Taryn Thompson

I went to my first yoga class at a Shakti Yoga in Geneseo, NY, with Jacki McCausland. I was attending undergraduate school at SUNY Geneseo and had taken a dance class with Jacki through school. I loved dance and wanted to do more movement. Her studio was lovely, it was homey and warm and sweet, and had the energy of empowered, enlightened souls. I had already been introduced to yoga in high school, because my cross-country skiing coach led us through some basic poses during warm-ups. But at Shakti, the concept of yoga as a lifestyle and basis for community started to crystalize for me. I didn’t necessarily have a conscious goal, but looking back I know I was drawn to attending classes at Shakti because I am a seeker and I am always exploring ways to expand and evolve. Yoga is a consistent part of my life now because it’s a practice of self-love. It is a moving meditation on the miracle of birth, the ephemeral beauty of life, and the existential phenomenon of death.

I practice yoga because it is the best medicine for a sore, tired body and a restless mind. It also gives you the time and space to solve those internal dilemmas.

When I first started practicing yoga, I was probably taking six hatha classes per week – at my local studio or else following Adam Wade’s YouTube video of the Ashtanga Primary Series with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Since then, I discovered the power and necessity of restorative yoga and do much more of this slow, yin-flavored yoga.

By the time I was 27, yoga was a devotional practice because it had begun healing a deeply wounded part of me, and I wanted to give that back to other people. That’s when I completed my first Yoga Teacher Training.

I love to cook, bake, hike, bike, walk, run, watch the sunset, and travel.