I discovered yoga 15 years after extensive spine fusion surgery for scoliosis.
After a 13 level spinal fusion with instrumentation to correct severe childhood scoliosis, the discovery of yoga was at first quite daunting. After years of persistence and unquenchable curiosity, I managed to deconstruct the yoga asanas and then reconstruct them to fit my T3-L3 spinal fusion.
Yoga became an outlet to manage lingering aches and pains, as well as a way to de-stress from a busy full time job as a pediatric Occupational Therapist. Little did I know I would eventually blend my professional life with my personal journey through scoliosis and my love for yoga to create something bigger than what I was practicing on the yoga mat.
I began my training locally in Alabama and then studied with Ellen Kiley, another spinal fusion yogi, to learn modifications for yoga with a fused spine. After several years of intensive training with vinyasa and alignment based practices, I received my 200 hour registered yoga teacher certification and then Yoga Therapy certification from the International Association of Yoga Therapists.
Thirteen years after my first yoga class, I became lead teacher, owner, and director of a local yoga business, Kula Yoga Community LLC, and co-led my first 200 hour yoga teacher training program. My yoga training, combined with my degree in Occupational Therapy, and personal history with spine disease furthered my passion for providing therapeutic yoga trainings both locally and beyond.
In 2015, I heard the call to create Forever Fused, a global community for support, resources, and information on living well after scoliosis surgery. I provide private and online consultation to educate and encourage others through the use of adaptive yoga and movement education, and offer courses and workshops through the Forever Fused school.
I continue to enjoy the ever-changing and evolving practices that have taken me on this healing journey.
Thank you for connecting here,
