Colleen has taught trauma conscious yoga with a specialization in teens and young adults aged 14-22 since 2017. In that time she has developed a classroom curriculum for Social Emotional Learning that incorporates the Yamas and Niyamas (morals and restraints), asana (posture), pranayama (breathwork), dhyana and dhrana (concentration and meditation), in addition to neuroscience, mindfulness, and art making practices.
“I sit before flowers hoping they will train me in the art of opening up.
I stand on mountain tops believing avalanches will teach me to let go.
I know nothing
but I am here to learn.”
”What is a Coco Yoga class like?”
“Coco yoga is relaxing. It’s not judgmental, or pretentious. Coco will remind you throughout the class that you have options, to prioritize yourself and what your body needs. Coco integrates information about the body’s [nervous system] response, which has helped me understand how my body responds to stress. She has such a calming voice and demeanor. I always feel better after class.”
“Coco yoga is very calming and she offers a lot of options and I never feel pressure to do things I’m not comfortable with.”
“Coco is present to your body, mind, and soul. She makes it so easy to get what you need from your time on the mat.”
Coco’s Story
When I was 17 I walked into my first yoga class. I heard that yoga was relaxing, and I needed that. A few months earlier a stressful life event activated what would become a decade long pattern of disordered eating. In the early days of my practice I used it as a means to control myself. I practiced intense styles multiple times a week. It was, ironically, a 30-Day Challenge at the Hot yoga studio up the street from my house that broke me. I was on my 2nd day of going to three classes, my third class of the day. The entire practice I was cursing the teacher in my head, absolutely certain she could read my mind and was punishing me for it. I was angry, frustrated, and tired. My body fought against my brain, and my brain was determined to win. When the end of practice came, and we laid down for Savasana (a posture which most people will tell you is the best part), I wept.
I have to thank my earliest teachers: Octavia Raheem, Meryl Arnett, Keith Mitchell, Rachelle Knowles, Neda Draupadi-Honarvar, and Flo Sheffield. It was though them that I learned of the depths of the practice. Those teachers led me to yoga’s ancient sacred texts and to teachers like Patanjali, Eknath Easwaran, and Sri Swami Satchinanda. Many, endless, boundless thanks to the South Asian culture from which this practice has come.
My contemporary teachers are yoga teachers Geoffrey Roniger, Keith Porteous, Jackie Summell, TQ Sims, Susannah Barkataki, Richard Rosen, Jivana Heyman, Chelsea Hylton-Nutick, and teachers of racial and social justice Michelle C. Johnson, Layla F. Saad, Matthew Kincaid, bell hooks, and Toni Morrison.
