All Levels Hatha Mix Videos
Levels 1.5+ (some yoga experience recommended)

You made it through 2020–you are ALIVE! Celebrate that and have a strap or chair/wall space handy if you’d like a little support as you have some FUN and DANCE into a brand new year!

This collection of seven videos, recorded for a 40ish-day sadhana over the final weeks of 2020, is intended to connect you with all that lights you up from within and combat seasonal affect disorder. Connect with gratitude, warmth, light, and love as you flow through these moderate intensity practices.

Affirm the hero within and your own RESILIENCE for nearly making it through an incredibly challenging year. Have a block or blanket and a strap or belt handy for some juicy hip and heart opening.

Conjunction Junction! Celebrate the spirit of UNION and the bridging of great divides as you yoke together body-brain-breath and peek at a modified Hanumanasana (splits) with this practice recorded for the 2020 Winter Solstice.

Cultivate a sense of union through postures that balance both hemispheres of the body. Strengthen and stretch the right and left side of your back and neck, both glutes, hips, shoulders, upper and lower body and then rest feeling a greater sense of unity in your body-mind-spirit.

Play with lots of Half-Moon shapes in this Ardha Chandrasana flow. Bring heart and mind toward balance, and invite your neck to find a sense of ease as you use hands to support your heavy head in variations on classic poses.

A more accessible look at some of the fundamentals from the Ashtanga Primary Series.

Start out on your back to open your heart right away and set an intention to balance effort with ease. Give your hamstrings a nice stretch and your spine a grounded twist before your make your way up for salutations that warm you for quad openers, belly-down backbends, and a balance in Standing Stage. Then tap it out with some Tao Yin-style fun and wind down with finishing postures to prepare you for a nice rest.

Revitalize with Crescent shapes to open up your side body, lengthen out of your waist, and encourage healthy lymph flow. Play with Gate/Supported Side Plank and Navasana variations to continue the abdominal and oblique work and rest knowing you’ve stoked healthy digestion to boot!

Nurture yourself with a stabilizing Goddess Flow to strengthen and open legs, groins and side body.

Like a loyal mutt, show yourself unconditional love as you challenge your balance, strength, and flexibility with different takes on Vyaghrasana (aka Bird Dog) and Vasisthasana (aka Side Plank).

Celebrate the 2nd lunar cycle of summer with a cooling practice that plays with Tao Yin style movement; have a block/bolster/folded blanket(s) or towel(s) for Supported Bridge options.

Begin reclined with a rolled/folded blanket under your shoulders to open your heart, then move through wormy/wavelike vinyasas to unwind tension.

Play with all kinds of Dog poses: Up/Down/Twisted/Extended–even Dead Dog! Please pardon the ambient noise & let your sleeping dog lie for as long as possible.

Invite a sense of expansiveness and light into your body-mind with plenty of Star shapes in this Tao Yin-style flow.

Find calm amidst life’s storms. Strengthen hamstrings, stabilize sacrum and get grounded.

Fly with your own wings and balance in Airplane, experiment with breath work to calm and cool your body-mind, move dynamically and play with a little “land swimming.”

Especially at times like these, it’s important to release stress and anxiety over things we can’t control and focus on what we can. Focus on your breath and cultivate detachment.

Work kinks in your neck and shoulders as you play with various hammock shapes. Start grounded to gently build strength and stability for hips, glutes, back, and core.

Find your wings and take flight! Open your shoulders, bring energy toward heart center, and channel your inner hummingbird with helicopter twists.

If the summer has you feeling hot and bothered, use this practice to chill out! Inspired by a sequence from Rod Stryker.

Kids/Family Yoga
Practices for kids from 1 to 92!

Jump into BIGGER WORDS for LITTLE GENIUSES, a fun, vocabulary-building book by Susan and James Patterson, with CRAZY BIG words like “hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia” –it’s an actual word!

For Girls Leading Our World, Inc., and inspired by Tarisha Clark’s “I Am” cards and India Arie’s album WORTHY.

Learn about psithurism (another big word for little geniuses) with a tree pose practice for kids of all ages, as well as the yogic concept of Karuna, or compassionate action to alleviate suffering. Let’s invite more karuna, less coronavirus!

