My first experience with yoga happened in an alpine meadow atop six feet of fresh snow. I was working as a naturalist in California’s San Bernardino Mountains. A co-worker and dear friend taught me sun salutations to stay warm. Eleven years, a young family and many thousands of miles later, teaching yoga has become a central part of my life.

My study of yoga has run the veins of four practice styles: Iyengar, Ashtanga, Kripalu and Yin. Anchoring practices from each style in an exploration of Ayurveda, a traditional study of healing and medicine that developed along with yoga, has allowed me to explore the breadth and depth of our human experiences through an experiential lens. Much of my current focus is on working therapeutically with yoga, attuning practices to the needs and tendencies of the individual. In yoga classes, we learn to be in our bodies, experience breath and see our repetitive thought patterns. We learn to stay, observe and learn so that we can we can apply this process to the real challenges in our lives.

Photos by Sharyn Peavey. Visit www.sharynpeavey.com for more information.