The people that know me, would likely describe me as bubbly. I feel strongly alive and calm standing in front of large groups of people. I enjoy curating experiences for others through beautiful environments, philosophy, music, bio-mechanics, meditation, movement practices, and breath. I aim for my classes to feel nurturing and grounding. My classes are alignment based while working through dynamic movement. I am foremost a student. I believe in integrating the practice of yoga on and off the mat. How can you be in touch with your breath while standing in line at the grocery store?

I first started practicing yoga in 2008 when I was a senior in college. My father had cancer and it wasn’t looking good. I showed up at a donation based power vinyasa class in Santa Monica. I didn’t think much of it when I first started. My love affair with yoga was a gradual one. The down dogs felt hard. The women around me all seemed to be more bendy than me. When I focused on my poses, losing my father felt just a tiny bit easier to digest. So I kept going. Like so many things in life, the greatest value is simply in the commitment of continuing to show up. Slowly the down dogs felt less hard and my arms and core felt more strong. I realized that as life moved around me, the one thing I could come back to was yoga.

When I moved to San Antonio, Texas in 2011 for a finance job, I felt very alone in a big new city. I found myself in a quaint community-focused yoga studio downtown, and suddenly I didn’t feel as alone in the bright warm space. It was then I realized that yoga was the tapestry that will weave my life together. When I moved to San Francisco, I went to a new studio a coworker recommended. I said hello to the man on the mat next to me. He was handsome and easy to talk to. He became my husband. During the marriage, I opened a yoga studio in Berkeley: Addison Yoga Loft. I became certified as a yoga teacher at Yoga Garden SF. I wanted to share the gift of the practice with others. And a beautiful community showed up, and gifted me their time, practice, dedication, and even more in return. I owned that studio for 4 years. When my husband and I divorced, the waves of grief kept pouring. And now again, I needed yoga. And it found me again. Yoga didn’t mind when my savasana was filled with tears that slowly rolled down my face. It reminded me that no matter what happens, I am the most powerful force of my own life. It reminds me that the tapestry continues to be woven through it all with love, heartbreak, patience, and grace.

In 2021, I suffered a neurological injury from a vaccine. Through the work of healing myself, I discovered a wealth of wellness practices. Through functional medicine, nutrient IVs, acupuncture, nutrition, earthing, Chinese medicine, Qi Gong, infrared saunas, hot springs doing hot/cold therapy- I was able to get better. I tapped into entirely new subtle realms of energy practices. I developed a new understanding and empathy of what it feels like to live with chronic pain or disability. But even more: I realized the power of our thoughts and their true impact on the nervous system. Only when I believed that I am capable of healing, did I begin to heal. I am grateful for all the experiences that have been a part of soul journey. My most recent venture with yoga has been being a Co-Owner of a tea house Soft Medicine Sanctuary and managing Anahata Studio within the space. We just opened our doors, and are delighted to be the new community hub in Sebastopol.

What if recognizing diamonds
was enough to make them yours
and you saw them now everywhere?
On the sunlit ocean; in the moonless sky;
on winter fields and the tips of branches after the rain;
in smiling faces; the brook; the lake; the stream;
the kitchen stove; stairs; puddles, ice, clouds;
anywhere life glimmers and light glints;
kisses, belly laughs, bubbly,
wine, decay and crumbs;
flights of fancy, feathers,
teeth, words, breath…
Diamonds, diamonds,
all diamonds.
Would you see
then in truth
the very richness
that you are?

- Ingrid Goff-Maidoff

~~

“Under Ideal Conditions”
say in the flattest part of North Dakota
on a starless moonless night
no breath of wind
a man could light a candle
then walk away
every now and then
he could turn and see
the candle burning
seventeen miles later
provided conditions remained ideal
he could still see the flame
somewhere between the seventeenth and eighteenth mile
he would lose the light
if he were walking backwards
he would know the exact moment
when he lost the flame
he could step forward and find it again
back and forth
dark to light light to dark
what's the place where the light disappears?
where the light reappears?
don't tell me about photons
and eyeballs
reflection and refraction
don't tell me about one hundred and eighty-six thousand
miles per second and the theory of relativity
all I know is that place
where the light appears and disappears
that's the place where we live

-Al Zolynas