Quick pre-bedtime puppy play for kiddos who need to shake some sillies out before getting ready for bed.

Gentle Yoga
Levels 1-2

Gather props, including a strap, blanket/bolster–whatever you’ve got! And make space at a wall, chair, couch, so you can prop your feet/legs up and take it EASY as you move into the winter season nice and gently.

Wondering why you had that 2nd (or 3rd!) helping or feeling like your metaphorical plate is overly full? Try moving through postures that open your abdomen, stoke a little fire in the belly to help you process all the incoming stimuli, and encourage healthy immune response by getting the lymphatic system flowing. Then REST & DIGEST.

Be brave with this practice that honors the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg and celebrates sisterhood. Balance strength with stillness in this yin/yang practice that is dedicated to Girls Leading Our World, Inc., and affirms the spirit of women and girls who empower each other.

When tech neck gets you down or whenever you feel like you can barely hold your head up, give this Yin-style practice a try to bring relief to your cervical spine and feel the ripple effects throughout the rest of your body.

If your back is feeling tweaky, give this “equanimous practice” a go to help balance your body through a symmetrical approach to asana.

Gentle PM Yoga to support restful sleep and wring out worry & tension

This PM yoga sequence can be done any with or without the chair.

Have props, wall space, and a chair handy to assist as you build strength for your low back and and open hips.

When you “can’t even,” try this “low and slow” practice that stays grounded to strengthen and heal through stillness.

Address gluteus medius tendinopathy to support your pelvis and reduce numbness, stiffness, or soreness in hips, lower back, knees, and backs of legs.

30-minute Grounded Yin-style sequence to help you keep your cool while stretching out.

AM practice to ease stiffness and promote peace of mind, body, and spirit.

30-minute Gentle at-home Yoga for the COVID blues, to help balance both your body-mind-breath

Have a blanket handy & begin seated for some foot love, then recline for heart opening before getting up to salute the sun.

Grab a block or stack of blankets/towels for this restorative practice that takes place almost entirely on your back.

Release worry about what you can’t control and focus on what you can. Connect your breath with Tao Yin-style movement to stay calm, cool, and collected.

Begin grounded, connect to your core, and nurture yourself like a loving mother.

30-minute YOGA for the COVID blues…

2020 has been a wild ride thus far. At the beginning of March, I attended my third memorial service in as many months. None of these losses were COVID-related, but all were difficult for their own unique reasons. Now, along with many of you, I am semi-quarantined, doing my level best to observe social distancing recommendations to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus that has affected so many around the globe. At times like these, especially, I seek home practices that help me feel healthier and find a sense of calm. While the studio where I teach is temporarily closed, I will offer “virtual yoga” via Zoom and Vimeo. If you’re in need of a little yogic healing as well, email me for a link to upcoming livestream classes, or try this “Lymphatic Flush” practice, borrowed from Felicia Tomasko. The 30-minute warming practice below is designed to help our lymphatic system flush out what our body doesn’t need. I hope it will help you make room for more of what brings you strength and healing.

30 minutes for Creativity

If semi-quarantined life has you feeling less than inspired, try this half-hour practice intended to get your creative juices flowing. Inspired by a Yoga Journal sequence to boost creativity, this series of just ten poses begins with a personal favorite: Supported Fish. Have a couple of blocks or a stack of blankets/towels for this supported heart opener that can help open your shoulders, stretch your psoas, and relax your neck. Connect with your ability to communicate from your heart, then clear out your wrists (and maybe even lungs!) with a little Southpaw Table (great for singers, as well as those with too much computer keyboard time). Aim true with Arrow Lunge variations to strengthen legs and glutes, open hips, thighs, and groins through Goddess and side body with Triangle, cultivate balance and focus with Warrior III, and open yourself to your own limitless potential as you find a cross-legged seat with a Lotus Mudra.

Half-hour Hatha for Strength

This Hatha Mix sequence is inspired by Derrick “DJ” Townsel, a former NFL player who now teaches yoga. Channel your inner athlete with this 30-minute simple strengthening sequence playing with various dynamic lunges and concluding with some nice hip and heart opening.

