ABOUT ME
WELCOME TO WELLNESS BY RYAN
With over two decades of experience in yoga, meditation, and bodywork,
my journey into these practices has been anything but conventional.
My interest in introspection and self-discovery began at a young age
though in my late teens and early 20s, I sought meaning through substances,
mainly psychedelics,
dance, and travel. However, without a clear focus,
these experiences remained on the surface and created a sense of grasping, but with no direction.
With over two decades of experience in yoga, meditation, and bodywork, my journey into these practices has been anything but conventional.
My interest in introspection and self-discovery began at a young age though in my late teens and early 20s, I sought meaning through substances, mainly psychedelics, dance, and travel. However, without a clear focus, these experiences remained on the surface and created a sense of grasping but not knowing what for.
This search for identity led me to prison, where I spent eight years diving deep into who I was, who I wanted to become, and what life truly meant to me. I read voraciously (thanks Mom for sending the seemingly endless lists of books I requested!!!), journaled daily, and participated in courses offered to incarcerated individuals. I was blessed to spend the first couple years at an institution that had a wonderful Buddhist Monk who used to come every Saturday and taught me basic Buddhist philosophy as well as, and most importantly for me at this time, meditation and stress management techniques. As a result, during this time, I developed a daily meditation and asana practice, starting with what little I knew and then teaching myself through books like Integral Yoga Hatha by Swami Satchidananda and The Ashtanga Primary Series by David Swenson.
How I Started My Yoga Teaching Journey
As I continued to practice, others began asking about what I was doing. This led to me requesting mats and space from the recreation department to offer yoga classes, eventually teaching three classes a week for several years. After my release, I enrolled in Massage Therapy School and within a year, completed my first 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training.
As a 500HR E-RYT, my yoga practice and teaching draw from a variety of methodologies. I’ve made 4 trips to study Ashtanga yoga in Mysore, India, while maintaining a 6 day a week practice for more than a decade without interruption and later completed a two-year Iyengar Yoga apprenticeship with one of the most senior teachers in the Pacific Northwest. My teaching integrates Ashtanga, Iyengar alignment principles, contemporary Power Yoga, and Gentler approaches, always tailoring each class to meet the unique needs of my students.
As a practitioner of Vipassana and mindfulness-based meditation practices, I am committed to sharing embodied, mindful practices that foster self-awareness, growth, and well-being.
In addition, I have been a Licensed Massage Therapist since 2007. I ran my own business for several years, working primarily with athletes and individuals recovering from injuries and accidents. My massage therapy practice has focused on Sports Massage, Deep Tissue Massage, Neuromuscular Therapy, and Neurosomatic Therapy, as taught in over 100 hours of specialized training as developed by Paul St John. I continue to offer in-home massage therapy to those local to me. I am also passionate about healthy cooking and living and have my B.S. in Holistic Nutrition from Clayton College of Natural Health.
