Born in Fort Payne, Alabama, I was raised in Cedar City, a town in southwest Utah about an hour from Zion National Park. An avid nature lover, I grew up exploring the many hiking trails, rivers, rocks, mountains, canyons, and the endless outdoor beauty of Utah and Colorado with m...
Born in Fort Payne, Alabama, I was raised in Cedar City, a town in southwest Utah about an hour from Zion National Park. An avid nature lover, I grew up exploring the many hiking trails, rivers, rocks, mountains, canyons, and the endless outdoor beauty of Utah and Colorado with my family and friends. Despite growing up landlocked Mary grew up with a deep love and appreciation for the ocean and water and that passion has only grown with each passing year. After moving to Boulder, Colorado in 2001 to attend the University of Colorado-Boulder, I made Colorado my mountain home for over 20 years until I traded the mountain life for the island life and moved to Hawaii in 2018 to the Garden Island Kauai.
My yoga and meditation practice and path began with my mother as a child at home in 1992 and continued in the studio at the age of 14 in 1997 with the practice of Ashtanga Yoga as taught by Sri. K Pattabhi Jois. I practiced Hatha, Ashtanga Yoga, and Iyengar Yoga as taught by BKS Iyengar throughout high school and early college and in 2002 began practicing at Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor's studio, the Yoga Workshop in Boulder, Colorado. Years later I had the blessing and great fortune to be introduced and led to Master and Mentor-Teacher Maty Ezraty with whom I studied intensively, mentored with, and assisted until her recent passing. Over thousands of hours and many years of study, mentoring, and practice, Maty influenced my practice and life on and off the yoga mat greatly and will forever be my greatest teacher and influence. Maty encouraged and influenced me to delve deeper into the yoga practice and approach both the daily practice of yoga and life from the subtle body. Over the years I have had the opportunity to practice and learn with many wonderful yoga and meditation teachers aside from Maty including Dharma Mittra, Judith Hanson Lasater, Richard Freeman, Seane Corn, Peter Doobinin, Carrie Owerko, James Brown, Jack Kornfeild, and many others. I look forward to studying with Chuck Miller and Dona Holleman in the future.
I teach internationally and in the U.S and am a certified 500+HR E RYT Yoga & Meditation teacher, educator, and practitioner, a WPA/Paddle Into Fitness Certified Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) and SUP Yoga teacher, certified Kids Yoga teacher, certified Adaptive Yoga teacher, and am known by all for my enthusiasm, heart, and positive outlook. I teach a knowledgeable, dynamic, refreshing, and compassionate alignment-based yoga practice that intelligently weaves together the traditions of Iyengar Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga. Many describe my energy as contagious, finding my nurturing, wise, soulful, & patient style of teaching to be welcoming & supportive to all.
I infuse my Yoga, Meditation, SUP, and SUP Yoga classes, workshops, trainings, and retreats with a grounded yet light-hearted nature. For me being a student of the practice of yoga is as important as being a teacher, we are students first, and teachers second.
Expect the teachings to be greatly reflective of Maty Ezraty, Sri. K Pattabhis Jois, and BKS Iyengar, as well as from my near 30 years of practice, and classes are open to anyone ready to explore more deeply. I invite all students to let go of expectations, to be truly curious and compassionate, and to embrace and befriend an explorer's mindset within our own inner ecology. I approach and understand yoga as a spiritual practice and discipline and healing art. We learn to trust our own intuition and innate wisdom, "we do not learn to be intuitive, we already are." The Yoga practice is a re-remembering and recognition of our wholeness and of the truth that we are always evolving, transforming, and are under constant construction; there is infinite room for learning, progressing, and creative expression. The practice offers a moment to awaken and a continuing opportunity to return home to the beauty of our own being and self. As a friend says, "This practice intends to provoke us & to inspire the bigger questions triggering one’s own awakening…the truth is-It is never complete, it is never finished, it’s infinite."
