Pop Up Yoga

Sitara Bird

Who/what inspired you to teach?
I stumbled upon yoga at a vulnerable time in my life.  It really taught me how to cope with the feelings I was experiencing.  Yoga helped me heal old wounds and past emotional scares, working on a more subtle level, working from the inside out.  I want to share this gift with everyone!  Everyone deserves to practice.

How do you define yoga?  
This is a tough question.  I don't think there's necessarily one definition for yoga.  Yoga is a life long practice that encourages you to be the best YOU, you can be.  It takes practice, diligence and maybe a little bit of sweat. ;)  It's a practice that follows you off of your mat and into your life.  It is a sacred space in which you can always return.  It's a constant evolution, a process, a transition.  You are always growing.

How do you see yoga as a tool to help your community?
Yoga brings all light beings together and from there anything can manifest!   At first it may start small but with the help of community and the influence of yoga comes the betterment of community and community can grow exponentially.  I see yoga as a dire tool for healing community and for strengthening it as well.

What does the yoga community mean to you? 
The yoga community is like coming home for a warm hug, a sweet embrace, where no judgement is cast and you are free to be yourself. 

Kristina Pruccoli 

How did yoga find you?
It was my gym teacher in high school that exposed me to yoga. Like most others, the beginning of my practice was heavily asana based. It wasn’t until I started on the path as a teacher did I grow deeper into the other facets of the practice.
 
Who / what inspired you to become a teacher?
Even since childhood I have assumed the role of leader, guide, and teacher in many fields.  There is deep drive in me that loves to educate and share my knowledge/experience.
 
What positive benefits have you witnessed in your students?
I have seen students develop a heighten self-awareness, gain in confidence, and become receptive to experiencing the sheer bliss that the practice offers on and off the mat.
 
What positive benefits have you experienced yourself?
I could write a novel on that question. To simply put it, it is the journey of leaning to embody self-acceptance and self-fulfillment.
 
Tell us something fun about you!
Fun, that is my aka.  Seriously, you won’t catch a frown on this face.


Beth James

How did yoga find you?
I first started practicing yoga with my mom over ten years ago. I remember for several years before I started being very intrigued by the spiritual aspect of yoga. In a way I knew before I began practicing I loved it.

What are some positive affects have you witnessed in students?
Too many to count. The immediate affect is the gift of relaxation. The peace and calm that even an hour practice gives you is worth overcoming every challenge or obstacle to getting to the mat. I have also witnessed countless students cure their back pain, years of tension in their neck and shoulders, lose weight, as well as dropping anger and fear! I've even had several older yogini's tell me that since practicing yoga they have gotten taller rather then shrinking as they age! 

What's the biggest impact yoga has had on your life?
Developing and being a part of a community. There is SO much strengthen in numbers and being around so MAny awesome people who want to do good for themselves as well as the earth and others is what inspires and motivates me each day!
I am so grateful for All the wonderful friend and DEEP connections I have made through yoga. I am so excited to bring that spirit now to Detroit!

Who/what inspires you right now?
People who are living their dreams. The dream seekers, the LIGHT beings, the Fearless warriors all around the world right now. There are so many people saying no to the demands and pressures of society and systems that no longer serve them, and watching them step into their POWER is so inspiring. The people who facing fear and stepping into it with a calm mind and open heart are my teachers~ i believe this how we will change the world! 

Tell us something Fun about you? 
Besides that I love FUN? Well i love spending time with dogs (lots of them), on bikes, creating new vegan delights in the kitchen, laughing with my husband and friends. My most favorite Fun thing is swimming in the Ocean!


Cindy Soper


How did yoga find you?

Yoga snuck up on me. I went to a weekly donation class for a few months, during

which time I was in a stressful job that made me feel like I was wasting my life.

Every day at that job, I found myself deep breathing several times a day in order

to calm myself. One day, a few months after starting yoga, it dawned on me that

my deep breaths at work were the same deep breaths I was learning in yoga.

That’s when I knew yoga was working for me, and I have been cultivating my

practice ever since.


Someone very special to me once told me that if you find yoga in this life, it

means you practiced yoga in a past life, and you are now working on realizing

and manifesting the full benefits of yoga in this life. I truly believe that we are

drawn to yoga for a reason. We don’t have to believe in past lives, necessarily, to know that yoga works for some of us on deeper levels. Yoga found me when I needed it most, and that is why I deepened my practice by becoming a yoga teacher. I truly want to help myself, and others, with yoga.


What are some positive benefits of yoga you've witnessed In students?

One of the most amazing moments in my teaching so far was when a student came up to me and said that something I had said the previous week about

letting go had helped her deal with the painful divorce she was going through. I was not expecting that at all, but it warmed my heart so much and made me

realize even more that the wisdom we get from our yoga teachers is so important in terms of dealing with life’s ups and downs and learning to let go. This is exactly why I practice and teach yoga! I want to always learn and share what I know because we can all benefit from yoga in physical, emotional, and spiritual ways even if we don’t realize it yet.


What are some positive benefits you’ve witnessed in yourself?

I am much more aware of my own actions and reactions as a result of my yoga practice. I take self-study very seriously, and I try to look for ways in which the traditional yogic texts, the teachers I surround myself with, and my own practice all come together to help me better deal with life. I have also adopted a mostly vegan lifestyle as a result of the mindful awareness I’ve cultivated over the last few years. Yoga helps streamline your mind and your body, and changing my eating habits is just one of the many ways the two have come together in my life as a result of yoga.


Who/what inspires you right now?

I am inspired by the people in my life who do good for humanity by spreading love and compassion in many different ways. They could be people who make

small gestures like giving you a warm, genuine hug every time they see you or people who make big gestures like working to combat malnutrition. I am inspired by the goodness of others, and I hope to inspire by what I put out into the world also.


