Hooray! We have a thoughtful, wonderful group of new Curvy Yoga teachers this month! To see a full list of our Curvy Yoga Certified teachers, please click here.
Renee Burke
Location: LaGrange, Georgia
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I first started yoga ten years ago but fell into an irregular routine. Thankfully I found my way back to the mat last year. Yoga reminds me daily to stay grounded in my body and be aware of its greatness just as it is. Yoga helps me to relax and be gentle with myself. I hope to share this with others and will be completing my yoga teacher training in July of this year.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? There are so many people who are searching for more. If we allow yoga to help us return to our breath and become more aware of our bodies instead of shaming ourselves or distancing ourselves further away from our truths, we will find our way back to ourselves, back home, back to our wholeness.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? Using yoga I hope to honor, empower, motivate, inspire. I will offer a safe space. I will offer permission: to bring the body you have to the mat, to give yourself the gift of yoga, to extend kindness to yourself.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? There is a wealth of information that I know will be continuously teaching me throughout my yoga teaching and personal practice. Anna and my classmates have also been fabulous resources and support. I cannot say enough about them and this opportunity.
How can people get in touch with you? My website is in its beginning stages but you can take a peek at: http://www.hungryforwholeness.
Gabriella Moonlight Dahalia
Location: Charleston, WV
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. My relationship with yoga began when I was a child; my grandmother who was a free spirit took me to my first yoga class when I was 10. I was completely captivated by the poses and the manner in which the students moved their bodies and it was all ages.
I have experienced profound grief and loss in my life, and it has been yoga that has been a saving grace and a force for change in my life. It’s been the ability to move through the poses on my mat and take the process and the peace off my mat that has reminded me of the process of peace, acceptance and grief.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I want to bring Curvy Yoga to my community to also share the peace and the gift of yoga, the manner in which we offer ourselves to restore, renew and allow our bodies to lead us in this. Our bodies are what move us, and Curvy Yoga allows us to thank and connect with our bodies in a manner that may be new to people, but is powerful, poetic and places us in the context of our bodies in a new manner. It allows us to have gratitude for our bodies in a culture that has us spending much money on shaming our bodies and trying to conform to standards that don’t promote health or body positive feelings.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? A class with me will bring you into relation with your body in a positive, gentle and exploring manner in which you will move through the asanas with body positive modifications and a sense of gratitude for the bodies we have been given. It will be open, accepting and body positive and for EveryBODY!!!! There will be poses, meditation and a sense of luminous love!
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? I have had so many amazing epiphanies and joys with the certification process. During the certification process I realized so much that I had not realized in my first 200 hour training. I learned a great deal about the manner in which to move through a class and how to sequence it for positive body movement. I also learned how to market in a way that wasn’t staid or overly simplified but that came from my strengths. I benefitted so much from Anna’s down-to-earth and amazing spirit. She is exuberant and amazing; she is practical and magical!!!
How can people get in touch with you? People can connect with me on Facebook or email me at lunamusidora(at)gmail(dot)com.
Margo Higuera
Location: Redondo Beach, CA
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I’ve been doing yoga my entire adult life and while I’ve gone in and out of practice, it is something that I’ve always tapped back into when I needed grounding. As a teacher, I act as a guide. I encourage students to really connect to their body and breath. While I provide the sequencing, I trust my students to listen to their bodies and breath and let that be their ultimate teacher. To me, yoga should always feel good as a student or a teacher.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? Although there are plenty of yoga classes offered in my community, not many feel accessible for curvy yogis. Living in Los Angeles, there are many aspiring actors and models who fill yoga studios, and I find that I’m often the only curvy woman in the class, so I want to make sure that there is a safe place in my community for curvy men and women to explore their yoga practice. My intention is to provide a sacred, inclusive space where everyone feels accepted and supported in the body they inhabit in this moment.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? My students are always treated with kindness and respect. The classes are gentle and challenging while building strength and flexibility. When you come to my class, expect to have fun, reconnect to and strengthen the love for your body, and to find balance through breathwork and mediation. As you practice yoga, you will quickly learn to carry all of that into your daily life.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? While I loved enhancing my yoga knowledge with modifications, my favorite part of the class was connecting with a strong community of loving and empowering women!
How can people get in touch with you? They can find me on my website and at margohiguera(at)yahoo(dot)com.
Beth Loughran
Location: Chaska, MN
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I started yoga at a crossroads in my life. My kids were growing up, I had been in a career for 30+ years which was hard on my body (dental hygienist), our parents were aging, and I needed to focus on myself. After jut a few months of yoga, I knew that it was exactly what I had been seeking. I finally felt comfortable in my own skin. Before I knew it I became more mindful of my life, how I acted or reacted, and how I viewed my own body. I learned to let go and accept things as they are with self compassion and non judgement. I knew that I wanted to share this new gift that I had received with others. I completed my 200 hour training, and then my Yin, and silver sneakers yoga training. I love helping students find their own path and their own peace both on and off the mat!
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? I want Curvy Yoga to be as accessible to students who feel uncomfortable in a traditional yoga class setting. I will be offering class formats as well as private sessions.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? Students should expect a teacher whose passion about the transformative powers of yoga will ignite their inner light. Through slow, mindful postures students should expect to gain flexibility, strength, and focus in both mind and body. Students will be offered options for postures in this safe, body positive environment.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? The connection that I have made with like minded teachers has been so valuable, for support and new ideas.
How can people get in touch with you? People can get in touch with me at BLoughran(at)comcast(dot)net.
Heather Robson
Location: Camden, SC
Tell us a little about your relationship with yoga — both your practice and your teaching. I was introduced to yoga about 18 years ago by my mother-in-law. She is an amazing and inspiring woman. For me, yoga has always been about connecting with something bigger than this time and space – something a little more mysterious and magical. It’s a way for the stardust that is in me to connect with the stardust in the person next to me and in the trees, to the moon, to the stars, and to the Divine.
When I step on my mat or lead people to theirs, I want to share that magic and mystery; the power that is in each of us. By simply releasing to it, we can connect with the amazing part of ourselves that often stays quiet or only whispers. Through an open heart and a sincere practice, we can learn to listen to the whisper and embrace its wisdom and our own authentic power.
Why do you want to bring Curvy Yoga to your community? Curvy Yoga is a manifestation of all that I have ever believed yoga should be — a continuation if you will, of my own personal approach. Curvy Yoga is changing and will continue to change the way people look at yoga. Yoga has the power to transform us – physically, emotionally, energetically and spiritually. It is for everyone regardless of where they are at this moment. Curvy Yoga is the tool that opens up something that has been perceived inaccessible to many and allows those very people to claim their practice.
What can folks expect when they take a class from you? I love magic, mystery and laughter, and I believe my classes reflect that. Class sequencing usually follows some thought or theme that has inspired me in nature or in life. Music is always key in classes, connecting us to the vital life energy within our bodies. I am a believer that everyone brings beauty to this world. I create an environment where my students feel comfortable to go where they need to go in a pose – today, at this moment. I love to see the authentic beauty of all my students shine when they find their place on their mat. I vow to create a safe and nurturing environment for that to happen organically for each person.
What has been your favorite part of the certification process? First and foremost, Anna and her wisdom and her commitment to her vision and to the practice of Curvy Yoga. I am so honored to call her my teacher. Secondly, the sisterhood that developed from taking the certification course with such amazing goddesses. I learned so much at their “virtual” lotus feet. What an amazing journey it has been.
How can people get in touch with you? Please visit me at my virtual space www.justsouthofzen.com Also, you can connect with me at Yoga Without Walls on Facebook.
love love love
Thank you! 🙂