With ancestry roots in Walton County,
June was born in Lakeside
Hospital in
1948, grew up nearby in Holmes County
and attended Ponce de Leon School.
She obtained degrees from Chipola Jr. College, UWF, and FSU. She taught in
public schools and worked as a paraprofessional accountant at various times and
places until she settled with her husband,
Danny, and son in Tallahassee in 1985.
While living in Tallahassee, her interest in yoga and serving others led her to obtain
training and become a licensed massage therapist (MM0017253) which she continues to practice
part-time. In 2001 she and Danny decided to move back to Holmes county where
they now live.
June discovered Yoga some 30 years ago while caring for her infant son and it has
been a major factor in her life ever since. Finding that it meets so
many needs in her
life, over the years she has tried to share her interest and understanding of the
practice with as many people as she can. She finds Yoga a way of life and continues
to study and grow in understanding of the practices and teachings. Because of June's
heritage in NW Florida, she has a special understanding and connection with the people
here and hopes to be able to present and relate Yoga to the people in this area who
are interested.
YOGA THROUGH THE YEARS:
In
1976 we moved to Crestview from Gainesville. I was unemployed and lonely dealing with
living in a new environment, and later became pregnant. After my son was born in 1977, I began
searching for a way to recondition my body and happened to catch a Yoga show on
TV one day. I decided to try to practice
Yoga some and proceeded on my own with the help of a small book. About a year later I felt the
need for some further instruction and was able to attend a Yoga class in Ft. Walton
lead by Diane Steinberg. Attending
Diane’s class I realized that “Yoga was for me.” In addition to continuing to work with my
body, Diane pointed out more spiritual/philosophical aspects of Yoga that
intrigued me even more. The practice
began helping me with my bouts of loneliness and mild depression. She recommended various books and sources
that I hungrily began studying. One main
source of information was a newsletter-like publication by the Himalayan Institution
that was mostly writings by Swami Rama. (See www.Swamij.com). Over the next several years I continued to
practice and study, taking classes wherever I lived. In Pensacola I
took classes in Kripalu Yoga and in Tallahassee
I was able to practice with an Iyengar teacher.
While in Tallahassee I was also introduced
to Paramahansa Yogananda’s teachings and studied some with one of his disciples
in Georgia,
Roy Eugene Davis, as well as reading and studying many of Yogananda’s
books. It seemed that wherever I was I
could not find a teacher who addressed what I was looking for with Yoga. I would eventually resort to offering to lead
practices/classes myself in order to share with others and bring people of like
interest into my life. “Teaching” Yoga
has felt natural for me through the years and I have made many interesting
friends doing so. (see What Some Think of Yoga)
When
we moved back to Holmes
County in 2001, Yoga
contacts were less than limited. Again I
offered classes in order to make contacts with people interested in Yoga. As fate would have it, I was led to meet
Swami J in Ft. Walton in 2002. He was the teacher I had been awaiting and
Swami Rama was his main teacher. Since
meeting and studying with Swami J, my practice has deepened tremendously. He has brought so much into my practice that
I now feel more confident in trying to help others on their Yoga path. So, here I AM, in Holmes County,
sharing Yoga with all who care to partake and serving others as I can.
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