~ About Pattra ~

Oftentimes I am asked how I learned to teach yoga. Aside from the teachers from whom I've had the privilege of learning and the trainings that I have had the pleasure of attending, my yoga has come from my own personal experiences. These experiences influence how I practice yoga. And ultimately how I teach it. I've gained knowledge from my relationships, my friendships, and my family. I've obtained wisdom from nature and from all my beautiful animals. I've learned from my employment as a speech pathologist, at one time working with special needs children and presently with adults in skilled nursing facilities. My yoga comes from all that I have experienced and integrated over the course of my life.

I try to derive some sort of wisdom from every situation in which I find myself. That is, by listening and attuning myself to my life, I realize all that I experience actually prepares me for situations I may encounter later in life. I recognize that I am always where I am supposed to be. I have learned that although my life to present has been full of emotional challenges, I somehow learned important lessons: That there is beauty in everything. Even if it is difficult to see at first. Challenges will present themselves, as they always do in life, but if I work through them with grace and awareness, things could be learned. By working through difficulties, I find that my life is actually filled with so much to be grateful for. And I find myself not wanting to react to things so emotionally, enjoying those in between times more and more. I find those in between places to be where I want to be. A place of moderation. A place of balance.

~ My Mission ~

And this is what I wish to embody and share with my students: That we are all where we are supposed to be. We may not be where we want to be. Our lives may not be as “balanced” as we would like. We may even be more emotional than we would like to admit. But still we must know and understand that we have the ability to get “there,” wherever that may be. We all have within us a sense of balance, a beauty, a stillness, a calm, that is just waiting for us to discover. And one place we can begin to discover this is in our actual physical bodies. There will be challenges in every pose, and it will be necessary to meet them by exploring ourselves within each pose, just as we should meet and explore our challenges in life. We must learn to be sensitive to our bodies, be aware of our weaknesses as well as our strengths in each pose. And by being aware of our strengths and weaknesses, we can find the tools that will help us meet our challenges and overcome them. At least in our physical bodies, and perhaps in our lives. We just need to be patient with ourselves, to do our best in any given situation, and to forgive ourselves if we do not meet our “standards” of perfection. Because perfection in its truest sense will be attained one day. Love in its purest form does exist. We simply need to let ourselves unfold.