Hello!
I’m a relatively new subscriber here. This is my first subscription to a yoga app and I’m very much enjoying the classes.
A question for you: I’ve really enjoyed your classes, which strike me as quite different from other yoga classes I’ve taken (both through this app and live.) Just out of curiosity, what yogic influences, schools, and teachers have most shaped how you teach?
Also, any chance we could get some more long (hour plus) classes from you soon? 
Hi Matthew.
Thank you so much for sharing. I’m happy to hear that you are enjoying the site and my classes.
To answer your question, I’ve had a lot of people influence my teaching over the years. When I started, I was also a massage therapist and thai massage therapist, so I incorporated a lot of physiology and anatomy into my classes to reinforce alignment and stability. I did a 250-hour YTT with David Goulet, who - along with the yoga basics - taught us about transcendental experiences through meditation and breathwork. My experience with the long, silent meditation retreats that Goenka leads taught me how to calm the mind and nervous system and how to guide others into that experience. Many books by famous yogis like Erich Schiffman, and Iyengar shaped the way I look at practice and life, along with the talks of Krishnamurti.
Friends and other yoga teachers have also had a great influence, particularly Fiji McAlpine, Rachel Scott and Tracey Noseworthy. I feel like life is constantly giving us moments to learn from, since everyone has wisdom to share, and often what I learn in conversation with others can enter my teaching.
I hope that answers your questions. And yes, I do plan on filming more long classes. Hopefully soon!
Thanks for the question, Matthew.
Thank you for taking the time to share, and for the thoughtful answer! I look forward to more of your classes here.
Hi David. Over 15 years ago, I had highway driving anxiety enter my life. I have no idea what brought it on. I have found a few things helpful in managing it. I have found certain highways that are quieter and allow me to some of the places I’d like to drive to. I read a book on anxiety in general that taught me a few things. Plus I went to a hypnotist years ago, for 5 sessions and that seemed to make a big difference. So the past few years it has not impacted me. Now, all of a sudden, even on those quieter highways I experience moments …passing of course…but upsetting, again. Don’t know if they qualify as panic attacks but still.I respect your knowledge and sharing of what you have learned about anxiety. I know you have a couple programs, some meditations. Do you have any ideas specific to highway driving?
Hello. Thanks for sharing.
I look at anxiety, even the kind of anxiety that feels like it won’t go away, as the same as everything else - it’s a complex, ever-changing aspect of ourselves. It might feel static, but at its very core it is not. So the first thing is to treat it that way. Watch it and feel it enough to notice everything you can (temperature, nature, color, where it’s located, etc) and allow it to move. Notice how you hold onto it or protect it and let that go. Understand your relationship to it, how you feed it and reinforce it.
As you explore its nature, bring compassionate, loving energy into it, and let that feeling expand out into your whole experience of yourself and your surroundings.
Let me know if that makes sense. The essence is to feel it, let it move, accept it with love and allow your awareness to expand, honoring the fact that we are connected to all things.
That’s what I try to do in these guided meditations: Guided Meditations for Stress, Anxiety and Depression | DoYogaWithMe
Have you tried them?