Before I found Vinyasa (Flow) yoga, I had been a student in yoga classes where we were encouraged to do backbends over hard plastic chairs and headstands against the wall — after having my neck position adjusted with nearly my full body weight on my head, I suffered a sprained neck that troubled me for years to come.
In another class we were regularly instructed to “push to our edge” and unfortunately, I listened to the people pleaser side of me that wanted to do what I was told instead of my gut instinct that said, “No. Stop here.”
I tend to get injured easily, and don’t always have immediate physical cues that I am pushing too far. Intuition is part of our survival instinct, part of our emotional intelligence. In yoga classes as in life, the times I overthought, didn’t listen to my body, or ignored my intuition I ended up getting hurt. Knowing this about myself has influenced the kind of yoga I enjoy and that I am passionate about teaching. Yoga shouldn’t be scary. It should be safe, effective, and yes, sometimes challenging…but without pushing you beyond your limits to the extent of injury or stress.
I have taught yoga to many people and many bodies. From retired NFL players after an amputation and back surgery to senior citizens after a hip replacement. I have taught yoga to corporate suit-wearing professionals in a boardroom and elementary students in a noisy school auditorium. I have taught people with a multiple sclerosis diagnosis, like my own, and others with varying degrees of disability. Some of these people never even left their bed but guess what? They all did yoga.
YOU know YOU better than anyone else. Listening to your body and your gut is the best way to learn what you need and what you don’t.
Just-Right yoga seeks to provide an environment where we are all encouraged to listen: to our bodies, to each other, and to our deep instinctual wisdom. The environment is flexible and allows for modifications of poses, breath and pace. Classes are varied and include options for 1:1, live group and recorded classes to suit many schedules, instruction preferences, and ability levels.
When you listen carefully to your body, what does it say?