.: how i came to this work :.
I started practicing yoga when I was in college at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. During my BFA Acting program, my professors noted my work was ungrounded, and they suggested I try yoga to see if that could help my heels stay on the ground. (Literally!)
I started going to yoga and Alexander Technique classes. As I came into new ways of inhabiting my body, my relationship to others and my relationship to the world began to shift. I was finding deeper connections, more compassion, and more curiosity. This was so much more than a movement sequence!
Following college, I moved to New York to pursue acting. What I found, however, was that I really wanted to deepen my understanding of yoga. It was at this time that I fully committed to yoga as my path and did my 200 hour yoga teacher teaching.
I trained in trauma sensitive yoga with Jenn Turner and David Emerson at the Center for Trauma and Embodiment at The Justice Resource Institute. I also found that understanding my queerness and connecting with other queer folks felt central to my life. I became curious about ways for queer community to gather and grow through a shared yoga practice.
Deepening my exploration of spirituality and embodiment, I found my way to Reiki. From my first Reiki session, I was in awe of how powerful changes could come through such a gentle practice. I could clearly tune in to what different parts of my body were holding, and could feel subtle and big shifts as Reiki flowed. I received Reiki sessions for several years, then trained with my longtime practitioner, Marisa Sullivan. I continued to study with The International House of Reiki, and will be completing my Reiki level III (sometimes know as Master’s Reiki) in March 2025.
While my work in yoga and Reiki could seem like a departure from my BFA in Acting and Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, that work very much contributes to how I approach all of my work, and in particular the creativity and imagination work that I bring to it. Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed greatly influences my work as well— using images and sounds to deeply explore and express our body’s story.
These days, my true loves are teaching and practicing yoga within queer community, and sharing the benefits of yoga for pelvic health. I’m passionate about how yoga can support folks going through pelvic health challenges, abortions, and miscarriages. As a queer person with endometriosis, these practices and communities have shaped my life. I am committed to learning and teaching through a decolonized lens and honor the lineages of these South Asian and Japanese traditions.
.: education + experience :.
Plants and Practices for Miscarriage and Abortion with Holistic Abortions, 2024
Holding Space for Pregnancy Loss Training with Joanne Zerdy, 2024
Queer & Trans Reproductive Support Course with Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings, 2023
Pelvic Floor Yoga Teacher Training with Leslie Howard, 2023
Reiki Certified level 1 and level 2. Currently mentoring with Marisa Sullivan to complete Reiki Master Certification in the lineage of Dr. Usui, Dr. Hayashi and Madam Takata.
Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed board member, 2017-2022
Abortion Doula Training with Birthing Advocacy Doula Trainings, 2022
Trauma Sensitive Yoga Program at the Center for Trauma and Embodiment, at the Justice Resource Institute, 2017
200 hour Yoga Teacher Training through Daya Yoga Studio, 2016
BFA in Acting and Certificate in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution through the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, 2014
I am on unceded Lenape land, colonized as Brooklyn, NY. Join me in breaking the ongoing violence of colonization here.
Photo by Kade Alpers