My Yoga Journey

"Yoga is both a noun and a verb. It is a state of being, and it is an active pathway to achieving that sate of being" -Nityda Gessel

The first time I took a yoga class was over 20  years ago. I remember taking it for partly athletic reasons and for the stress relief I'd heard it could bring. Yet, the more that I practiced yoga, I recognized that the act of moving the body intentionally, paired with mindful presence was something I'd been doing for most of my life. I continued utilizing yoga in formal classes and at home or in nature, especially during my college and graduate school experiences to keep myself balanced and in tune.

I never imagined I would become a yoga teacher until I experienced a deeper connection to the healing power of the practice in 2017 after my friend, Dr. Brandon Rogers, died in a car accident and after my own traumatic experience of physical assault over a year later. Navigating the grief of that loss led me to Sacred Chill West, a yoga studio in Southwest Atlanta. It was the only place I could find peace, mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

When my beloved teacher, Octavia Raheem let us know she would probably be leading her last yoga teacher training (YTT) I listened to the call in my spirit to apply, not knowing at the time, that it would be our last experience at Sacred Chill West because a pandemic would occur a year later, with the shutdown occurring the weekend of my YTT graduation.

I completed my 210 hr training with Octavia Raheem and Meryl Arnett with a focus on Vinyasa, Yin, and Restorative Yoga and Meditation and am registered as a RYT-200.

I am currently completing my advanced yoga training (300 hr)  with Faith Hunter of Spiritually Fly and upon completion in March 2024 will register as a RYT-500.

As my work is womanist, it is important to note that both of my main yoga teachers for training are Black women and that I also completed my YTT-200 with a group of Black women, which is a very rare blessing in the yoga world. This means that in addition to the beautiful ethical principles of yoga, my training was infused with sisterhood and the kind of intergenerational healing energy that only Black women can create and offer, which shows up in all of my work.