Crystals and stones can lend support and provide energetic balance during this time. Each stone has a unique molecular structure and vibration, one created as the stone forms. It is the vibrational frequency of the stone that gives each its properties….
Read MoreWhether we share our family recipes, our own creations, riffs on classics, or recipes informed by traditional medicine, our hope is that our recipes and food stories provide nourishment of both body and soul. They are sent with love and warm wishes.
This holiday season we’re sharing some of the “golden-oldie” favorites…
Read MoreIn the dark days of winter, around the Winter Solstice, we long for the light of the sun. Our wintertime traditions with stories of bright stars, traditions of Yule logs and candles, and decorating with twinkling lights all serve as reminders to look toward the coming light in all its forms.
Read MoreWhen I was a girl, the Christmas holiday was a weeklong gathering of my mom’s five siblings and all of their children in my grandparents’ house. We all cooked, baked cookies, strung popcorn and cranberries to hang on the tree, played cards, and sang together in the days leading up to Christmas.
Read MoreIf you have not prepared Indian food, this vibrantly yellow curry is a great place to start. Once you have these spices on hand, you can use them in varying combinations to prepare a variety of Indian dishes in addition to various curries including biryani, korma, and vindaloo.
Read MoreThis all-natural, skin soothing body butter is easy to make with just a few ingredients that can be found at a natural food market or ordered online.
Read MoreI started to examine how the repetitive, mundane tasks of life – whether working on the farm with all it entailed or, later, attending to my own home with its demands for care and payments – felt in my body. The more I focused on the chore, the more aware I became of the emotions and sensations emerging.
Read MoreDuring this time of year, when we are reminded to pause and feel gratitude for our good fortunes and blessings, I realize that “thanksgiving” has not been an annual event for me in a very long time. The practice of yoga, mindfulness, and healing brings gratitude front and center – a daily pause kindled by the observation of life’s victories, no matter how small.
Read MoreViparita karani: You probably know it as Legs Up the Wall pose and, chances are, you’ve enjoyed this relaxing pose at the end of a gentle or hatha yoga class. This posture may look simple – and even feel simple; however, there is much more to it than meets the eye.
Read MoreCasey discovered yoga in 2009 while searching for a path towards healing. After feeling disconnected for years, yoga provided the space and tools needed to befriend her own body and release past trauma. As her practice deepened, she experienced how the power of breath, movement, and present moment awareness can lead to a more embodied life. With a background in victim advocacy, she wanted to learn more and be able to share this healing practice with others. She completed her RYT 200 training through Core Power Yoga in 2013 and has been teaching in various settings since. Casey has additional training in Yin yoga, trauma-informed yoga, and Reiki. She strives to create a safe and welcoming space for all students to explore movement and reconnect with their body and breath. Casey lives with her family near Northfield and in her spare time enjoys reading, cooking, paddleboarding, and puzzles.
Isabel fell in love with yoga in high school and has been coming back to the practice ever since. She completed her RYT-200 teacher training at Green Lotus in 2019 and has done continuing education in trauma-informed and addiction-recovery approaches to yoga practice. Isabel has a strong background in dance and the arts and loves to bring movement and creativity into all aspects of life. Isabel's yoga and meditation practice has taught her how to navigate difficult times with grace and courage. Her mission is to help others deepen their inner connection and find more balance and joy in life.
Jennifer became dedicated to her practice in 2012. She was looking for a way to manage stress and anxiety, deepen her spirituality with meditation, and help heal from a past knee injury. Through yoga, she also found that her practice taught self-love, gratitude, forgiveness, and kindness for all beings. Jennifer has a decade of experience in the Human Services field helping clients with basic human needs. Combining her passion for yoga and humanities led her to get certified as a RYT 200 through the Green Lotus Teacher Training program in 2022. She is currently studying to be a RYT 500 (advanced) SomaYoga Teacher at Yoga North’s International SomaYoga Institute. This experience will help deepen her therapeutic approach to teaching yoga. Helping others create balance through different styles of breathwork, asana, and loving self-talk is a way for Jennifer to give back to the community. She has a passion for wellness, and believes that love is a basic human need. Finding freedom in movement, showing yourself and others love, and mantra are some of experiences you may find in Jennifer’s class. Off the mat, she enjoys spending time with her family, hiking trails, cooking, and making jewelry.
