More about me
I began my yoga practice when I was 3 years old, with Lilias Folan’s syndicated TV show Yoga and You. I decided to become a certified yoga instructor in 1996, after yoga to helped me to grieve the loss of my parents. Teaching yoga became my life’s work. The name Shankari was given to me by Satchidananda at Yogaville Ashram in Virginia, when I trained in Integral Yoga there in 1996. It means beneficent one, which means one who helps others.
Throughout the years I continued my yoga education studying Vinyasa Yoga at the Asheville Yoga Center, and Yoga of Awareness for Cancer at Duke Integrative Medicine. In 2013 I discovered Purna Yoga & master teacher Aadil Palkhivala. I instantly recognized him as my next guru, and began education & certification in Purna Yoga. I am a 500 hour level certified Purna Yoga teacher; & I am currently pursuing 2,000 hour certification from the Purna Yoga College in Bellevue, Washington. I have been studying with master teachers Aadil Palkhivala, and Savitri there since 2014. Purna Yoga has changed my is based on the alignment work of BKS Iyengar, the safety modifications & techniques created by Aadil Palkhivala(who was Iyengar’s star student from the age of 7) the lineage and work of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, the philosophy of the Vedas& the Yoga Sutra, Heartfull Meditation techniques created by Savitri, and healthy lifestyle practices.
Yoga practice has been my constant support, healer, teacher, and companion throughout my life. I used my practice to move restore joy to my life after my parents died, to rehab my spine after a devastating car accident in 1999, to help me endure, rehab, and thrive after my diagnosis of breast cancer in 2009, with its many surgeries & of all i have been through, I can work with anyone who needs yoga. I believe that yoga will meet you where you are. Yoga is everyone, everywhere. I teach people of all abilities and ages, from all walks of life; including, but not only: children with autism, moms & babies, yoga for seniors, yoga in chairs, and college students at Greensboro College (faculty since 2009).