Rinse & Re-PEACE

Recorded on National Repeat Day, this practice–like MANY yoga practices–invites you to flow through a variety of Sun Salutations, in which we repeat the same asanas several times, but I invite you to add small changes throughout your flow to see if you can connect with your own ability to create positive change. Cyclical Namaskars can connect us with cycles of nature and cycles of life and help keep us grounded and peaceful. Adding small changes with each round may also connect us with our own creativity and our ability to disrupt cycles that we do not want to repeat. Challenge negative feedback loops by devoting yourself to the positive affirmation of PEACE through PRACTICE.

World Environment Lunar Flow

Recorded on World Environment Day, this “Lunar Flow” is intended to help you cool down a bit. We all have a part to play in addressing global warming, and we also have a part to play in bringing cool, calm, collectedness to our interpersonal environment. There has been much in the news to make us feel fired up lately. Violence and inequity rightly raise our collective temperatures. But to effect and sustain positive change, we can’t stay “in the red” all the time. I invite you to use this practice any time you need to find a sense of calm amidst the storm so that you can connect with the powerful place within you that comes not from a brute force but a life-giving force. Practice slowing down your exhales and moving mindfully so that you may become an instrument of peace within your environment.

Hatha Mix for Hip Stability

Play with this propped-up practice when you need to make friends with your hips. Tight hips are all too common but it’s equally important to build strength, not just stretch, in this overtaxed area of the body. So grab a strap and a block (or don’t worry about it if you don’t have them!) and move through postures that focus on adduction and abduction and help build hip stability through lateral movement. Open and strengthen hips while finding balance in Tree & Eagle, balance and fortify both sides of body with Locust & Tiger variations, and give your shoulders some love in Gomukhasana before taking a rest and finding a sense of union in Savasana.

Rock-n-Roll!

Recorded on National Egg Roll Day, this practice invites you to rock-n-roll out a little tension. Begin in Reclined Child and then move through some twists to open shoulders and wake up side body. Surya Namaskar variations will help build a little warmth as you move through standing twists as well. Have a block or chair or wall handy if you’d like support for your standing balance: Half-Moon. Half-boat variations for core strength are followed by deep front body opening in Bow. Conclude with some nice hip opening and relax deeply in Savasana.

LOVE WINS!

Recorded on National Loving Day, which celebrates the 1967 Supreme Court decision striking down miscegenation laws, this practice is intended to remind us that we can make progress by practicing love. Begin with Sama Vritti to equalize your inhales and exhales and invite a sense of unity into your body. Then find a Ganesha Mudra to open shoulders, relieve tension, and connect with your own power to overcome obstacles. Flow through poses that will help open your heart, balance both sides of your body, and ease your mind. You may want to have a strap or belt handly and a chair or wall space available for support in Dancing Yogi and Nesting Pigeon. Use this practice whenever you need a reminder that LOVE WINS!

30-minute April Fool’s Half-Moon AF

If you need a little levity, try this half-hour Half-Moon AF offering from April Fool’s Day. This half-hour Hatha Mix of Chandra Namaskars (Moon Salutations) will move you through a Goddess sequence building up to Ardha Chandrasana (Half Moon) for your standing balance, side plank options for core strength, followed by some soothing prone hip-opening, Reclined Big Toe and Endless Pose options, and finishing postures leading to a restful Savasana.

Green Beach Yoga

Take a little birthday excursion with me through this 40-minute 44th birthday practice, which I had to cut just a bit short because of the Zoom time limit. I’d hoped to celebrate turning 44 with a trip to Hawaii (birthplace of our 44th president!) but, sadly, that was not to be. So instead I had to visit Papakolea, a green sand beach on the Big Island of Hawaii, from my mat. Give it a try! Meditation and visualization techniques have a remarkable effect on the body/mind. I’d still rather actually be at the beach, but doing a little yoga while imagining myself there is the next best thing.

Froggy Flow

Start nice and gently on your back for this hour-long Froggy Flow and invite a sense of transformation. Wake up your core, open groins and hamstrings, and start to find mobility through the hip and ankle joints. Play with variations of Goddess/Temple pose, peek at arm balancing (or don’t!), open quads and front body with Pigeon and Camel options, clear out the backs of legs with Kneeling Sage, give your hips some love with a prone opener or try Mandukasana for a little more intensity and then rest feeling how ready your strong frog legs are for a few fierce laps of breast stroke this summer!

