Nancy's teaching schedule:
Monday Level I Yoga 6:00 - 7:30am
Contact Nancy; register for a class
Nancy Hanson has always found her creative energy through movement, beginning with gymnastics and dance as a child. In college she assisted in a ballet class called “Dance Is Therapy” for women who had breast cancer surgery and recognized the healing aspects of movement with purpose. Moving to the Northwest from California in 1997, she took Yoga classes at Yoga Tree in the Iyengar style, and then pursued Ashtanga yoga with Teresa Spencer for a few years. With a job change, Seattle Yoga Arts was conveniently across the street and Lisa Holtby introduced her to Anusara. Nancy wished to deepen her practice and has completed Anusara Teacher training with Denise Benitez and Elizabeth Rainey. She completed a 500 hour program at Pacific Yoga with Theresa Elliot and Katheryn Payne. She found Annie’s wonderful Little Dog Studio to rent when she began teaching Yoga for her friends and is grateful to her friend Jane Hitti for providing opportunity to teach and train at the Two Dog studio. Annie agreed to take her on as an apprentice to complete training requirements and she felt very at home with the place, practitioners and community. Nancy strives to bring breath awareness through pranayama andYoga philosophy as well as conscious movement to her classes. She wishes to share the joy in this sacred practice of Yoga.
Yoga is complementary and also respite from Nancy's work as a cancer genetic counselor. Working with individuals and families who have had cancer or have very high risk of cancer highlights the importance of living life fully everyday and attending to the needs of the body. Nancy is active in her profession's accreditation and participates in an ethics committee as well as serving on a research committee. The interface of clinical medicine and research in genetics and genomics is a particular interest. How to apply what is discovered in the laboratory to make lives better is parallel to what is discovered in the practice of Yoga that applies to enhancing our lives.
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Meet the Instructor: Nancy Hanson, from the mid-October 2010 Two Dog Newsletter
Devotional and transformational practice may sound distinct, but devotional practice can
also be transformational and transformational practice requires devotion. Mindfulness
and the Holy Spirit are at the heart of both. - Thich Nhat Hanh
I have been pondering what brought me to Yoga and especially what prompted me to teach Yoga. Yoga is physical, but completing a Yoga class feels different than going for a run or a bike ride. It fills more than my exercise quota. On the front page of the paper today is an article titled “Yoga ‘demonic’? Critics call ministers’ warning a stretch”. If I am honest, what brings me back to my mat and to Yoga classes is the spiritual nourishment I find through Yoga. The article reminds me that sharing what you do and why you do it - engaging in a conversation - is what brings a common understanding. I have always been much more intrigued with the commonalities of core religious and spiritual beliefs than the differences. I was raised with Protestant teaching, married in the Catholic Church, have a sister whose family is Mormon, and I studied Islam as a student in Egypt. My father was a Christian Mystic and through years of science education I am familiar with scientific agnostic and atheist sentiments. The rituals, customs and practices of individuals may be specific to a time, place and culture but are rediscovered or brought forth again and again as people seek meaning. I practice Yoga because I feel more connected to whatever is universal, unchanging, timeless and positive. It is my hope to share my experience and learn from and connect with others though teaching Yoga.
