I discovered yoga in my early 20’s at the 92nd Street Y in New York City with Michael Gilbert. Amazingly, my first experiences with yoga were with an amazing, accomplished teacher (he has since become Dr. Oz’s yoga guy) and I was hooked.
As a dancer in my youth, I injured my body in lasting ways. With tendonitis in both knees and lower back issues, my physical activity suffered. Through many years of practice, yoga has enabled me to heal my body – creating strength and flexibility where I need it to stay mobile and healthy.
Twenty years and many yoga teachers later, I found a home at the Blue Lotus yoga studio in Ruidoso. Completing my 200 hour yoga teacher training with Shiva Rheinhart, I have found teaching to be a natural extension of my own yoga practice.
My style of teaching is a mix of straight-up Hatha, Ashtanga, Iyengar and Vinyasa. In each class, I strive to give my students a well-rounded, breath-focused, challenging experience, building on the integrity of basics to enable “play time” in more advanced poses. Students should expect Sun salutations A and B, standing poses, core work and some upside down time in my classes. My goal for my students is that they create a safe and comfortable practice for themselves that they can take to any yoga class they may attend.
For 2018, I will be focusing on “Gillian’s Version” of Ashtanga series 1 the first week of each month to solidify some of the essential poses and strength needed for a solid yoga practice. The remainder of each month will be dedicated to my standard sweaty-fun-time teaching style.
