1. Whats your yoga story? (how did you get involved, how long have you been practicing, etc.)

I started my asana practice through my journey to the handstand. Before starting yoga, I was a “gym rat”, so they say. When a friend of mine showed me some videos of a man named Ido Portal doing extremely intriguing bodyweight movements, I was hooked. I started practicing handstands every night by throwing myself up against a wall and holding it for as long as I could. Once I started doing handstands out and about, people started asking me if I “do yoga”. Once enough people asked, I started looking into it. The more I saw people like Dylan Werner and Patrick Beach doing these incredible arm balances, the more I wanted to learn. I was definitely originally drawn in by the strength aspect of yoga. I dedicated hours of my evenings practicing these movements. After a couple years of this, I went traveling through Southeast Asia for 4 months, and along the way ended up teaching a variety of people how to do certain postures and how to do Sun Salutations, and every single time, I got this overwhelming feeling of joy. A couple weeks after getting back from my trip, I started my Teacher Training to get certified as a yoga teacher. Since then, I’ve grown a passion for all parts of yoga, as well as learning how to share my practice and knowledge with other people.

2. What’s your favorite song to practice to, or favorite playlist?

This varies… a LOT. Sometimes I love classical piano, sometimes I love 2Pac, and sometimes I prefer silence so I can hear every breath I take.

3. What is something you’ve learned from yoga that resonates with you the most?

Learning how to breathe. Breath is something that so many people don’t pay any attention to. It is our life source and it has the potential to be so powerful in our emotional and spiritual journeys. Learning to control my breath has taught me more than I could have imagined.

4. What is your most memorable yoga experience?

That is a hard question! The thing that popped into my head when reading this question was doing my first standing hand-to-hand with a very tall man named Max (@maxandlizacro). This means I was doing a handstand on the hands of Max while he was standing, holding his arms above his head. It was a thrill!!

5. What destination is next on your travel list and why?

In July(ish) of this year, I plan to move to Thailand to set up a home base (It’s beautiful, it’s cheap, and it’s a pace of life that I can get on board with!), and then travel around to.. a lot of places! Ever since my last trip, I’ve dreamed of becoming “location independent”, meaning being able to travel indefinitely while making necessary income online or in a field that allows for travel. I’ve been working feverishly to make this dream come true, and have high hopes that it will!

6. If you could interview anyone who would it be and why?

I know this is probably a very common answer, but it would be Jesus. Even if you strip away all the supernatural ideas about him being the son of God and the Savior (ideas I grew up believing and still hold a certain place in my heart for), he made an extremely profound change in the world, even 2,000 years after his death. He represented something amazing and powerful – the idea of selfless love. Historically speaking, he was a man of profound wisdom and action. His words, his parables, his movement, and his ideals were so powerful that they’ve changed the course of the world we live in.

7. If you had to choose a theme song for you life, what would it be?

I’ve always said “Africa” by Toto! Haha not for any particular reason other than it always makes me dance and feel happy – which are great things to feel for a lifetime!

8. If you were on a deserted island, what 3 items would you bring and why?

There are so many ways to go about answering this question: Do I pick survival tools? Fun items to pass the time? Do people count as items?? I would have to say.. A solar charger, my camera, and a laptop with Photoshop on it. Even if things like Instagram didn’t exist at all, my favorite thing to do is take creative photos (particularly of yoga). It feeds my soul and gives me an outlet for my creative mind. I could argue that it pushes me to get more creative with my asana practice as well. It also has endless possibilities and would fill up a lot of that time while I wait for my rescue ship! Then again.. if I had nobody to show the photos to, I wonder if I would enjoy it as much..? Tough question!

9. What’s one food you couldn’t live without?

Is coffee a food?

10. What is one quote you try to live by?

I’m not sure where it originated from or if it is technically even a quote. But I try to live from a place of “leading by example”. I think there’s nothing more powerful than this. There’s a lot of talk in this world, but it’s the people who actually apply action to their ideas that make the changes. I can either talk about how amazing it would be to go out and feed the homeless, or I can just go out and feed the homeless. I can talk about having a daily meditation practice, but nothing will change in me until I actually.. have a consistent daily meditation practice.

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