“The pose is what we are doing. Yoga is how we are being in the pose and in our lives.” – Rolf Gates
Gaynell, E-RYT 500, brings to her teaching a unique mix of teaching and life experience. She has been teaching Vinyasa yoga and Yoga of 12 Step Recovery (Y12SR) in Indianapolis and Cozumel, Mexico in English and Spanish since 2009. In addition to her Irvington Wellness Center classes, she taught two Y12SR classes at Tara Treatment Center for six and a half years. She was part of a Veteran’s Administration research team, with Nancy Schalk Connor to study the efficacy of yoga for PTSD and is part of the ‘Yes to Vets’ teaching team providing free yoga classes for veterans. She has also taught ‘Opening Yoga to Everyone’, an adaptive yoga practice for people with physical disabilities at Pilates Indy. She also teaches mindfulness yoga and meditation at Irvington Wellness Center in classes and workshops.
“Yoga is much more than a physical practice and its ultimate purpose is to still the mind. Yoga has been a constant that has sustained me through the stresses of body, mind and spirit in my life. It continues to be an amazing journey of growth. I am humbled by the opportunity to teach and see the gifts of yoga come alive in students: the light in the eyes, calmness of mind, vibrancy in the body, and the experiential realizations of the connection of body, breath, mind and spirit in the present moment that can be used in everyday life. I love helping create not just a class, but a community. I teach a themed practice that imparts an embodied experience of yogic and spiritual principles. I truly believe yoga can be of benefit to everyone. I have had the privilege of seeing the most amazing transformation in the most unlikely of bodies and minds.”
Her experience and certifications include:
- Two hundred hour and five hundred hour certifications as a Vinyasa yoga teacher with Rolf Gates in 2009 and 2014.
- Level 1 and 2 training at Mind Body Solutions with Matthew Sanford to teach “Opening Yoga to Everyone”, adaptive yoga for people with physical disabilities
- Yoga of Twelve Step Recovery (Y12SR) Intensive and Y12SR Leader Training with the program founder, Nikki Myers.
- Completed a year-long course of study at Spirit Rock Meditation Center to teach mindfulness yoga and meditation consisting of 10-day silent retreats with study, teleconferences and daily personal practice between retreats. Her teachers there included Phillip Moffitt, Will Kabat-Zinn, Ann Cushman, and Pascal Auclair
- Assistant to Rolf Gates and Nikki Myers since 2010 at the annual Yoga, Meditation and Recovery Conference at the Esalen Institute. Assistant to Rolf Gates in conferences at Kripalu School of Yoga and Health.
- Intensives with Sean Corn, Marsha Pappas, Todd Norian, Matthew Sanford and Laurie Blakney (Iyengar yoga)
Gaynell is a student of Tibetan Buddhism since 2007 and gratefully receives teachings from Geshe Jinpa Sonam at the Indiana Buddhist Center.
She is the mother of three grown children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. She and her husband, Ken live in Irvington.
She has a bachelor’s degree in social work and practiced as a community organizer, medical social worker, addictions counselor, training and technical assistance coordinator for Legal Services Corporation, and a program coordinator for parenting programs.You can also look hereto overcome drug addiction.She owned her own landscaping business for 28 years. She has also been a scuba instructor.