a little about me...
I am a lifelong student committed to the study and sharing of yoga. With over 6,000 hours of teaching experience spanning 12 years across multiple cities within the United States and abroad, I have absorbed many teachings from the various communities I have been a part of. My studies and teachings have taken me to Costa Rica, where I earned my first teacher training certification and first began teaching yoga full time, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Austin. Through her years of teaching, she has had the opportunity to own and operate a private Yoga studio in San Diego, California, develop and lead a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program, organize and lead international Yoga retreats, and mentor aspiring teachers.
Rachel's teaching reflects her personal practice, which is rooted in the tradition of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. She is passionate about teaching a modern version of this traditional eight-limb practice in an effort to make it accessible to everyone while including Pranayama and meditation techniques when beneficial for the student. Her personal practice also includes the exploration of functional movement for healthy mobility and restorative yoga for deep rest and relaxation. Whether she is teaching a restorative or vinyasa class, students can expect to find a soft focus, explore their strengths and weaknesses, laugh, and feel well-balanced.
In an effort to be a good steward of the Yoga tradition, her intention is to study often and in-depth with great living senior teachers of Yoga, breathwork, and meditation. Her previous 1,000 hours of formal immersive Yoga studies include being selected to participate in the 200-hour Teachers’ Intensive and two week-long immersions with Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor in Boulder, Colorado, a month-long immersion with Mark Robberds and Deepika Mehta in Bali, Indonesia, and a 30-hour gross and subtle anatomy intensive with Leslie Kaminoff in Austin, Texas. Rachel has also practiced extensively under the guidance of Tim Miller in Encinitas, California and Liza DeGaitano at her private home-studio, first in the advanced Tripsichore style and later Mysore Ashtanga Vinyasa. She was fortunate enough to earn a position assisting Mysore with Liza as her mentor, enhancing her hands-on adjustment knowledge within the Ashtanga technique and gaining experience tailoring her approach to different bodies and abilities.
Outside of teaching, Rachel has logged 100 days of skiing in a single season at Telluride Ski Resort, and traveled to 25 countries. Rachel can also be found listening to classic rock on vinyl a little too loudly, exploring the wilderness in all seasons, jumping into water no matter the temperature, traveling the world to experience new cultures, and learning Japanese. She also strives to be a genuinely good human being, valuing kindness and compassion in her interactions with others. Rachel's dedication to her practice, her commitment to teaching, and her genuine love for yoga shine through in all aspects of her life.