To My Students

Thank you all for allowing me to guide you through your practice, for showing up and sharing space with the other students and me. I have learned so much from our time together, your feedback, and your uniqueness. Watching everyone do their practice and bring a moment of relaxation to their days is what keeps me going.

To My Teachers

I want to acknowledge and thank my first teachers and guides: my parents and my sister, my immediate family and people close to us in my younger years: all my teachers, schoolmates and the rest of my family. I have continued to learn from every single person I have come in contact with in my life at school, sports or any other means.

I appreciate all the knowledge from my students. I learn every time I share this practice with them.

To all my yoga guides, gurus and teachers, I deeply bow in respect and gratitude. Not an all-inclusive list, but somewhat chronological:

• Deva Priya

• Jenna Arpita

• Baba Hari Dass

• Divakar Mark Raetzen; BA LLB LLM; YTT 500

• Kalpana Andrea Tabachnick; E-RYT 500

• Chetna Tracy Boyd; E-RYT 500; C-IAY

• Kashi Richardson

• Pamela Chandra Rose; B.A.; PDP (education); M.Ed.; YTT 500

• Bryan Hill; RMT; YTT 200

• Dr. Janice Hamsa Wright, MD; YTT 200

• Sharada Filkow; BFA; Teaching Certificate; YTT 500

• Alan Shankar Martin; PhD; YTT 200

• Lakshmi Voelker

• Bruce Binder

• Bhagavan Shri Shanmukha Anantha

• Shri Ma Kristina Baird

• Alexander Gersch

• Ian Hanover

• Jeana Hickling

• Andrew Michalko

• Ericardo Baldonado

• Tomoko Nakaguchi

• Mette Maj Krag

• Dr. Arun Rajeev

• Amanda McFadyen

• Aruna Kathy Humphrys

• Marcia Blanc

• Slava Goloubov

• Devon French

• Millissa Greenwood

• Stephanie Green

• Joe Bartlett

• Paul Grilley

• Alexandria Crow

• and to the many other different teachers who have guided me in my practice and play, in all the different classes I have attended throughout the years.

Land Acknowledgements

I was born in Mexico City, in what used to be the city of Tenochtitlan (capital of the Aztec Empire, home to the Mexicas). I understand a huge part of who I am is a mixed product of colonization, and I work to keep connected to my roots.

I practice and share yoga from my home in Ladysmith, British Columbia. I respectfully acknowledge and honour that my home sits in the traditional territory of the Stz’uminus First Nation.

Now I ask you to investigate what are the roots and origins of your hometown or territory. Acknowledge those who came before you, the ones erased and quieted by others who stole and took power from them. Please join me in learning more from where we came from and the mistakes we have  made, so we can learn from them and repair.

To My Spiritual Lineage

I acknowledge the colonized land, now known as India, as the birthplace of the yogic tradition. I strive to actively assess my practices and approaches to practice in a way that combats any racism, appropriation, or oppression.

The lineages I have practiced and studied include Hatha and Classical Ashtanga as well as Traditional Tantra Yoga. I have made a conscious effort to follow the ethical observances of yoga. As I delve deeper, I have studied yoga philosophy more in-depth and try to bring the essence of the teachings and practice into how I share yoga with other and how I apply it to my everyday life. I have continued this process of self-discovery to connect with my true self.

I practice yoga on and off the mat. I understand we are all united, and it is my path to help us find union with each other, with ourselves and with our breath.