What should students expect in your classes?
Students should expect that my class will be strong yet mindful, meaning it is adequate for both the beginner yogi and the yogi with a long standing practice. I pull from different styles of yoga such as Asthanga, Hatha Yoga, & Dharma Yoga; therefore, it is a true vinyasa class. Expect plenty of options depending upon what your body is interested in doing that week. Alignment is important to me and you will notice I share many cues throughout class. This helps to root us deeper into our bodies and prevent future injuries. Music inspires me to move and so does silence. Expect the unexpected in terms of what is playing in the background. Regardless of my style or approach, you will always be met with a smile and movement to help guide you on your mat.
When you're not practicing yoga, what do you like to do?
When I am not practicing yoga, you can find me spending time with my family, creating art, hula hooping, reading tarot and going to see live music with friends.
What/who inspires you?
Art is a constant source of inspiration to me. Each art piece is a visual narrative of feelings such as love, grief, pain and triumph. I hold a master’s degree in Creative Arts Therapy and I find the expressive modality fascinating in how art can truly unveil depths of our inner working world without the need for words. Nature compliments art well in that both are one and the same. The ocean and beach landscape in Long Beach provides the perfect palate of soft hues to inspire any artist to create.
“It is my role as the teacher to keep students feeling safe, to remind them that yoga is about the process not the product, and ultimately that showing up is enough.”
What do you love yoga?
Yoga brings me to an inner peace that feels wholesome and loving. The practice I have curated over the years continues to grow and evolve as life presents new gifts and obstacles. I absolutely love the positivity that radiates throughout my body, both on and off the mat when I am in flow. There is no doubt that the term yoga glow is in fact a very real phenomenon. The community of yogi's doing the work have become some of my closest friends whom I hold dear to my heart. Yoga is not just a fun hobby, well it is, but it is the undercurrent to my health and well-being. The greatest gift I have received from yoga has been the opportunity to teach my children how to breathe, move and regulate their nervous systems. Seeing their eyes light up when I say "It's time for yoga", is a blessing I never knew could ever exist. 20 year old Nikki definitely did not start practicing yoga for her children, but 30 something year old Nikki, definitely does practice yoga for her children. For patience, balance, and ultimately connection. Yoga is my happy place.
What challenges you in yoga?
I struggle most with the last Yama in Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga, Aparigraha, also known as non-grasping. This yogic concept speaks to ridding the self of the unnecessary things we believe we need daily and working towards a state of being that is sustainable without accumulation. This is not only with material objects that we can touch and feel, but also relationships and the connection we have to our bodies or the food we put into it. This is difficult for me to practice day to day. I am an all in kinda gal, for better or for worse, but yoga continues to be the presence in my life that whispers supportive words like ‘let it go’ in order to stay the course of the yogi.
What are the MOST important things you want your students to walk out of your class having experienced?
My class offers a space for students to feel empowered. I like to imagine that the body gets filled up with encouraging words and a restored sense of breath. Students should leave my class feeling like a little baby angels - joyful and light! Yoga can be fun, gentle, hard, expansive, make you want to cry in a good way, etc., but allowing your feelings to move throughout the body will remind students why they keep coming back to their mats. The connection and trust students develop with their bodies in a class setting is unique and should be protected. It is my role as the teacher to keep students feeling safe, to remind them that yoga is about the process not the product, and ultimately that showing up is enough.