Hi Reader, If you've been flowing along lately, you'll know that I've been writing a weekly article on Substack where I share something about my practice and how it has anchored and supported me through life's ups and downs. And even though I had every intention of writing one this week, it didn't happen. Old Michelle would be stressing to the max, frantically trying to get a piece together and uploaded. I would have lost sleep over it and likely would have erupted under the pressure of...
14 days ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader If I’ve gleaned anything over the years of practicing Yoga, it’s that every time I get on my mat, I need something different. Some days, my body needs to move or build strength. Some days, I need to slow down, breathe, and settle my mind. And some days, I need to support an injury, low energy, stress, digestive discomfort, or whatever else life has 'happened' in my body, mind and heart. My practice changes because I change. And yours should, too. It's a bold statement, I know. But...
21 days ago • 2 min read
Reader I have to tell you about my week. Last weekend, I was leading the Tending Your Fire retreat at La Solitude in the beautiful, peaceful New Brunswick forest. And ever since, I feel like the Universe has been showing me all the ways that power can be harnessed and expressed. Or maybe it's that the retreat material has been landing for me on a much deeper level than I knew possible. I feel like I've had a plethora of aha moments ever since I departed. It's funny how that happens. I've...
27 days ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader This past weekend I was away on retreat, and honestly, it was such a wonderful time. And even though I led seven sessions, I came home with a full bucket. In our last session, before we all departed, I asked the group this question: when Monday morning comes, and the chaos of life comes rushing back at you, how are you going to tend to yourself and your energy? Then Monday came for me too. And let me tell you, it was one heck of a challenge not to get swallowed up. Last week, I'd...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
What do you do when you first wake up? For a lot of us, the honest answer is that we reach for our phones before our feet even touch the floor. We scroll, we check statuses and likes, we take in other people's news and worries, and we unknowingly hand the tone of our whole day over to whatever happens to be waiting on the screen. It is such a small moment, those first few minutes of the day. And yet it holds the capacity to dramatically impact where and how the day goes from there. Here is...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
If you practiced with me this week, you might have noticed a thread running through the morning classes, even if you couldn't quite name it. ✨ Tuesday was the new moon, and the practice was all about release and letting go of what's taking up the space where something new could grow. ✨ Wednesday, we stayed low and built steadiness, waking up the deep core center that holds everything else. ✨ And Thursday morning, we twisted and wrung things out, and closed out with this simple truth: your...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Years ago, I sat with an idea. What if you took a Yoga Teacher Training and stripped away the teaching parts, the ethics and legal bits, the standing in front of a room, and offered what remained as its own program? Something that went deeper than a one-off weekly class, or even a weekend workshop ever could. Where Yoga philosophy, Ayurveda insight, the energy body, and more were taught not as theory to become a teacher, but as tools for real life. It didn't happen. But what did happen was...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hey Reader, School's out for summer and I don't know about you, but as much as I love my family, already I can feel myself craving the solitude and structure of my normal routine. The one that gives me space to plan, to practice, to think, and to put pen to paper in the quiet pockets of the day. But... that will have to wait until September. For now, all I can do is try my best to go with the flow. And here's my plan for that: RISE and PRACTICE with me! PJ Yoga all summer long! Three mornings...
2 months ago • 1 min read
I don't know about you but it has been a week. Honestly, it was one of those weeks where the practice had to come off the mat more than once just to keep me sane. If you caught my reel earlier this week, you know what I mean. Five minutes away from my laptop and onto my mat, a few stretches, one very well-timed dog visit, and I was a completely different person. That IS the practice. Not the perfect hour. Just five minutes when you need it most. In the live-classes this week, we moved through...
3 months ago • 1 min read