Flori Doyle Yoga Teacher
I teach chair yoga to members of the retired nun community at Marymount Convent. When weather permits, I teach a “Friday Evening Yoga in My Backyard” class. At the annual New York State Theatre Education Association student conference, I teach the 8:00 am “Rise and Shine” yoga class and have taught yoga workshops. On Zoom I teach at Let Be Yoga, “Tuesday Morning Warrior.” In the fall on Zoom, Tuesday evenings, the course “Yoga for the Artist (and the artist within)” begins.
My introduction to yoga, at the age of nineteen, was part of treatment to deal with anxiety and depression. As time went on, I incorporated some of the breathing techniques and poses in my daily wake up and hit the deck ritual. These practices aligned with my work with voice and movement in acting.
Through the years, I took classes here and there for relaxation and focus. Without fail, each time my experience brought me more satisfaction and clarity. I enjoyed incorporating yoga into the acting classes I taught and the warm-ups before rehearsals with high school students.
Yoga became a means to stretch and open my hip flexors after a rigorous bike ride or spin class. Two years following my retirement from high school education, I learned my bone health had deteriorated from osteopenia to osteoporosis. Over the years, I endured several fractures and sought various treatments, including strength training. This diagnosis however, following a fracture sustained from a slight fall off the bike, forced me to modify my lifestyle. I gave up cycling which was devastating but I could give more attention to yoga.
My experience with each class deepened and gave me more clarity. The benefit of relaxation and coming into my body accompanied what I learned during those years of physical therapy as well as the mental and physical training for triathlons. It was time to give myself more of a practice that brought me the joy of the present moment.
Yoga brought me to an even deeper place of gratitude following a diagnosis and the subsequent treatment for breast cancer. Yoga relaxes my mind and relieves me from stress. The increase of body awareness creates more openness mentally and enhances my spiritual condition. The asana and pranayama practices bring me peace and I am enthusiastic to give these teachings. I look forward to share what I’ve learned with others.
Flori Doyle’s yoga and fitness resumé [PDF]