When I first returned to Jamaica in 2006, I came with my beautiful children—ages 1, 3, 6, and 16.
I had no idea then that I would return just two years later to begin my journey back home… after leaving at the age of 15—just as my eldest child was now doing.
During that visit, I taught at a beautiful yoga studio in Kingston called Shakti Yoga, founded by Sharon Feanny McConnell, who was leading a powerful movement of yoga in Jamaica at the time.
I came in with full support—sharing Yoga Angels on the radio, teaching daily classes, leading kids summer camps, offering teacher trainings, and immersing myself fully in the devotion of sharing yoga from womb to wisdom.
I’m still not sure how I found time for private sessions—but I did.
When my time with Shakti Yoga came to an end after three weeks, I was ready to stay.
But life in California was waiting for me.
I returned to Los Angeles crying… as if I had left a long-lost lover behind.
When the Body is Away but the Spirit Remains
For the next two years, my physical body was in the United States—but my spirit lived in Jamaica.
Every night, I dreamed of the land I grew upon.
Every day, I found myself returning there in my thoughts.
Jamaica never left me.
The Return
In 2008, I returned. This time, my eldest—now 18—remained in the U.S., while my children, ages 3, 6, and 9, came with me. We stayed for four years.
It was during this time that I asked myself a question
that would change everything:
“If not you, then who?”
Who has the responsibility to bring yoga training to the people of this land?
Why should they have to travel abroad to be certified?
Why should this level of personal development only be accessible to a higher socioeconomic class?
The Birth of Access
That question gave birth to what became the Yoga Angels Foundation—our outreach program.
We created scholarships.
We created payment plans.
We created access.
And from there, with deep focus and unwavering devotion, I began carving out what we now celebrate today:
- A structured training system
- growing faculty
- A lineage
Over time, we have trained over 600 yoga teachers globally—each one carrying the work forward.
This did not happen overnight.
I have been training teachers since the year 2000.
The Dream
Since 2006, I have held a vision in my heart.
I would take my children to Bob Marley Beach in St. Thomas, where they would run free for hours.
And I would sit there… dreaming.
Dreaming that one day, Yoga Angels would have a self-healing center in Jamaica—a place for the community.
A place where the mountain and the sea meet.
The Reality
Today, that dream is no longer a vision.
It is real.
We are opening the YAI Wellness Oasis in St. Thomas—with the same ocean as our backdrop, and the mountain and pond as our front line.
And what moves me deeply…
Is that my children—now 21, 23, 26, and 35—will be there with me for the opening.
The Truth About Dreams: Dreams do come true. But not by chance. You must keep them alive in your mind. You must feel them. You must live them… even before they exist. So when they appear in your reality—you recognize them.
Gratitude
I want to acknowledge my business partner, Susanne Goffe, whose presence and partnership have been a true source of inspiration throughout this journey.
Through all the years of traveling back and forth…
through every tear shed leaving this land…
through my deep and enduring love affair with Jamaica—
She has stood as part of this vision.
Welcome Home
To the Yoga Angels family across the globe…
Our heaven is here. And we are grateful. And we are deserving.
