About Soulshine Yoga
April 1, 2024
My personal yoga journey began when yoga popped up on a search I did for sustainable ways to manage hypertension. I bought my first 10-pack of yoga classes through Groupon. I had heard of the health benefits, and I was hoping that I would be able to eventually go off of the medicine that I had been prescribed.
When I arrived to the yoga studio for my first class, I was as wide-eyed as my baby picture (see above!). I noticed that everyone leaving the studio had a mystical vitality. As a make-up artist I was intrigued by this natural glow! At the end of class, I felt giddy; a unique vibration, different from any other exercise. The instructor introduced herself to me, since she noticed I was new and I told her I would be back. I liked that it felt like a caring community and as I felt more comfortable, I was able to feel vulnerable and allow myself the courage to release/cry in certain poses.
I also discovered some simple breathing techniques that brought relaxation and I found out the literal meaning of yoga, “union” in Sanskrit.
I began discovering the Raja Yoga Sutras; Patanjali’s 8 limbed yogic path, realizing that yoga was a well much deeper than I had previously conceived. Since I felt so uplifted, I started to recommend various poses and breathing techniques to friends and family. I realized that my day didn’t feel complete without my yoga practice. I wrote in my journal that one day I would become a yoga instructor. At the time I was in grad school for my Master of Education and teaching kindergarten full-time, so yoga training was a 5-year plan.
As I prioritized healthier eating, breathing and exercise routines, I also realized the power of the mind in relation to overall health. Speaking kindly to myself, through daily affirmations, became my soul food. I began to protect the sanctuary of my inner light, especially when anxiety would flare up, through consistent acts of self-care. I created routines that included boundaries to protect this brilliant inner peace that I had diligently worked to uncover.
Yoga began to weave itself into my lifestyle like a soothing song that my soul seemed to remember.
My 5-year plan finally came to life, and after my 200-hour yoga training in Sezzadio, Italia with Hari Om, I began teaching yoga in community spaces around the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin where the classes I created were on a sliding scale.
My mission with Soulshine was to fan the flames of my students’ inner light to honor themselves by retreating inward, while also beaming light together as a community. I worked to embody Lila Watson’s powerful adage, “If you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
After my 300-hour training, in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica, with Hari Om, I realized that I would be a forever student. The more I learn, the more knowledge I realize is out there to experience. I have taken additional Trauma-informed yoga training, Certified Laughter Yoga Leader training and Coaching training (as an Instructional Coach for an elementary school).
“Love shows itself more in adversity than in prosperity; just as light does, which shines most where the place is darkest.” Leonardo Da Vinci. I am no stranger to suffering; enduring multiple miscarriages has taught me about the depths of my bravery and ultimately the heights of hope. Braving this suffering, while simultaneously partaking on wanderlust travels, fully being present in moments of pure bliss, has reinforced my optimistic outlook on life summarized in the Bhagavad Gita, 6.5: “Elevate yourself through the power of your mind, for the mind can be the friend and also the enemy of the self.”
In 2023, after attending my first yoga retreat, I relished in the innumerable health benefits of the yoga retreat, as well as how much fun it was to spend a peaceful, playful week with one of my best friends. Since we each had a unique intention for being on retreat, we both took away different elements from the retreat to carry back into our individual lives, yet we both agreed that we could not wait to do it again. Offering domestic and international yoga retreats allows me to hold an intentional and loving space for 4-10 days, for people to find their way back to themselves.
I reflect on how yoga has brought me closer to myself and allowed me to experience life in a more embodied, yet gentle, way. Knowing that my entire mood can lift by decompressing my neck and shoulders and breathing slowly and deeply for five minutes, or that my meditation practice is actually the most important part of my day, keeps me returning to my mat.
Whether your yoga mat is still in plastic wrap patiently awaiting to hold you in savasana, or you are a seasoned yogi with more training than you can remember, l Iook so forward to being a part of your journey.