Mindful Movement, a fitness class

Quick summary
The Mindful Movement Fitness all-levels class combines the exercise modalities of Variable Intensity Interval Training (VIIT), functional strength training, and recovery practices into a 45 minute midday experience. It’s all centered around bringing attention to how we move, and then getting into the experience of it. It’s about moving skillfully and with easeful joy! Michelle will guide you through this live-stream, 45-minute fitness style class, beginning at 11:45 AM PST on Thursdays.

Grab a friend and let’s move with mindfulness!

Mindful Movement, my signature class, is one of my most favorite fitness classes that I’ve ever offered. Why? Because we have fun moving skillfully together, and leave looking forward to the next class.

We gain a sense of what it feels like to be ALIVE. This class combines different movement modalities and practices, combining 10+ years of my fave ways to move). But at the end of it all it’s pretty simple. We’re cultivating our wellbeing, good movement and great FUN. It feels good.

This class will BUILD YOU UP and not deplete.

• We leave mindless striving, over-efforting and negative self-talk at the door.
• Yes we get our heart rates up, and become more mobile, stronger even more flexible.
• But we emphasize a more mindful, self-appreciating approach as we practice this form of self care.

You’ll become not only a mindful mover, but a more MATURE mover. What does that look like? You work with where you are for today. Tired? Take it down a notch. Want to jump and fly? Let’s travel through space! A particular range of motion not working out for you? You easefully adapt.

Another sign of a mature mover: You know how to trust your body and your body understand that it can trust you back.

>>See Class Benefits (further down the page) to learn more of what we’re getting into with this type of exercise.<<

Mindful Movement Fitness Class Details
The Mindful Movement Fitness class combines the exercise modalities of Variable Intensity Interval Training (VIIT), functional strength training, and recovery practices into a 45 minute midday experience. It’s all centered around bringing attention to how we move, and then just getting into the experience of it. It’s about moving skillfully and with easeful joy!

Mindful Movement
For the first 30-35 minutes we alternate between functional, mostly bodyweight strength exercises, cardiovascular movements (some impact, options for lower impact), and finish up with core strength training. 

Mindful Recovery
The 10-15 minutes of class is our beloved recovery time. We bring things down with gentle movements, stretching (shorter holds), and include some optional myofascial release techniques as we take a moment to reconnect to ourselves. This step is essential to building up your mind and body – so you can return to exercise another day fully recovered. (It’s such a sweet ending!)

This 45 minute movement-based class is made for all levels. It leaves you feeling refreshed, renewed and ready to move forward into the rest of the day with confidence and ease! (And if you have an hour for a lunch breath – you’ll have 15 minutes left to towel off and get a quick bite to eat….)

Equipment Needed – a yoga mat, bench or stable chair that you’re comfortable with standing on, towel and water

Optional Equipment: light hand weights (3-5 lbs); Optional for the recovery/mobility portion of class: yoga blocks, myofascial release balls or tennis balls (x2), foam roller.

Alternatives will always be given if you don’t have the optional equipment.

PLEASE NOTE: While this class offers plenty of alternatives for movement (it’s made for all levels!), this class is NOT for those who are in acute pain or are in a healing/repair phase (i.e. injured, in a tremendous amount of pain, on medications that could affect negatively impact an elevation in heart rate, under the care of a medical provider for medical conditions that exercise would exacerbate). Always consult with your healthcare provider before beginning any form of exercise to get their sign-off for you to exercise in this way.

Mindful Movement Fitness Class benefits that might happen for you…

• Joint health improves
• Bone health improves
• Cardiovascular health improves
• Injury prevention
• A deeper sense of body awareness
• Sensitizing to your body’s communication systems
• Stress reduction
• Increasing flexibility and mobility
• Realizing it’s never “too late” to self-care through exercise
• Knowing how to modify and adapt to what you need for today
• Feeling youthful on the inside (more energy, stamina)
• Happy, strong and healthy fascial connective tissue
• Building elastic recoil capacities in our collagen network —> more we bounce, the more we experience a youthful feel in the connective tissue and build our capacities for efficient movement
• Having a sense of confidence and accomplishment (being proud of yourself!)
• Cultivating self-care and self-compassion
• Realizing you are made for movement and that you actually really like it
• Making new fitness friends
• Experiencing that “mind-body” connection is REAL for you!
•  ….. what else do you thing this class could potentially help you with??