June Teacher of the Month: Elizabeth Crisci

June Teacher of the Month is Elizabeth Crisci

What in your practice inspires you to teach? 

I find so much comfort and real contentment in my practice, it's really my most consistent method of self-care. Through yoga, everyday I'm able to listen to myself and work with my mind and body. Then my practice becomes a big part of this great relationship that I'm building with myself and that benefits me in every area of my life. I am so grateful to have learned to do yoga in a really supportive way and I try to bring that back to my community in class.

Tell us a little about your yoga journey and how this influences what you bring across in your teaching?

It's hard for me to narrow down my journey to a little bit! I took my first yoga class at age 9 or 10, I thought it was fun so I kept at it. When I was in high school I started getting more interested in the practice beyond physical poses and that's when I first started meditating and reading books about yoga philosophy.  My practice slowly became more dedicated and while living in Manhattan I met my first real teachers, Alan Finger and Jean Koerner, and started studying to teach with them in 2006. Since then, I've been really lucky to meet and study with a lot of amazing teachers, many of them at Kaia Yoga in the various wonderful trainings that are offered here. I consider myself a pretty big nerd, I love studying, and I'm always trying to reflect some of the wisdom that I've learned from others. My classes are information driven and include influences from all of the different traditions that I've studied.

What is your favorite activity outside of yoga and how does yoga help this activity?

I love to craft! Most of my free time is spent making jewelry and mala or knitting, with a whole bunch of other kinds of craft projects thrown in from time to time. Yoga taught me how to build my practice, one breath at a time, one pose at a time, without rushing. I think that's why I have the patience to knit a sweater, I can see the bigger picture and I also appreciate each tiny stitch along the way.

What makes teaching at Kaia yoga a unique experience?
We have so much variety here at Kaia and that's what I love. As a teacher, I get to teach all of the different techniques I use in my home practice; Yin Yoga, Restorative, Vinyasa, Heat, Meditation... I am so grateful to be able to offer all of these styles in one place and see students exploring all different methods. Students at Kaia can build their own personal practice and learn all of these ways of working with body and mind. That's really special to me, and I think to a lot of other people too.