Joni Martin Rauen

Hello!  I was born in Long Island, New York.  Graduated Valedictorian of my class and continued my education at the University of Notre Dame where I graduated Magna Cum Laude as a Communications and Theatre major.  After moving to Kansas City, I went on to work for Procter and Gamble in their Cosmetics division, then MCI Communications. At MCI I held a number of positions in my 8 years with the company, culminating in a position creating and producing on-line training within a team of 5 to support the business markets software platform.  I also conducted training on-site, and was the on-line trainer for all of the team's pre-recorded interactive training segments, as well.  After I began having children (I now have 3), I chose to stop working full-time.  Instead, I began doing commercials, voiceovers, and print work in Kansas City-- two of my larger clients were Wal-mart and Garmin.  Our family moved to Toronto in 2008 due to my husband's transfer and returned to Kansas City in 2016.

I began doing yoga in 2009. In 2014 I realized that yoga had become much more than a physical endeavor.  It was changing me on a spiritual level and I wanted yoga to become a central part of my life.  I enrolled in a 200 hour YTT program in November of 2014 and completed my 200 hours of on-site work in March of 2015.  Additionally, I estimate that I completed about 300 hours of study outside of the studio through my reading of classic and modern texts, asana study, and completion of 68 typed pages of essays and diagrams as part of our homework and final exam.  In December of 2015, I attended a 10 day yoga retreat in India to further my studies and my appreciation of the roots and deeper meaning of yoga.  It was an unforgettable experience! I then attended a 9 day yoga retreat in Bali in May of 2017 and, once again, deepened my practice and further opened my heart.

Since moving back to Kansas City in the summer of 2016, I have been teaching at Sumits Hot Yoga. I teach a Slow Flow class which I design each week, as well as an exhilarating choreographed class, the Sumits 60-- a combination of Bikram and Vinyasa Flow set to a new playlist I create for every class. I also teach goat yoga, puppy yoga, yoga at the local winery, and I teach yoga to high school girls’ and boys’ soccer teams.  

All this being said, I would describe my classes as welcoming, accessible, and available to everyone, of every age, and at every fitness level.  I always incorporate modifications and remind everyone that yoga isn't about perfect postures; it's about experiencing the shapes and movement of your body as you observe your breath and find gratitude in the present moment.  To summarize my passion for yoga, here's what I wrote on my bio page for Ananda Hot Yoga in Aurora, Ontario-- one of the studios where I taught (and where I received my YTT-200):

What a privilege it is to teach Yoga!

Every time I teach, I honestly feel overwhelmed with gratitude. To be able to guide you through the lengthening, strengthening, opening, and balancing of the asanas, all the while experiencing the positive energy you bring to our space – it feels like a gift.

My class is all about joy and self-acceptance. I encourage you to listen to your body and nurture yourself. The way that you express each posture is unique because your expression contains your prana – your unique life force energy. I celebrate that! And invite you to do the same.

My favorite teaching from the Bhagavad Gita – an ancient Indian yoga text – reads: “Do your best and don’t worry about the outcome.”

When you come to my class, remember that there is no “goal” in Yoga. Moment to moment in every class, Yoga is simply about BEING in a pose, experiencing it, and allowing your mind to be absorbed entirely by the present moment in “vibrant stillness.”

To wrap up….. Patanjali – author of the Yoga Sutras – said “It has taken us our entire lives to arrive at THIS moment”. Buddha said “What you are is what you have been; what you will be is what you do now”. So --- put a Yoga class on your calendar! There is no place more important for you to be. And you will be amazed by who you can become!