ABOUT denise
I’ll be a student of yoga for as long as I’m alive!
I received my first 200 hour Yoga certification in 1998 and went on to receive a 300 hour Anusara certification in 2006 and my studies still continue on.
The yoga & meditation teacher certifications and trainings that I've completed exceed 5,000 hours because of a perpetual enthusiasm for being a student of yoga & life. (And yes, 5 thousand and I stopped counting at least a decade ago).
What's more important to me than these accumulated hours are the practices, the uplifting non-dual Śakti-Śaiva Tantrik philosophy and teachings that inspire me to stay open-hearted, connected to Source, curious and in wonder & awe of this simple miracle of being alive. Being dedicated to a path of ever deepening spiritual discovery is what fuels my capacity to be of loving service as a leader, teacher, parent and partner.
Over the decades, I’ve studied with and will continue my studies with masterful scholars and yoga teachers such as Douglas Brooks, Sally Kempton, Bill Mahony, Alejandra Siroka, Sianna Sherman and Christopher Wallis....and LIFE as my greatest guru.
It gives me great joy to offer YogaALCHEMY asana & meditation classes, workshops and retreats all within an empowering, nurturing and safe space for self inquiry, acceptance and love.
I continue on this sacred journey and come to my own daily practices with humility as I witness their potency. These wisdom practices have taught me that we all have the capacity to deepen our sense of awareness and take on new empowering attitudes. Attitudes such as staying open and receptive to ALL of life even when we want to shut down or think it ‘should be’ some other way. The non-dual Tantrik teachings that support my own ability to stay open and receptive are the teachings that ‘absolutely everything in life is happening for our awakening’ and that ‘when we can allow life its freedom to come in exactly as it chooses, then we will know our own freedom!’ What comes forth from practicing with awareness, attitude and allowing is alchemy.
Alchemy is our transformational potential to receive life with open arms instead of with armor.
This is the gift of yoga.
Yoga means ‘to connect or to integrate’, and it re-integrates us with the spiritual umbilical cord of connection, wholeness and freedom.
It's my intention to live fully, love fully and serve fully as a conduit of life’s 'universal umbilical cord’.
My deepest honor is to accompany others on this path of self-discovery so that they too know their capacity to experience connection, limitless joy and freedom to awaken into their lives with continuous wonder and gratitude.
ALCHEMY PRACTICES
ASANA ALCHEMY
ASANA is the practice of mindfully moving the body in synch with the life-force energy of the breath. YogaALCHEMY is a sacred asana practice that uses the intelligent biomechanics of the body, its energy patterning, the breath and weaves uplifting non-dual Tantrik philosophy into the practice for vitality, harmony and wholeness.
This reverent practice not only creates flexibility & strength for the physical body but is strengthening for our emotional and spiritual bodies, as well.
I’m never lacking in wonder of this asana practice that can be mindful and reverent in its approach and at the same time, awakens the vibrancy of freedom and bliss - our true nature.
MEDITATION
MEDITATION is a practice of sitting in stillness with all that is without trying to fix or alter anything that comes into the space of present moment awareness. There seems to be a misconception about meditation and that it requires us to make the mind a blank slate with no thoughts at all. Well, this would be quite frustrating considering that our thoughts are spontaneously and intrinsically created. It’s what the mind naturally does.
Meditation is an opportunity to be immersed within the ocean of Consciousness with the recurring waves of thought. The practice is just that, to practice not getting carried off by any one thought but to allow the thoughts to come in and recede away from our awareness as if watching the waves ebb and flow at the shoreline. It’s a practice of receiving life just as it is.
I’ve had a dedicated meditation practice for 3 decades and feel in constant awe of its alchemizing power. This is why it gives me so much joy to share its limitless value.
When we sit in stillness, we can find ourselves coaxed beneath the choppy surface of the mind and guided to settle into the steady current of Consciousness. This current of Consciousness flows with ease, efficiency & effectiveness. In this space we can experience being untethered by the thoughts that wish to capture our attention whereby we may find spaciousness so vast that we feel fullness and emptiness, comfortable and uncomfortable, sweet or intense emotions, all for the opportunity to practice what it feels like to truly be with what is.
