where I’m from, where I’ve been, and where I’m going

I was born in Texas, in a small town, to two very hip parents that had no business living in such a conservative place. I had a great childhood, grew up with lots of love and support, always felt confident about doing my own thing. For a brief period, I attended college. Wasn’t for me. I went to culinary school. Worked in the food industry for a while and realized that cooking for friends and family is more fun than cooking the same thing every day for money. I worked as a nanny, a receptionist, a medical staff recruiter, a waitress, bartender, babysitter, community manager, event planner and finally I decided that I’d like to do whatever I want for the rest of my life, which is what I’m currently doing.

I have a lot of great friends around the world. To date, they are my greatest achievement. My dream is to one day have a dinner party (I won’t cook) and invite everyone I know that I don’t get to see often enough and see if they all get along. I’m assuming they’ll love each other, but the rush of not knowing is even more exciting.

I spent 2 years living in the UK and another 6 years living in Morocco, keeping me out of the USA for a big chunk of my adult life. Before moving abroad, I managed community events for Airbnb in their early days as an emerging company on the start-up scene. I have traveled extensively in Morocco and spent a lot of time in the Sahara desert and lived mostly in Marrakech. I speak Moroccan Arabic and have an impressive collection of Moroccan carpets.

In 2015, I became a yoga teacher. I had been practicing yoga since the age of 18 but I really found myself dedicated to the practice in my 30’s. I have 10 years of teaching experiences on three continents and have completed over 1000 training hours in various styles of yoga.

Currently, I live in Athens, Greece with my dog Leo. In 2017, I founded a boutique tourism agency in Marrakech called My Moroccan Adventure. From tours, weddings, parties, retreats - you name it, we do it all, but we specialize in experiences in Marrakech & the Sahara desert.

Since moving to Greece, I operate tours and experiences here as well, and organize yoga retreats in Greece for yoga teachers who want creative and cultural retreats for their students. Additionally, I occasionally lead yoga teacher training programs and fly all over the world to work with my yoga students on demand.

I am obsessed with living life to the fullest and having the most interesting life that I possibly can. I love collecting beautiful things from amazing places, learning cultural differences, making new friends, reading memoirs about my favorite stars, and warm Texas nights on the porch with a little tequila.

My experience with yoga

First and most importantly, I am a student and I always will be. Through the years of my dedication to yoga study and practice, I have learned that I have some things that I can control: my body, mind, breath, ego, state of mind and intelligence - and that these things are like guitar strings.  If they are too tight, they break. If they are too loose, you get shitty music. Connecting these things is like beautiful melodies which ultimately can lead to joy, which - yes, sounds good to me.

But it doesn’t come easy.  There’s a lot of work to be done, on a daily basis. It’s a dedication, a devotion, whatever you want to call it - it’s being accountable to yourself, which, as it turns out - is one of the hardest things to be.

Somewhere between the age of 18 and 35, I realized that yoga is an exceptional tool for dealing with literally anything.  Breakup emotions? Yoga. Feeling stiff and want to stretch? Yoga. Dating another asshole who doesn’t love you? Yoga. Substance abuse?  Yoga. Period cramps? Yoga. Insecurities about your body? Yoga. Boredom? Yoga. You see the pattern? I could seriously list out all of my fuckups and yoga would be the common denominator that kept me from slipping into something that I am certain I have never experienced: depression.  My dad, who is a lifetime runner and runs like 4 or 5 miles per day, every day of the year, always said that any problem could be solved through physical exercise. That sounded like a crock of shit to me until I got into yoga.

But looking back, I realize that yoga has catapulted me through some really big transitional phases in my life and ultimately made me a better person. Call it dedication if you want to, but I consult my “yoga oracles” (ancient texts, postures, breath work, meditation) whenever I need to find inspiration, when I need to find clarity, and especially when I need some good ideas. Yoga and the creative process go together really well.  In fact, there isn’t anything I can think of that yoga does not complement.  

I don’t have all the answers to life’s many questions, but I do believe in the power of yoga. After all, it’s been around a lot longer than any of us have.