Mary NurrieStearns

How do you describe a human being? The roles we play don’t capture our essence, history is history, and credentials are credentials. By telling you where I have been and what I have done, I suggest that has something to do with who I am. What has happened to you doesn’t define you anymore than it does me. Words cannot express our innermost essence nor can they capture the moment to moment unfolding of our lives. The truth of who we are is discovered anew with every breath. None the less, reading about others gives us a sense of who they are and is a way to connect with them. Here is a brief story about who I am.

I live quietly with my husband and four pets in our home in the woods in Oklahoma. I walk with the dog and do a physical yoga practice most days. I enjoy sitting in my favorite chair looking outdoors at nature’s beauty.

A licensed clinical social worker, I have had a private practice in counseling in Tulsa since 1989. From 1991 – 2000 I acted as editor of “Personal Transformation” magazine. A decade of immersion in psycho/spiritual healing, I studied with, interviewed and wrote about the country’s leading thinkers and healers in psychological and spiritual healing. In 2006 I began traveling nationally, teaching yoga, mindfulness and meditation to mental health providers. I recently produced CD’s on profound self acceptance and mindfulness and am currently writing a book with my husband. For the past several years my husband and I have taught meditation classes, conducted workshops and facilitated retreats.

I began practicing yoga in 1991. I came to yoga seeking exercise and felt pulled into its powerful transformational practices. My daily practice quickly became a sacred time of renewal and exploration. I gratefully go to my mat daily because I know the tremendous healing and liberating powers of yoga. I began yoga teacher training in 1999 and started teaching yoga in March 2001. I am credentialed through the Yoga Alliance at the E-500 level.

Of all the healing modalities I have studied, none penetrate body, mind and spirit as completely as yoga. The yogic path is incredible. It weaves its way through the body, mind and spirit, leading its practitioners inward, through the layers of misunderstanding about who we thought we were, into the realization of who we are as spiritual beings. This is yoga’s promise and my personal experience.