Tina has eaten Thanksgiving dinner in the rainforest of Madagascar, shaken hands with the Dalai Lama in India, danced with Patch Adams and gotten kicked out of a Buddhist Monastery. This was her version of “Eat, Pray, Love”.
Tina has been a student of yoga for over 25 years and teaching for over 20 years, completed numerous yoga teacher trainings and workshops, and has a BA degree in International Studies and Theatre. While watching the boom of yoga in the U.S. the rise and fall of popular gurus, and having sat with many well-known yogis and heard their insider stories, she has a very different perspective on yoga. Through this unique lens, Tina seeks to use her training in yoga and college degree to help dispel the mysticism without losing the power of the philosophy of the yoga practice.
After completing her degree, Tina grabbed her backpack and traveled to Northern India and then to Nepal for a month in 1998. Two years later, she was back in India for a month to work on an independent film (www.naturalfilms.com), and then returned for a third time in 2001 to continue the work. These visits helped remedy the romantic illusions she had about “Mother India”. Her background in International studies gave Tina the tools to delve deeper into the culture and understand the origins of western yoga practice from that context.
As Tina’s journey into yoga continued, she has had the opportunity to not only study with some of the well-known teachers of yoga, but to also host them in her home or have personal contact with them. This exceptional opportunity afforded her one-on-one interaction, as well as the rare chance to hear the stories they do not tell in group classes. These teachers included Beryl Bender Birch, David Williams, Nancy Gilgoff, Edward Clark, David Keil, Victor Van Kooten, Gerard Arnaud, Manju Jois, Ravi Singh, Ana Brett, and even Shanti Desai (brother to Amrit Desai, Founder of Kripalu). These relationships were far more educational than any class training. Tina’s insight into the community of yoga in the U.S., the cultural enrichment of three trips to India, and an academic inclination has greatly influenced her authentic approach to the yoga practice.
Tina has also studied herbology. Her first teacher was her grandfather who taught her about edible wild plants. She then completed an independent study project for a month in Madagascar focusing specifically on traditional shamans. Her other teachers include Judith Marshall (local herbalist), Rosemary Gladstar, Susan Weed, Rosita Arvigo, and Juliette de Bairacli Levi.
Tina currently lives in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, with her daughter Natalie.
Tina is the founder and owner of just plain yoga studio