Annie Taylor

Every yoga instructor has a unique story to tell about his or her journey. I’d like to share my story with you.

My journey to becoming a yoga teacher has been years in the making. I started practicing yoga in 1997 at the YMCA in West Seattle. From the first class I was hooked. I loved the challenge of the poses and how I felt after leaving the class.

For the first few years, the classes I took were mostly asana classes. There was no talk of the Sutras or the Gita.

From 1999 to 2002, I practiced with Nan Yurkanis at Ballard Wellness Center (where a neon sign in the window says “Limp In, Leap Out!”). Nan taught me the importance of the Bandhas (the interior body locks) and also the importance of breath. In her classes we practiced Pranayama and deep Ujjayi breathing while strengthening our bodies through a strenuous practice.

In 2002 I started to attend classes at the Allstar Fitness clubs in the Seattle area. There were a few of them, Lower Queen Anne and 2 locations downtown. I loved the Sunday night class taught by Kim King-Zamoff at the Queen Anne location and the classes at the Gateway Tower downtown, where I could look out between the skyscrapers to see the ferries going by in Elliott Bay while flowing through the asanas. It was when I followed Jennifer Isaacson from Allstar to Samadhi Yoga on Capitol Hill in Seattle that I really started to understand what yoga was truly about. The chants at Samadhi opened my heart to the true meaning of yoga, to find bliss within ourself and to share our bliss with others.

While on vacation in Costa Rica in 2005, I did a Zipline/Canopy tour with Wing Nuts in the Playa Samara area. The guides were a sweet couple who talked of expanding their business to include an Eco-tourism area with huts and a common area for yoga and dance. It was then that the thought of becoming a yoga instructor first came to me, like a lightbulb turning on in my head, I could do something I love, in a place I love while helping others achieve better fitness and peace in their lives!

But life went back to normal after returning home from Costa Rica. I even stopped practicing for awhile.

In 2009, I moved to Orcas Island. We wanted a less stressful lifestyle while living in a place we both found peaceful. While living on Orcas I returned to yoga and began to practice at Orcas Mandala Studio in Eastsound. My two teachers Suzi Zobrist and Djuna Mescall reminded me of the reasons yoga is important in my life. I was sleeping better, losing weight, and was overall a happier person. Our dream on Orcas was a short-lived one as we both could not find work, but eventually did in Anacortes. After my last class with Suzi, she asked me if I had ever thought of becoming a yoga teacher. When I said yes, all those thoughts came flooding back… why couldn’t I? What would it take to make this 5 year dream of mine come to reality? The right teacher, the right setting, the time and money. And so the search began.

The town of Anacortes, where I lived at the time, consists of 16,000 people. About half are of retirement age. There were not a lot of yoga class options but I did find a studio, Crescent Moon, and began to practice there while looking online for a teacher- training course that would fit all my requirements. Shortly thereafter, Crescent Moon moved to La Conner, leaving me to continue my practice at home or in Seattle when I would go to visit friends and family. After searching for for awhile and saving money for the course, I found Alexis Britton, a Anusara Certified teacher who lives in La Conner!. I attended one of her master classes and we talked about the path I would take to become a teacher. I had just missed one session and would have to wait 8 months for the next one to start. In January 2012, I started the Immersion classes at 8 Petals in Bellingham, finishing up the 100 hours on May 12, 2012. The teacher training was next and I finished those 100 hours on October 21, 2012.

It’s been a long journey and I’m so happy I did it! The few classes I have taught already have been wonderful, I’m finding my own teaching style and voice. I look forward to the future and to where this journey might take me! Costa Rica? Panama? Orcas? Lopez? We shall see!

Namaste,
Annie