In meditation, a steady current of Consciousness becomes the focus of attention, imbued with energy patterns of shifting forms, vibrations, rhythms settling us deeper into a pulse of contracting and expanding momentum that can draw us to rest in still alert presence. It’s a presence of wholeness & may offer us a glimpse of what it feels like to be complete with nothing lacking. Abhinavagupta, a 10th century Tantrik master, shared that “We are already whole, complete and perfect expressions of divine Consciousness and we do these practices to further reveal and share more of this truth.” In this way, meditation can help us align with our true essence nature of eternal blissful freedom.
It’s important to understand that this is not the expected experience of every meditation practice and in fact, there does not need to be any expectation at all. This is a practice of being with whatever is, as it is, without resisting or rejecting it.
The practice helps us pay attention to the nuances and important details of life - to bring astute attuned attention into living and loving all of life, ourselves and others fully. And the mystical, mysterious, preciousness of life unfolds.
MANTRA
MANTRA is the living sonic form of divine Consciousness. Mantra is creative energy expressed as sound and vibration in words and phrases. If you break this Sanskrit word, mantra, up into its parts, manas, translates as mind and heart & tra, as method or device. Mantra therefore, means a method that engages the mind and heart to heal and dissolve what binds us so that we can be entrained back into Source.
Subtle energy infused with the primordial vibration of the mantras, act as a thread to connect us profoundly to ourselves, others and to life, in ways that charm and calm the mind and heart.
The resonating energy of the words as they are repeated, carry heightened potency and transformational power. Mantra repetition is a soothing practice of ever deepening awareness. The mantras are meant to be felt throughout all the layers of our being. The pulsing energy evoked by repetition can emanate from the inner core, expanding outwardly, alchemizing every cell. I have witnessed time and again within my own practice and from sharing this practice with others, how the mantra aids in our capacity to transform what feels limiting into all that is life-affirming.
The alchemical shifts can range from feeling a sense of aliveness, creativity, expansiveness to clarity, grounding & calmness.
By attuning us with absolute Awareness, the mantra strengthens our capacity to focus, expands the space of creativity and assists us to remain open and receptive to life where love abounds.
living PHILOSOPHY
YogaALCHEMY is infused with uplifting empowering non-dual Tantrik philosophy. I purposefully choose the word ‘living’ because this practice is about walking the walk – not thinking or talking the philosophy but wholeheartedly living it. And as I have experienced with this yogic path, when we bring the teachings of this philosophy into the laboratory of our lives, we create the alchemy to shift what is limiting into a felt sense of wholeness & vitality. We alchemize challenges into life-enhancing change and obstacles become opportunities for growth and expansion.
This philosophy comes with the understanding that we are constantly at play with the paradoxical expression of being spirit in this embodiment, individual & universal, expanding & contracting, form & formless. We as human beings pulse amidst contradictions and polarities that the non-dual Tantrik philosophy explains can be perceived and experienced as complimentary contrasts.
Through the practices of listening to the sacred texts (siddhānta-srvana) and using reflection, contemplation & curiosity (mati), Living Philosophy is like the yogic teaching of dying cloth. We can return to the teachings again and again and the more we ‘dip the cloth’ or in this case reach out to the teachings with the inquiry of an open mind and heart, then a bit more of the teaching tints our beings and our lives with the hue of liberating freedom and bliss.
The fulfillment of this embodied philosophy study comes from discussion, exploration and discovery within a community of fellow students of life whom are also dedicated to awakening into life.
IT COMES WITH GREAT JOY THAT I SHARE these practices of MANTRA, MEDITATION, ASANA and LIVING PHILOSOPHY with the understanding that we practice and integrate all of them into our lives, not only for our well-being but for the benefit of ALL BEINGS.
the alchemy Alignment Principles
RECEIVE
Receive the wondrous, raw, vivid expression of being alive and part of a magnificent Universal energy.
EMBRACE
Hug in with the muscular energy of the physical body to honor our individual participation with Source.
BOW
Bow inwardly to honor the actions that reveal Universal presence found in the back body.
INTEGRATE
Integrate Universal presence of the back body with the actions that reveal Individual presence found in the front body
SHARE
Extend the life-affirming, alchemized vitality of wellbeing outwardly to share with all beings.
