About Me

My first yoga class was with my husband more than twenty years ago. Afterwards, he told me that it was like "Circus Yoga with Robin". I thoroughly enjoyed the stretching and movement of the class, but apparently I tried chatting him up the whole time. It's almost hard to believe how much my practice has changed, and how much I have changed, since then.

I don't remember now what drew me back specifically, but I kept returning to this practice and showing up on my mat. Over time (and now with children) I really learned to appreciate my time there - I had space to unwind and enjoy some quiet, while still working out (physically) getting stronger and more flexible.

Then, some noticeable differences began happening when I wasn't on my mat. I would stand in line at a store and suddenly adjust my stance to correct and balance my alignment. When I was stressed, I would take slow, deep breaths into my belly to try and relax. I would try to notice and relax the tops of my shoulders, the clench of my jaw, and especially, to soften the creases in my forehead, where I was most likely to find most of my tension. I was learning that yoga really did come home with me, and there really was a mind/body connection happening.

I started feeling like I was part of a yoga community, and at the same time, it was just me on my mat. I could do what I wanted there. I could take it or leave it. I could try it or opt out. I could go hard or just let it go. All I had to do was breathe, and the rest followed. I felt FREEDOM!

When my youngest went to school, I realized it was time to figure out what I was going to do with myself. My former job before kiddos was working in wholesale travel marketing. But I felt like a different person now, and I wanted to work in a way that would directly benefit people and make some kind of a positive impact in the world. And there it was! I could teach yoga to others, so they could feel amazing too, just like me!

And so it began... slowly. It was so long ago that yoga teacher trainings were hard to find. I think it took me almost two years to reach my 200 hours of certified training. You could technically teach, however, with just 20 hours of training (what???!), and when a friend of mine at California Family Fitness became the group fitness director there, he advised me that I was teaching a class. After freaking out, I accepted, and I've never looked back.

This is what I love. This is what I am supposed to be doing. I suffer, like many, from feeling underqualified at times, and I compare myself to other teachers that I find so inspiring, and feel inadequate. But I no longer try to teach as someone else would, or try to say the eloquent phrases of an admired teacher. I just do me. So, hopefully, you can do you. On your mat. And then take it home.