When did you become involved with yoga?

I was in between college and graduate school working as a waitress and living at home.  My Mom saw a sign at the local gym advertising a newly forming yoga class.  She told me I should try it and that it might help with stress.  I took her advice and within a few classes experienced physical and meditative benefits that I had not experienced working out at the gym or in group fitness classes.  I knew after those first few classes that yoga would be in my life forever.  I arranged my summer work schedule around the meeting time of that Hatha yoga class.  Little did I know I'd still be life arranging my life around yoga.  I tried hard to keep up with my yoga practice but it waned when I did not have access to instruction.  But I came back as soon as I had access to classes again. Fast forward 14 years and now I am a daily practitioner. 

How is yoga integrated into your profession and do you find that it affects your profession in any way?

I've fought pretty hard to carve out time from my job so that yoga has a space to flourish.  So from that standpoint yoga is just another part of what I do on a daily basis.  But also I think my yoga practices have helped me be more calm and understanding at work and not get so mad when things don't go the way I planned (which happens quite often)!  I also feel like I focus better and am more efficient with my use of time.  Yoga has also helped build confidence and to find my voice at work amongst senior managers and clients.  Sometimes I wonder if this is a function of age and experience, too, but yoga most certainly plays a key roll in this development.

How long were you practicing before you discovered Ashtanga?

I had been practicing some yoga for about six or seven years before I stumbled upon my first Ashtanga class.

Ashtanga requires commitment and focus. How did you come to embrace the system and did you experience any difficulties in acclimating to this  practice?  When I first started practicing Ashtanga I had done some hatha yoga, including vinyasa.  I really didn't fully understand the Ashtanga system for quite some time but I was already a pretty routine-oriented person and was getting up at 5 AM to hit the gym, so the discipline and early mornings required for Mysore were already in place in my routine.  I think it is also in my nature to be somewhat earnest and disciplined, so it was not too difficult to embrace the full system of practice.  It did take me a while to fully comprehend that Ashtanga is a system which really should be honored in its entirety and therefore not watered down by other activities.  It has only been in the past few years that I fell like I have fully committed to just doing this practice.

What inspires you to continue with your practice every day?

First off, the practice inspires me to practice and keep practicing no matter what.  Also, Chuck and Deb inspire me.  They are committed to the system and have dedicated their lives to this practice.  The other students at Asana House inspire me.  I look forward to seeing them every day.  We are like a yoga family.  I feel supported in my practice by the practices of the other students. 

What about the practice do you find to be the most challenging?

 I think the most challenging aspect of the Ashtanga practice is trying to explain how deep and special the practice is to someone who has not experienced it directly and it is even harder to explain the practice to someone who has never practiced yoga before. 

As an outsider looking in, the yoga practice may appear to be unnecessary, bending and stretching your body into various shapes and position. What do you find is the most practical aspect of yoga? What is the most obvious benefit that you have experienced through your practice?  There are many practical aspects of this yoga.  Once you learn the system you can take it with you anywhere, you just have to make sure to make the appropriate space for it when you are off the mat.  Also, you are strengthening your body both muscles and bones, building flexibility and improving cardio-vascular health.  If you practice every day, no gym membership is required.  And as we know all of these aspects are important for general overall health as we age.  You also become more mindful and aware in daily life.  You are more aware of when, how and what you eat.  You become more aware for sleeping properly.  You become very focused and respectful of even the smallest, mundane aspect of life, such as properly rinsing out your recycling, or shoveling snow neatly or cleaning up after yourself.  I could go on.  As you strengthen your body through yoga, you begin to strengthen your mind and go deeper without even making a conscious effort.  It just happens and then 14 years later you look back and see how your life has been changed by the practice. 

I've had so many benefits form this practice but one really big one is that I have found a sense of community.  I feel comforted knowing my friends are all on the same path.  We understand one another.  We support one another.  We get one another because of the practice we share.  I feel like I'm home with this practice.  I feel like I belong.  It has been a slow process, for me anyway, and it is still evolving but once you commit it gets easier.  I'm also not sure this is meant to be a fast process taking only a few months to 'get' everything.  This is a life-long commitment but in a good way, in a comforting way.

In what part of your life (business, family, and pleasure) do you feel that yoga has the most profound effect?  I'm not sure I can pinpoint one aspect of my life that yoga has had the most profound effect.  Yoga is so much a part of my life that all of the above have been profoundly impacted.  It's too hard to separate or choose!

What would be your advice to a new student questioning the difficultly and commitment of the system?  This is an important point because I think new students really struggle with this, maybe not all new students but certainly some do.  I try to share my enthusiasm with new students first by leading by example.  By getting on my mat every day hopefully my enthusiasm for the practice 'rubs off' in that way, just by being an example and doing my practice with love and respect.  I also try to share my story and enthusiasm in conversation after class. 

Also, I'd like to share with new students to give the practice time.  Don't just give up after a few weeks.  Really give it some time to develop and start teaching you.  Trust the system, trust your teacher.  Have faith in the practice and find a teacher to guide you.  They will be doing so from their own experiences.

Lastly, try to recognize fear, doubt and the feeling of being overwhelmed.  These may creep up on you.  Recognize them but try not to indulge them.  Practicing Ashtanga yoga will allow you to confront these things and work through them.  But it takes time.  You must be patient with the practice and with yourself.