~ awake in this moment, at home in the world ~

Claudia's Story

Claudia Cummins has been exploring the art of embodied presence since 1992, when she stumbled into a yoga class in search of a little ease and peace. Ever since, she has been studying, teaching and writing about the wisdom and wellbeing that evolve from feeling awake in each moment and at home in the world.

Once upon a time, Claudia was a frantic journalist and frequently injured runner living in Washington, DC. Sensing that  her life was out of balance and somehow less than it could be, she took up a friend's suggestion to see what yoga had to offer. She fell in love with the practice with her very first downward-facing dog pose, and deepened her commitment over many years as she traveled the world to study with the world's most experienced and inspiring instructors.

Claudia cultivated her roots in the precise and rigorous Iyengar system of yoga, and then found her wings with the artful and organic approaches pioneered by teachers Angela Farmer, Victor Van Kooten and Barbara Benagh. Her love of both movement and stillness led her to explore a wide range of contemplative practices, including Buddhist meditation, Taoist qigong, iRest yoga nidra, Feldenkrais, SATYA movement and other modern somatic disciplines. A writer by both vocation and training, she has been sharing her experiences for decades, hoping to inspire others to deepen their own sense of wholeness and wellbeing.

For Claudia, movement and meditation techniques aren't ideals to be mastered but rather tools for deeper exploration of the energy that flows through the body, mind, breath and cosmos. She understands both ancient and modern practices as opportunities to cultivate wisdom, contentment and love, both within oneself and in the greater world.

She shares essays, poems and mindfulness practices on her website and beyond, and teaches embodied movement and stillness, both in person and online. Her classes are slow, meditative and guided by the breath. Her gentle approach, poetic imagery and intuitive instruction create an experience that helps dissolve long-held tension while fostering ever-deepening feelings of happiness, wholeness and ease. 

With an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a Masters degree in journalism, Claudia continues to explore health and happiness through a range of projects. Her essays have been published in a number of periodicals, including Yoga Journal, Yoga International and Harvard Magazine, and her work is featured in the anthology Spirit on the Move. She served for two years as a contributing editor of Yoga Journal, authoring its "For Beginners" column, and also produced and directed the video The Feminine Unfolding: An Exploration of Yoga with Angela Farmer.

Claudia has written two books, Inside Out and Upside Down: A Yoga Journey and  Illuminations: Inspiration for Happiness and Peace. She regularly shares online guided audio practices in movement and stillness for home practitioners at the site At Home in the World. She also curates the website First Sip, which shares a small dose of poetic inspiration each weekday morning. 

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