Tigers for Teachers

For teacher appreciation week, play with this 60-minute Tigers for Teachers sequence. My first teachers, my awesome parents, were both Mizzou Tigers, as was my big sister, also an educator, and my aunt, also an educator, as am I! So a Tiger-themed practice just felt right. Play with Vyagrasana variations to channel your inner tiger, strengthen your core, back, hamstrings, and glutes.

Aloha, Dancing Yogi!

Celebrate May Day, aka Hawaiian Lei Day, with this 60-minute “staycation.” Begin reclined on your mat, imagining the warm sand beneath you and the warm sun above you. Have a lei (or strap, belt, scarf, etc.) handy for hamstring and quad stretches, as well as Natarajasana (Dancing Yogi) and Gomukhasana (Cowface) variations. Light up from the inside with a little visualization and some good touch for your body-mind.

Peace Officer’s Day Flow

For Peace Officer’s Memorial Day, this 45-minute asana practice is preceded by 10 minutes for meditative consideration at the beginning of class, and about 8 minutes of rest at the end. Peaceful Warrior is our pose of the day. Through this pose and others, I invite you to connect with a sense of both vulnerability and strength. Learn a bit about dealing with grief and trauma and how we can hold both in the body, and discover how yoga can help retrain the body-mind to cope with pain in ways that may allow us to release physical tension and stress and form new patterns/approaches for staying connected with a sense of hope and purpose so that we can stay on the path of healing. Namaste

Yass, Queen!

For Victoria Day embrace your inner Queen. Take an hour to count your blessings and fill your cup with gratitude as you connect with your Crown and the ability to find beauty and grace, even in the murky or dark times of life, through a Lotus mudra. Start seated and begin to wake up side body and abdomen through twists and side bends. Take your “V” for Victoria into a seated wide-leg stance for additional strength and stretch through legs and abdomen. Play with salutations that move you through V-Sage variations to further strengthen side body and core, develop legs and glutes with curtsy lunges, bow to your sovereign in Humble Warrior, take flight in Warrior III, and finish with postures that set you up to take rest, floating like a beautiful lotus on a peaceful pond.

Dogs to the Rescue!

For National Rescue Dog Day, take an hour to play with all kinds of Dog poses! Dogs love us just the way we are and they are experts when it comes to staying in the moment. Show your body-mind some unconditional love as you start in Savasana and play dead! Then wake up core nice and gently, grow from Puppy to Down Dog to Up Dog. Play with two kinds of Twisted Dogs, firm and lift your legs 🙂 to build standing balance through abduction and adduction, strengthen and balance your back with “Bird Dogs,” open hips with Down Dog Splits, and then come back to your happy dog in the grass pose and let sleeping dogs lie! Take a nearly ten-minute rest and affirm yourself for your practice. Good dog!

Superheroes Sing, Too!

Recorded the day after Superhero Day and the day before Poem in Your Pocket day, this hour-long Goddess flow invites you to connect with your own inner hero and to the heroes in your life. I share a “pocket poem” from a deck of cards I received a couple years ago from one of my heroes, the co-founder of GLOW (Girls Leading Our World, Inc.). What inspires you? GLOW inspires me, as does music. We all have a song to sing. May this practice connect you to the sacred song in you that is just waiting to be unleashed. Namaste

Gentle Foot-friendly Flow

For this gentle, foot-friendly flow, have a strap and block handy and make room at a wall–or a chair/couch could suffice. Begin with legs up the wall to help clear out backs of legs and soles of feet. Then move through a few twists and seated folds before making your way up to a stand. Strengthen feet by coming onto tiptoes, add a strap for some additional shoulder-opening in chair cycles, open side body with Indulasana, then move to the wall for supported Pyramid and Runner’s Lunge variations before taking some final squats. Then move back down to the ground to open quads, tops of feet, ankle and hip joints, before finishing postures that will lead you back to the wall for Viparita Karani options with hips elevated and a soothing rest in Savasana.

