Yoga: Stretch Yourself

Meet Your Mentor

What She Does: Nora is a senior editor at Yoga Journal as well as a sought-after private yoga teacher. She writes regular features for Yoga Journal, as well as articles for Salon.com, Natural Health, and San Francisco magazine.

Why She Does It: "My parents practiced yoga and started teaching in our basement when I was growing up. In suburban New Jersey, our family definitely stood out. I didn't know too many other kids who went to ashrams on weekends! Like most kids, I went through a period of being embarrassed by my parents as a teenager and actually dropped yoga for a while because I didn't want to stick out. But I got back into it after I moved to New York for graduate school because I started getting panic attacks. Thanks to yoga, I knew I had the tools I needed to manage my stress; it was just a matter of using them. Eventually I moved from New York to California, got the call from a journalism school friend that Yoga Journal was looking for a journalist who taught yoga, and I thought, 'This is perfect.' It's a blessing that I can pursue two things that I love at the same time."

Word from the Wise: "One of the most rewarding aspects of teaching for me is watching beginners gain an awareness of what their bodies can do. The first day when I ask beginners to move their right shoulders, you can see they really have to think about it. But after a couple of weeks, it becomes second nature."