Teacher Spotlight: Meet Gabe
Gabe has been part of the OTY community since 2007, as a practitioner. She began teaching classes and teacher training in 2014 and took over as co-owner in 2018.
Tell us a little about you.
I live in Ashland, NE which is a tiny town directly between Omaha and Lincoln. It's the perfect spot for our family, as my husband Lucas works in Lincoln and I'm always jetting to OTY in Omaha. We have two little boys who just turned 4 and 2. I love to garden and work in the yard with my hands. This weekend we've been working in our raised bed gardens where we grow as much as we can to feed our family. I've been practicing yoga since my college days and can't believe that it gets to be my lifestyle and my job.
What is the biggest impact that yoga has had on your life?
I have truly embraced yoga as my lifestyle. There are many paths of yoga and the one that I practice, the 8-fold path, is a system for how to make yoga your life. It includes ethical considerations, how to interact with other humans, movement, breathing and meditation. You can literally apply it to everything that you do. That's what I'm here for. Yoga as life.
When do you apply the lessons of yoga in your daily life?
Well, it comes up a lot with small kids! There are many opportunities to pause and breath in lieu of any number of other reactions. I am also quite busy with a full to-do list every day. Taking the time to sit in meditation each morning before the day really starts to accelerate, sets the tone for a calm and steady daily experience. At least, theoretically.
What are your 3 go-to poses if you need a quick practice?
These days I am into opening the front body. If I just have a few minutes, I am going for a scap trap (supported fish pose), one-leg-at-a-time supta virasana and a supported bridge extended one leg long, to really open the front of the hips. Yum!
What is your favorite style of yoga right now and why?
It's Hatha, probably always and forever. Hatha gives us just enough framework to work with classical shapes while openly experimenting. I love that it's slow-paced so that you can take time to really feel things. I love that it incorporates lots of props because I crave that sense of support. I feel so grounded and steady after a hatha class and I want that same feeling for my students.
What is unique about your classes and your style of teaching?
Well, I am always up for evolving, experimenting, thinking outside the box and trying things in my own body in order to share them with you. I love the classical forms of yoga, but I also think they can be limiting over time. I am open to feeling what is to be felt in all the ways of moving and passing that along in my teaching.