A teacher’s teacher, Valerie facilitates multi-dimensional experiences, helping her students connect to their own inner personal power. Valerie genuinely connects with and empowers each of her students, whether it is their first time on the mat, or they have been practicing with her for years.
Her authentic teaching style blends functional alignment with dynamic flow, a dose of humor and plentiful opportunities for self-inquiry. With a strong focus on the breath, functional alignment, and intelligent transitions, Valerie is an expert at holding space for her students in a way that allows for maximum growth on and off of the mat.
When Valerie was about 12 years old, her mother was working at UMass Medical School in Worcester, MA, alongside Jon Kabat-Zinn. Valerie would take the bus into the city and (to get to her mom’s office) would need to walk over and around bodies in a dark room where Jon was conducting his first Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Clinic. This was her first introduction to meditation and mindfulness. Fast-forward and Valerie has not only adopted these practices but has made a life and career out of sharing its teachings.
Just like mindfulness, yoga is a practice. It is a lifestyle. What starts with awareness of the breath and physical sensation, leads to awareness of the thoughts. Of the emotions. Of the habitual patterns in one’s life. Because to ‘live a life of yoga’ means to live a life of alignment, in which one’s thoughts, words, and actions are aligned. It is a life of integrity and authenticity: to oneself and the world at-large. And Valerie commits to this daily practice in everything she does.