James

Yoga, for me, is all about life enhancement and presence. And like Weil’s idea of love, yoga is a direction, not a destination: yoga accommodates you wherever you are in life.

I first experienced yoga in a Honolulu Iyengar class in 2007, and since then, I’ve explored many complementary styles and practices before and after completing my 200-hour Hatha Yoga Certification in Portland, Oregon. I received my first attunement in Usui Reiki (a type of Japanese energy healing) in 2011 and my second attunement in Usui Holy Fire in 2024. In that span of time, I’ve taken Bharatanatyam dance classes, Deeksha under the full moon, Chöd guided by a Tibetan monk, Ashtanga, Anusara, Kundalini, Jiva Mukti, Yin, yoga nidra, aerial yoga, ecstatic dance, and many versions of Hatha yoga on my path to developing the style of yoga I practice and teach called AUMREI Yoga Reiki–yoga, Reiki, and meditation combined in a powerful session of presence. 

At Saipan Yoga Collective, I teach weekly sessions called Aligned & Alive. In each session, we cultivate Presence through breath and awareness, explore alignment in static poses, and express that alignment as form-in-motion through vinyasa—an intentional sequence of poses—before finishing with a Reiki-infused shavasana. You will also develop an ear for both the Sanskrit and English names of poses in these sessions. 

When I’m not teaching yoga, I am probably reading food, travel and philosophy essays, listening to ambient and electronic music, and drinking black iced coffee. You can find me on instagram @aumrei.yoga.reiki or my blog insearchoflostpresence on substack.