“You can’t see what you don’t know.” 

Yoga Medicine ® Therapeutic Specialist are dedicated to a higher standard of learning to evolve expertise and magnify the therapeutic effects of practicing yoga. To show recognition of dedication to my three-year, rigorous, academic pursuit and achievement, Yoga Medicine ® has conferred to me a distinct title to reflect the results of my continued advanced studies:

Yoga Medicine ® Therapeutic Specialist, is a title reserved for Yoga Medicine teachers who are committed to incorporating therapeutics into their teaching, and, keeping up with new research within the yoga & holistic health fields. Yoga Medicine applicants are carefully selected so the program’s faculty can work closely with its trainee’s to guarantee a high level of proficiency. This title distinguishes teachers who are dedicated to continuously raising the bar, incorporating therapeutic modalities into their teaching methodology, and to heightening their yoga ethos with advanced training and mastery. 

To capstone completion of my Yoga Medicine 500 Hour Advanced teacher training, in April 2023 I participated in a Human Cadaver Dissection Lab at the Laboratory of Anatomical Enlightenment in Boulder, Colorado. There I studied under master dissector Todd Garcia & Yoga Medicine founder Tiffany Cruikshank, learning hands-on anatomy beyond the books, to broaden my anatomical knowledge through the exploration and investigation of the real human form in a yoga anatomist context. For me, the experience was highlighted by uncovering a total knee replacement in the female doner I was working with, as well as shoulder and hip prosthesis uncovered by my Yoga Medicine classmates on other doners’ bodies. No layer was left unreflected and I can undoubtably tell you that, eventually, everything connects!

Satisfying the requirements for this advanced training I successfully and effectively presented 3 case-study applications that therapeutically evaluated and addressed a chief complaint with three distinct clients over an 8-week yoga therapeutics program. I presented to a panel of Yoga Medicine experts including Cruikshank - both it’s founder and lead teacher - and senior-instructor Jenni Tarma, of Kaari (P)rehab. Tarma doubles as my yoga anatomy teacher from my (2018) 200 hour training and further advanced anatomy studies with Carolina Yoga Company (CYC).  CYC is where I gained my initial certification to teach yoga, and later, expertise in teaching yoga to athletes, through an independent study with it’s co-founder Sage Rountree - renowned Yoga for Athletes teacher trainer and my yoga mentor. Yes indeed, eventually, everything connects! 

After having been a student of yoga for nearly 20 years, under Rountree’s new revelations I began to benefit from a more therapeutic and anatomically-detailed approach to building balance in the body as I negotiated life moving with two new titanium knees. Through her encouragement I began to uncover my gift to teach yoga in a particular way to specific populations of adults. From there, Tarma was my spring-board from a truly noteworthy and in-depth initial training at CYC to Yoga Medicine, a super nuanced, academically-rigorous, anatomy-focused, research-driven advanced teacher training program that would require sacrifice, a deep commitment to understanding and applying the work, and, to on-going inquiry.

Yoga Medicine’s globally acclaimed program was created from Cruikshank’s multifaceted expertise in yoga, biomechanics, women’s health and Traditional Chinese Medicine and blends Eastern Yoga wisdom with approaches from Western medicine. To enhance my growing yoga anatomist training with Yoga Medicine, I was concurrently enrolled in a year-long massage therapy certification program amplifying proficiency in speaking the language of western medicine and skill-development in a complementary soft-tissue healing modality. To support my massage-therapy training and my studentship with Yoga Medicine, I also completed a twelve-month mentorship with established Yoga Medicine ® Therapeutic Specialist and yoga teacher mentor, Sandy Raper. This interaction guided my focus by customizing business strategies to define and attract my unique niche, limit distractions to my business, maximize student satisfaction and results, and support my intentions as a yoga teacher, coach, therapist and full-time representative of yoga’s central tenant of Ahimsa: do no harm.  

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By intensive and focused study of multiple therapeutic modalities, by applying theory to practice, and by aligning teaching methodologies from complementary like-minded teachers and mentors, I’ve been able to establish my own unique presentation of yoga therapeutics as it applies to developing a 50/50 or two-way communication system with the mind-body - one that can more optimistically promote recovery, longevity, resilience, nourishment, economy and efficiency to support one's active and up-tempo, modern adult lifestyle. 

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If you’re convinced you haven’t got the flexible kind of body you think you need to be successful at yoga, I’m probably not the right teacher for you. If however, you are motivated to redefine what movement, balance and flexibility mean to you, if your looking to learn a yoga practice that promotes therapeutic strengthening, economy of movement and nervous system balance, then I encourage your participation in an upcoming 5 class series. To address a specific orthopedic challenge or health concern please complete the initial intake (coming soon) to be considered for late summer 2023  onboarding for 1-1 coaching this fall.
 

• Less is more.

• Simple is medicine. 

• Education empowers our innate wellness and ability to self-influence the internal tone of our whole body-mind system. 
  
  These three values will be evident EVERY TIME you take classes or work privately with me as I draw upon the experiences listed below that evidence my professional growth & expertise.