Monique in Taos, New Mexico
Photo by Brendan Curran 2005

“The daily yoga practice that Monique created for me has touched my life in almost every way imaginable. From better digestion to greater self-expression and more compassion for others, my yoga practice continues to provide amazing consequences in my everyday life. The yoga postures are gentle and relaxing, yet very powerful in their effects on my body and mind.  And the best part:  I just started doing my practice less than two months ago. I can only imagine the ways in which it will continue to permeate and enrich my life."

Shannon Morrison, Ph.D.
Albuquerque, N.M.

Monique Parker has been studying yoga since 1996 and teaching for the past eight years. She is a personal student of A.G. Mohan and Indra Mohan of Chennai, India, the long- time private students of the late Sri Krishnamacharya and authors of Yoga Therapy and Yoga for Body, Breath, and Mind.

Monique is honored to be a member of the first cohort certified in Svastha Yoga in the United States.
A member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists and Yoga Alliance, Monique offers personalized yoga and yoga programs throughout the Enchanted Circle of Northern New Mexico, including at the University of New Mexico-Taos, El Monte Sagrado Living Resort & Spa, Santosha Yoga of Taos, Northside Health and Fitness Center of Taos, and the Angel Fire Community Center. In March 2008, she attended the 2nd Annual Symposium on Yoga Therapy & Research in Los Angeles as an IAYT scholarship recipient.

As the oldest personal development system in the world, Monique believes yoga's power lies in its psychology.
"The psychological methodologies yoga presents supersede even its unparalleled contribution to fitness. With the right individualized practice, yoga can aid the practitioner in developing concentration and discernment. Of course, optimum health and well-being are vastly important.
But ultimately, the goal is in realizing a state of perpetual peace or contentedness."

An English Composition instructor at the University of New Mexico-Taos, Monique also writes fiction and creative nonfiction. She received an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University after earning a living as a copywriter in Silicon Valley for over fifteen years. Monique was the editor of Chokecherries, the annual anthology of the Society of the Muse of the Southwest, from 2003-2007. Monique created The Yoga of Writing consultations, retreats, and workshops to help writers reconnect with their authentic voice. She advocates the practice of yoga and writing together to recharge one’s creative faculties and to bring greater alignment between body and mind, and ultimately, with one’s higher Self.