Benefits of 1-on-1 yoga instruction. Who I am and why it works!
Over the nearly 3 decades I have spent practice yoga I have seen students step on their mats time and again doing the same thing and expecting different results. Seeing minimal to lateral improvement along the way. Perhaps some may say they are missing the point of the posture, but I don't think that is it. If you are only hearing the same things, eventually you tune them out and continue your status quo, never adjusting perspective. A yoga class setting often leaves the teacher to only be able to share general cues for everyone, not just specifically you, so it becomes difficult to grow especially when you don't know your moving in the wrong direction. And then, there is the fact that everybody's body is put together differently with things seen and subtle. So it's no surprise that how you practice yoga will be different from your neighbor or the teacher.
I've always taught something or other starting from the age of 12 when I was given my first Sunday school class to teach, this was at the same time my mom started taking me to vinyasa and yin yoga and I don't think it was a coincidence. Armed with my love for spirit and tradition, I was determined to pass on the best of the spiritual teachings to my future contemporaries. You don't become really good at something NOT to share it!!
During high school, my love of creating visual art became deep and I went to the University of the Arts, I majored in Fine Arts (painting and drawing) had a photography minor for a time. Over the years of incubation in higher education I continued my love for movement, taking course credits as part of my University Education in Yoga, Pilates, and Karate along side the dance and theater majors. At University, I took Kinesiology, the scientific study of human body movement covering anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics to analyze how muscles, bones, and joints work together. I was simultaneously attending Koresh Dance Company classes for Adult ballet students, continuing to keep my physical discipline in check. I then leveled up with additional liberal arts classes in preparation to joining the Masters in Education Program where I studied K-12 Art Education and Inclusion for all populations.
Early on in my yoga studies I found the practices of Joseph Pilates and loved the discipline and strength it gave me, I came to Bikram Yoga in late 2010 and become obsessed with how it could heal a broken body as well as the way the series systematically opened up anatomy and improved how functional systems of the body work, it brought yoga to a whole other level of science for me.
I have worn all the hats and played many roles over this lifetime so far... Director of Ceramics at a Summer Camp, Pre-School Teacher, Graphic Designer, Administrative Assistant, Sunday School Teacher, Media Marketing Manager, Magazine Ad Sales, Colonic Hydrotherapist, Commercial Real Estate Broker... in every role I have ever had it has always my desire to teach others HOW to do and feel better.
Nearing the end of a decade, rolling up close to 2020, I been a yoga student for 22 years, studying under Master Yoga Teachers from all over the world with decades of lineage under their belts, their words ringing in my head... it became increasingly difficult for me to keep my mouth closed and not help others. When I see people need help I have the compulsion to spring into action, even during a yoga class. But, it's rude to talk if you are not the teacher, and it became pretty clear what I had to do, I had to share my gift...
As I was wrapping up my teacher training in early 2020 I got offered my first opportunity to serve in this capacity at Lavender Koi Yoga and began teaching every week once a week!! (I am still there every Tuesday at 7:30pm) But then you know what happened in March of 2020, Covid reared it's head and I taught on ZOOM! That was tough, in the sense that it was hard to see the bodies on the screen, but I used it as a lens to help me sharpen my focus!! When the world opened up more I began to teach Yin with a Sound Bath partner at a Studio 67, teaching the very first yoga class when they opened their doors! In 2023 I developed a yoga program at Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge, 100% of the proceeds goes to the Animal Hospital that the Refuge Runs, and I still do this during the warm months of the year May-early October. Late 2023 I was asked to teach at the Mount Laurel Library every month, it's free (I still teach it) and you can sign up on their website!
Over the next few years I dabbled across a few studios teaching a variety of Bikram Yoga, Restorative Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga at Balanced Planet in Marlton and Hot Yoga Robbinsville, a more traditional Bikram Lineage Studio, I loved teaching in both of these spaces and learned so much. It was also over this time that my interest in the inner workings of the lymphatic system and face yoga came into play and I began to study and incorporate these practices into my yoga classes and my life.
Manual Lymphatic Drainage in particular has helped me to really understand my own body much deeper, to be able to see stuck lymph/cellular waste in my students, and then use this to be able to customize and give them what they need. I brought this into my private clients first and then started to share more and more with my public classes.
Although I established High Vibration Association as a business in 2022 it was still waiting in the wings, thinking I had to spend much of my focus and energy elsewhere. Finally, in April of 2026 I spoke my truth... my desire to help others do and feel better became louder than anything else and needed to become full time. What is more important than teaching someone how to get out of pain, how to breath, and how to function in their body despite the set of conditions and constraints currently applied?! What more noble profession is there than to help others?
When you come to your mat, that is the hardest part... the getting there. I've gotten rid of that step, I come to you. Yoga, in your home space where you feel safe. Once we step on the mat, it's easy. Listen to what the teacher says, pay attention to your mind and body, breath slow and notice what is happening. It's a becoming, we don't start at the end of the story. We are rewriting your story, with thoughtful breath and functional movement. With the right tools you are able to overcome struggle, pain, and suffering. Move with intention, not momentum.
You, reading this right now, might be the one who needs my help, seeking relief from an acute or chronic condition, a student or athlete looking to level up, a beginner yogi wondering where to start or a seasoned practitioner frustrated and looking for more! OR, maybe it's someone you really love and care for. Perhaps you are looking to take this journey WITH this loved one and maybe a few others in the comfort and privacy of your private residence. This is what I do. By the time the session is over, everyone feels better in their bodies, more relaxed in their minds and a sense of calm in the spirit and the mindset for how you do everything else, better.
Book Today. Email Monica@HighVibration.Energy to set the tone for the rest of your life.
