ABOUT

tem·ple /ˈtempəl/ noun

1. a building devoted to the worship, or regarded as the dwelling place, of a god or gods or other objects of reverence

In Yoga you are the structure, you are the building, you are the Temple. Inside you, held in the altar of your heart, is the spark of Divinity, or your soul. Tending to your temple through yogic practices develops the skill of connecting to your own spark, your own personal power, and learning how to harness its cosmic energy. This is why we practice - to align, to unite with ourselves, to unite with the universe around us, and to radiate our natural powerful being from the inside out.

Everything in a temple is intentional. Each element of architectural design signifies aspects of spiritual life. Each rite and ritual offering is a love poem to the Divine. Each step a devotee takes on the temple’s hallowed ground is an act of humbling surrender. Not one thought that arises, or grain of rice offered, is insignificant under the roof of a temple. Everything matters. 

This is Rachel Joyce’s approach to Yoga - everything is intentional. She attends to the practice and teachings in complete devotion, with wholesome intention, total attention, reverence, and love for the ancient wisdom of self-study to reach soul consciousness. It’s the work, effort, and commitment to the practice that brings us into mental, physical, emotional, and energetic alignment. When we are aligned - or symbolically when we care for our temple - we radiate our personal power.

Rachel is a RYT Yoga teacher, a student, a devotee, a sādhaka. She is dedicated to learning the roots, history, culture, and practices that have kept the yogic flame lit for many thousands of years.  Rachel’s primary focus is the classical Hatha Yoga practice of Iyengar Yoga. While moving students through Hatha Yoga asana (poses) with articulated alignment actions, Rachel’s teaching draws connections between the physical practice to the unseen work of expanding awareness, intelligence, and consciousness. Opening not only bodies but hearts and minds, to all 8 limbs of Yoga and putting them into daily practice is her dharma or purpose.

Rachel’s Yoga journey

Rachel has often said Yoga saved her life. In her temple, she found refuge during her most desperate and darkest of hours. And by staying in her temple, or devotion to the practice, she has become more than her suffering. Little by little, moment by moment, pose by pose, breath by breath, we can achieve empowerment. We can heal. We can build. We can love. We can connect. We can unite. Yoga offers us freedom, or moksha, from the darkness of suffering, or duhkah.

13 years ago in 2009, Rachel took her first yoga classes. She was dedicated at times, and other times, the waves of her life carried her to and from the practice. In 2016 after reinjuring a knee that was already reconstructed, her asana practice intensified, and along with it an exploration into the entire Yoga system. In 2018 she completed her 200-hour training at Brooklyn Yoga Project to become an RYT. Halfway through her training, she knew her education must continue and it must be immersive, the entire focus of her time.

Rachel spent the majority of 2019 absorbed in sādhanā with long-time practitioners and teachers. Every place she lived and visited, she sought out teachers and training. She spent three months in India studying the history, culture, and practices of Yoga across different regions. Six of these weeks were spent in Pune, home to Iyengar Yoga, observing and practicing under Gulnaaz Dashti, a disciple of Geeta Iyengar. 

Rachel is currently being mentored by Holly Walck Kostura, Senior CIYT.