Woot — can’t wait for you to meet this month’s amazing crew!
Nancy Alder
Location: Storrs, CT (where UConn is)
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. Yoga is where I find quiet and space. My practice is much less shazam and flow these days and much more about inner strength and surrender. The same is true with my teaching. I teach a lot of longer holding classes with an emphasis on anatomy and ease. I encourage my students to find their center while they step away from their edge and linger in poses with a bit more softness.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I want to make sure that any student will feel comfortable in any class I teach. I have a bunch of curvy yogis who are my regular students and I am so thrilled they feel at home in my classes. I work very hard to make everyone feel like they are right where they need to be in that very moment. My Curvy Yoga training has offered me new tools and knowledge to enhance my approach to curvy students and to reach a greater community of yogis.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? Space for every size, shape and ability of yogi. They should expect a little bit of anatomy, a lot of talk about moving from the center and some laughter for sure. Yoga is amazing, but sometimes we all take it too seriously. I encourage community with my students so there will be a warmth and friendliness in the room. My classes have an environment of acceptance and reminding students to not look down upon their abilities if they are different from the yogi next to them. Oh, yea.. there will be LOTS of props. I always use tons of props and now my regulars always get them before class even if I have not asked them to do so.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? Connecting with my dear friend Anna, learning some new ways to approach familiar poses and great advice about promotion and business. Anna is amazingly creative and organized (which I already knew of course) and her advice has been super valuable!
How can people get in touch with you? They can check out my website: www.flyingyogini.com which includes my writing, my blog and my teaching schedule. I am also on Facebook and on Twitter.
Alma Dunnavant
Location: Columbia, SC
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. My passion for the yoga ‘journey’ is the reason why I’ve chosen to teach Yoga. My yoga journey continues to grow as I believe in order to have a deeper practice I must maintain a student’s mind set. So I learn as much as possible from all of my teachers to further my core desire to help and share with others no matter what size or shape.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I’m looking forward to offering Curvy Yoga to those individuals that have felt intimidated or uncomfortable when they consider yoga. What a wonderful thing it will be to have a class where there is no intimidation and loving understanding will surround them — makes me happy, too!
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? A sense of self worth, self love and introspection with a side of fun =)
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? My phone calls with Anna! She is so easy to talk to and down to earth. I felt like I was talking to my sister. She is super sweet and so willing to help you in any way she can.
How can people get in touch with you? Find me on Facebook under Nanda Yoga (the studio where I teach). People can also email me at almadunnavant(at)gmail(dot)com.
Thea Pueschel
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. With an attempt not to get too cliche, Yoga really did change my life. A series of events and health related issues shook me at my core, and Yoga helped me get back on track from a grounded place. That grounded place opened doors of opportunity not just options, and I discovered my current vocation (hypnotherapy). Regarding teaching, it is the way I want to give back to my community and introduce others to the foundation of change through movement and breath.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? Realistically, I love Yoga and am passionate about making it accessible. I am an atypical yogi living in an area that is very much a yoga metropolis with a variety of types of yoga offerings from Ashtanga to Restorative to all types in between. Classes with focus on athletes, creative types, mothers-to-be and beyond, but lacking in areas for different shaped bodies. I learned by my own accord how to modify for my body; Curvy Yoga extended my modification vocabulary. I want to share the gift of movement and mindfulness.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? Having years of experience in the entertainment industry and being a lover of film, I realized that most people only remember the beginning and the end of the film; rarely do they remember what happened in the middle. This is what I bring to my classes. I bring the relaxation at the beginning, the work in the middle and the glow at the end. Combining my skill of guided imagery with a challenging practice. Building confidence and self expression through movement and union of breath. You may even ask me what the full expression of a pose is, I will demonstrate to the best of my ability…and well you will more than likely find yourself doing it to your own surprise. I am here to help lift limiting beliefs and ease of breath. All else is up to you.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? I am an appreciator of organization and presentation. I really appreciated the professional look, feel and communication that Anna offered in materials, conversation and the program as a whole.
How can people get in touch with you? People can get in touch with me through my studio website www.hazelbluestudios.com my twitter acct @hazelbluestudio or facebook.
Jody Weltz
Location: Livermore, CA
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I first began yoga as a mere curiosity and quickly discovered the physical and mental benefits. I now consider myself a yoga addict.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? Because I have never seen classes in my area geared toward people in large bodies and, since gaining a lot of menopausal weight have found myself in such a position, I understand how difficult it is to maneuver my body into a lot of poses.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? When people come to my classes, they are given lots of creative options and my goal is to create an environment where they feel unashamed and free to move and express themselves.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? Taking Curvy Yoga certification with Anna has been a joy. I have really enjoyed the one on one attention and how much time she has spent listening to my personal and professional progress and offering suggestions and advice on how I can move forward in a positive way. The lesson content has been valuable. I have printed it off and use it for reference on almost all of my sequencing.
How can people get in touch with you? People can find me teaching at Yoga Fusion in San Ramon, California. I frequently substitute at Cosmic Dog Yoga in Livermore, California. I have a blog that I plan to incorporate my yoga teaching information into – currently it is for my other business venture – www.naturallyjode.blogspot.com