Amanda Fiorino

I find inspiration in the simplest of things. I feel it is through simplicity that we may return to our truest self, and that the most significant relationship we will have in this lifetime is the relationship with the self.  In creating challenging classes, I strive to help my students realize their highest potential by diving inward so as to locate that inner strength, knowledge, and essence that will propel them forward towards growth and change.  I invite my students to challenge themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally.  High energy and a love for laughter, I seek to smile and find lightness of heart in my teaching, my students, and my life.  I believe that love, compassion and joy are necessary tools for self-discovery, allowing us to engage with ourselves on an intimate level while passing no judgment, and providing unending support.

Get to know Amanda

What brought you to the practice of yoga and eventually to teach yoga?

I have practiced yoga on and off throughout the course of my life. I think, initially, I found myself drawn to it because of my previous gymnastics experience. I would practice at home, at studios, and at gyms. I loved the way I felt every time I stepped out of a yoga class.

It wasn’t until I returned from Mongolia after serving as a Peace Corps volunteer that yoga really came full swing back into my life. I had been undergoing the proverbial “head-banging against wall” trick that we all know to work oh so well in trying to find a job. I was seeking to continue my work within NGO’s or other organizations focused on improving the condition of people’s lives. After many resumes, cover letters, and lots of reformatting I decided that enough was enough and I needed a break.

The next morning I woke up, book in hand, ready to sit at a coffee shop I had discovered online around the corner from my apartment. As I arrived, parking outside this café, I discovered that right next door to it was a yoga studio. I decided that when I got home I would look into it, see what classes they offered. As I began to research it more, I found that they had a possible job opportunity, and even better that the job opportunity could be an internship for their Basic Teacher Training. I decided to take a leap of faith, and applied. Obviously I was accepted, otherwise I would not be here now as a teacher. A very thankful and inspired teacher!

I fell right back into love with yoga the very first class I took. The vibrations of Om sounding off throughout the room at the end of class reminded me that I was my very own temple, on a sacred journey through life. And even more so, I wanted to be able to share this gift that had resurfaced from beneath the sands of time, resurrecting itself magnificently within my life.

Since then, I have not stopped a day without hungering for something pertaining to yoga – and all that it encompasses.

Describe the style of yoga you teach…

I was trained under the Hatha Yoga lineage, and apply many of the philosophies and techniques from this practice within my class. On a basic level, the practice of Hatha Yoga is focused on breath and movement. On another level, it is a balancing and unifying of the dualities within our life: good/bad, dark/light, ha-sun/tha-moon.

Engaging Vinyasa flows, I like to keep a class moving within a fluid state, and often lead them to a peak posture – allowing the progression (the krama) from all previous postures to show students that it is not the end result that matters, but rather the transitions between postures – the journey – that will provide more depth.

I strive to find the simplicity within the complexity of life. In delivering complex flows I seek to remind students that the single thread of breath (inhale and exhale) allows us to return to our center even in the midst of so much movement. Allowing the asana practice to be a reflection of life, students may be more attuned to seeing how existence, with all of its chaos and urgency, can still maintain threads of peace within the fabric of life.

Beyond this, I love to challenge my students. It is only when we push up against our edges and boundaries that we begin to grow and expand. One day, if we keep stepping forward, we will surpass those boundaries, and thankfully encounter new ones so that we may continue to evolve. I feel that the practice of yoga allows us to grow towards our highest potential, and to recognize that every single moment within the NOW we are always, already complete.

I invite students to laugh at life and at themselves while in my classes, and to see that though life is complex, it is not that complicated. Through love, compassion, and joy I look to assist students in embracing the changes in their lives and their bodies (emotional, mental, physical), and in doing so feeling a little bit more light, free, and alive.

Who are your primary teachers?

My primary teachers are Shannon Paige (whom I am so thankful to be currently studying with and learning from),  Kylie Larson (she has always inspired me with her energy and grace), Nancy Kate (who’s classes are filled with lunar energy just as much as solar), and myself and my experiences.

Who are your greatest life influences?

My Mom and Dad, Cathy MacIsaac (another mom), Sally Takekawa (my hanai mom)… I have many mom’s, my godfather who I nicknamed Uncle Yoda, my Grandmother for her strength and courage, my husband Greg Miller for his capacity to remain at peace in some of the most trying of times, Dr. Paul Farmer for all the humanitarian work he does around the world, Angelina Jolie because she’s a badass and humanitarian… I could keep going… my cat for always reminding me to act upon a “leap of faith” and to “leap without looking”.

What was your greatest “on the mat” AHA moment?

The day my left leg began to shake uncontrollably. I realized then and there that my lunar side, my feminine side was calling to me. I have had many experiences throughout the course of my life where I have felt reliant upon my solar energy – to take action, to stand up and “push back” so to speak, so much so that I greatly detached myself, as time went by, from my more intuitive emotional side.  The experiences I have had felt as if they were tumbling down, one after the other, and this did not feel good. It was through these experiences in life that I felt a sense of loss; a loss of some more predominant masculine, solar energy in my life. I hadn’t realized it until my left leg began to speak to me, letting me know that my right side had been overcompensating for a very long time. This is why I feel yoga is so incredibly healing and life altering. It allows for a deeper relationship to develop between mind and body, and provides us the avenue to engage a dialogue between these two aspects of our self. Yoga reminds us that everything is connected, interconnected, interwoven, and intertwined. What happens to the mind ripples through the body, and in turn what happens to the body ripples through the mind.

Connect with Amanda

Website: amandajadeyoga.com
Facebook: JadeAYoga

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