Welcome...I think you belong here.
Yoga is more than a series of postures we practice for an hour on a mat. I believe it is a spiritually-based mindset from which one lives their life. Yoga is the way to remembering who and what we truly are — "spiritual beings living a human experience." Through the practice of yoga we can experience life as gift and learn to live more openly, authentically, and passionately. Yoga gives us the tools to navigate life with grit and grace. It is both the means and the end.
If you’re considering becoming a yoga teacher or expanding and deepening your personal physical, mental, and spiritual practice, and transforming you and your life, then you belong here.
When I teach a yoga class, I aim to create an experience - an opportunity to slow down the fast pace of life and step fully into the present moment: aware, awake, and embodied. When I teach yoga teacher trainings, I guide people in learning how to create that same sense of presence for themselves and others, moment by moment, on and off the mat.
I teach to honor, serve, guide, and inspire - to help yoga practitioners to go deeper and reconnect with what truly matters...simply being?
I’ve spent my life walking with one foot in two worlds: the ambitious career path of corporate management, leadership, and professional achievement juxtaposed with the spiritual, meaning-seeking path of yoga, inner growth, and personal transformation. For me, neither path is "feels right" without the other.
I believe that when you live, love, and work from a place of intention - when you know your why - life opens with more grace, kindness, laughter, and joy.
Whether you want to teach yoga or simply deepen your own practice, if you’re ready to learn, grow, reconnect with who you are, and shine even brighter, I’d be honored to walk with you.
More About Me
My Story
In 2008, I developed Integrative Dynamic Yoga or IDY and registered the Northern California Yoga Institute with Yoga Alliance. In February 2009, I launched two 200-hour yoga teacher trainings, one in Chico and another in Sacramento, CA. Yes, I taught two trainings every other weekend for nine months, while also working full-time. One might call me an "overachiever" however, being in the mindful seat of the teacher for 20 hours over a weekend, well, it's transformative. Today, I still serve as the lead trainer for all IDY Teacher Trainings because I continue to learn the more I practice, teach, and train.
I began teaching yoga in 2000 and, honestly, it took five years of owning a yoga studio, teaching 15-20 classes a week, and thousands of hours of teaching before I even began to feel qualified to train teachers. Now, with over 25 years of teaching, I’m honored when called a “mentor.” Through ongoing consistent study, I teach what I learn so that I can embody the best version of myself, and inspire others to do the same.
Originally my pursuit of yoga was physical, after all, my love for fitness began early — years of playing soccer, waking up at 6:00 a.m. to do Joanie Greggains’s “Morning Stretch” with my mom, weight-training at Gold's Gym in San Jose, and sweating through high-impact aerobics at the local church through Butte College and STEP classes at the long since gone STARS Fitness in Chico. In the mid-90s, I eventually discovered yoga (Thank You - Nancy Wiegman) altering the trajectory of my life. These experiences are the foundation of the IDY Method.
In 2000, I took the leap into full-time yoga and wellness. I quit my job, completed a 21-day residential teacher training with Integrative Yoga Therapy (IYT), and opened Santosha Yoga Studio - Chico’s first standalone yoga studio (outside of the fitness clubs). Would I recommend doing it that way? Probably not. I expanded my training with Anusara Yoga and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction/MBSR (Thank You - Steve Flowers), became a Certified Massage Practitioner, and trained in Thai Massage to deepen my anatomical knowledge. I also became a doula (Sierra Childbirth Institute), offered prenatal yoga and Yoga with Baby classes, and childbirth education through my Joyful Birth program. And, on the side, I did part-time community planning consulting - taking on projects that I felt would actually make a difference and benefit small rural communities.
After five transformative years, I sold Santosha in 2005 to study and teach abroad after a major life shift (aka divorce). I trekked through the Himalayas and studied Tibetan Buddhism at the Kopan Monastery in Nepal and taught yoga to Westerners in support of a nonprofit organization while living in Cusco, Peru. When I returned to Chico a year later in 2006, I eventually remarried, became a mom and worked part-time in environmental consulting. Yet, I still returned to teaching yoga: I became Yoga Program Supervisor at In Motion Fitness and a Savvy Health Solutions F.I.T. Academy Instructor (providing functional movement recovery for clients with serious soft tissue and musculoskeletal injuries), and Personal Trainer, with certifications in personal training, corrective exercise, strength training, and nutrition.
All of this led to the development of Integrative Dynamic Yoga / IDY in 2008. I’ve built IDY Yoga Teacher Trainings into one of the most comprehensive, transformational programs available. This is why the trainings are in-person and occur over the course of nine months because the true practice of yoga, is the integration of all its limbs and nuances into one's life. Yoga is the process of becoming and is the essence of being.
Whether I’m leading a training, a class, or a workshop, my approach is always to honor, serve, guide, and inspire. I work with practitioners to greet their edge, expand their limits, and connect to their inner wisdom, strength, and joy. My mission is to help aspiring teachers to find their voice, embody their truth, and shine from the inside out.
Oh, and life coaching too...
In 2018, I earned my life coaching certification through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC) - an International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited program. Initially I did this to improve my management and leadership skills in my roles as a corporate leader and part owner of an engineering and environmental consulting firm. True to form, I didn’t stop there. I continued with certifications in OOLA Life Coaching, Brendon Burchard’s High Performance Coaching, and Jay Shetty’s Life Coaching program. Why? Because each training allowed me to further develop and integrate a transformation mindset into trainings.
Now, I integrate all of this training and experience into yoga classes, workshops, and teacher trainings to help people grow, expand, and show up as their whole, empowered, authentic selves.
Join me. Come learn, grow, and be who you are.
