​

A Life of Practice

Life sometimes unfolds in the strangest ways. What can seem unexpected - or even difficult - in one moment often reveals itself later as part of something much larger. Looking back, I can see that yoga has quietly guided my life from the very beginning.

​

I began formally practicing in 2010, and like so many others, something just clicked. I discovered asana (the postures) and meditation around the same time, and it felt as though an entirely new world had opened before me. I sensed I had stepped into a practice far deeper than I could yet understand.

​

I was finishing my Psychology degree at UW–Madison when I became eager to share these practices with children, hoping they could develop tools for awareness, resilience, and compassion early in life. I developed and taught a modified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, alongside other mindfulness offerings for children. While I loved the work, I realized I longed for a deeper sense of community around these practices. That led me to Naropa University to study Contemplative Psychotherapy, where my understanding of healing - and of the remarkable diversity within contemplative traditions - expanded tremendously.

​

Over the next fourteen years, I traveled, studied, taught, and lived in a variety of yoga communities, always drawn by the richness of the yogic and contemplative traditions. I was fortunate to spend years living in several ashrams, experiencing yoga not simply as a class, but as a way of living.

​

When I discovered Sivananda Vedanta Yoga at the Val Morin Ashram in Québec in 2018, I finally felt like I had found my spiritual family. The practice itself, the teachers, the sincere community, and the constant spirit of selfless service modeled there struck a chord in my heart and soul.

​

The Teachings That Continue to Guide Me

Swami Sivananda Saraswati taught—and exemplified—that through selfless service, we purify ourselves, cultivate prana, and awaken to our true nature. To me, this is one of yoga's greatest gifts. We practice not simply to become calmer, stronger, or happier, but to live more fully, love unconditionally, and become more capable of serving wherever life calls us.

​

His simple yet profound teaching remains a guiding compass in my life:

​

Serve • Love • Give • Purify • Meditate • Realize

​

While my personal practice is rooted primarily in the Sivananda tradition, I draw from a variety of lineages and modalities when I teach, offering practices that best serve the students and present circumstances. These teachings continue to deepen throughout my own life, and I will remain a lifelong student.

​

Looking back, one thing has become unmistakably clear: every time I've wandered from this path, life has found a way of leading me back. Carl Jung wrote about the Greek concept of the daemon: an inner calling that possesses a wisdom and momentum of its own. Certain callings don't disappear when we ignore them—they simply wait until we're ready to listen. Following this path hasn't always been the easiest choice, but it has consistently been the truest one.

​

The Heart Center

In September of 2025, I returned to Wisconsin after my mother became ill and passed away. During that season of life, Meg, founder of the studio's previous iteration, The Heart Revival, was looking for someone to continue caring for the sacred space The Heart Center had become. The transition for us both feels less like something either of us chose and more like something that arrived in its own right timing. The multitude of synchronicities along the way made the alignment impossible to ignore.

​

It is an honor to help steward The Heart Center as a place where people feel genuinely welcomed, supported, and inspired in both their practice and their lives. Yoga offers accessible tools for living with greater clarity, compassion, resilience, and purpose, allowing us to meet the world with wisdom, courage, and presence.​

​​

Yoga has enriched my life in ways I never could have imagined. My hope is simply to help these teachings continue finding the people who need them, just as they found me.

​

If our paths happen to cross here, I would be honored to practice alongside you!

​

Love always,

Rachael