Our Heart-Centered Mission of Inclusion: You Belong Here at Healthy Happy Yoga

I’ve been an anxious and intense person my whole life. That’s what led me to yoga and meditation. I was stressed out, I went to yoga, I felt better, and then I wanted to share that with more people because I saw so much suffering in the world. That hasn’t changed in 20 years, but I’m clearer and more granular in my approach. 

Healthy Happy Yoga’s mission:

If you breathe, you belong here.

Healthy Happy Yoga is a welcoming space to breathe, open to connection, and align with your heart-centered mission.

• We practice yoga and mindfulness because we refuse to be held back by stress and anxiety.
• We believe in a deeper form of self-care which empowers us to follow our inner spark and help lift the suffering of the world.
• We value empathy, equity, integrity and respect in everything we do.
• We are already worthy, as we are right now. We build on our strengths with grace and presence.
• We’re breaking cycles to co-create a more inclusive future.

Breaking cycles is hard, and we all need support. In this community you’ll be gently but firmly guided to become more present and courageous in your life and relationships. 

I teach gentle yoga, mindfulness & self-compassion to deeply feeling people who are committed to their inner growth and emotional balance. I want to help you navigate the big, sweeping emotions that life throws your way, so you can take compassionate action and make a positive impact on the world.

To have the most impact, you can’t leave your yoga behind on the mat. Your meditation can’t stay behind on your cushion. It has to seep into your relationships. I don’t just want people to feel a little more relaxed right after class, and then go home and yell at their kids. I want them to learn something they can take home with them so they pause right before the urge to yell.

I’m asking more from my students, and the way I teach isn’t for everyone. It’s for those who are ready for internal transformation. I’ve seen that growth in thousands of students, so I know this practice can support you to make your own heart-centered vision come alive.

Do you believe in an inclusive future?

Do you believe we can eradicate shame, and live in a more inclusive world? I do. Anxiety and shame are symptoms of an oppressive culture, not a personal failing.

Oppressive systems in our culture try to dehumanize people. We are all impacted, but I know you are willing to interrogate your programming to become part of the solution. I want to support you through that process, because I know it is the most direct route to an inclusive future.

My vision is for a more empathetic and equitable world. Will you join me? One way I do this is through financial justice by offering a sliding scale.

What’s a justice-based sliding scale?

Learn about this pricing structure and how to locate your personal financial privilege on the sliding scale through the infographic below:

Ethics and the effort to uproot racial oppression.

I endeavor to model confidentiality, inclusive language, awareness of privilege, self-respect and scope of practice. If you feel that I’m out of alignment, I would like to know so I can learn. We are all learning, we are all healing.

Mindful movement can help to heal racialized stress and trauma, which we all carry in our bodies to some degree. I have a role to play in dismantling racial oppression.

One way that I can support equity is through a justice-based sliding scale. Please make a contribution that aligns with your resources and privilege. No one will be turned away for inability to pay, and I will never assume you cannot compensate me for my work.

Injustice remains until we uproot inequity and oppression systemically.
In solidarity with Black Lives Matter, I want to share what I can with those who are most impacted by our collective grief. That is why I’m asking you to attend class for free as a Black community member. If you’re Black and you want to attend any of my group offerings, the answer is yes! 

Are you ready to shed your shell?

Over the past 20 years of teaching yoga and meditation, I have found the practices the help me the most, and I want to share them with you: 
Yoga and mindfulness practices that tell your brain and body that you are safe, so you can stop scanning the environment for danger and get on with loving the world.

"Emotional pain cannot kill you, but running from it can. Allow. Embrace. Let yourself feel. Let yourself heal."
-Vironika Tugaleva

Our relationships with others won’t change until we can be in relationship with ourselves. That is where true courage lies. One way we do this is by practicing self-empathy. 

We have to start with ourselves. If I asked you, “What do you need?” could you answer? When was the last time you sat with that question?

Ask yourself, “How are you feeling?” Listen to yourself with tenderness. After you shed the armor of stress that has imprisoned you, it may feel like you have lost a protective shell. It takes practice to develop self-empathy. You can use lists to identify feelings and needs.

The more specific you become in your self-empathy, the more attuned you will be to the feelings and needs of other beings.

Gentle, therapeutic yoga and meditation work on your nervous system to change the body-mind habits that aren’t working for you, so you can experience more joy!

That’s why I do this work. Are you with me?

Please comment and let me know, or ask a question. I hope you share my mission of inclusion. If you do, please make sure you are subscribed.