![\"\"](\"http:\/\/12yogaquestions.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/woodruff1-200x300.jpeg\")
How about now: does yoga feed your mind or your body or your spirit more, or are those elements more in balance than when you started?<\/p>\n
finding \u201cbalance\u201d is kind of the holy grail of life in my opinion \u2014 yoga keeps me closer to the center and helps reorient me both physically and mentally when I am veering too far in one direction or another<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n How long have you been practicing yoga, and how frequently do you hit the mat?<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been practicing for 25 years and try to get on the mat at least 3-4 times\/week \u2014 in an ideal world it would be every day!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n How long did you practice before you started teaching, and how long did you teach?<\/p>\n I practiced for almost 15 years before I started teaching \u2014 I\u2019d wanted to take teacher training for a long time, but it didn\u2019t work with my full-time corporate job \u2014 I taught for about 5 years, stopping when I got serious about novel writing \u2014 I love teaching but with two kids I didn\u2019t have time for everything so, for now, I just practice<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n What are the benefits of classes at a studio vs practicing yoga at home?<\/p>\n in a home practice you have the freedom to explore \u2014 I practiced at home a lot more when I was teaching because that was how I refined sequencing \u2014 the studio is more escapist \u2014 I can get more immersed in the practice (both yoga and meditation) at a studio when I\u2019m not the one deciding what comes next \u2014 I also feed off the energy of the room which is kind of magical<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Do you have a preferred yoga style?<\/p>\n I like slow vinyasa flow \u2014 I\u2019m an alignment nut and I love props, so I always have a little hatha and Iyengar in my head, but I like to move with the breath<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n When you were starting out, what came easiest and what was more challenging?<\/p>\n nothing about yoga or meditation came easily to me! I had never moved my body (or thought about it for that matter) in the ways that yoga asks you to \u2014 I was not flexible, and my mind was always busy \u2014 when I tried to think about breathing, I would feel like I was hyperventilating \u2014 still, I stuck with it \u2014 getting comfortable with discomfort and all that<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n What have been the greatest benefits of yoga for you?<\/p>\n more mental balance and a greater sense of self-acceptance<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Apart from yoga, do you practice other techniques of mindfulness or meditation?<\/p>\n I try to practice mindfulness meditation several times a week \u2014 I often fail<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Do you regularly do other forms of exercise?<\/p>\n I still hate \u201cexercise,\u201d but I do love to walk and hike \u2014 and I work out with a trainer to address aches and pains and hopefully stay strong as I age<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Outside of a yoga session, do you ever just strike a pose and stretch? If so, which poses and where?<\/p>\n yes! \u2014 my go-tos are janu sirsasana (head-to-knee forward bend) and viparita karani (legs-up-the-wall) which I often do for a few minutes before bed \u2014 actually, for me it is \u201clegs-up-the-bed\u201d pose<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n If I gave you an expenses-paid yoga retreat, where would you go?<\/p>\n I\u2019d go to the mountains \u2014 where the mornings and nights were cool and the days warm and I could go on easy hikes in between yoga sessions<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \u2014interview \u00a9 Marshal Zeringue<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mind, body, spirit \u2014 did one element or another first draw you to yoga? That is, were you seeking to settle your mind? Have greater physical flexibility? Explore your true, spiritual nature? a little mind and a little body \u2014 I was a type-A non-athlete in my early 20s in NYC and someone suggested yoga […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/12yogaweho.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/12yogaweho.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/12yogaweho.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12yogaweho.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12yogaweho.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/12yogaweho.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":375,"href":"https:\/\/12yogaweho.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions\/375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/12yogaweho.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12yogaweho.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/12yogaweho.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}