by Sandy

Hello, Yoga for Healthy Aging readers! Like you, I imagine, I’m delighted to see the return of the blog. And I’m also very pleased to be joining as a regular contributor. 

Here is a little about me: A longtime yoga practitioner and teacher, I graduated from the Berkeley Yoga Room’s Advanced Studies Program in 1995, and co-founded Alameda Yoga Station that same year. After a long run and three different studio spaces Alameda Yoga Station closed in 2013, but continues to live on in Alameda in some sense in its new incarnation as Leela Yoga, where I can still be found teaching public classes twice a week, currently via Zoom. 

In 2000 I was invited to join the Yoga Room’s faculty, and taught teacher training classes there from 2000 and 2015, when I left to go to graduate school. Nina Zolotow, class of 2006, was among my students. Nina’s interest in yoga philosophy and exploring the emotional and energetic aspects of asana practice helped inform my approach to the workshops I’ve taught on developing a personal yoga practice. Later she and I co-taught a series of classes for the Yoga Room on practicing yoga for emotional balance. 

In addition to my pieces for YFHA, I have written for Yoga Journal, Yoga International and other publications (a full list can be found here) and have written two books, Yoga For Healthy Knees and Yoga For Computer Users, both published by Rodmell Press and currently available from Shambhala Publications. 

I am especially interested in the psychology of yoga and the connections between physical wellness and mental/emotional health. I completed my Master’s in Positive Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2016, and I am currently writing a book about the mind/body connection to overall happiness. My previous posts for YFHA have been on those topics, and I plan to continue my series on positive psychology and yoga. I’m also planning to write about how sheltering in place during the pandemic has affected my practice and my teaching. 

I’m looking forward to exploring these topics and discussing them with you in the months to come! 

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