I officially opened the Zoom doors to An Anchored Life on January 20, 2021. It’s like a pandemic baby, and I’m grateful for the online supports that helped me raise it!
But this business isn’t a baby. It's more like a 20-something evolving into who it was meant to be.
The birthday of this business date back to the ‘90’s (cue the Spice Girls or fav boy band tune to get in the mood here)…
I began a personal practice of yoga and meditation in 1996. I was a full-time graduate student, working as a live-in college residence hall director, while coping with new, life changing post-viral illness (more on that here). Life got HARD that year, but yoga helped my concentration, mood, and perspective.
I was asked to teach yoga for the first time in 1997 to a group of pre-school teachers. I was NOT ready to teach new skills, but the request had come from a friend’s mother…the kind of mom who you can’t say “no” to.
She explained, “You have skills to help my staff. Anything you can share with them will make them feel better, and I need them to feel better.” That first day of in-service training was a success, and I’ve never hesitated to offer peace since then. Moms really do know best.
I completed my master’s degree in counseling in and immediately began weaving mindfulness into my professional life in 1998. My work as a college administrator let me think outside the box and create student leadership trainings like "The Yoga of Leadership," stress management programs for both students, and “Office Yoga” for faculty and staff.
I began teaching yoga and meditation professionally in 2005 after training at the Kripalu Center in Massachusetts. I led classes at a yoga studio, matched yoga postures to scriptures at a Lutheran church, and created a yoga program for Springfield College’s Outdoor Pursuits camping course, . My day job at Mount Holyoke College kept me busy, and teaching part-time kept me creative.
In 2009 I shifted professional gears to focus full time on mindful practices. On January 5th I opened the doors to my first business, Creation Yoga, at Full Circle Women's Health in Westchester County, New York.
I developed a Yoga for Birth Program by creating classes that women and families needed:
· Fertility Yoga
· Prenatal Yoga
· Mommy & Me Yoga
· Yoga for Labor workshops
· Women's Pelvic Yoga
· Diastasis Recti workshops
· Guided Meditation workshops
· Date Night Yoga
The classes offered yoga and a connection that people needed – community. Our strong, non-judgmental, online communities were the glue for clients to stay connected long after their need for the specialized workshops. While our Fertility Yahoo group did dissolve, our CY Moms Facebook group is still active every day many years later.
In December 2015 I sold Creation Yoga to move to Virginia for our family’s next adventure in service work. I am thrilled that the Yoga for Birth still lives on in New York as Prana Prenatal Yoga!
In 2020 I returned to work for Prana Prenatal Yoga remotely, offering online classes for adults and children coping with the global pandemic.
An Anchored Life was born in January of 2021 to better offer mindfulness classes, private wellness coaching, and professional workshops to adults, families, and teams. I create new offerings each year and welcome your requests for workshops and classes!
I’m grateful for that one fateful day I went to the library and found a yoga book to help me relax.
I’ve lived yogic values as a teacher, counselor, and mindful professional. Yoga and meditation helped me to be open to change while feeling grounded, and anchored, in ancient practices.