My husband Chuck and I have been married for 10 years coming up in January. We have 3 boys - Everet who is 8, and twins Liam and Max who will be 5 in December. We also have a giant yellow lab named Lucy who helps balance out the female factor in the house. Being mom to 3 boys is wild and crazy and messy and chaotic and hilarious and frustrating and while I wouldn't have it any other way, it is also one of the many reasons that yoga has become such an important part of my life. I can't imagine my life without SuperDad by my side, my crazy boys running around, and yoga to keep me balanced and calm amidst the chaos.

Shortly after college I moved back to the Twin Cities and bought a little condo in Plymouth. There was a small studio nearby that offered hot yoga classes and I was intrigued and went to check it out one night. I found that the 'hot' part of it was not for me, but quickly fell in love with the 'yoga' part of it. I started practicing at different studios and trying out different styles to see what appealed the most. I practiced at an Iyengar studio for 8 years and really loved the attention to alignment there. I also love getting in deep with yin, relaxing with a good restorative class, and who doesn't love a good vinyasa class?

Speaking of yin and vinyasa! My Sunday morning class is a little bit of both. We start out with some yin poses, which are held for longer periods (say 2-5 minutes). It is a passive practice, so we often use props and the focus is really on releasing into a pose vs. using muscle action to get there. The target is really to get down into the joints and connective tissues and not really think too much about the muscles. It is quiet and can be really nice and meditative. Once we get the joints, ligaments, and connective tissues nice and mobile, then we do some flow. It feels so good to move once you've gotten through those subtle layers and down into the deeper tissues. We finish up with a nice relaxing restorative pose like supported child's pose or legs up the wall, and then end in savasana. Hopefully students are leaving feeling balanced, restored and ready to take on the week!

I LOVE to travel so this is a really tough question! In college I studied abroad in Vienna, Austria. From there I was able to visit some of the more Eastern European countries and found both Budapest and Prague to be the most interesting, beautiful cities with such incredible history. I also have to throw in that Interlachen, Switzerland was hands down the most beautiful place I've ever been and I'd really love to go back some day. As for where else I would like to go, I'd really love to get to Croatia sometime. Or somewhere in Australia. Turns out I'm not the best at narrowing my answers down when it comes to traveling!  

In my free time, I love to go on adventures with my boys which could include anything from fishing, going to the zoo, camping, finding some woods to explore, etc. I also love to read, get together with friends, drink coffee, and tinker in my garden. Oh - and board games, I love board games!