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 Dawn Irene Aragón.
Seattle Yoga News: What inspired you to become a yoga teacher?
Dawn Irene Aragón: I love everything about exploring how yogic philosophy plays out in the modern world. As the yoga industry boomed, I noticed how asana was becoming the gateway drug to whole-person healing. For me, being a yoga teacher allows the perfect inroad to guide people toward personalized transformation.
Seattle Yoga News: What is one piece of advice you always give your students?
Dawn Irene Aragón: Movement is guided by Prāṇāyāma (controlled breathing), form predicates depth. Make mindful movements with advanced awareness and humble repetition. Ask yourself what you are actually doing in asana practice.
Seattle Yoga News: Describe your yoga philosophy?
Dawn Irene Aragón: Yoga Is…
All healing is self-healing.
Together, we find strength (iRON) with softness (FAERY).
~iF~ prana guides your individual or partner practice, Anything Is Possible.
Seattle Yoga News: If you could practice with anyone dead or alive, who would that be and why?
Dawn Irene Aragón: Hands down, Śrī T Krishnamacharya. Why? Krishnamacharya devoted much of his life to developing the link between yoga and healing. Legend has it he also did spectacular demonstrations that would put Instagram to shame!
Seattle Yoga News: How lucky are you and why?
Dawn Irene Aragón: I define ‘luck’ as Grace + Effort. In this light, I’m the luckiest girl in the universe. I follow a path of self-healing I trust. I’m in partnership wherein I am completely seen and elevated. I have a son who grounds me, a village I love, and a vision of how I can follow my dharma.
Seattle Yoga News: If you could be an animal or a plant, which one would you be and why?
Dawn Irene Aragón: Take a peek at the botanical garden tattooed on my back, Orchids. With a delicate, sculptural beauty and historical rarity, these exotic blooms carry an unrivaled symbol of refinement, luxury and mystery. My favorite fun fact—each Orchid flower is bilateral symmetric, which means that it can be divided in two equal parts.
Seattle Yoga News: What is your latest favorite thing about humanity?
Dawn Irene Aragón: Knowing we serve better, together.
Seattle Yoga News: Anything else you’d like the local yoga community to know about you?
Dawn Irene Aragón: One (of many) embarrassing facts about me is that I have been married and divorced FOUR times, engaged 8. I resonate with the all-or-none neuronal principle. I love, love. Fortunately, about 3 years ago, I realized union with another being mandates complete vulnerability, Primaltrust. I love you, Greg.
Bio: iRONFAERY (iF): STRONG • BALANCED • BEAUTIFUL
Helping myself whilst serving others, I am deep in my dharma. Twenty years ago, I knew I needed to mediate, to quiet my racing thoughts and elevate my shadows. Auspiciously, as I began serving veterans with cancer as a whole health psychologist, I was introduced to the bhakti yogic path via Siddha Yoga Meditation. I received my yoga teacher certification from Sri Dharma Mittra (2006). The spark of AcroYoga was ignited at Burning Man where I embraced the mantra “Trust & Surrender”—received my AcroYoga teacher certificate from the co-founders of AcroYoga International (2007). My most recent studies took me on a month-long journey to London, UK, for Edward Clark’s Tripsichore Intensive Study Course (2014).
