“I came to SRY in 2006, where I begged Paula to let me work at the front desk. She agreed, thankfully, and from there I began teaching several classes a week. I joined her 500 hour Yoga Alliance program and learned more than I ever thought possible about asana, philosophy and anatomy. I still, seven years after graduation, have some very close friends from that time we spent together learning and exploring the branches of yoga. From there, I went on to teach at SRY and other local studios until I moved to NY, where I taught up to 15 classes a week and managed a yoga studio in Queens. Now, after marrying and the birth of my son in 2014, our family has relocated to south Florida, where I am beginning to teach. It is always looked on as a very positive thing to have completed the 500 hour program, and I even have studio owners asking ME questions because many of them have only completed the 200 hour training. With the knowledge gained through the program, I not only deepened my teaching, but also my writings on the practice of yoga. I have several articles published on Elephant Journal and was sought out by the Poetry of Yoga creator, Hawah, to ask permission to use one of my poems, Harmonium, in The Poetry of Yoga, Vol. 2. I am grateful for Paula and SRY for giving me the space to blossom into the teacher I am today.”