Victoria (Tori) Pehl Smith, Ph.D.
Tori has practiced yoga since the mid-70s and is registered as a yoga teacher at the 200-hour level with the national organization, Yoga Alliance. She has studied hatha yoga in the Iyengar tradition with Suzanne Newton, and presently Linda Di Carlo, since 1994. She has taken workshops with Patricia Walden, among other well known Iyengar teachers, and holds a certificate for a restorative yoga teacher-training workshop with Judith Hanson Lasater, PhD. Her teaching of yoga postures focuses on precise alignment and the use of props, which allows students with different needs to access the benefits of the poses. Tori believes that sitting meditation is an essential part of yoga practice and has meditated since 1974 in various traditions. She presently studies with Zen master James Ford of Boundless Way Zen.
In a parallel life in academia, Tori graduated from Stanford University and received a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of California at Berkeley. She has been on the faculty of Brown University since she finished her doctorate. She says "working with young adults is my delight as well as my bread and butter, probably because there’s a part of me that never stopped being 20!" Since Tori was a little girl, teaching has been a fascinating puzzle to her. She also loves the mentoring part of teaching and has regularly served as a student advisor and member of committees for the improvement of student life. She is active in the movement for Contemplative Studies, an interdisciplinary field that explores how scientifically based secular contemplative practices can foster whole-person learning.
Student life is more complicated than ever and many students report that they are negatively affected by the intense pressure to be successful in their academics as well as their relationships. Tori decided to write Yoga for College: Balance and Transformation because she felt that the many tools of yoga--well beyond just the postures--are ideal to help students thrive in their increasingly stressful world.
Tori lives in Providence RI with her husband, son, and two Border Terriers, Plum and Fig. She adores singing.
In a parallel life in academia, Tori graduated from Stanford University and received a Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of California at Berkeley. She has been on the faculty of Brown University since she finished her doctorate. She says "working with young adults is my delight as well as my bread and butter, probably because there’s a part of me that never stopped being 20!" Since Tori was a little girl, teaching has been a fascinating puzzle to her. She also loves the mentoring part of teaching and has regularly served as a student advisor and member of committees for the improvement of student life. She is active in the movement for Contemplative Studies, an interdisciplinary field that explores how scientifically based secular contemplative practices can foster whole-person learning.
Student life is more complicated than ever and many students report that they are negatively affected by the intense pressure to be successful in their academics as well as their relationships. Tori decided to write Yoga for College: Balance and Transformation because she felt that the many tools of yoga--well beyond just the postures--are ideal to help students thrive in their increasingly stressful world.
Tori lives in Providence RI with her husband, son, and two Border Terriers, Plum and Fig. She adores singing.
