AustralianYogaJournal-May2018

26

may/june 2018

yogajournal.com.au

years of yoga practices passed down to

us as well as the best of science and

research to help inform our choices and

application.

In what ways do you feel that yoga

has helped to shape the person you

have become?

People often think of yoga as a physical

practice but to me yoga is a quality, a

way of being, an awareness of myself

and the world around me. I used to

think that when people said they

practice yoga all the time was their way

of compensating for the fact that they

were lazy or didn’t make time for the

“real” physical practices. As I go

through the stages of my life with my

yoga practice in hand, I see how

many ways it shows up in my life.

I’m not referring to a monastic life, I

still make plenty of mistakes and

enjoy the pleasures of life, but the

simple ways that yoga has infi ltrated

my life.

How important do you think it is

for yoga teachers to have an

understanding of anatomy?

Well I’ll start by saying that in my

opinion its very helpful but I don’t

think it’s everything. I train my

teachers in anatomy so they can start

to think for themselves. I fi nd yoga

to often be a cookie cutter sort of

approach and the human body just

isn’t that simple. I want our teachers to

be able to work with all sorts of issues

and be more effective with this

understanding. With that said, the more

I study, the more I come back to the

simple stuff. The simple things we’ve

done in yoga for so many years are often

the most powerful. But everyone is so

unique. Our DNA, life experience,

anatomical differences, stress responses,

much less all the slow but constantly

changing parts of our bodies like our

epigenetics, connective tissue, muscular

responses, nervous system responses

and our mind.

Don’t get me started on the brain.

There’s so much new information in

science right now but there’s also so

much we just don’t know. Especially

when it comes to things like pain, the

brain, the nervous system and genetics/

epigenetics. The beauty of yoga is that

we don’t need all the answers.

The information paints a backdrop

to the person we’re working with

but ultimately their experience in this

moment supersedes it all. My advice on

enhancing your knowledge: remember

that it’s a lifelong process and if you love

it, just keep studying.

How do you balance the marketing

your yoga business, and the

philosophies of the practice?

I’m no marketing expert, I’ve always felt

strongly that I wanted our marketing to

embody what is truly meaningful to me

and not just what will get people’s

attention. Slow and steady. Yoga

Medicine is about bringing yoga into

the healthcare systems and providing

classes/teachers for people who want

to feel better, live better and really

appreciate their life. The key in

yoga business is fi nding what you’re

passionate about and what you’re good

at and seeing where it intersects with

the needs in your community. Because

ultimately, as yoga teachers, our job is to

be of service. Focus on being of service

and the rest will come.

When you’re not on the mat,

where might we find you?

I really love what I do so I’m a bit of a

workaholic. I’m usually on a plane or on

my computer - I spend a lot of time on

my computer. My fi ancé and I can often

be found walking our dog down to get

some tea or coffee in the mornings.

I love that time together!

What sorts of practices and rituals

do you integrate into your own life

for balance? 

As women, we are asked to be so many

things to so many different people

and we often put a lot of pressure on

ourselves to live up to some ideal we

have in our minds. If you’re anything

like me, you’re your our own worst

critic. One of my most powerful rituals

lately has been learning to do less,

examining what I really need and want

in life, taking the expectations and

judgements of others out of the equation

and, even though I rarely have a spare

minute in my day, I try to fi nd the

beauty in the fullness of my life.

Can you tell us about

the Yoga Medicine Seva

Foundation?

I grew up working at a

homeless shelter my mum ran

and then in my internship I had

the opportunity to work at a drug

and alcohol centre, a domestic

violence shelter, treatment centre

for teenagers living on the streets

and a juvenile detention centre

and I learned so much from all of

these experiences. I initially

started this project because I

wanted it to be part of our teacher

training. In the modern world of

teaching yoga, we put so much

pressure on ourselves. There are

so many more things teachers

have to do now to build and maintain

classes.

I was feeling the pressure on our

teachers and wanted to help them fi nd

some perspective. As a woman, I’ve also

always felt drawn to the issue of sex

slavery. It’s just mind-blowing to me

that this exists in our modern world. As

a yogi, I feel strongly about giving back

to a culture that has given us so much.

The Yoga Medicine Seva Foundation

is a non-profi t that funds shelters and

vocational programs in India for women

that have been rescued from traffi cking.

What I love most about our program is

not just that we offer the women

empowerment through yoga but that we

also match them up with a meaningful

vocational training that gives them tools

to support themselves for a lifetime.

True empowerment.

“Because ultimately, as yoga teachers, our job is to be of

service. Focus on being of service and the rest will come.”

ON TIFFANY’S BOOKSHELF

The Story of the Human Body

Anatomy of an Illness

The Secret Life of the Brain

The Brain that Changes Itself

Painful Yarns

The Brain’s Way of Healing

Buddha’s Brain

Half the Sky

The Spark in the Machine

The Second Brain

7 Secrets of World Class Athletes

The Web that has no Weaver

Between Heaven & Earth

The Sensitive Nervous System

When Breath Becomes Air