Following that there were 45 years where 'life was exercise’, with a brief and miraculous exception—she walked into Barbara Benagh's studio on Joy Street Boston more than a quarter of a century ago and discovered the unmitigated bliss of yoga under the tutelage of Barbara Benagh. Unfathomably, in retrospect, she walked away one day, and without intent, never returned.

She had her two sons, Galileo and Zeus, late in life and spent her 50s immersed in motherhood, education, soccer coaching, stilt walking, and children's theatre until her sons outgrew the need for a constant maternal presence.

It was that she found herself on the spur of the moment being invited by her best friend of 60 years to go to India to take a yoga 200-hour teacher training. Impulsively, and distinctly ill-prepared, she said yes, and thus it was that she walked through the doors of Down Under.

Walking through those doors changed her life with its rich fecundity of teachers and diverse schools of yoga. Down Under offered an unparalleled opportunity for learning, community, passion, and purpose. Down Under, quite simply, is where she was born and bred as a Yogi.

Following her return from India, she completed the beautiful Art of Assisting under the tutelage of Masaaki Okamura and then she studied for her prenatal certification with Bec Conant of Om Births and her 300-hour vinyasa training with Natasha Rizopoulos.

Ally has a voracious appetite for yoga—drawn to and appreciative of multiple yoga disciplines and a plethora of teachers. Ultimately her heart beats to the drum of flow. Influenced by Barbara Benagh and Angela Farmer, encouraged by Ann Curtis, inspired by Michael Ponte, nurtured by Hannah Adams, challenged by Kate Robinson, mentored by Marina Traub, and last but not least she has found Maybelle Rowntree, whose Sunday class has become yoga church.

Ally’s teaching style is expressive, lyrical, humorous, and non‑conformist from a purist perspective. She believes yoga is poetry in motion. For her, yoga is a moving meditation where she encourages students to find what moves them and to discover their cadence and voice. Ally intends to create a space in which students can practice hard things without becoming hard people. If her journey thus far has taught her anything, it is that it is never too late to begin. The exhilaration, hope, and heart of this belief infuses, fuels, and motivates her classes.