About Me


I started my journey with Yoga-Bellz 10 years ago, but my beginnings as an athlete go way back. As a child, I was in perpetual motion, and as my Mom told me, I was upside down more often than right side up. So naturally, I became a Gymnast. I trained and competed from the age of 11 until the end of my Sophomore year in College. The chronic injuries were starting to wear me down, so I looked for my next passion. 

I then joined the Shotokan Karate Club at the University of Minnesota and for the next 30 years, Shotokan was my life, I trained daily, often twice a day. I met my husband at an International Karate Camp and after we were married, we opened up a Shotokan Karate Dojo. 



The “dojo” evolved, as our life with 3 kids evolved, and as my health started to declined. I had a bad car accident that damaged my neck and back, fought a successful battle with breast cancer, and then eventually developed a Chronic Autoimmune Disease. 

During this time I decided to stop teaching Shotokan Karate and start teaching Yoga. Yoga helped me with my neck, back, hip and shoulder pain.  Yoga also introduced me to Pranayama(breath work) & Meditation that has helped me keep my Auto Immune issue in control! 

My Yoga and Meditation practice started to improve my health. So I then, started to look for way to bring a more active exercise back into my life. My husband had bought Kettlebells and started teaching Kettlebell training in our dojo. The concept of using weight training with ZERO impact on my neck, back, and hips, was intriguing, the added bonus of raising my heart rate and challenging my balance was a godsend! 

Taking my husband's Kettlebell classes, when everyone else stood around between Kettlebell exercises, I instinctively started doing Yoga postures during the rest periods. I liked the idea of using an “Active Recovery” during Kettlebell exercises and started combining Kettlebell exercises with yoga postures to control my breathing and stretch. THAT is how Yogabellz was created.

My journey to creating Yogabellz has been a long one and now at 63 years old, I have never felt stronger, more mobile, and flexible. After having the honor of teaching Yogabellz to hundreds of students in my old studio, I can assert that Yogabellz is NOT simply a fitness class, but a road map to living a healthy life.

About Yogabellz


Yogabellz is the class where strength and flexibility will meet. It is a synergistic blend of Kettlebell & Yoga with an active recovery element that assists you in creating intensity in your Kettlebell exercises, and also working with your nervous system to help you recover better and faster, and get you ready for the next section of your workout.

The Yogabellz program is progressive and sustainable. The program naturally creates structural integrity and good form and it creates CORE from your very first class!

Here are a few foundations and benefits of Yogabellz:

  1. Creating power & strength
  2. Increasing mobility, balance & flexibility
  3. Linking breath work to both the yoga and kettlebell series
  4. Calming the mind, while strengthening the body
  5. Creating core, core, and more CORE!

It is my goal that Yogabellz is not simply a fitness class, but rather a class that is designed to move your body into ultimate health and wellness.

My journey to creating Yogabellz has taught me to “listen” deeply to the innate wisdom that we hold within all of us. I believe that ultimate health includes becoming your own best friend. Simply working out or stretching will not give you the same benefits as incorporating breath work, stillness, mindful motion, and again cultivating an ability to “listen” to your body and soul's wisdom. While your journey may start out getting in shape, Yogabellz has much more to offer you as deepen your journey to ultimate health and wellness.





Meet Rufus!


Rufus has been with me on my journey back to Health.

Rufus is a Wheaton Terrier and around ten years old now. We live in Minnesota and Rufus loves to walk, and walk, walk every day. It does not matter if there is a foot of snow and -15 degrees.....we go outside and walk.

Walking Rufus daily, inadvertently helped me start to tamp down my Auto Immune symptoms, constant wide spread body pain due to inflammation.

I noticed that the colder it was the BETTER I would feel after our walks. I actually started to look forward to extreme cold weather....no REALLY!

This brought me to research the effects of cold on Auto Immune issues. For many years now I have turned to Infrared Sauna and Ice plunges to keep my symptoms in check.

We offer in our Services button Infrared Sauna sessions go above on the dashboard and check it out!