Yoga | The Camino Provides

Welcome! In September 2018, I launched a new website at lferris.com dedicated to yoga and wellness. I am a wellness ambassador and certified yoga instructor in the San Francisco Bay Area. I offer a gentle yoga flow practice that is accessible to beginners, with modifications for more advanced yogis. I teach yoga classes for UC Berkeley staff and occasionally lead yoga sessions at retreats, hikes, and private events. What appeals to me most about being a yoga teacher is helping others with their personal wellness journey. I want to share my passion for yoga and wellness with the world, so I started a wellness-focused newsletter. This newsletter is intended for newbies and experienced yogis alike and pilgrims interested in exploring different mindfulness practices. I still occasionally write Camino and hiking-related posts on my blog, but the wellness website is a spin-off with more wellness-focused content and events.

Yoga Classes
UPDATE-moved to Zoom during the pandemic
Since March 2020, I’ve been teaching monthly yoga classes via Zoom. You can watch the recordings on My Yoga Classes playlist. Hopefully, I’ll be able to teach yoga again in person when COVID restrictions are lifted. If you are UC Berkeley staff or faculty, you can register for my classes at: https://uhs.berkeley.edu/wellnesscalendar

Background
My love affair with yoga began long before I knew about the Camino de Santiago. I tried my first yoga class in the 1990s and instantly felt relief in my hips and back. When I discovered that a daily yoga practice also helped ease stress from the workplace and prevent hiking injuries, I was hooked. In 2016, I signed up for teacher training at Yoga Kula in Berkeley. I began teaching yoga to coworkers and members of a hiking group.

My training continued in 2017 at Namaste Yoga in Berkeley, led by four of the Bay Area’s best yoga teachers: Abby Tucker, Baxter Bell, Domonick Wegesin and Vickie Russell Bell. As a graduate of their “Every Day Sacred” program, I have 300+ hours of teacher training.

Yoga for pilgrims

I truly believe that many common injuries can be prevented by practicing yoga, so I look for opportunities to teach yoga for pilgrims. I taught yoga classs at Hospitalero training, the 2018 American Pilgrims national gathering, and at albergues in Spain. Below are a few blog posts I wrote about my yoga journey thus far.