Seattle Yoga News is on a mission to find and highlight all of the hidden, and maybe not so hidden, gems in our yoga community and beyond. We want you to learn about their experiences and perspectives, but also a bit more about their personalities, so we have a few fun questions for them. This week’s spotlight is turned towards Jill Baumgardner and Angela DiMario.
Seattle Yoga News: What inspired you to become a yoga teacher?
Jill Baumgardner: For 15 years I chased action oriented adventures and it wasn’t uncommon to sustain an injury every so often. Injury led me to staying in one place, indoors, for periods longer than usual. Having seen my mother and sister, Angela, regularly practice yoga asana, meditation, chanting, and pranayama when I was younger, I remembered their many benefits. I fell in love with the diversity and presence yoga offered my healing.
Angela DiMario: Growing up our Mom was always doing yoga at home and in High school I regularly started doing it with her. She taught me Hatha yoga including chanting, meditation, pranayama & asana. It became such a routine for us that as I moved away and went to college, I sought out yoga as a daily routine. Through so much change in my life, my passion for yoga was consistent. Becoming a teacher was the best way I could share my love and passion.
Seattle Yoga News: What is one piece of advice you always give your students?
Jill Baumgardner: Be present. Authenticity is inspiration. We create a collective consciousness on the mat to support one another in the journey of mindful breath, embodiment, positive thoughts and what feeds your Spirit.
Angela DiMario: Flexibility, balance, and handstands will come and go, find what remains. Allow your practice to be different everyday, and honor that showing up is most of the work. Consistency is key. Stay focused on the inner journey.
Seattle Yoga News: How would you describe your yoga philosophy?
Jill Baumgardner: “There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, richer, stronger, or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside yourself.” Miyamoto Musashi ~ a samurai warrior that the late Dean Potter told me about.
Angela DiMario: Yoga is the map of our consciousness. It leads us to unity with ourselves and all others.
Seattle Yoga News: If you could practice with anyone dead or alive, who would that be and why?
Jill Baumgardner: my grandmothers and great grandmothers. To have my sisters, mother and grandmothers all together for a moving meditation sounds divine.
Angela DiMario: aww, just what Jill said!
Seattle Yoga News: How lucky are you and why?
Angela DiMario: Family is everything to me, and so to share with my sister and my best friend in business, partnership and friendship is the greatest wealth possible.
Jill Baumgardner: Exactly what Angela said!
Seattle Yoga News: If you could be an animal, a plant or an ingredient, which one would you be and why?
Jill Baumgardner: Monkey – it’s my favorite and most challenging attribute I have, favoring my ability to climb over running my monkey mind. 🙂
Angela DiMario: Lion. I am fiercely loyal and protective of my family.
Seattle Yoga News: What is your latest favorite thing about humanity?
Jill Baumgardner: We are together. Community creates cohesion and no matter the distance we can connect through intention, breath, voice and acts toward a greater good for all.
Angela DiMario: One of my favorite things is that we’re all the same.
Seattle Yoga News: Who would you like to nominate next for the yoga teacher spotlight?
Jill Baumgardner & Angela DiMario: Gianna Carotenuto.
Jill Baumgardner’s bio: Jill brings a clear, steady and compassionate presence to the classroom. Her classes are known for weaving physical intensity with the development of mindful self awareness. Jill gives practical and sensitive individualized instruction. Her skillfulness in adjusting and modifying poses empowers students to work safely and in a healing way with injuries and health conditions. She is passionately committed to turning people on to embodying Spirit in their yoga practice and in their lives.
Jill teaches AcroYoga, Forrest yoga and pre & postnatal Yoga and received a MA in Counseling Psychology, Concentration in Somatic Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies in 2010. Her Yogi pursuits include a love for climbing, cycling, and water sports. Jill has a four year old son and her family is often out and about in the Ballard community.
Angela DiMario’s bio: Angela brings a unique quality of presence to her yoga classes. She cultivates a safe healing space by means of mindfulness, challenge, and fun. Her ability to connect with each individual’s needs, guiding students to their edge, provides the necessary integrity to work authentically; truly celebrating the journey of each individual’s process–their yoga. Angela brings great joy in sharing her passion for yoga with others. She provides a platform to show up authentically, compassionately, and to connect in a way that supports how one lives with themselves and in the world in a conscious and positive manner.
Angela teaches AcroYoga, Forrest Yoga, and Prenatal Yoga and has studied in depth with Ana Forrest, Sri Dharma Mittra, & Shiva Rea. These teachers, and many other gifted yogis, including her mother, have guided Angela over the past 15 years.
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