Valerie began her Yoga practice 4 years ago when she decided to take her first yoga class; she went in with the intention of stretching some tight muscles and maybe even losing some weight as a bonus, but what she ended up getting was so much more than that!
Valerie jokes that she doesn’t have a Hollywood-worthy story of how yoga “saved her life,” but she believes that it profoundly changed her life in the absolute best way possible! Her first class made her body feel alive and at ease while bringing her mind to a place of peace that she hadn’t experienced since childhood. She spent the better part of that first 75 minute class with her eyes closed and yet she felt that she had never seen things so clearly.
That experience revealed to her how unaware she was of her own body and mind...feeling she was walking around, the best version of herself, and yet overwhelmed by how much she still wanted to learn about herself.
That desire encouraged her to take more yoga classes, in all different styles, while expanding her knowledge of yoga in other ways, on her own. Then finally, she decided that she wanted to take what she learned and be able to offer others that gift of what yoga and mindfulness offered her - a better awareness of her mind and her body, and a truer understanding of who she was and who she wanted to be, as well as a deeper understanding and respect of those around her, which lead her to pursue her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training certification at Fifth Element Yoga.
Through her teaching, Valerie’s goal isn’t to lead students into “perfect” poses like they may often see online or on social media, but instead to encourage each student to truly listen to what their mind and body are telling them, and create a practice that’s truly their own.