About Stephanie

 

 I’ve always been a mover and it took 25 years to discover Lynn Simonson and DanceSpace (now known as Dance New Amsterdam) in New York City. At that time, I took every chance I could to learn the Simonson technique Modern method of dancing with Diane McCarthy, Lynn Simonson, and Katiti King.  Everything I learned about translating movement into language and language into movement, I received through these amazing teachers.  I adored the movement and the method and the feeling that dancing infused in my spirit.  I dreamed of having the luxury and lifestyle of being able to dance every day, and as I could, I would dance every chance I got.  Dancing had burned itself into my heart; it was forever branded. Lynn’s words and presence and her dance and yoga classes opened up other spaces within and beyond as my heart expanded to incorporate a yoga practice, as well as dance, into my life more regularly.

 

At that time in New York City, there weren’t too many yoga studios in the city.  As time passed and other responsibilities took precedence, there was less dancing in my life, and I discovered the gym culture.  Fond memories of aerobics, weight training and sports conditioning during the high school years fit the need for my now time-crunched schedule.  Some yoga classes were offered at the gym and one in particular stole the show – Ashtanga Yoga.I started practicing with Eddie Stern in 1999 where there was a small space for a handful of sweaty yogis to practice in an office building on Broadway.  It was here that I developed the practice more deeply, was continually humbled and awed, studied Sanskrit with Vyaas Houston and chanted kirtan with Bhagavan Das.  

The Ashtanga yoga practice started my weekdays at around 6am and on Tuesday nights I would stroll to Second Avenue Matchless Gifts for Krishna chanting and good eats with the Krishna devotees.   I was in graduate school, working and still needed more money to sustain my dance and yoga habits. 

Still in graduate school, working as a pre-school teacher, studying Mysore and living downtown, a whirlwind of events that included the aftermath of September 11th, I began a new, unexpected career teaching yoga.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I haven’t looked back since.