Tell us something silly or fun about yourself?

Even though we live in a serious world, I try to make light of as many things as I can because laughter makes life better and way more enjoyable! If you

stick around me long enough, you will find me making an ironic joke or a funny observation, coming up with a silly song or game on the spur of the moment

(especially for children), or designing a funny picture just to get laughs. I guess you’ll just have to wait and see what’s in store at any given moment! I like to

freestyle my funnies!

Lynne Baum

Who/what inspired you to teach?
I was stressed out, working full-time and going to school when yoga found me. In my very first class I knew I had discovered what I had been hoping to find in my life; some happiness, a little bit of peace and self-love. And it felt attainable!  My teacher was 73 and proof that yoga works from the inside out! She was my first inspiration.

How do you define yoga?
I feel that yoga is our connection to our true essence. The postures are  gateways to the potential of the mind, where creation and manifestation happen. Nice thing is, all we have to do is get on our mats and have fun, the rest just happens!

How do you see yoga as a tool to help your community?
Yoga brings people together. It literally means "to unite". It brings us back to ourselves by gently shifting our attention from out there, to in here!. And when we feel connected we feel peaceful. And when we are peaceful as individuals, then we can experience peace in our family's and our community'sl!

What does the yoga community mean to you? 
It's a safe place to lay my head. It's an amazing space to explore my limitless self! I like to call it the non-judgement zone. It's my chosen family.

Jessica Aguilar-Christy


Who/what inspired you to start teaching yoga?
My inspiration for teaching comes from the deep healing I have received through the practice of yoga and how it has clarified my relationships. From this stand point, I can see how it can help other individuals and lead them into wholeness. I want to help people be their best selves and that is why I teach.

How do you define yoga?
Yoga is practicing the discipline of pursuing relationship. This practice is not just about the poses, it is about incorporating the whole yoga philosophy into one's life. The concept of relationship through this discipline is ubiquitous. It covers not just equanimity with the mind, body and spirit on a personal level, yet also relationship with others, with love and with the Divine.

How do you see yoga as a tool to help your community?
Something happens when people come together to be their best selves. They become their best self and attract others to do the same. One by one, yoga can light the fire for a community to change and purse a better quality of life.

What does the yoga community mean to you? 
On a personal level, the yoga community mirrors the imprint of the practice, reflecting the good that can happen when people commit to their best self. The yoga community here in the city of Detroit can be that kind of mirror as steps into the active purpose of pursuing kindness, peace and love in broken places.


Rachel Shepard


How did yoga find you? 

Yoga found me in Corporate America 13+ years ago.  An amazing woman, Linda Marshall ran the company.  Yoga transformed her life and she wanted to share it with her company.  Linda had a yoga room built in our HQ office.  Jason Hulshof from Center For Yoga came twice a week and I have been hooked ever since.


What are some of the life changing benefits you've witnessed in your students? 

I have witnessed students who had severe asthma become completely healed after practicing yoga.  I have witnessed a student who was told her unborn child would be born needing immediate heart surgery, the baby was born perfectly healthy.  I have witnessed numerous miracles and blessings from this ancient healing practice of yoga.

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What is yoga greatest gift been to you? 

Yoga’s greatest gift to me is living a life with awareness and acceptance of our ability to be healed, to heal and radiate love in every aspect of this EarthSchool Adventure.


How\ what currently influences your teaching style? 

Life/Love/Spirit/Prana/Chi influences my teaching style.


Tell us something fun / silly about you? 

I will bust out a song and crazy dance moves at any time ~ Life is our dance floor to play and be silly.   

Mel Selman

Who/what inspired you to teach?
I have been most inspired by my teachers Rebecca Hooper and Rutu Chaudhari. 

How do you define yoga? 
Yoga is a spiritual discipline that can complement any belief system.  Its physical element makes it uniquely accessible and healing for many people.

How do you see yoga as a tool to help your community?
I have volunteered with DKWIO, teaching yoga to 5th-graders on the east side, and will be teaching a Queer and Trans Yoga summer session at Affirmations in Ferndale.

What does the yoga community mean to you? 
I am primarily interested in expanding it.


Kerrie Trahan


Who/what inspired you to start teaching yoga?

In 2005, I was introduced to yoga at the Boll Family YMCA in Detroit. It wasn't until I moved to Yeosu, South Korea in 2007 that I began to take yoga seriously. It helped me overcome the anxiety I was experiencing from culture shock, homesickness and LSAT preparation. When I returned to the United States I joined Lifetime Fitness where I took yoga classes daily. My life started to change. I noticed my habits, skin, energy levels, diet and attitude improving. I became more focused, happy and calm. I wanted to share this feeling, this energy and this practice with my family, friends and community so they could also experience the rewards of yoga. 


How do you define yoga?

I’m learning that there are many paths of “yoga.” Each yogic path seems to lead to a deeper realization of the Self. I describe it as a transformational skill in action that can positively impact any student’s life. 


How do you see yoga as a tool to help your community?

Detroit is my home as well as one of the most violent cities in the country. I see yoga as a proactive approach to inner-city violence. Eddie Stern, a yoga teacher at Life Camp considered “Violence is quick in nature, what if we slow down all tendencies to react quickly.” Providing yoga instruction in the city creates the possibility for individuals to become less reactive and more self-aware. Therefore, building a community that is more compassionate, connected, empathetic and peaceful. 


Tell us something fun about yourself.

I love travelling and couchsurfing. Surfing couches domestically and abroad has shown me that we are all much more alike than different. Spontaneously exploring this big beautiful world with an open-heart and mind has taught me a lot of valuable lessons and has been a ton of FUN!