I created the YOGALIGNtm
method during the course of my 30+ year personal yoga practice, 15
years of teaching yoga, and performing deep tissue massage as a
trained, licensed massage therapist. I began my study of yoga with
Swami Satchidananda in 1972. Asana or posture study was only one
limb of the 8 limbs of yoga I studied with Satchidananda. Sitting for satsang, chanting bhakti, meditation, and karma yoga
at Pomfret Center gave me a full experience of yoga knowledge with
a true master. We did asana for an hour in the morning but we did
not dwell on asana as the most important function. We wanted to be
free of mine and connect with the divine. I wanted to join the
ashram but it was decided that my work was out in the world. I
spent the next 6 months traveling on my own in Mexico and Alaska and
always continued my yoga practice wherever I went. Moving west to
Montana in 1976, there were no yoga teachers or workshops so I
decided to study yoga but now on my own using Iyengar's classic
Light on Yoga text. That book became my bible and I spent hours
every day reading it and teaching myself every aspect I could of Iyengar's yoga. Years later, when I moved to Kauai in 1983, I began
to practice Ashtanga yoga and continued with a full practice until I was
injured after about a year and a half. I was doing a forward bend
in half lotus while reaching around holding my big toe and I heard
my knee ligament tear. For almost a year, I could no longer do
lotus or many of the poses I was accustomed to doing with ease. I
began to spend time studying
human anatomy and physiology trying to gain a deeper
understanding of the muscle and bone structure. I had heard about
the psoas muscles but had no functional knowledge of how to really
engage then or release them. I was fascinated with the idea that
since the psoas is actually muscularly connected to the diaphragm
that perhaps it is also a breathing muscle.
I started to wonder what the point was of doing poses that put the
spine in extreme flexion or extension and began to practice in a different way by
listening to what the body told me to do and making sure that I
did no movements or poses that seemed to cause any strain in any
part of my body. I analyzed the function of yoga poses questioning
each movement the way an engineer would look at a structure.
Through this I began to realize that some yoga poses are not
natural for our human design and that there was really no "right"
way to do them. Hundreds of hours later with the help of
many clients with injuries, pain and misalignment, I created a
system that would be pain free and yet give the body strength and
suppleness. The work continues as I see there is no end to
learning and everyday I discover new ways to release the spine and
reveal the effortless "kid" body without pain or struggle. Recording
and performing professionally as a musician and vocalist for the last
25 years has also helped me to develop many of the unique aspects of YOGALIGNtm.
I participate in many sports including swimming, surfing, windsurfing,
kayaking, biking, hiking, skiing, horseback riding, running and childrearing.
I am injury-free and more mentally, emotionally, and
physically fit than I was as a teenager. |
