About Colleen and Blue
Buddha Yoga
I found yoga when my knees
were broken.
I was a collegiate athlete and
was told I could no longer compete
with my knees the way they were.
At the same time all this was
going on, I was taking a Hinduism
class in 1993 and decided to
do a report on yoga. Being the
budding journalist and to make
my report more real, I decided
to have an “experience”
of yoga to write about.
My first epiphany about yoga?
“I can move my body without
pain! Whoo hoo!” I started
exploring Kripalu yoga shortly
after.
However, it wasn’t until I
met Ana Forrest that I began
to appreciate a deeper relationship
and emotional healing within
my yoga practice. I left a career
in journalism and, through my
initial Forrest Yoga Teacher
Training Course in 2000, discovered
that teaching yoga was my heart
path. Forrest Yoga has been
the cornerstone of healing my
depression. Through this yoga,
bioenergetics therapy, and many
other healing modalities, I
have met my spirit and made
peace with my experience of
depression.
Six months after the initial
training, I was a certified
Forrest Yoga teacher. I launched
Blue Buddha Yoga while in Chicago
to reflect my interest in bringing
yoga to those who live with
depression. I created a 6-week
Yoga for Depression class series
with companion workbook that
I have presented in Dallas and
the East Bay. Through this work,
I hope to inspire students to
unlock the mysteries of their
depression and view it as one
of their life's greatest teachers
like I have.
I continue to support Forrest
Yoga's Hoop of Healing. I've
completed Forrest Yoga's 10-day
advanced teacher training and
also assist Ana Forrest at her
national and international workshops.
More recently, I was honored
to co-author the new Forrest
Yoga Mentorship Program (FYMP)
with fellow senior teachers.
I currently co-manage the FYMP
and Forrest Yoga Assistant's
Program to support the continuing
excellence of Forrest Yoga's
Hoop of the Teachers.
I also teach prenatal, postnatal
and kids yoga. Through independent
research and personal experience
(I have two children) I helped
craft pre- and postnatal teaching
guidelines that I presented
to Chicago's Moksha™ Yoga
center. In 2006, I earned my
Mamaste Yoga™ prenatal teaching
certification and Let's Play™
Yoga certification, as well
as completing supplemental study
in postnatal yoga through Samatva
Yoga.
For more details about my yoga
training and experience, click
here to download my resume.
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