Brigid (she/they) is a former personal trainer and fitness instructor who found a more loving and healing connection to her body and mind through yoga, and never looked back. She… okay, honestly this is weird. It’s me, I’m she, I’m just going to switch to the first person. I was a National Academy of Sports Medicine certified personal trainer (www.nasm.org) for several years, where I built an understanding of human anatomy, physiology, and exercise science. But to be honest, it always felt like something was missing. I would watch some clients get stronger and more mobile, which was fulfilling, but also saw the ways that a “one size fits all” approach to wellness, where the body is treated like a machine, can be ineffective, and even cause harm. It was during the Covid lockdown that I built a spiritual connection through my yoga practice, and came to appreciate the level of rest, compassion, and release my body and mind needed to find ease.
I brought these insights into my more active yoga practice, then into my work and personal life, and appreciated how this mind-body connection has widespread implications, allowing me to be more open-minded and compassionate toward myself, my loved ones, my neighbors, and even the people I adamantly disagree with.
From there, I completed my 200 hr RYT yoga training at Kala Yoga in Brooklyn, NY, and received specialty restorative yoga training from Abhaya Yoga in Brooklyn, NY. I’ve been teaching yoga since 2024. I first led consistent weekly yoga classes at Everyone Yoga in Ridgewood, Queens, where I observed and experienced the healing power and creative potential that a values-driven, community-centric, open-minded yoga studio can cultivate within a neighborhood. I received Thai Bodywork training from Pia Fiato (www.nyseekyoga.com) in 2025. I spent almost a decade working in non-profit fundraising, first at Ann & Robert H Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, then JustLeadershipUSA, then the ACLU of New York.
My career is deeply guided by a pursuit of justice, and an understanding that wealth and power are hoarded among too few people, which leads to mass suffering and oppression that hurts us all. My interest in fundraising lay in my passion for capacity building: helping organizations gain the resources they need to sustainably serve their community.
As I deepened my personal yoga practice, it helped me identify internalized racism, bigotry, and fear of change within me, and I’ve come to see this work of helping individuals find peace and ease as the ultimate capacity builder. Allowing folks to feel safe in our bodies can support us in approaching adversity and differences with creativity, humility, and love. It allows us to trust our gut, to honor the needs of our bodies and minds so we don’t burn out, and allows us to encourage that in others. In the summer of 2025, I left my job at the ACLU to focus my capacity building efforts on individuals in my local community.
Today, I live in Durham, North Carolina, with my beautiful boyfriend Jordan, and our two cats. In my spare time, I love hanging out on my hammock in my back yard, cloud watching, listening to music, doodling, painting sloppily, playing my string bass badly, dancing, and laughing at stupid jokes. It’s in my relationships with my family and loved ones that I experience my deepest yoga practice.
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