I am very passionate about my connection to the earth, others around me, and the divine. I consider myself to be a spiritual individual and I love talking about anything that has to do with God or the divine. My Yoga journey actually began time after I read a book called Be Here Now by Ram Dass. This book taught me about the importance of your connection to spirit and about being aware of the things around you.
Fast forward to 2022, I met my very first yoga teacher. Her name is Karla Treviño and with her, I learned the importance of strengthening the body when you practice yoga. Her teachings stayed with me when I practiced by myself and even when I gave my class for my 200 YTT. Not only did she help me with my physical practice but she also played an important role in my emotional and psychological upbringing because in every class she taught us about the discipline part of yoga. The practices outside of the physical postures. It was everything I needed at that time in my life.
After a couple of months of practicing yoga with Karla and falling in love with the practice, I decided to look for teacher trainings. Months later, I found myself travelling to Nicaragua to learn about Yoga with Lauren Rudick, Livinleggings, and Will Peters. In my teacher training, I learned about the importance of alignment but not only that, but the importance of strengthening was also deeply covered by my teacher Liv. She taught us many ways to keep the body protected while practicing yoga and how to strength train without losing your flexibility, but rather use it to enhance your flexibility.
Shortly after finishing my 200hr YTT, I decided to go back to an Ashtanga Intensive retreat that was going to be held by Tina Bock. So many of my teachers had already told me that I would love the practice so I decided to give it a try. I had already seen videos of the sequence but never really understood it or understood why it was so structured, but I really liked how the people flowed from pose to pose.
My Ashtanga Journey
My very first ever Ashtanga Yoga class was back in March of 2023. I remember that, as a vinyasa practitioner, I hated it because I couldn’t get myself into the full expression of some of the poses. I got stressed at how structured it was and how uncomfortable I was in some of these poses. Then after that day went by, I started realizing that that was the point of the practice and that I needed that challenge to overcome my mental blockages. So, the next day that I went to practice, I gave it my all and, even though I had the same experience getting into the poses and feeling uncomfortable, I loved the practice because I saw I was strong enough to go through it.
Now 2024, I continue my practice at Kin Ashtanga Yoga with Ale. For months after coming back from my intensive with Tina Bock, I longed for an Ashtanga studio in my city of El Paso, TX. Then out of nowhere, I get a message on Instagram inviting me to practice at this studio. I’ve been going to this studio for 5 months now and my practice has improved so much.
