About Me
Photo: Jen Packard
My name is Beth. I live in a 1920s triple decker Providence, Rhode Island, with my husband Bob, my sister Emily, and our gaggle of kittens, Oliver and Maple and Teo and Oso.
I’m a yoga teacher and a certified yoga therapist.
I’m passionate about helping people of all ages reconnect with their bodies, get out of pain, and get to know themselves on a deeper level through the physical practice of yoga.
My clients include people brand new to yoga as well as seasoned yogis who are looking for a safer, more sustainable way to practice.
Private clients come to me for help with pain stemming from injuries or long term conditions like fibromyalgia, scoliosis, EDS, and hypermobility syndrome. Many of my clients are still seeking a diagnosis for their persistent pain and discomfort.
My classes will help you slow down enough to get curious about your body and your breath. As you build awareness, you’ll start to build strength and increase your range of movement, safely.
My students say that over time, they start to notice changes.
They start to get more interested in how their bodies work. They start to notice nuances and patterns. They discover that they have more choices in how they move, and they find ways to move with less effort, and with more ease. They discover that they can access a whole universe of subtle sensation outside of reductive models like the pain scale. They start to feel more connected to their bodies. They start to feel more connected to themselves. They start to move better and with less pain. And they start to discover more that they can do.
Here’s a little more about me (and how I got here).
My yoga journey began when I was in my early forties.
I was a busy professional, dealing with all the usual stressors (a big job! aging parents!) and looking for relief from chronic back pain. Yoga helped me find that and much much more: the joyful sense of body awareness I’d been missing for too long; a steady practice to keep me grounded; the means to bring my best self forward (on good days). After a while, somehow yoga became more a way of living than an activity to do after work.
Over time, yoga helped me find the resilience to cope with loss and grief and the courage to make some big life changes.
In 2018 I hit the brakes on my career as an academic librarian, took my first yoga teacher training, and began teaching at a local gym. That led to a full program of classes at DC yoga studios, gyms, and weekly workplace classes at iconic DC locations like the National Zoo, the National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, the Tregaron Conservancy, and the World Bank.
Decades of daily back pain and years of slogging through ineffective pain treatments had left me feeling hopeless. In yoga, I began to see a way forward.
But even though my body was telling me that what I was experiencing was real, it made no sense to me.
I began reading deeply about the phenomenon of pain, diving into memoirs by writers who have lived with pain and illness (there are many). I started listening closely to how people talk about their pain. I “discovered” the work of pain researchers in Australia and New Zealand and began to read deeply in the scientific literature on pain. At the same time I embarked on my own study of the history and literature of yoga, trying to understand it better.
In November 2022 I began intensive training with Susi Hately’s program in yoga therapy, and completed the course in Fall of 2024.
A few more things:
I am a Yoga Therapist, certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists. I trained with Susi Hately’s Functional Synergy program.
I am a 500 and 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance, which acknowledges the completion of yoga teacher training with a Registered Yoga School. I trained at Flow Yoga Center in Washington, DC, and with Jessica Lazar.
I am trained and certified in the Prana Flow tradition of Shiva Rea.
I have completed trainings in Yoga Nidra, Yin Yoga, chair yoga, trauma informed yoga, Subtle Yoga, the science of yoga, and more.
I read deeply and widely in topics like the neuroscience of yoga and the science of pain.
I am CPR/AED/Adult First Aid certified
I’m fully insured for remote and in-person trainings.
I teach weekly classes for the Cleveland Woodley Park Village Association, part of the Village network that supports aging in place.
I am fully vaccinated and boosted.
When you support my business:
Squee, Albert, and Clovis moving from Minnesota to Washington, D.C., 2012.
When you join me for a class or for yoga therapy, you support the causes and organizations that I support with my time and money.
You have so many choices about how to spend your yoga and wellness dollars and I believe you deserve to make an informed choice when you choose to practice with me.
I regularly contribute my time and class fees to the following organizations:
Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political and legal arm of Planned Parenthood.
The Tregaron Conservancy, a historic urban garden, open to the public and free of charge, in Washington D.C.
The Capital Area Food Bank helps neighbors experiencing food insecurity in Washington D.C.
Yoga for Caregivers, an online community offering free yoga for family, professional, and volunteer caregivers.
Feline Rescue of Minnesota