Teacher Spotlight – Deidre

Name:  Deidre 

Classes that you teach:  Gentle Flow on Saturdays at 11 am, Kripalu on Sundays at 5:00 pm and Vinyasa 1 on Sundays at 6:30 pm

 

How do you strike a balance between your personal practice and teaching?  

I typically practice 2-3 times a week.  I end to take things that feel good in my practice and incorporate them into my teaching.

 

What advice would you give someone who is just starting out on their yoga journey?

Don’t compare yourself with the person on the mat next to you.  Like anything else, yoga is a journey.  Everything improves with practice and patience – strength, balance, flexibility.

 

What is your favorite yoga pose and why? What’s your least favorite yoga pose and why?

I love Warrior 3, it is one of my favorite poses.  I love the strength and balance I feel in my body in this pose.  I also love, Half Pigeon.  Hip opener, do I need to say any more?

One of my least favorite poses is Chair Prayer Twist.  I’m not sure if it is my body’s proportions, but I am not comfortable in this pose.

 

What’s your favorite yoga quote or mantra?

I had an instructor that would say “When you take care of the exhale, the inhale will take care of itself.”  That has stuck with me over the years.

 

What made you want to teach yoga?

Honestly, I was going through a time where I was struggling with my regular job.  I was not happy, there was not any joy.  Yoga represented freedom and it was the only place I found joy and peace.  I wanted to deepen my practice, as well as, share with others what I was experiencing.  As I am sure that everyone has times in which they experience what I was feeling.