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Christine Moore of Christine Moore Shimmyogini in I live on the Western Slope in Palisade

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Christine Moore.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Christine. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have always loved to dance. I started teaching dance 28 years ago in Boulder. I am the director and choreographer of The Figure 8’s belly dance troupe, currently on hiatus. Having practiced yoga for years as a dancer, I decided to take a yoga teacher training to enhance those classes 12 years ago. At that time, my son was on a military tour in Afghanistan. Yoga with veterans called to me, I was hoping for some insight about my sons return. Yoga was being offered at the Denver VA Center, I started there and facilitated classes for a year and a half. While expanding my knowledge and discovering all that yoga offers, on and off the mat. I started pursuing yoga in a different way than I set out to.

To be present in class with people that have physical challenges practicing yoga, who have barriers to even get to class, is a privilege and an inspiration. In my personal life I have had my own traumas and many losses, making theirs more relatable. The veterans motivated me in their beautiful dedication to move beyond the obstacles to improve their lives. This encouraged me to deepen my scope of practice. I started attending trainings specific to accessible and trauma informed yoga. Fast forward, I found unextinguishable passion teaching unserved communities and kept developing my skills to become a Yoga Therapist through International association of Yoga Therapy. When the program at the VA dissolved, I started teaching yoga at the Boulder County Jail, in group homes and privately while continuing with my dance. 

What is unique about my background is my Belly dance training that allows me integrate movement in a different way bringing together yoga and dance, hence the name, Shimmyogini. Shimmying is an amazing and therapeutic way to release trauma and stress and its fun! Yoginis come from a lineage of women who practiced all aspects of yoga other than asana (postures) and celebrates the power of a “kula”, or group.

My recent continuing education is focused on the divine feminine, Goddesses, Yoginis and Deities. Since my yoga and dance background are from two very different cultures, I know the importance of clarifying this and emphasize how they are not from the same lineages. I respectfully delineate between the two, doing my best to honor where my teachings have come from and those who have passed before me, as they are not from my own ancestral heritage.

In my spare time I work with The Give Back Yoga Foundation as the Director of the Mat Grant Program. I find that fulfilling as well. This program helps provide yoga mats to unserved communities benefitting thousands and offering them a safe space and a boundary to practice on.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I volunteered my time for a long time in hospitals and jails. That in itself takes a lot of dedication and personal expense. The desire to continue is from my passion and heart. It takes sacrifice and drive.

There have been some sorrows as well. I had one student in a group home who never spoke except to say yes. She was in a wheel chair and screamed nonstop. I spent several sessions with her and we connected non verbally. I offered her grounding and looked directly into her eyes, my thought was that she was struggling with proprioception and was flailing around in space, unable to ground and feel safe. Simply assisting her to find where she was in the room, with her feet on the ground quieted her and brought her some sense of relief, she would almost immediately calm down. The first time this happened the staff all came over and asked me what I was doing. She was scared and had been screaming all night. One day I arrived to work with her and she had passed that week and no one had informed me. I was deeply sorrowful. These kinds of connections come and go and I find that and personal attachment challenging. 

Please tell us about Christine Moore Shimmyogini.
As I grow elder, I proudly wear the hat of a crone, I find I wear a few different hats, and that I have much crone wisdom to sprinkle over the people who are ready and willing. Through Shimmyogini I have yoga offerings, and Sister Circles. 

When I wear my Yoga Therapist hat, I specialize in individual and group classes that are designed to enhance individual’s health and wellbeing. I offer a yoga practice that can aid in living a sustainable, more supple life no matter the body shape, gender, race, age or health. Every one of us can practice yoga! People who have challenges making it to yoga for physical or emotional reasons really call to me. I lead privates in my home or theirs.

When I am wearing my Sisterhood Circle hat, I am here to bring women together and connect with the insight of the group’s wisdom. There is a power in the divine feminine that is being called forward in these times. It does not discount men in any way, we need both the Shakti (feminine) and Siva (masculine) in balance to create equanimity and heal humanity. Sisterhood circles provide a safe and confidential space for women to share. These circles meet monthly and provide community, ritual, education, dance and support. I frame the ancient stories to be accessible and relevant to all things we as women are facing today. I love that the ancient Goddesses and cultures reach and teach us about life in so many varied ways sustainably supporting us timelessly. 

That some of my offerings are available on Zoom means people from all over can join in.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I had to ponder this for a while. I might have started earlier. If only I knew then what I know now! What makes this question challenging is that divine timing may not always be in synch with what we desire in retrospect. My life, my challenges and raising my son were all part of my development and gifted me many lessons that bring my work into balance. I think things happen when they are meant to and feel blessed in the place I am in, here and now.

I am most proud of my personal growth all around that I have yoga to thank for. I have continued my education and increased my knowledge and am always excited to share it with others. My students inspire me endlessly.

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Image Credit:
Brandy Emesal

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