Her yoga practice started in northern California, where she remembers going to yoga classes with her mother when she was very young. Then she gave it up for a decade as she grappled with obesity and anorexia, compulsive exercise, and deep depression. She has been teaching full-time for seven years in Washington, DC. She now divides her time teaching yoga, speaking at sororities and high schools about her journey, and writing freelance. Paula also facilitates creativity focus groups in her home. Paula and her partner, Carlo, live in New York City, where Paula works toward a graduate degree from Columbia University so she can reach more people with her message of hope. Please check her out at PaulaDAtkinson.com