nOMad: More Than Just Yoga

by Jennifer Warren

Phoebe Miller knew the answer was in finding a home. Where that was and what it looked like were roughly sketched in her mind and the details remained a mystery – which was o.k.

A few years before Miller experienced two devastating losses: Her father's passing and a divorce. The primary caregiver to her dad and a partner for 15 years, she had been immersed in building a life for other people that had suddenly vanished in the blink of an eye.

Phoebe Miller

And with that evaporation came an unexpected crossroads. A former professional dancer who had taught Pilates classes, Miller had recently developed a passion for instructing yoga from a place of understanding of people's varying backgrounds and experiences. Through the transition, she was certain of a couple things.

"I wanted to travel as well as continue on the path of teaching yoga," Miller says. "There was a lot of deconstruction in my life and I just wasn't sure of where I was headed. I just knew I was looking for a home.”

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So she stepped onto an uncertain path, clinging to patience and faith, and having no expectations. In time, the vision of what she wanted to construct surfaced as nOMad: a Dutchess County-based collective global community of 15 yogis who completed a 300 hour teacher training program and possess "wonderer" – nOMadic – spirits, focused on living their lives full of joy, wellness, and connection each day. 

"We give them the tools to live their lives with more gratitude, confidence and connection," she says. "We do this by sharing new experiences on and off the mat."

Those experiences happen with yoga (outdoors at Beacon's Long Dock over the summer and during the fall and winter at Beacon's Howland Cultural Center), hikes up Mount Beacon, and more - including international experiences like a retreat in Bali. nOMad also offers on-line videos, detailing yoga gatherings happening thousands of miles away and bringing them right into people's homes. Tutorials as well as talks about yoga, wellness and travel are also nOMad offerings.

Three years later, nOMad is a budding community with enthusiastic teachers and members, but the journey was hardly an easy one.

"It was tough in the beginning trying to make something out of literally nothing," Miller adds.

On the horizon are other exciting possibilities – including a larger Hudson Valley yoga population as well as opportunities for those locally trained instructors to take their skills abroad.

And as nOMad members complete their teacher training, the catalyst for limitless, global job placements is there, opening new doors for all involved.

"I see nOMad being a global community of seekers around the world," Miller says. "As we continue to expand our teacher training, on-line studio and retreat programs, I see things really coming together. I just have to continue to have patience and faith."

For more information on nOMad, log onto www.nOMadalwaysatOM.com.

Jennifer Warren is an English and SAT Prep teacher/tutor and freelance writer who loves hiking, running, bicycling and cross country skiing. This article originally appeared in the Jan/Feb 2018 Issue.