In 2011, I received my 200-hour Hatha Yoga Teaching Certification through the Yoga Teacher Training Institute in Queens, NY. I am also a trained instructor through Radiant Child Kids Yoga. I have over 1000 hours of experience teaching yoga (ERYT) and continue to offer a weekly class on ZOOM through Northport Yoga and Wellness.

On Friday mornings at 8:30 at Northport Yoga, I teach a hatha yoga class entitled, "Yoga & Poetry." Each week, I lead a traditional hatha yoga class that also includes a series of poems. Like the practice of yoga, poetry also helps open the heart and presents a life long path of contemplative practice. In the past, I taught prenatal yoga, where I help expecting moms embrace the mantra that "peace on earth begins at birth." Through presenting yoga as a vehicle of radical self-care and self-acceptance, I hope to empower women to embrace the awesome power of their bodies during their pregnancies and birth experiences.   

In addition, at Stony Brook University, I designed a course called, "Yoga for Academic Wellness," in order to help students explore ways in which the philosophy and practice of yoga can help them become more focused, resilient, centered, and healthy as undergraduates. At SUNY Old Westbury, I taught a mindfulness series for our first year students, which integrated motion, breath, and meditation. I also offer several open community classes throughout the semester through our campus intramural program.

My yoga classes often organize a practice around a specific topic: gratitude, patience, silence, surrender, stillness, the senses, the breath, compassion, kindness, tenderness, etc. -- and of course, poetry that celebrates particular seasonal nuances. In many ways, yoga is a deeply metaphorical practice, in that it asks us to make connections between inner and outer landscapes; poetry is beautifully positioned to bring language to this process. Exploring the integrative connections between yoga and poetry has become one of the most meaningful endeavors of my life,  and I hope to one day create an anthology of poetry selections that are particularly resonant with yogic practice. 

Please learn more about Northport Yoga and Wellness here: Northport Yoga and Wellness

The claims of yoga, nevertheless, are only as good as its practice, regardless of any high-minded rhetoric surrounding its teaching. The same is true for poetry, or any human activity that aspires to grace.             

                                                                                                                                              -Stanley Plumly, “Lyric Yoga”