My yoga writing can now be found at:
yogawriter.org
She wasn’t the first and she won’t be the last. In September of 2013, a devoted mother snapped and attempted to kill herself and her autistic daughter after years of struggling to care for her often violent child. This mother sits in jail presently and will remain there for many years.
My child with autism was never violent. She never harmed or threatened me or her brother. She was always able to tell me what she needed, where it hurt, what she wanted. And even still there were times I felt so desperate, so helpless, I didn’t know how we would survive.
Kelli Stapleton’s tragic case, was the impetus that made me sign up for yoga teacher training in 2013.
I’d practiced yoga for a long time and knew it helped me as a mom, but I didn’t quite see myself as a teacher. I wasn’t young and super bendy. I didn’t do advanced poses.
But I could help.
Guiding parents of children with special needs and other caregivers in their yoga practice is an honor for me. To see them come in stressed, and to see them leave in a much different place, is moving. As I hold sacred space for them, I too am healed.
We love our children so much. We also need to love and nurture ourselves.
I love teaching all ages, shapes, sizes, and fitness levels. I teach slow-flow, Yin, chair yoga, and Vinyasa yoga. I love teaching beginners.
I teach regularly at a private beach club, and various private communities, corporate venues, and in private homes. I have trauma informed training through Connected Warriors, (a free yoga program for Veterans) and Connection Coalition, (bringing free yoga to at-risk youth).
Email Lifeorileyo@gmail.com for more information.
Come, take a breath with me!
