Mindful Movement Yoga

Mindful Movement Yoga Mindful Movement Yoga provides mindful, breath-centered, therapeutic style yoga classes in Monroe, MI All levels are welcome.

Mindful Movement Yoga provides mindful, breath-centered, therapeutic-style yoga classes in Monroe, MI.

Years ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to take a workshop with the beautiful yoga teacher Tao Porchon-Lynch.At th...
06/17/2026

Years ago, I was blessed with the opportunity to take a workshop with the beautiful yoga teacher Tao Porchon-Lynch.

At the time, Tao was almost 100 years old — yet she walked into the room with a lightness, joy, and energy that was absolutely captivating. She carried herself with such grace. Not just physically, but spiritually. She radiated life.

During the workshop, someone asked her:
“How do you stay so positive? How do you have so much energy and joy at your age?”
Her answer was beautifully simple.
She said that every single day, she counted her blessings.
Every day she chose gratitude.

What a powerful reminder.

So often our minds are trained to notice what is missing. What needs to be fixed. What didn’t go the way we planned. But when we slow down and intentionally look around, we realize how many gifts we walk past every single day.

The breath in our lungs.
A body that allows us to experience this life.
The people who love us.
A sunrise.
A kind conversation.
Nature.
Another opportunity to begin again.

Gratitude doesn’t mean life is always easy. It means we choose to see the beauty that exists alongside the challenges.

Tao lived to be 101 years old, and I truly believe one of her secrets wasn’t just yoga poses or movement — it was the way she saw the world.

A grateful heart changes the way we experience life.
Today, take a moment to count your blessings. Name them. Feel them. Don’t let the simple miracles of your life become ordinary.
Because what we focus on grows.
May we always make space for gratitude.

This morning's class reminded me of her story.
I'm so thankful for this community.
See you on the mat, Malissa ❤

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Join us this week on the mat:

Thursday:
8:00AM~Yoga Flow w/Malissa

Friday:
10:00AM~Gentle Yoga w/April

Saturday:
8:30AM~Yoga Flow w/Malissa
10:00AM~Gentle Yoga w/Malissa

Sunday:
10:00AM~Soundbath and Meditation w/Renee

Register here:
www.mindfulmovementmonroe.com

Consistency is the quiet promise we make to the things that matter. Anything we want to stay present in our lives requir...
06/16/2026

Consistency is the quiet promise we make to the things that matter.

Anything we want to stay present in our lives requires attention, effort, and commitment. Relationships, health, faith, personal growth, careers, dreams — they don’t thrive because we care about them once in a while. They grow because we continue to show up.

The things we stop watering eventually fade. Not always because we stopped loving them, but because presence requires practice.

Small actions repeated over time become the foundation of something strong.

Consistency doesn’t mean perfection. It means choosing, again and again, what you want to keep alive in your life.

Whatever matters to you… tend to it. Protect it. Make room for it.
Because what we consistently nurture is what continues to grow.

See you on the mat. ❤

Tuesday's Schedule:
8:30AM~Vinyasa w/Kelli
8:00PM~Gentle Yoga w/Sandra

Register here:
www.mindfulmovementmonroe.com

In the Yoga Sutras, we are introduced to the antarāya-s — the obstacles or distractions that disturb the mind and pull u...
06/15/2026

In the Yoga Sutras, we are introduced to the antarāya-s — the obstacles or distractions that disturb the mind and pull us away from a state of clarity, peace, and connection.

Sometimes we think the things keeping us from happiness are outside of us…
When life slows down.
When things become easier.
When we have more time.
When everything finally falls into place.

But so often, the life we are longing for is already happening right in front of us.
The quiet morning.
The conversation with someone we love.
The strength of our own body.
The beauty of nature.
The simple blessings woven into an ordinary day.

The distractions of the mind — doubt, fear, comparison, attachment, restlessness — can create a fog that keeps us from seeing what is already good.

Yoga invites us to gently notice:
What is taking me away from presence?
What thoughts keep me from experiencing joy?
What am I overlooking because I’m waiting for something different?

The practice isn’t about creating a perfect life.
It’s about clearing away what keeps us from fully living the one we already have.

Monday's Schedule:
10:00AM~Yin Yoga w/Malissa
5:30PM~Gentle Yoga w/April

Register here:
www.mindfulmovementmonroe.com

Yogaś citta vṛtti nirodhaḥ “Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.”These words come from the Yoga Sutras ...
06/08/2026

Yogaś citta vṛtti nirodhaḥ
“Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of the mind.”

These words come from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali — a foundational text of yoga philosophy written thousands of years ago by the sage Patanjali.

The word citta refers to the mind ~ our thoughts, memories, emotions, and perceptions.

Vṛtti are the waves or fluctuations ~ the constant movement of the mind.
The stories we replay. The worries about tomorrow. The judgments. The distractions pulling us away from the present moment.

Nirodhaḥ invites us into quieting, settling, and creating space.

Yoga was never just about touching our toes. It has always been about learning to pause.

