“Every part of creation is indebted for its life to the other parts of creation that have died and decayed so that it might live.”
~ Jessica Prentice, “Full Moon Feast”
I began exploring yoga to harmonize my inner being after experiencing a debilitating mind-body-spirit breakdown in 2001. The old, dysfunctional patterns and worn-out habits I had accumulated in my life had to give way to something else. Like a snake who knows it has to shed its skin or suffocate to death, I had to learn to let go…and have faith in what was on the other side.
The imbalances revealed to me during this particular period of my life provided me with the fuel to embark on a journey to find home in my own skin. Yoga provided me with the initial means to cultivate personal awareness while offering me the support I needed to move through this difficult phase in my life into a more integrated and whole lifestyle.
Since 2000, I have been steadily integrating my work in social services with holistic healing methods. Much of my work has to do with personal empowerment and a sense of worth or worthiness; these being two major factors on one’s ability to protect and nourish oneself and their community. I have a background in permaculture, plant medicine, yoga, meditation, traditional food ways, and social service work.
My steady yoga practice began in 2003 and I’ve been teaching since 2008. My main yoga teacher from 2004-2009 was Katchie Ananda with whom I apprenticed in 2008-09. Katchie provided me with a foundation and understanding of yoga that helped me strengthen my own intuition and relationship with my personal practice.
I have taught in the Bay Area yoga studio – Yoga Kula, San Francisco’s donation-based studio – Mission Sunroom, in the back-country of Yosemite with Balanced Rock Foundation, in low-income and/or at-risk communities, and for private groups such as Saatchi & Saatchi. And, in 2012, I worked with a group of women at a substance-abuse rehabilitation center in NE Georgia called Homestead Recovery. (See details of training below.)
Currently, you can find me in my old stomping grounds, Starkville, Mississippi. Please contact me at madhuwellness (at) gmail.com if you would like to connect.
Training
2004
* February to August — Permaculture Design Certification with Guillermo Vasquez (SF, CA) through Group Maya
2006
* June (5-day retreat) — Council Process with Jeanette Armstrong (Okanagan elder) at the Center for Ecoliteracy
* September to December — Anusara Yoga Immersion with Katchie Ananda at Yoga Kula SF
2007
* February to June — Medicinal Plant Course at Pacific School of Herbal Medicine in Oakland, CA
* December to January (08) — Hatha Yoga Teacher Training (200 hr) in Chiang Mai, Thailand with Jonas Westring (Anusara, Biomechanics) and Sara Avant Stover (Yin Yoga, Women’s Health, Ayurveda)
2008
* September to February — Anusara Yoga Immersion with Katchie Ananda and Madhuri Martin at Yoga Kula SF
* September to September (09) — Apprenticeship with Kathie Ananda in SF
* October — Group Facilitation Skills training with Community At Work
2009
* September — month-long work-study at Tassajara Zen Center
* October — Reiki I and Basic Shiatsu training at Esalen with Jim Gallas
* December — Anusara Immeresion III with Sianna Sherman at Yoga Kula SF
2010
* February to January (2011) — lived/worked at the contemplative/Buddhist retreat center — Southern Dharma Retreat Center in Spring Creek, NC (worked as the Retreat Manager)
2011
* September to June (2012) — 1-year correspondence course with Dharmagiri (Thanisarra and Kitisaro) — Deepening meditation and contemplation practice
2012
* March (2012) to 2014 — 2-year correspondence course on Celtic Spirituality with Sharynne MacLeod — Dun na Sidhe
2013
* Anatomy & Physiology correspondence course (1-year) with herbal elder, Phyllis D. Light of Arab, Alabama
* My resume on LinkedIn can be found here.
