About Me

Welcome to Yoga Gypsy!
 
I am a passionate student and practitioner of yoga, a certified yoga teacher (500 hours), and I am currently working towards a graduate certificate in Yoga Therapy.

I love sunshine, the ocean, mountains, long walks in nature and huge breakfasts.

Why yoga?

My first real introduction to yoga was through B.K.S Iyengar's book, "Light on Yoga." I was in my early twenties, and when I read his introduction to the theory and practice of yoga, it was like a light switched on inside me. Here was something I had, unconsciously, been looking for: a practical, integrated approach to taking charge of my life and bringing it to a place of balance, health and happiness.

What yoga meant to me then, and continues to mean to me today, was that I was in control of my own happiness. That I could do something to take charge of my well-being in the chaotic and often overwhelming landscape of the modern world. That by moving my body, I could move myself out of patterns that were not serving me, and live up to the potential for happiness that I felt within myself.

Yoga re-awakened in me the notion that balance and happiness is our natural state, our true state, and that we already have all the tools to create our own inner peace, if only we know how to use them: our bodies, our breath, our minds, our thoughts, our voices and our everyday actions. This is what continues to inspire me today - yoga represents a roadmap that helps me to ride the ever-changing wave of life, the highs and the lows, with awareness, grace and compassion.

Yoga has made me stronger than I could ever have dreamed, and softer in places that before, held only fear. This transformation has taken place over days, weeks, months and years, and the best part is that this is just the beginning!


What do I teach?

In the 10+ years that I have been practicing yoga, I have tried a wide variety of yoga styles, mostly in the Krishnamacharya lineage: ashtanga, vinyasa, iyengar, anusara, viniyoga, restorative yoga, and yin yoga. So far, I have more than 500 hours of formal teacher training with experienced teachers, and over 1000 hours of practical teaching experience.

What this has taught me, above all else, is that there is no one-size-fits-all yoga. So I teach from the belief that, as Krishnamacharya himself said: "You do not adapt the student to the yoga. You adapt the yoga to the student."

I love that the yoga system is diverse and bountiful and offers something different for everyone. Yet fundamentally, yoga is a mindfulness practice, and so no matter what I teach, I guide people to become aware of their breath, to align their bodies consciously and safely, and above all, to find the unique combination of practices that is right for them.


Who am I?


I was born in Calgary, Canada, but left that comfortable life behind at the age of 8 to live overseas. Growing up in some fairly unconventional places, I eventually turned my social idealism and love for adventure into an adult career working in international development (or "aid work") as a communications professional, while living in other unconventional places, mainly in East Timor.

I am currently in the process of moving to Sydney, Australia, with my beautiful partner and our fluffy cat.

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I would love to hear from you, so feel free to get in touch by emailing me at: lagitane [at] mac [dot] com.