The pause between a thought and a reaction.
The pause between a breath in and a breath out.
The pause where we remember we have a choice.

When the mind becomes quieter, we begin to see ourselves and the world more clearly. We respond instead of react. We listen instead of assume. We soften instead of resist. We see more love and things we are thankful for.

What are you thankful for?

Tuesday's Schedule:
8:30AM~Vinyasa w/Kelli
8:00PM~Gentle Yoga w/Sandra

Register here:
www.mindfulmovementmonroe.com

So often we move through life hoping to be fully seen, fully accepted, and fully loved… while quietly carrying a little ...
06/08/2026

So often we move through life hoping to be fully seen, fully accepted, and fully loved… while quietly carrying a little bag of expectations about how others should be.
“I’ll love you when…”
“I’ll be happy if…”
“I’ll feel at peace once…”

Yoga gently invites us to set the bag down.
Not because boundaries don’t matter.
Not because growth doesn’t matter.
But because the heart becomes lighter when we learn to meet ourselves and others with more compassion, curiosity, and grace.

The practice reminds us:
~We can love without needing to control.
~We can accept without needing everything to be perfect.
~We can honor differences and still stay connected.

Maybe today’s practice is simply noticing what conditions you’ve been carrying… and lovingly choosing what you’re ready to release.

Monday's Schedule:
10:00AM~Yin Yoga w/Malissa
5:30PM~Gentle Yoga w/April

Register here:
www.mindfulmovmentmonroe.com

A gentle reminder for your heart today...So often we carry the weight of the life we thought we “should” have by now. Th...
06/02/2026

A gentle reminder for your heart today...

So often we carry the weight of the life we thought we “should” have by now. The timeline we created. The expectations we placed on ourselves. The version of ourselves we think we need to become before we can finally feel happy.

But yoga reminds us to soften.
To loosen our grip on what we imagined life would look like and open our eyes to the beauty of what is here.

Growth is beautiful, but peace does not live somewhere in the future when everything is perfect. Peace begins when we learn to appreciate ourselves and our lives exactly where we are.

Take a deep breath. Let your shoulders soften. Come back home to yourself.
Your mat is waiting for you.

Move gently. Live fully.
Mindful Movement Yoga

Tuesday Schedule:
8:30AM~Vinyasa w/Kelli
8:00PM~Gentle Yoga w/Sandra

Register here:
www.mindfulmovementmonroe.com

In yoga philosophy, the word duhkha is often translated as suffering, discomfort, or a feeling of being “stuck.”But suff...
06/01/2026

In yoga philosophy, the word duhkha is often translated as suffering, discomfort, or a feeling of being “stuck.”

But suffering isn’t always the big, obvious hardships in life. Sometimes duhkha shows up quietly…
The tension we carry in our shoulders.
The thoughts that tell us we aren’t enough.
The resistance to change.
The need to control what was never ours to hold.
Yoga teaches us that while discomfort is part of being human, we don’t have to become trapped by it.

Through breath, movement, mindfulness, and awareness, we learn to create space — space between a feeling and our reaction, between a thought and the story we attach to it.

We begin to notice:
~I am experiencing stress… but I am not my stress.
~I am moving through a difficult season… but I am not defined by this moment.
~ I can soften, breathe, and choose my next step.

The beautiful thing about yoga is that it doesn’t ask us to avoid life’s challenges. It gives us the tools to move through them with more compassion, patience, and grace.
A little less gripping.
A little more allowing.
A little more peace.

Move gently. Liv .
We are rooting for you. ❤

Monday Schedule:
10:00AM~Yin Yoga w/Malissa
5:30PM~Gentle Yoga w/April

Register here:
www.mindfulmovementmonroe.com

As we welcome the beautiful Michigan summer season, we’ll be making a few changes to our studio schedule for the months ...
05/21/2026

As we welcome the beautiful Michigan summer season, we’ll be making a few changes to our studio schedule for the months ahead. ☀️

To encourage everyone to soak in the sunshine, spend time outdoors, and enjoy all that summer in Monroe County has to offer, a few classes will be taking a seasonal pause until fall. We look forward to bringing them back as the cooler months return.
We are also excited to announce something special for June.

Our Wednesday morning online class is moving outdoors for the month of June! Join us at 5:45 AM at the McIntyre for a peaceful lakeside sunrise yoga experience. There is truly something magical about greeting the day together as the sun rises over the water. The first class is Wednesday, June 2nd.

We’ve also been so grateful to see many new faces coming through our studio doors lately. To our members who have shared our studio with friends and family — thank you. Word of mouth is truly the greatest compliment we could ever receive, and we are deeply grateful for this growing community.

Whether you are a longtime student or someone looking to begin their yoga journey, we would love to have you join us this summer for movement, breath, connection, and community.

Thank you for continuing to support our studio and local wellness community here in Monroe County.

Address

14 E. 1st Street Suite A
Monroe, MI
48161

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Mindful Movement Yoga posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share