As a former first grade teacher in the NYC public school system, I know what it’s like to try to teach over 20 kids how to read, write, do math, treat each other with kindness and everything else expected of teachers, all with very little outside help. The kids I taught came from a low income area of Brooklyn with little resources to help them succeed in the world. I struggled to get them to focus and sit still while also attempting to get them to reach the goals the system had set for them. I started teaching them yoga in between lessons, during lessons, in the hallway, after lunch, after school and it seemed to be working. After 5 years in the classroom, I knew I had a higher calling. San Francisco was where I started my biz Full of Joy Yoga. I decided that as a former teacher,… Read More »
The Summer of Joy and Loss
Last New Years I committed to writing a blog post every week for this entire year. I missed my first week in July, then another and another. I vowed to start up again but something else was happening this summer that kept me from doing it. Something else was growing that needed my time and energy and I just didn’t have enough to give to my blog. We have had many challenges with having children- our first son Silas Orion died 10 hours after he was born 7 years ago. We went years without getting pregnant again. After failed IUI & IVF attempts, our 3rd IVF ended in success with our now beautiful 3 1/2 yr old Zephyr. While we really wanted a sibling for Zephyr, it just wasn’t happening. We decided to give it one last shot using the leftover embryos we had stored. We couldn’t believe it, but it… Read More »
FOJY In the News!
This week a sweet little news report aired about me teaching yoga to kids at Alphabet Academy in Hamden, CT where I’ve been teaching for years. When Meghan from WTNH (a local CT station) came to do the filming for CT Style months ago, I was so nervous! The work I’m doing and what I am trying to accomplish is a really big deal to me and I wanted it to come across in a way that makes an impact. I couldn’t have been happier with the results! Of course I wished I had said many things that I did not, but that’s ok. She really did an awesome job creating this beautiful piece about why yoga works so beautifully in the schools. I hope that this story encourages more schools to bring yoga in to give as many students as possible the opportunity to learn the tools to stay calm, focused… Read More »