Self Portrait:

I enjoy the great outdoors! I run, climb, cross country ski, snowshoe, hike and am also a yoga teacher registered with Yoga Alliance, Yoga Therapist and certified personal trainer.

In my spare time, I enjoy painting and playing music with my husband Gary, who is also a musician. In 1988, I started and managed my business, Mimeworks, and worked as a professional pantomime for 12 years providing entertainment at major local festivals, schools, parties, business events, libraries, and appeared on childrens television shows. I studied with world famous mime, Marcel Marceau, during the summers from 1993 thru 1995 at the Goldston Johnson School for Mimes in Columbus Ohio.

I am also an experienced registered nurse, having worked for 25 years in hospitals, clinics, doctors offices, and home health care settings. Prior to becoming a RN, I worked as an LPN for 6 years in various areas of nursing from medical-surgical to intensive care.

Education:

I have a diverse educational background! I received my LPN License in November 1970 from Chicago Public Schools Practical Nursing Program. I first became interested in yoga in 1975 at the age of 22, when attending a week long yoga retreat in the Bahamas, spending 4 hours a day doing and studying yoga with swamis from all over the world. Looking back at that time, I truly believe that I was too young to appreciate and know what a gift I had in yoga, and didn't think I could make it into a successful career.

In the fall of '77 to the summer of '79 I attended Truman College in Chicago, IL, and received an Associate RN degree. After working as a RN for about 4 years, I then continued my education and received a BA in Psychology from Northeastern IL. University, Chicago, IL.

Having worked as a nurse for over 25 years, and wanting to try something different I went to Shoshoni Yoga Retreat, in Rollinsville, Colorado in March 2002, and took a month long yoga teacher training.

My interest in yoga therapy started with personal health related issues.
In April 1996, after under going surgery, I developed a severe and life changing medical condition known as Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears. Frustration with the medical community led me to try yoga and meditation which provided substantial relief in the following ways:

• Distraction from Tinnitus.
  
• Relaxation.
  
• A daily routine cultivated from over eleven years of consistent practice.
  
• Increased flexibility and range of motion.
  
• Improved ability to concentrate.
  
• Improved muscle tone.
  
• Enhanced endurance for athletic pursuits (i.e.) Running, Climbing, etc.)

I also had asthma that plagued me throughout childhood and well into my adult years. I needed allergy and adrenaline shots just to be able to breathe! It wasn't until I started doing yoga in 1975 that I discovered the similarity between yogic breathing techniques and those I taught patients in the hospitals where I worked. I noticed the more I practiced these techniques, the frequency of my asthma "attacks" decreased, and eventually stopped! If these breathing techniques were so helpful in my situation, why couldn't others benefit from them as well? The seeds were planted, and yoga served as a catalyst to direct me on to the Yoga Therapy path. I started my yoga therapy training at Satchidananda Ashram (Yogaville) in Virginia during a one week seminar with Kaustub Desikachar in Sept. 2002 and completed my yoga therapy certification in the summer of 2003 at Rocky Mountain Institute of Yoga and Ayurveda (RMIYA) in Boulder, Colorado. Also in May of 2004 I traveled to Nevada City, California to study with Nischala Devi at the Expanding Light and got certified in Cardiac and Cancer Yoga therapy.

Vision:

Having worked in both nursing and yoga therapists capacities, I truly believe that the human body knows innately what it needs to achieve and maintain a state of wellness.

There is a deep and profound connection between the body and mind and as one is affected so is the other. When given the proper"tools" or treatment methods, the body will heal itself in its own time and unique way. My vision is to assist clients to achieve and maintain a consistant and enduring state of wellness through yoga, meditation and pranayama (breathing techniques). I hope to share my passion for and love of yoga with my current students and everyone I come in contact with, so they too can reap all the physical, psychological and spiritual benefits yoga has to offer!