About Laura

I started playing the violin at age 9 after the strings teacher at Roesland Elementary, Karen McGhee came into my 4th grade classroom and helped me place my fingers for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and I was hooked. I went home and announced to my mom that I had signed up to play the violin, so we needed to get one. She told me later, you were never a very demanding kid, so when you asked for things like that (or in this case, announced), I tried to do it. I’ve been at it every since.

In college I had the best teacher, Cora Cooper. She was kind, patient, and always held high expectations. The ways in which she encouraged me were invaluable. I base my teaching today on what I remember of our lessons together.  

Because of her I was able to audition for the Topeka Symphony which has been my musical home base since 1995. With the TSO I’ve made wonderful friends, played beautiful, challenging music, and continue to grow as a musician.   

Here in  Kansas City, I’ve played in a variety of ensembles – orchestras, quartets, and pit orchestras for at least 45 different musicals, ballets, and operas.  

I’ve been teaching the violin to young people for going on twenty-five years. I enjoy watching my students grow as people, learners, and musicians. I love the way their eyes light up when something clicks, and they internalize what we’ve been studying, applying the new knowledge as their own. When a student finally graduates, it feels like returning a library book after only getting to chapter 5. What will happen next? I love it when they keep in touch.  

When I was first introduced to Thai Yoga about ten years ago, I was battling a chronic inflammatory disease. I was introduced to a cleanse by my teacher, Victor Roberts, that rebooted my digestive system, and from there my overall health. Soon after that I began a yoga asana practice that led to explorations of pranayama and dharana, with intermittent Thai Yoga sessions. All of these things greatly improved my health and removed inflammation from my body and mind. 

As Thai yoga was introduced to me in the vein of reducing inflammation and finding a place of ease, I hope to introduce similar ideas to my clients. Thai Yoga Therapies allow the body to go into a state of zero resistance, opening the door for tension to ideally walk out on its own. 

Or perhaps a first step is to locate the exit sign and navigate a path!  

When the body is shown where its points of resistance, congestion, and fatigue are, our relationship to these habits becomes clearer. Modern life styles almost encourage us to take up residence with, or participate in and nurture, stress and exhaustion. Unfortunately, it’s practically a status symbol.  

That is our opportunity to notice that it is up to each of us to create the atmosphere inside our bodies and minds in which we really want to live, and reflect what we want to live with. 

As Thai Yoga can reveal these factors, the choices become easier. 

To choose less inflammation with everything we intake – food, air, sound, thoughts, the company we keep, where we put our attention, how we fill our time on this planet. 

These are the decisions that create our atmosphere inside and out, our home.

What is the difference between what we really need to take part in and what can we simply observe, without reaction or attachment? We need not participate in our own tension, our resistances, however that manifests in our lives. We can first observe and then move towards ease. It’s certainly worth exploring, don’t you think? I practice Thai Yoga because I want people to learn more about themselves, be curious about finding new ways to improve their health.

I love working with fabric, the way it feels in your hands. The way it has its own flow and texture, and when added to, can create subtle shadows. It has its own landscape and architecture. I love bones, I think they’re beautiful, so at first I started out drawing skeletons in yoga poses. I also started doing children’s portraits about the same time -- their profile along with an animal that makes them feel brave and strong, accented with their favorite colors. 

Other favorite subjects have been images that come from spiritual exploration and path making. I’m looking forward to slowly exploring more personal subjects, as well as anything that catches my imagination, while also expanding how I can get fabric and other materials to do new things.

I’m developing my skills as I go, and I’m learning to enjoy my limitations because I’m forced to go in unexpected directions in order to get the idea out. And I’m learning to play, which sounds strange, but there's a side of me that doesn't enjoy wasted effort. However, this art form demands that playing happen. Random exploration and what if’s. Every time I play, I learn something new that works even better. 

I’m interested in the brokenness of things, and the beauty in that. And all the different ways to interpret the word, "broken". Broken apart, broken open, broken meaning tamed, How we search for wholeness and how things fit together while tripping over all the pieces and parts. And then, turning towards the pieces and parts we find dance partners, new friends, and connection.