I want to talk about what mindful yoga actually means. Not in a textbook way, but in a way that is honest about how I got here and what it actually looks like when you are in the room.
If you're just here for the quick answer, this is how I would describe a Mindful Flow class:
Mindful Flow is a practice where the breath sets the pace for every movement. Instead of flowing through memorized sequences on autopilot, you slow down enough to actually feel what is happening in your body. It is less about the shapes you make and more about who you are while you are making them.
For a long time, this is not what I taught. At all.
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When I moved from Brasil to San Francisco in 2015, I felt like I had landed in a yoga mecca. So many well-known teachers, studios everywhere, and a community that had been practicing for decades. I was a newer teacher, I knew absolutely no one, and I needed to find my way in.
My way in turned out to be Boxing Yoga. I had met Kajza and Matt shortly before I moved, and they had created this method that combined boxing sequences with yoga. It was fun, it was reaching people who would never have walked into a regular yoga class, and it ended up being the thing that launched my teaching career in San Francisco. From there I moved into teaching powerful styles full time. Power Yoga, Vinyasa Level 2/3. Fast, strong, sweaty classes. I really loved it.
But even while I was building my career around those classes, I kept feeling pulled toward something much slower. Something that felt more sacred to me. I had been going to sitting silent meditation retreats since 2010. I dipped my toes in tai chi, jiu jitsu and pilates. I did a training on yoga and mental health. All of it was pulling me in a quieter direction.
And then I got pregnant and my practice started to change in ways I could not ignore. The powerful flows just did not serve my body anymore. I needed something different. And through my pregnancies and the postpartum period, my practice slowly morphed into what I now call Mindful Flow.
In Mindful Flow we skip all the chaturangas and the down dogs. Not because there is anything wrong with them, but because I found that those shapes can become autopilot really easily. You move with the motion instead of with your breath. Your body knows the choreography so your mind just checks out. And that is kind of the opposite of what I am trying to create in the room.
The idea is that the breath sets the pace and initiates every movement. A full inhale. A full exhale. Movements do not have to go faster than that. And we do small sequences on repeat so you actually get to feel what is happening. How does this connect with your breath. What feels good for you today. How are you serving your body right now.
We try to move through all the joints, keeping them healthy and mobile. And even though you will start to recognize certain shapes when you come more often, every class is genuinely different. Partly because the sequencing shifts, but mostly because you are different. You are connecting to how you feel today. Not last Tuesday.
Some days you show up and you are surprised by how much energy you have. Other days the mind is so distracted you can barely stay with the breath for more than a few seconds. And then there are days where honestly you are just glad you made it to class.
We do not push through any of that. We meet ourselves where we are. Some days that means you work harder. Other days you give yourself more breaks. There is no wrong answer here.
A lot of yoga classes say they focus on the connection between breath and movement. And they do. But mindful yoga, at least the way I understand it and teach it, is about more than that.
It is about getting familiar with who you actually are in this moment. The real version. Not the one from yesterday and not the one you think you should be by now.
Over time that starts to do something interesting. You begin to notice the voices in your head. The little conversations you are constantly having with yourself. The patterns that run your habits and your actions without you even realizing. Not to judge any of it. Just to finally see it clearly.
I think that is what the practice is really for. The postures are honestly just the vehicle. What is happening inside of them is the part that changes things.
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Honestly most people. But especially people who feel like they have been going through the motions. In yoga or just in general. People who are burned out and kind of over being told to push harder and do more. People who are curious about what it would feel like to actually slow down.
You do not need any experience. You do not need to be flexible. You just need to be willing to show up however you are that day.
We offer Mindful Flow at Home Studio Yoga in San Anselmo. It is one of our most loved classes and probably the one I am most proud of building. If you have been looking for a practice that meets you where you are instead of asking you to perform, this might be it.
You can see our full schedule and book your first class at homestudio.yoga/our-schedule.
With love,
Martine
