How did you get into yoga?
Although there are many reasons for how I arrived at World Peace—reasons that only revealed themselves later—there was and still is a rather practical reason. I wanted a life in motion rather than the sedentary one of sleep, driving 35 miles to the day job, sitting at my desk most of the day, and driving home again being too tired to do anything else but repeat the sedentary stuff. I noticed that if I wanted to twist, such as to look behind me as I drove my car, that on-demand ease that I had as a younger girl wasn’t there. I felt something pulling in the other direction. Age? Fatigue? A lack of exercise? Maybe it was the latter. But those activities didn’t appeal to me. I wouldn’t make a very good gym girl. And with that “spirit of competition” always in the air, I would rather not feel like a “gym baby.” Then two things happened at once. I worked for a very progressive company. The owners and management realized that they needed to address the sedentary lifestyle that our work required. So, they did something about the workplace. They hired a wonderful yoga teacher, Karen Moss, to teach yoga classes during the work day. After a few months of classes, Karen offered a workshop at her studio from a yoga teacher in Cincinnati, Anna Ferguson. Driving to Springboro on a Saturday seemed weirder than words. Yet I followed my intuition. During savasana, electrified by Anna’s guidance, I knew something special had come my way. When Karen asked me if I had ever thought about yoga teacher training with Anna, I thought, “Ha, not me!” Yet the seed had been planted, and I could imagine nothing else but blossoming. And from that modest beginning, I began my yoga journey, and, now, I guide others beginning theirs.
How does your quality of life compare now compared to pre-yoga?
Of course, by learning the yoga postures in a way that was both kind to my body and mind, I progressed from the easy to the more challenging. Gradually, I became more flexible. But I soon benefitted in other ways. I learned how to breathe in a way I had not thought possible. Furthermore, I not only learned that I had more physical balance (although still challenged in that area) than before yoga, I had more mental balance too. I was and still am calmer, less “yellier” than I had been. As I learned the various postures, I learned patience for myself and others. Strangely, with this new-found self-center—and self-esteem with my progress—I became less self-centered and less self-serving. When I lifted my arms, I was branching out in a way that bridges the self and the world, the environment, and other living beings.
What parts of the yoga practice have benefitted you most?
The answer to this question spins off the first. I have retained and maximized my flexibility and breath. This is crucial for an aging body and, since I am now retired from the day job, I can devote more time to my personal and class practice. There are, of course, less tangible reasons that evince the benefits to my mental attitude, especially with others I now consider part of my extended yoga family. I now share more readily and live a more equanimous life. That is, I am less inclined to get angry or “sweat the small stuff.” I see a larger picture, indeed, the world.
What might your life be like if you had not found yoga?
I might have misunderstood Winnie the Pooh’s philosophy of life, that doing nothing always leads to something. I learned not to harm myself and others in all those ways we do without thinking. I am more inclined to let things run their natural course. I just try to do my best to influence that course toward the better, the positive. So, I might have worried myself to death had I not found yoga. And people really do worry themselves to death over nothing. I have also learned to live with contrasts and counterpoints—even those that exist in me. I may not get angry in any real sense, but I still like angry music (think Patti Smith – she changed my life – and Nine Inch Nails) as much as I like kirtan (call and response devotional chanting). Isn’t that strange?
Why do you believe it is important, as a yoga teacher, to be a plant-based vegan?
As a plant-based vegan, my spiritual practice, I seek to bring the least amount of harm to all beings everywhere. My brother likes to tease me and say, “What about lettuce? Lettuce has feelings.” My father-in-law (RIP) would say, “What about the potatoes? They have eyes.” With this journey of peace and happiness for all beings, with gratitude to the lettuce heads and potato spuds, in order to serve and guide your yoga practice of compassion, intuition, and empathy, so we can all find the most exquisite version of our selves, I must support and live a plant-based lifestyle.
Why did you decide to do yoga teacher training and eventually become a yoga teacher?
I keep and occasionally share a little secret thus far that no one will believe: I am an introvert. I am a wall flower–and I still like to paste myself to one even at pot lucks and the like—even after I rise above myself climbing up the World Peace staircase, which is both a real place and a place in the heart and mind. I am just plain shy. I also look different. Added to that, I expect a lot from myself. I don’t like to make mistakes. I don’t like to be caught out making them. Yoga teacher training was the key to overcoming my natural deficiencies and challenges as well as the self-imposed ones. (Is there really a difference. Probably not.) Actually, teaching yoga helped me to tap into and use inner (and outer) resources that I didn’t think were there, that were dormant until I began teaching beginners and those well along their yogic path. And I will always think like a beginner. I have made it my calling.