Kaitlen began practicing yoga more than 20 years ago when pregnant with her daughter. Yoga and meditation had a profound effect on her (and her labor!), and it has “ held her hand” ever since. She has studied many styles of yoga and meditation throughout the years and continues to be guided to share the teachings with her students.
Her classes emphasis alignment and body awareness, pranayama, and intentional movements with a graceful presence. Weaving together rich teachings of Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, and Chinese Medicine opens space to discover, to release, and to connect inward. Kaitlen particularly enjoys exploring the intersection of the sister science of Ayurveda and yoga with Chinese Medicine and uniting these two medicines in both acupuncture sessions and classes.
She believes yoga is a synergy, an exploration of breath, body, and mind, and that at its core, reveals your spirit and your truest self.
Kaitlen graduated from the 200-hour program at the Devanadi School of Yoga and is continuing her studies in its 300-hour program. She is a 50-hour-certified Yin instructor and carries a master's degree in Chinese Medicine; she is certified in massage and bodywork. Kaitlen is inquisitive and curious, always learning and exploring holistic therapy and wellness that can create vitality and longevity and elevate our vibration in the world.
Kaitlen lives in St. Paul with her husband and two dogs and has two adult children. In her free time, she enjoys seasonal cooking, hiking, and exploring nature, travel, and creative gardening.
Yogi, seeress, star child, and lover of beauty….
Victoria Blackbird completed her RYT 200 yoga teacher certification from Devanadi School of Yoga and Wellness, where she also received her Reiki Master attunement. She has been practicing as a Shamanic Energy Medicine Practitioner and Holistic Health and Wellness Coach since receiving her rights and initiations with The Four Winds Society in 2018. Victoria blends her traditional training and intuitive energetic gifts with plant medicine and modern-day tools. Her intention is to guide others in their practice toward true authenticity, cultivating personal power and inner peace along the way.
Rian’s story begins with the growing true awareness of her physical body at the age of 12 through health concerns, loss of faith, physical weaknesses, and emotional struggles. Not knowing where to turn, she threw herself into fitness and ultimately found yoga at 15. She dabbled in it for a number of years, practicing even through pregnancy with her first child in 2012. Yoga evolved into a major tool in her growth process. Following her heart, in 2015 she completed the Green Lotus’s 200-hour teacher-training program. She later completed the 500-hour teacher-training certification at Green Lotus, become a mother of three, is a wife to a magnificent man, and stays home to raise her family and manage the home. Without her foundation, she would not have faced life’s lessons with the grace she found through the lens of yoga. She now works to share that lens with others on and off the mat. She is a guide, honored to walk alongside you in community with others.
As summer turns to fall in our midwestern clime, we observe the earth and plant life beginning to dry. We may feel this same sense of dryness or brittleness in our physical bodies or our emotional states. The near-constant motion of the autumn breezes and the sense of change permeating the air may manifest in our energies as feelings of anxiety or restlessness.
Read MoreThis is a song of life. Like most songs, and all stories of life, it contains both joy and sadness, and it begins like this.
Read MoreWe settled around the blue farm table in Deborah’s kitchen. Its worn wooden surface carried many layers of aqua-colored paint, applied seasonally by Deborah, a five-foot tall sprite with bright eyes, vibrant wit, and a flare for bringing people together….
Read MoreAnyone who has flown commercially has heard the phrase, “Put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.” This same idea can be applied to our everyday lives; to serve others in a meaningful way, you must first serve yourself. How often do we recognize the need to put ourselves first?
Read MoreSetting goals is an important step on your path to well-being. Understanding and learning to manage the obstacles we will confront along that path prevents them from becoming barriers and allows us to work through them to achieve our goals.
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