and breathed my way through many yoga classes during my time in Portland but it was not until the fall of 2004 that I finally saw the big picture of yoga. I went to a vinyasa class taught by a woman named Lisa Mae Osborn. The poses were familiar and I sweated plenty but I also sang and listened to a beautiful poem by Rumi and for the first time I wondered what yoga was really all about. I left that class inspired, confused and determined to come back. After every class I left feeling a little lighter, a little happier and a little more inspired about life and not only my life but about life in general. I was slowly becoming a happier, calmer, nicer and more content person. I had stumbled across the guidance I needed and that guidance helped me through the next few years of my life.
Four years later Lisa Mae opened her own studio called the Bhaktishop and along with it came a 200-hour school of yoga. I wanted to know everything there was to know about yoga but I did not have the money to pay for it. And then the universe stepped in in the form of one amazing, wonderful woman named Stephanie Wiarda. Stephanie is the mother of a good friend of mine. I knew I had found a kindred spirit and a teacher in Stephanie from the moment we met but I never expected the kindness she was about to bestow on me. When she heard about my dilema she offered to pay for half of the cost of the school. I signed up. I found a way to cut my workload in half, adjust my schedule and pay the other half of the tuition. It was the best thing I ever did for myself.
We constantly tell ourselves stories about who we are, who we are not, what we can and can’t do in life. But that is all they are – stories. Rarely do those stories reflect the truth of who we are. I had always told myself that teaching yoga was something I could not do. I would never be any good at it. But when I agreed to let those stories go and lead with my heart I found that not only was I a good teacher but I loved every minute of it.
So, who am I? I am human being who has walked, run, stumbled and tripped my way through life. I have moved forward in life with great speed and agility at one moment and barely crawled at others. Through all of it I have learned to open my eyes and my heart a little wider, listen with greater attention and be open to everything that life has to offer. Life is a gift and as thanks for that gift I offer back to the world my knowledge and enthusiasm about yoga and homeopathy – two great paths of healing!
