What do you remember the first time you took a yoga class?

Yes! It was very humbling! I went to my first hot yoga class in high school and I felt ungraceful to say the least. Yoga was a whole new world to me, though it felt so exciting to instantly fall in love with something and be so curious about it.

Did you have a favorite Yoga instructor when you were a practicing yoga student? How did that instructor help you in your yoga practice?

I want to say I feel so lucky to have been surrounded by so many amazing and inspiring teachers while in training and I really want to say they’re all my favorite. If I have to pick one though, I do have to say my teacher Ann. Ann is a very serious teacher but she’s one of the funniest people ever. You can tell she’s passionate about what she does and she has made a great impact on the yoga community and that’s something to be admired. She has had the most impact on the growth of my practice and I’m so grateful to be able to learn from her.

What led you to pursue yoga teacher training?

The opportunity to start Yoga Teacher Training came into my life right when I needed it like an obvious sign from the universe. I received my 200 hour certification at Studio Bamboo here in Virginia Beach. I knew I wanted to do it one day so why not now? I became a yoga teacher so I could hopefully bring a sense of strength, stability, and peace into peoples’ day/life. I enjoy teaching so much and teaching yoga is such a fun experience. The cool part about all this is learning along the way just as much as teaching.

How would you define Yoga in your terms?

Yoga is you! Actually though, it is. At first I didn’t really understand that, but it truly is your mind-body connection that is yoga. Your practice becomes a reflection of the mind. It is also how you live your life and your relationship with yourself and others.

If a person is brand new to yoga, what advice would you give them?

It’s not about how it looks and it’s okay to fall over a hundred times. We all have to start at the beginning.

We all have superpowers when we are doing what we love…what is your yoga superpower?

One of my favorite things to do is create playlists for classes. I put a lot of extra love into the atmosphere for classes because I love to combine the two things that keep me grounded: yoga and music. I try to create sequences based on the flow of a song, sometimes the idea just comes to me. It’s so fun to do and I never get tired of finding and creating music lineups for classes. So maybe my superpower is musical yoga magic.

At Coastal Pilates and Yoga we are incorporating the healing modalities of heat, sound and chromotherapy (colored light) into our practice of Yoga. Tell me about your first experience in the room, what surprised you or stuck with you after that first session?

I was excited to try a chromotherapy class for the first time! I was surprised at how the different colors each sort of create their own vibe.

Chromotherapy is a healing modality that can improve the health of the body and mind. Explain how you weave color therapy into your yoga sessions.

Colors can stimulate different moods so I try to keep that in mind when thinking of the environment to create for the class. I also think being able to do yoga in a rainbow room is the coolest thing ever.

Often the color that we are most attracted to is the color we need. Do you have a color that you just seem to release into when doing chromo yoga?

Blue, I like to imagine being underwater and it brings a lot of peace.

Do you have a favorite pose while in that color?

I love doing tree pose. I can’t explain it and I couldn’t tell you why, but I have a theory that blue makes your balance better.

What can a student expect when they join you for a yoga class here at Coastal Pilates and Yoga?

I always intend to create a safespace for everyone to feel like they are able to try something new and explore their practice. Expect some good vibes and good tunes.

Tell me what you do when you are not teaching yoga? (other job, family, hobbies, passions…whatever you want to highlight)

I love to make art, I focus the most on painting and graphic design. I love being at the beach and traveling whenever possible.