About my background

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I came to the Yoga mat at the age of 65 with no experience, limited flexibility and no particular athletic aptitude. My first teacher was Shari Flanders, a wonderful Hatha Yoga teacher in the tradition of B.K.S. Iyengar. She gave me a solid foundation, but my travels and my curiosity led me to a number of other studios and teachers. The ones where I have spent the most time are Source Yoga in Fishers, Indiana, and The Yoga Tonic in Salida, Colorado. My teachers at Source have include Janie Gunn, the studio owner (trained in Anusara and Ashaya Yoga – and other styles) and Julie Gordon, a vinyasa teacher who has become a good friend and who provides lots of challenge in her classes (I was a regular in her Saturday morning class for a long time). I have had many classes at The Yoga Tonic with studio owner Annie Jacob (also Anusara and Iyengar trained) but have also learned a lot from Denise Ackert, Brandy Wade (unfortunately no longer at that studio) and others. I spent nine months in Yoga Teacher Training with Janie Gunn and Mark Killion, who is also trained in Anusara and Ashaya Yoga styles, and a diverse group of six women peers who each taught me a lot.

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Yoga led me to an interest in meditation, with which I struggled until I took the Transcendental Meditation course with Vicki Peterson of Muncie. It also led me to studying the Ayurveda holistic approach to wellness with Vicki, her husband “Dr. John,” their sometime colleague Sarah Lyttle – and later on-line with the remarkable Cate Stillman. I meditate daily, and Ayurveda influences my life consistently. These related practices inform and influence my teaching of Yoga. Yoga also led me to a much better understanding of how my body works, which has led me to massage. Laurel Fisher in Muncie and Kalen Steeves in Salida have helped me a lot and taught me a great deal in the process.

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For those of you who do not know my other background, I do have some teaching experience – more than 40 years teaching in urban planning programs in three different universities; I recently retired with Emeritus status from Ball State University. Teaching Yoga is very different from classroom teaching, but those years of experience do help me in preparing and conducting classes.

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In February 2018, I earned a new credential to enhance my teaching.  

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