“Afterschool” Special for Heroes

This 30-minute “Afterschool Special” practice is devoted to the truly heroic men and women serving others during the pandemic. Play with this practice when you need to find the hero within you.

40-minute Humble Hatha Mix

This 40-minute Humble Hatha Mix begins in Hero or Thunderbolt with bound-hand options to open shoulders and neck. Flow through Crescent variations to open your side body and Sun Salutations to build a little warmth. Play with Down Dog Splits and Humble Warrior and watch me wobble in Elevated Locust, ha! Then bring it down to the ground for more Locust variations and Bow pose, followed by Kneeling Sage, Bound Angle, and Twisted Sage. Rest for as long as you can in Savasana and discover more openness after moving through your binds.

Quicken Your Kapha

Another “Spring cleaning” practice for Earth Day seemed appropriate! This hour-long “Quicken Your Kapha” Sequence borrows from another favorite of mine, Rod Stryker. Spring is the season of the Kapha Dosha, characterized by the elements of water and earth, and also is a season when many folks struggle with allergies and respiratory issues. So give your heart and lungs a little love with this pranayama and asana practice designed to clear out phlegm (both literal and figurative) and release those parts of you that may be feeling a little stuck.

45-minute Moderate AM Yoga

Amp up or ease into your day as you see fit! You may want a block to begin with simple reclined twists and a few “yogi sit-ups” to wake up your core at the top of this medium intensity class. This “morning flow” can be practiced any time of day and takes an unhurried approach to connecting you to your inner strength and power. Move through a few Surya Namaskar C variations, finding your way through lunges, Warrior I & Humble Warrior, Goddess Squats with options for Eagle Arms and a twist, Wide-Leg Folds to strengthen and stretch legs, side-body opening in Triangle, as well as Tree to find balance and focus. Peek at arm-balancing with Crow and inversion with Headstand or Forearm balance, or just enjoy a grounding Malasana squat or Dolphin pose instead. Conclude with three cycles of Bridge or roll out a Wheel for a well-rounded practice and set the tone for the rest of your day.

45-minute Memorial Day Mix

Make your way all around your mat with this medium intensity All Levels Hatha Mix that will move you through Surya Namaskar C cycles that incorporate Low Lunges, Twisted Lunges, and Supported Side Planks. Flow through Warrior II, Peaceful Warrior, Extended Side Angle and Triangle, skate across your mat with Skandasana play, open hips through Down Dog Splits and twisted Squats, and strengthen core with Navasana and a peek at arm balancing. Cool down with more hip-opening in Pigeon & Gomukhasana, open shoulders with Eagle arms, wring out tension with twists, do your heart some good with Bridge or a modified Shoulder Stand, clear out backs of legs with Janu Sirsasana, Upavista Konasana and Reclined West Stretch and then REST and absorb the benefits of your practice.

Arbor Day Tree Love

For Arbor Day play with all kinds of Vrksasana variations, including standing balance tree shapes, arm balance tree shapes, Tree lying on your side, even a fallen log or two. This 90-minute practice takes an unhurried pace. It’s strong, like a mighty Oak, but moves with a steady calm, like a tree blown in the wind, yet firmly rooted in the Earth. Don’t let my barking dogs disturb your savasana! Stay for as long as you can and then go outside and hug a tree! 🙂

“Ha-shtanga” YOGA for when you need to MOVE…

If you are feeling “stuck” at home because of social distancing and continued efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, or if you are feeling “stuck” for any other reason, this practice is intended to help you get moving, stoke that inner fire within you, and hopefully wring out any tension you may be holding. This practice is a bit more “vigorous” than the one above, more aligned with what I offer in some of my noon “Hatha Mix” classes at NKCYOGA noon on Wednesdays and Fridays. In this particular video, I mix Hatha & Ashtanga practices. As always, feel free to ADAPT to your own needs! Yoga should always FEEL GOOD, and that is my hope for you: may you be WELL.

30-minute Nerve-Cleansing Ashtanga-inspired Yoga

Like the 90-minute sequence below, this short and sweet 30-minute “Nerve Cleansing” practice borrows from the intermediate series of Ashtanga. The 2nd Series, also known as Nadi Shodana, is intended to clear energy channels within the body. Think of this purifying practice as a kind of refiner’s fire that can help you burn some pent-up energy, calm your nerves, and clear your mind.

