I was born in Daegu, South Korea and adopted and raised in rural and suburban Wisconsin. I grew up with a love for the outdoors, animals, and music, which led me to study music business in college, but after interning in the music industry, I felt called to travel and meaningful service so I spent the next 7 years living abroad, teaching English as a Second Language and volunteering for various community projects from earthquake reconstruction to a cat sanctuary.

Throughout my changing locations and homes, yoga has been a grounding practice. It started as a break from life’s stressors in college and as I was able to slowly learn more about the depth of the practice, it became less of a break separate from regular life, but an integrated practice that is now part of my daily life and life perspective.

A turning point in my path was when I traveled to Greece in 2013 to volunteer at the Sunshine House - a wellness center for yoga and Thai Massage. There, I learned more about Thai Massage and Acroyoga, and while I was going through a difficult period in my own life, I found the healing benefits of presence and community connection to be incredibly powerful.

A few years later, I went back to Korea where I was reunited with my birth family. During and after this time, yoga, massage, and meditation became my foundation as I processed my adoption and identity. I made my way to study Vipassana meditation at Thabarwa Meditation Center in Myanmar and Wat Tam Wua in Thailand, and dove into the study of Thai massage at the Sunshine School in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Before returning to the United States, I was able to obtain my first yoga teacher certification in Hatha and Ashtanga yoga at Rishikul Yogshala in Rishikesh, India.

Back on the East Coast, my experience with nannying and childcare and fascination with Traditional Chinese Medicine led me to become certified in Kids & Family Yoga (Rainbow Yoga and Imagination Yoga) and Yin Yoga (Josh Summers). When I moved to Portland, Oregon and continued to work as a nanny and yoga teacher, I was drawn towards learning more tools to support holistic family health, so I also studied Prenatal Yoga with Shana Celnicker Chong at the Bhakti Yoga Movement Center and became a certified Postpartum Doula through Cornerstone Doulas.

In 2020, I completed the 800-hour massage program at East West College of Healing Arts and became a Licensed Massage Therapist (#25828). My massage practice is influenced by my studies in Thai massage, Shiatsu, Deep Tissue, Swedish, Tui Na and Craniosacral Therapy.

As I continue to process my own story and identity as a Korean adoptee, I have remained connected with the adoptee community, participated in the Department of Human Services training to become a foster parent and respite care provider, and trained in trauma-informed yoga through Living Yoga and Our Mala. Working with marginalized communities and making holistic healing accessible and inclusive is essential to the work I do, so I volunteered to teach yoga in Spanish through Living Yoga to immigrant and refugee teenagers in detention and also am a founding member of the Humans of Color Movement Alliance - a collective of yoga and movement instructors and healers who identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color.

All of these experiences and skills from teaching language, providing childcare, guiding yoga and mindfulness classes, serving as a doula, and offering massage come together to wrap around families to promote holistic wellness and care. I passionately believe in the healing power of presence and community. By lifting others up, learning to trust, and building a supportive foundation for others through partner and group practices and collective care, we can take away physical, emotional, and mental benefits to apply throughout our lives and relationships.