Personal goals and professional
I strive to empower others by being confident and authentic
in my daily life. My days are filled
with people coming in and out of my home, which I have opened to the public,
for classes. The class is called MOVE, a
hybrid of many movement methods combined into one hour of giving it all you
got! I also teach MOVE yoga, a hybrid of
asana’s and functional movements. The
home studio is always flowing with people and positive vibrations. This requires me to always be “on” and open
to the public without a lot of privacy.
Sharing my life publicly offers me a very real experience of living off
the mat. My space, my life is my seva
(service). I work to create an
environment where others can gain power, learn life skills, and feel safe in
order to encourage growth and authenticity.
At times I feel discouraged and lonely, creating a career
that is outside the norm. My daily life
activities are different than most. But on the other side of this feeling is
powerful and courageous because I am pioneering a lifestyle in an area where
people want and desire to be more healthy, authentic, and powerful in their own
way.
My style of teaching and guiding others daily is filled with
encouragement, real stories to relate to, and education on healthy living and
choices.
FEAR does not control me.
I once lived a fear based life with time lines and future thinking. Today I live with contentment and focus on
the present as much as I can while striving toward future goals. I will be opening a studio soon with many
types of classes, fusions of styles, and empowering teachers and students to
move in a way they never thought possible.
I aim to remove limitations, teach proper movement, and build confidence
from the inside out. Yoga is not just
asana; it is a way of moving and living in both strength and ease.
Why I became and instructor
I have been teaching, leading, choreographing since I was a
little girl. It is innate. I have always been a mover, climber, dancer,
expressionist in my life. Every day I
want to share this joy and inner peace that I receive from positive movement.
Yoga and movement have been my foundation for all other
area’s of my life. When I feel
depressed, anxious or out of control I have gone to movement and continue to
practice. My life has been greatly
influenced and enhanced by my ability to feel my body, calm my mind and move
from my soul, therefore increasing my confidence and living from my true
self.
As a teacher/influencer of anything, I feel the most
important thing is to be relateable and tangible. Meaning, I have to walk the talk such as:
real life experiences with relationships; death; divorce; sex, bullying;
shaming; molestation; money; status change; identity issues; drugs; suicide; and
the list goes on. I have had the
opportunity to experience all these things allowing my heart and mind to have a
greater understanding for others.
I was born and raised most of my younger years in Southern
California in a beautiful little beach village, San Clemente. Life was pretty simple there, no locked
doors, the beach was the park for all the kids.
As soon as school started I was bullied by girls. They threatened to beat me up, throw me in
the dumpster, and yell at me publicly trying ridicule me for existing. I never knew why when I was younger. I was strong, athletic, tall, and had a lot
of great friends. So I took the
opportunity to stand up for myself using my body in a positive way to fight
back. I beat them at teather ball, kick
ball, dodge ball, and dancing. I even
had a lunch time “dance off” in front of the whole 8th grade and
won. These hard but valuable lessons
taught me how amazing our bodies and minds can work together for a positive
result that impacts self and others as a whole.
When I was in high school, like many other girls, I suffered
from body image disorder. I had a great
body! In fact I received a plaque “best
figure” from my entire high school vote.
This award turned out to be a curse for me, as I always wanted to live
up to this image. Once I got to college
I was in the cycle of eating disorders and partying. Trying to do it all, be it all and stay
perfect. Over time I realized how
unhealthy I had become through my studies in psychology, I received a BA in
psychology. This degree prompted
confidence and more courage while helping me discover my identity.
After college I had a low point. Too many options and no direction, heart
broken and estranged from my habitat, I developed agitated depression. This type of depression is aggressive, angry,
and erratic behavior. My mom had a talk
with me one day and said, “You should do yoga”.
She was a psychotherapist and new age mom from S. CA with every answer
under the sun including every analysis.
My first reaction was, “here we go, another thing to do and
analyze”. However, she dared me to do
it. Well that did it! I tried it that next week and have never
stopped since. Yoga was and is the
gateway to my optimal health of mind, body and spirit. It was like it had always been there in other
forms, dance, movement, and meditation.
Now there was a true format, sequence, philosophy and teachers. My life changed from that point on.
After finding my teachers Shiva Rea, through Trance Dance
teacher training, the very first module I ever took in the yoga teacher
curriculum, I was addicted and set free.
Another 3 months later I was in Shiva’s 10-day immersion in Venice
Beach, CA with 70 strangers all eager to seek freedom and self. Within this immersion I met my other teacher
Micheline Berry, who guided me to find my voice and USE IT. Two powerful, confident, and sexy women who use
their body, mind, and spirit to guide others to their truth showed me I too could
be free.
Finding my voice and love of helping others through their
lows to their highs, I have made a career out of it. My love for service to the average beautiful
individual who stands with me every day lays deep in my soul. I have tried to steer away from this type of
work. I chose others careers like
cosmetology, secretary, photography, and even law. There has been nothing more satisfying than
what I do today.
What I teach
MOVE
Fusion inspired fitness and lifestyle
MOVE is a Fitness Program
MOVE is an innovative fitness formulation designed by Me On
a Victorious Evolution. Move (puts the
fun) reinforces FUN in exercise. MOVE
uses a multitude of tools, including resistance bands, kettle bells, medicine
balls, TRX,
Pilates, Barre, plyometric moves, isometric moves to get the
heart rate up, build muscle and burn calories.
MOVE (combines yoga philosophy and movements, mind/body connection and
meditation) culminates in a yoga stretch and meditative cool down. After a
1-hour session, you are ready to (take on any obstacles, tackle the rest of
your day.
