Hi Reader,

I hope you're having a sweet holiday time, in whatever way you celebrate. In honor of Nature's pause and reflection time, instead of two regular Sunday newsletters (on holiday weekends no less), this is my last love note of 2023.

First a new blog on Movement and Mental Health, then a Movement Tip for happy hips & inner alignment, registration open for weekly Embodied Resilience online practices (hooray! scroll down for special deal), plus two in-person deep embodiment education opportunities just around the corner... also registration is open for the origins of Chakras weekend workshop!

Movement, fitness, and embodied practices are key to supporting mental health.

In fact, as humans we’re wired to process experiences of life through movement itself.

On a primitive level, we’re designed to assess the environment we’re in, the world around us, through information gathered from our senses. We take it in, make sense of what we’re facing, and then respond — through movement. Whether it’s moving our mouth to speak, to say yes or no… or moving toward or away from the situation… embracing or running, taking a deep breath or expressing a big smile… it’s all movement.

When we move we complete a circuit: we take in information, digest it, and respond as energy output. Sensory neurons flow upstream to the sensory parts of the brain, and the only structural way out of the brain is through motor neurons.

We’re made to move to literally experience life...

Continue reading my latest blog, Movement for Mental Health on Medium.

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Movement Tip ~ Alignment creates arcs, parallel is purely an idea of the mind. Try this simple application at the hip joint, and tune into the differences in your felt sense of activation for clues of greatest distribution and efficiency. Watch on Instagram or YouTube, then let me know what you feel!​
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Two in-person paradigm-shifting workshops right around the corner!

I don't say that lightly - my joy and why I work so hard is to share the eye-opening, mind-expanding, movement-liberating understandings of revolutions in modern movement science. ​Embodied Anatomy: Fascia, Biotensegrity & Beyond is my favorite in-person workshop, always evolving in now 10 years of teaching about fascia. If you're in the Bay Area, join us January 27-28 at Folk NOPA in San Francisco. Your body will thank you for life. Teachers, this workshop will transform your teaching skills and help you create truly accessible, non-harming classes.

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The very next weekend I can't wait to return to my soul home, Encinitas to be hosted in the magical Aum Dome, a very special private venue for an introduction to fascia and the nervous system, plus an in-depth tour of non-linear, inner joint alignment at all the major motion centers of the body. We'll look at hips, shoulders, spine, hands and feet, then put it all together to investigate locomotion patterns of interweaving counterbalancing oscillations - the patterns of the cosmos, of Nature, and the underlying principles of life in motion. This is my first time to offer an introductory weekend of what we study over 9 months in the Embodied Resilience Atelier.​

Info & registration is live for Embodied Resilience™ Immersion into Spiral Alignment Feb 2-4!

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Embodied Resilience™ live weekly practice sessions start January!

I'm really looking forward to sharing my favorite practices with you!

Experience out-of-the-box embodied yoga practices of meditation, pranayama & modern movement medicine for physical, emotional & mental resilience. Registration opens the last week of December.

• Weekly practices meet on Zoom, Thursdays 9-10am PT
• Begins January 4, 2024
• Come live for the best experience
• Stay after to ask questions & chat
• Recordings available indefinitely via private YouTube links
• Monthly subscription is $30, for practices & perspective you won't find anywhere else
• (Please reach out if you're in need of financial assistance, I want this information to help as many people as possible.)
• The last week of the month will be free & open to all, live on YouTube (subscribe & turn on alerts to get reminded!) & in the Embodied Resilience Facebook Group​

☆ Join us for the kick-off & get your first 3 months half-off. Thats only $15/month for weekly movement, breath & meditation that will make your whole being feel grounded, alive, peaceful & present, that you can return to again & again, and that I don't think you can find anywhere else!

Click the image or go HERE to join us.

In service to good movement,

Michelle

PS. I'm excited to share that registration is open for the Elements of Ayurveda, Subtle Body & Tantrik Mantra Practice January 20-21, 9am-1pm PT. Christopher Tompkins will be a special guest teacher (sharing translations & mantra practice from source Tantrik texts)

Did you know that the modern understandings and meaning of the chakras are not truly reflective of their original context? Read more about the Tantrik Origins of the Chakras. This training is part of The Yoga Reconnection- living Yoga, Ayurveda & Shakta Tantra for modern times. The Yoga Reconnection and the Embodied Resilience Atelier are the two pillars of the Kutilaa School of Embodied Resilience 300hr Yoga Teacher Training! 🥰

☆ Weekly Classes ☆

• ​Prana Vinyasa Flow | Wednesdays 630pm | Folk SF + streaming live
• Embodied Resilience | Thursdays 9am PT | online | movement + breath + meditation for physical, emotional & mental resilience
• Somatic Flow + Restore | Mondays 645pm | Cloudbreak Yoga Sausilito | begins in March

☆ 2024 Trainings & Events ☆

• ​Elements of Ayurveda, Subtle Body & Tantrik Mantra Practice | Jan 20-21 | online
• ​Embodied Anatomy: Fascia, Biotensegrity & Beyond | Jan 27-28 | Folk SF
• ​Embodied Resilience™ Immersion into Spiral Alignment | Feb 2-4 | Aum Dome, Encinitas
• ​Agni: Ayurveda, Digesting Experience & Tantrik Philosophy | Feb 10-11 | online
• Evolutions in Embodied Practice | Feb 19-23 | online details announced in January!
• ​Advanced Anatomy: Preventing & Working with Common Injuries | Feb 24-25 | Folk SF
• ​Envision Festival | March 4-11 | Costa Rica
• ​Nervous System Wisdom of Ayurveda + Tantra + Modern Science | March 23-24 | online
• ​Subtle Body 30hr Immersion | March 27-29 | Folk SF
• ​Building Resilience | April 20-21 | online (start of Embodied Resilience™ Atelier 2024, open to public)
• ​Heart & History of Namaskar | April 27 | Folk SF + online
• ​Lightning in a Bottle Festival | May 22-27 | Buena Vista Lake, CA
• Embodied Anatomy: Fascia, Biotensegrity & Beyond | June 1-2 | online (part of Embodied Resilience™ Atelier 2024, open to public)
• Embodied Resilience™ Anatomy of Spiral Design & the Axis Syllabus | June-Sept | online (part of Embodied Resilience™ Atelier 2024)
• Fall modules announced soon.

*If you're tech-savvy and interested in the potential of work-trade, please reach out!*

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The Kutilaa School of Embodied Resilience is dedicated to offering accessible opportunities for helpful & relevant education on Living Yoga, Ayurvedic wisdom & evidence-based embodiment practices for physical, mental & emotional wellbeing specifically for modern life in a changing world.

If you've read this far, thank you!! Birthing an online school takes alot of heart & hard work. 🌹

If you know anyone who could benefit from embodied resilience or living yoga practices, the greatest gift of support is sharing these offerings with friends.

Thank you in advance!