Sofia
My relationship with yoga began with philosophy rather than asana. I first encountered yoga in college and later practiced vinyasa and yin, but Ashtanga was the practice I resisted — until I finally tried it in Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
As a former swimmer, I had spent years missing the structure and repetition of a dedicated training practice. In Ashtanga, I found it again. Returning to the same sequence offered an unexpected sense of freedom: as the movements became familiar, my body learned to trust them, slowly opening and adapting without needing to be rushed. The physicality gave me something substantial to work with, while the repetition gave my mind somewhere to become quiet.
What began as discipline gradually became devotion. I see the practice as an ongoing lesson in patience, respect and trust — particularly trust in a body that cannot and should not be forced into progress. For me, devotion to oneself is not separate from spiritual practice. Yoga’s understanding of the individual as part of a greater consciousness has become an important lens through which I make sense of both the practice and the world beyond it.
I completed my 200-hour Ashtanga teacher training with Erica McHugh at Emmaus Yoga and have continued studying with and learning from teachers including David Williams, David Swenson, Satu Jois, Kathy Cooper, Petri Räisänen and Scott Johnson. One lesson has remained especially important to me: meet the student who is in front of you, exactly as they are that day.
In my classes, I combine technical instruction and discipline with patience, humor and autonomy. I want students to feel equally free to lean into challenge or step away from it — to work hard, experiment, modify, rest, or occasionally decide that savasana is the practice they need most. I value the tradition and lineage of Ashtanga without believing tradition requires rigidity. My goal is to offer structure without taking authority away from the student, while encouraging curiosity, playfulness and responsibility for one’s own practice.
Originally from Mexico City, I have called Austin home since 2020. Off the mat, I work in software, travel whenever I can, strength train, and spend time with my husband and our two dogs, Rusty and Penny. On the mat, I remain first and foremost a student, currently exploring Third Series and continuing to learn what steady devotion can reveal.
Fun fact: I love rewatching comfort shows like Friends, Grey’s Anatomy and Charmed. I like knowing what’s coming and finding something new in the familiar — which, now that I think about it, may explain part of what drew me to Ashtanga in the first place.
