"Ignorance, egoism, attachment, aversion, and clinging to bodily life are the five obstacles"                                                                 -Yoga Sutras, Patanjali

I've always been movement oriented trying nearly every sport as a kid. Around middle school I pivoted slightly from organized sports to skateboarding and playing drums in my basement punk band. In high school I started lifting weights and returned to soccer, started wrestling and lacrosse. I went went on play college lacrosse as a four-year starter, two-year captain, All-League, and Scholar All-American defender at Clark University in Massachusetts where I graduated in 2008. 

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I continued playing post-collegiate club lacrosse and began assistant coaching at San Diego State University while living in San Diego while also learning to surf. Moving further west for work, I began coaching at the youth and high school levels in Honolulu. I coached the boys lacrosse club at Punahou School for five seasons while pursuing surfing, stand up paddling, ocean swimming, CrossFit, and other endurance sports.

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Moving back East to Philadelphia in 2016 with my wife I continued to play lacrosse and coached men's lacrosse as an assistant at Haverford College while I began my master's in education at Temple University, Philadelphia. Soon thereafter, my wife and I welcomed our first son, and I began a new career leading a boys lacrosse program with Harlem Lacrosse, a sports-based youth development non-profit. 

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At this point I began to explore yoga more seriously, trying different studio classes and styles, while also exploring mindfulness and meditation at the Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia. I found these practices grounding and supportive of a new healthier direction in life. Yoga practice improved my physical health, but more importantly, it offered a pathway for mental clarity and balance. I also began to notice a deeper sense of compassion and spiritual connection to myself and others. 

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My interest in yoga led me to pursue a Yoga Teacher's training course. I continued my Yoga studies with a two-year 800+ hour C-IAYT Comprehensive Yoga Therapy course with Yogalife Institute where I studied yoga psychology, philosophy, and practice are supported by modern scientific research. It also refined my specialization and interest in working with athletes and men.

 

Some of my movement practices include martial arts, surfing, swimming, stand up paddling, drums and percussion, improvisational dance.