My grandmother Toppy was possibly my first yoga teacher. When I was a teenager and sat on the terrace with her late into the night listening to waves and talking about The Great Mystery, she often shared her simple yet profound philosophy: Relax and Enjoy.

Richard Freeman introduced me to Ashtanga yoga in 1992. While pursuing a masters degree at Naropa University in Contemplative Psychology, I was so inspired by Richard’s teaching that I ended up practicing with him for 10 years in Boulder and eventually teaching with him.  I still study with him regularly because he shows me how to stick with a program without being a fundamentalist.  In 1997 I went to study with Pattabhi Jois in Mysore. After several years and a few more extended visits, I received his authorization to teach the Ashtanga system.

I first started teaching yoga in 1995 at a 3 month long dharma retreat:  we were meditating for 10 hours a day and people were desperate for relief from aches and pains. So I shared what little I knew. Because of this auspicious introduction to teaching, and as a student of Tibetan Buddhism, I see the benefits of yoga practice as an aid to prepare the body for meditation.

Since then, I’ve taught yoga and meditation in a strange variety of settings: jail, a psychiatric hospital, by correspondence with prison inmates, luxury hotels, embassies, schools, studios and retreat centers in North America, Europe and Asia.  I taught privately in Paris while working in the Inter-Religious Dialogue department at UNESCO, ran retreats in post-tsunami Sri Lanka to help garner support for victims, and from 2006-07 directed the yoga program at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. Now, I make my teaching base in Bhutan, with time for summer retreat in Crestone, Colorado.

Initially inspired by the great wisdom of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, who led me to this path, I’ve been an enthusiastic Dharma student since 1992, and study regularly with my primary teacher, the Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche.