ABOUT ME

When I took my first Yoga class, I was in my early 30s. At the time, I had a tendency to overthink that stalled many of my endeavors, and finding solutions in self help books didn't work for me. I needed a break from overthinking, and so I ended up in a yoga class. I hated my first classes. Everything hurt, and it was not fun. It required me to slow down and persevere, which made me very uncomfortable and angry at myself for failing. I was then fortunate enough to start learning from some great local teachers who were sensitive to my need and helped me out. All I had to do was show up and work through it no matter how hard it was. I practiced as often as I could, and after hitting a few breaking points I recognized that I was fighting myself, mentally and physically. The narrative in my head was often negative, and physically I was improving fast, but not fast enough to my taste. Little did I know that my growing meditation practice was going to help me acknowledge and accept myself in ways that helped me grow tremendously since then. I will always remember my first yoga class, it was one of my best memories.

This led me to found Ometa, a corporate meditation and yoga company that now helps inspire people at the office. My goal is to continue bringing yoga and mediation to people.

What yogas did you practice when you started and how was it?

My first class I ever went to was a beginner Ashtanga class, and it felt that it required the sort of strength and flexibility I didn't have, so I tried my best, and though the teacher was great, he didn't communicate enough about the process for me to understand the journey ahead. This was difficult because I didn't know what to expect and what I could measure my progress by. Even though I liked the practice a lot, I had a hard time bonding with other students because the studio didn't have a community culture, and I needed new friends in the Yoga world. One day a friend asked me if i'd like to go to a different kind of yoga, and I agreed to try it. This was my first experience with Bikram Yoga. The most memorable thing from the first class was that was so hot and so hard, I forgot about anything and everything else that was bothering me about my life at the time. When class was over and I was on my way home, I felt as if a weight lifted off my shoulders, just

having that two hour window free from worries and doubts gave me space to breath, and I wanted more. As soon as I came back for my second class, I applied to work at the studio. This was such a great deal, I worked a shift every week, one afternoon, and got all my yoga for free! Working at the studio required checking people in, keeping the place organized and clean, doing laundry and making sure It all runs well. After a while, when it was obvious that I was passionate about the practice, at the time I was there almost every day, and it was SOOOOO hard to practice at first. It was really hot, I kept drinking water thinking it would make me feel better, and it only made me full :) I looked around and saw all these amazing yogis doing amazing postures and I decided I was going to become great no matter what it took! Eventually, I became good enough to consider going to become a teacher. Teachers were revered, they had such an amazing practice, and I wanted to share with other students my journey, it would be my way of giving back. And so I quit my Job, enrolled in training, sublet my apartment, and I was off!I went to become a teacher, the first certification I ever did. Little did I know that the hard part was all ahead of me.

Follow