MOVE is a State of Being
MOVErs are continually looking for opportunities to MOVE
through exercise, dance, yoga each day.
MOVE is a State of Mind
MOVErs practice
daily being mindful of their physical, mental and emotional health.
What does MOVE do?
Use of all angles and modalities of movement to make you
sweat, burn calories, increase strength, endurance, build muscle, definition
and toning leaving you with a total body, mind and heart felt experience. MOVE empowers your mind, your body, and your
spirit.
No muscle is left out.
Your mind is in constant connection with your body to move correctly
preventing injury, adaptation and increase performance again and again.
The workout is never the same.
Prana Flow created by Shiva Rea. I also teach a blend of power, alignment, and
flow into an empowering practice to strengthen from the core and outward.
Forgiveness and acceptance
How to live healthy and balanced without guilt or shame
Teach people how to use and move their body and why. Turn people’s brains on and quiets their
minds.
Power of one move can change your life.
Be the architect of your body and allow your soul to live
freely within it.
Who and What inspires me
When someone learns a new movement or perform it well in a
short period of time. The transference
of empowerment
All people inspire me all types every day
Movement inspires me every day learning something new as
whole unit of body mind and spirit. It’s
a ripple effect
When someone is doing what they love
Observing someone move away from their fears and limitations
in movement and thought patterns
You never know who is going to cross your path in this type
of work. It is karmic, synchronisitous,
and universes plan. I live by this
formula and accept the “yes” and no’s” from it, however one in particular
stands out. Her name is Lalla (one of my
favorite poets to protect her identity).
One day I received an anonymous phone call from a woman who randomly
got my number from the yoga studio I work with.
She asked a little about me, what I teach, if I work with beginners, and
where I teach? She was very emphatic
about the environment as you see; she wears a hijab and cannot be seen by men
without it. I was taken aback at first
because this was a new experience for me, especially living in a suburban
conservative area. I was excited and
curious though, I knew I was going to learn something big here. You never know who is going to be the teacher
or the “ah ha’s” that appear, you just gotta be open to the mystery.
Well she came over in full hijab and introduced herself at
my door with excitement and nervousness.
Her eyes piercing through her veil, she expressed everything to me. As
she discussed why she wanted to do yoga, her breathing was hyperactive, almost
to the verge of an anxiety attack. Layer
by layer her hijab was removed and appeared a beautiful skinned Lebanese woman
with a great yoga outfit on! “I am so
excited Ashley I just don’t know what to do with myself! This feels so great to be in your home and be
able to express me. When do we start?!” If my face could have been videoed I’m sure I
must have looked as excited and as shocked as she was. We began our session with breathing and slow
movement. Her breath was so rapid I
thought for sure she was going to have an anxiety attack. I told her to breathe into the spaces in her
body that feel tight. Over time we got
somewhere, but boy did we have a journey ahead.
To make a long story short, she came to me over a course of 6
months. We moved, practiced yoga, belly
danced, laughed and cried. One day she
finally told me her story. It was a
story filled with pain, abuse, manipulation, and hatred from her mother,
slavery, and misogyny. These are all my
worst nightmares to feel and hear about.
I shared my story of similar parallels as we held each and screamed at
the top of our lungs until we were exhausted.
Then we laid in silence in my little yoga studio and it began to
hail. The hail came down so hard the
size of golf balls in the middle of summer in Florida! It was a true sign from Universe that this
will forever been over and done with.
That our pain shared together will disappear just like the melting of
the hail.
Mission:
Empower people to be strong in/out and live authentically
Teach people that being healthy isn’t hard to do. That each day you have a choice (in fact many
choices due to the luxurious country we live in) to pick up an apple or a candy
bar. It all adds up. However long you have been unhealthy is going
to take you time to undo and to practice patience and acceptance. It is not hopeless.
Helping people by being of service to those who lack
confidence, addiction and fears.
My goals and what
makes me different
I have spent the last 20 years devoted to movement
encompassing dance, sports and athletic training. I began to follow yoga as a
way to balance my mind and body. As a certified 500-hour registered yoga
teacher and NASM CPT, I have continued my training with master experts around
the nation. Teachers included are Shiva
Rea, Micheline Berry, in which I assisted and studied under for 2 years as my
primary internship and occupation for service.
Also mentioned and adored is Annie Carpenter, who has taught me the
fascination of anatomy and alignment.
Moses Bernard for combining all the movement patterns together from
infantile stages to the elder population of regressed movement patterns.
This is why I do what I do:
I am an enthusiastic athletic female ready to take on any
movement. I realized many people are not easily as motivated or inspired. I have discovered that people want to move,
play, and have the innate ability to do most anything, they just need the inspiration. I create a mindful fitness experience by
teaching people to use their body in natural movements and build upon them as
they progress in the program. Anyone can
do it!
Authentic why:
As a little girl, I found strength when I was moving. I loved climbing, body surfing, and dancing,
but I was an outcast and always on the fringe of intimidation. When I discovered yoga and merged it with
strength training I found my power and hidden courage. The anxiety melted away and I felt
fortified. This is my passion now, to
empower all those who seek the emergence of their strength, dharma, and power
to live authentically from the inside out.
Reputation
I am motivating, enthusiastic, and playful when
teaching. I have had the experience of
being on both sides of the teaching and learning format for many years. This experience has led me to expose my real
self without fear and intimidation. That
means, I am raw, spontaneous, confident, silly, and powerful in order to bring
out the very best in people. My mantra
is “embrace who you are, explore your potential, and evolve into the master of
your best self”. My hope is to awaken
the spirit of the inner warrior and peace-maker within all of us.
