Julie Stanco

Health and fitness has always been an important part of my life.  Growing up in Canada, I played many sports that included joining the volleyball team at Wilfrid Laurier University.  Once completing my undergraduate degree, I applied to the College of Saint Rose in Albany New York for my masters.  I continued to play for a women’s volleyball team and even dabbled in beach volleyball.  Finally a knee injury caused me to end my time on the court and this led me to pilates and yoga.  

My path to yoga was further influenced by my mother, she has taught yoga for many years and received her certification at the Sivananda Ashram. With her encouragement I enrolled in a yoga school while on a year maternity leave. After a year, I completed the necessary coursework to be a fully certified yoga instructor.  Teaching yoga was exactly what I needed to balance working full time as a speech language pathologist, being a new mother and a wife.  Today I still teach yoga because I love sharing my passion for yoga with others.

It is very important to me that my students feel safe and comfortable during my classes.  I always offer modifications and differentiated instruction so that all poses are accessible.  Because I have been teaching yoga for 15 years, I have many students that have been with me the entire time- it is such an honor to have made a difference in their lives. It has also been interesting to see how the field of yoga has evolved and become increasingly popular.  This has allowed me to use my yoga skills while working with students with disabilities as a speech language pathologist. 

I am always eager to try new things and find ways to experience more yoga!  Participating in this travel program would be a dream come true.  I would be thrilled to teached yoga each day and share this experience with my family.