My journey to Christ-centered yoga came through a very difficult season in my life.  A series of personal events and hardships brought me to a point of deep depression, and I found myself at a loss as to how to pull myself out of the pit.  I hit rock bottom and most days I struggled to even breathe.  I now know this was God’s intervention in my life, but at the time I thought I had “stumbled” upon an online christian yoga class.  It was there on my mat that I began to find healing.  I learned how to still myself before God, give him room to work in my heart, allow my body to relax, and felt the presence of His Spirit lifting me up.  As God began his healing in me, all I wanted to do was share it with others.  I wanted to help other people experience the freedom and transformational power I was gaining from Christ-centered yoga.  For the first time in my life, I felt like I was worshiping God with all of my being.  Philippians 4:6-7 (“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus”) became a daily meditation for me, on and off my mat.  

In that dark season I deeply resonated with the story of the Isrealites in Exodus.  I was enslaving myself to a life of anxiety and fear.  I had been offered a parting of the Red Sea, yet I was choosing to stay stuck in the bondage of my own unhealthy thoughts and patterns.  The consistent practice of Christ-centered yoga truly helped me find the road out of that darkness and into the light of Jesus!

Not long after, a most perfect opportunity to become a yoga instructor presented itself in the form of a wonderful mentor, Kristin Gibowicz, who walked alongside me, helped me gain confidence, and encouraged me to step out in faith and do it afraid.  I saw so much fruit in how she was helping others heal and strengthen physically and spiritually through yoga, and was so grateful she gave me the opportunity to learn from her.  I completed my 200 hour training and became a yoga instructor through Living Soul Institute, a certified Yoga Alliance school, owned and led by Kristin. I began teaching classes in my backyard shortly after, and then gained a little more confidence to lead classes in our church.  I just couldn’t get enough knowledge and insight from Kristin, so I began my journey toward my 500 hour training to become a master yoga instructor.  I completed that training in the Spring of 2024, and am now a 500 hour Master Yoga Instructor, or RYT 500.  

I truly believe the modality of yoga is a tool to draw closer to God, center the mind, engage the heart, fill the soul, and strengthen the body, setting you free in Christ, wildly transformed!