90-minute Nerve-Cleansing Ashtanga-inspired Yoga

This ninety-minute sequence is inspired by the “nerve cleansing” (Nadi Shodana) effect of the intermediate series of Ashtanga Yoga. This longer practice takes an unhurried approach, with a focus on staying connected with your breath in order to “clear channels of energy” within your body. If you are new to Ashtanga, I offer adaptations so you can modify the practice for maximum benefit. If you already have an Ashtanga practice, play with this sequence when you feel a need for grounding, clearing/sweeping out of emotion or held tension in your body-mind. I invite you to begin with a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to BREATHE, and an intention to invite healing and strength through your yoga practice. Namaste

40-Minute Jammy Time for Siatica Sufferers

I drew inspiration for this practice from a sequence for healthy joints by Juliet Sherwood, an octogenarian who is still teaching yoga! If you suffer from sciatic pain, give this 40-minute “Jammy Time” practice a try. You can roll out of bed for this one (or practice anytime), but you will need some basic props: grab a strap or belt, as well as a bolster, cushion, or a couple of blankets. You also will need some wall and can opt to use a chair if you like.

“I Am Worthy” GLOW Yoga Devotion

This video introduces how you can use Tarisha Clark’s “I Am” cards to set an intention for your yoga practice. This goes out especially to all the families, girls, and women of GLOW: Girls Leading Our World, Inc.!

“I Am Worthy” GLOW Community Yoga

This practice is devoted to all the families, girls, and women of GLOW: Girls Leading Our World, Inc.! Give this accessible practice a try when you need a reminder that you are ENOUGH! Enjoy music from India Arie’s album WORTHY and allow artist Tarisha Clark’s “I Am” cards to inspire your practice. You are worthy!

I Am Worthy: “Ashtang-ish” Yoga

This practice also is set to music from India Arie’s album WORTHY and is devoted to all who support the mission of GLOW: Girls Leading Our World, Inc. This video is more suitable for those already familiar with Ashtanga yoga, as I do not give any verbal cues/instructions in this one, which means you can “listen louder” for the music and the sound of your own breath. Please note my hair is not even dry in this one, ha! This is for days when you can hardly wait to get to your mat because you know it will make you feel better. Inspired by artist Tarisha Clark’s “I Am” cards, this “Ashtang-ish” flow moves through a couple cycles of Surya Namaskar A & B, followed by fundamental standing postures of Ashtanga’s Primary Series (through Prasarita Padottanasana). Follow with Staff, West & East Stretch, Janu Sirsasana & M-Sage, play with a silly shimmy-and-shake take on Navasana and Ardha Navasana, and close with Bridge/Wheel and Padmasana/Lolasana. Take your Savasana immersed in “Sacred Space”, and affirm yourself for your practice: you are worthy!

Girls Leading Our World: GLOW

The GLOW documentary was made possible thanks to Kansas City Women in Film & Television, which acquired a grant from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency. This was my first collaboration with Cara Myers, of Vespera Films. Girls Leading Our World is a wonderful nonprofit serving at-risk girls and, since producing this video, I have become a GLOW mentor and board member.

St. Michael’s Veterans Center

This video is the product of my second collaboration with Cara Myers, of Vespera Films. It was an honor to help tell the story of the establishment of St. Michael’s Veterans Center, a remarkable facility that serves formerly homeless veterans, helping restore dignity to those who have given so much of themselves for others.

Love INC

I had the privilege of working with Cara Myers, of Vespera Films, and Brad Johnson on this video about Love INC, a nonprofit that seeks to help faith communities provide people with the social service resources they need. This organization unites people across denominations to help bridge gaps and serve people in ways that individual churches could not otherwise.

Samples of Radio Work

Many of the shows I worked on, first as an intern for KCUR’s KC Currents, then as a broadcast engineer/technical editor and assistant producer for New Letters on the Air can be found online. Visit the KCUR or New Letters archives, or the Public Radio Exchange to hear some of my work for these award-winning local and nationally distributed public radio shows.

Videos