Alexis Ray
Yoga Instructor
Hello! My name is Alexis Ray (she/her/hers) and it’s an honor to meet you! I completed Yoga Sanctuary’s 230 hour Holistic Yoga Teacher Training in May 2023 and am a registered yoga instructor through Yoga Alliance. I started my yoga journey over a decade ago, during a "Yoga Thought and Practice" course at my university. The scope of learning about the religious and historical background of yoga as well as incorporating a movement practice with personal reflection was my first glimpse at the deeper side of yoga beyond just a workout. I became enthralled with the literature which coincided with my interest in psychology of the mind and body. This was also around the same time that I had begun more deeply probing and grappling with the crossroads of my identity and finding a place to plug in and blossom.
While I had many starts and stops over the years with my personal yoga asana practice, the deeper emotional journey was always present. I was living life with yoga principles off the mat even on the days I didn't practice.
Fast forward about a decade later and I started taking on new roles and responsibilities that piqued my interest in teaching and mentorship. I decided that the unique role of a yoga instructor would suit me well and give me an outlet to express my gentler, softer nature. This side of me was something I was constantly at odds with, fighting the desire to be open and soft with the reality of life throwing me curveballs and showing me how that wasn't "valued" by society. I tried masking my intrinsic nature to fit in and avoid harassment but as a result I found myself more estranged from myself. I was lost because I refused to trust in the compass of my intuition and that inner knowing that was always present even when I refused to listen or take its advice seriously. Sometimes I just didn't like what it had to say.
The soft self and the armored self cannot exist simultaneously-I had to choose one. And for many years I thought that the armored self would get me where I needed to be. And while it served a purpose for a time, once I was able to finally see the dust settle in my mind, the clarity of myself that I had been trying to run away from all those years was right there in plain view. By disconnecting from my body, I had convinced myself that I was lost and confused, when in reality I had trouble surrendering to my body, mind and soul. I tried to override what my body was telling me it wanted and what it needed to be seen and loved. By re-engaging with that deep inner work, I was able to see a path forward and finally set some longer-term goals for myself, one of which was teaching yoga. I hope that my journey inspires you to lean into your discomfort and trust in your own inner wisdom and allow the body to inform the mind in your personal path to spiritual development.
Respect, curiosity and honesty are the driving forces of my work. As a queer and trans* individual, I bring a deeply empathetic understanding of the unique challenges of embodied living through an LGBTQ+ lens. I want to especially affirm all queer, trans* and gender expansive individuals who seek solace practicing with me. While not easy, I hope to foster an environment where people feel called to practice regardless of where they are in their journey and how they express themselves.