Biography

We shield our hearts with an armor woven out of very old habits of pushing away pain and grasping at pleasure. When we begin to breathe in the pain instead of pushing it away, we begin to open our hearts to what’s unwanted. When we relate directly in this way to the unwanted areas of our lives, the airless room of the ego begins to be ventilated.

Pema Chodron
Start Where You Are

Repeatedly encouraged by a neighbor in Provincetown to try yoga, in 1992 I finally gave in. One of the quirks of human nature is our resistance to new things, especially if we perceive them to be mysterious or odd, because they might change our lives for ever. I walked out of my first class on a cushion of air. I felt like I had a new body–flexible and responsive–and I felt calm and relaxed. (The way people may feel after an athletic event.) What a combination! I remember thinking that I wished I had tried it sooner, but then I was just happy I had discovered it at all and I had the rest of my life to enjoy and explore it.

After a 15-year stint as a corporate banker in Boston, in 1999, at 44 years old, I came back to that fork in the road immortalized by Robert Frost and took ‘the road less traveled.’ An avid yoga practitioner since 1992, I received my 200-hour teacher certification from Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in 2001. I have been teaching yoga ever since.

I live with my boyfriend and three cats in Wellfleet. I have two children in college.

In addition to teaching yoga, I am a part-time bookkeeper for individuals and small businesses. Horseback riding, reading novels (I was an English major at Simmons College before my MBA at Boston University and my banking career), and gardening are some of my additional pursuits.