Curious to try yoga? Seeking to rejuvenate your practice? Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned practitioner, join my classes in Vancouver or online.

I am a certified Iyengar yoga teacher based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Although I am currently known primarily as a yoga teacher, I have worn other professional hats. I have a JD from the University of California, Berkeley, and briefly practiced law. I am also a freelance writer and editor. I have been a Lonely Planet author since 2004 and have written a dozen books about the Hawaiian Islands, mainly Hawai‘i, where I grew up. My latest title is Hawai‘i the Big Island, 5th edition, which was published in April 2021.

My various professions might seem divergent, but all require a mix of precision and creativity, compassion and objectivity. They are also complementary. Writing and editing are fundamentally solitary and internal—and appeal to the introvert in me. Yoga, while inwardly focused in practice, is outwardly driven in teaching. Iyengar yoga teaching in particular is highly collaborative and driven by words.

To communicate clearly and vividly. This is my objective as a writer, as an editor, and as a yoga teacher.

Training and Certification

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I discovered yoga in Berkeley in the late 1990s. Somewhat skeptical at first (“It’s not too touchy-feely, is it?” I asked the friend who persuaded me to try a class), I was immediately hooked.

A decade later in Vancouver, I focused more seriously on the Iyengar method and in 2013 got certified as an Iyengar yoga teacher. In 2015 I earned my Intermediate Junior 1 certificate and in 2017 my Intermediate Junior 2 certificate.

My training teacher is Louie Ettling in Vancouver. My first teachers in Berkeley, the late Donald Moyer, Mary Lou Weprin, and Sandy Blaine, continue to influence my practice. In August 2014, I traveled to Pune, India, to study for a month at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute.

My classes are rigorous, but always geared to each individual. I try to encourage students to challenge themselves and to appreciate the precision and depth of Iyengar yoga. I teach the fundamentals of yoga asana with detailed instructions on anatomy and kinesiology, proper alignment, and safe movement into and out of poses. I give students much individualized attention, including hands-on adjustments and prop-based modifications.