Finding Yoga During a Season of Uncertainty By Assistant Manager of In Fine Feather Yoga
I found yoga during a season of uncertainty. I had just finished college and felt a little lost. I was searching for a style of movement that felt safe for my knee injuries. I had 2 knee procedures during my dance career that had left me feeling disconnected from my body.
My good friend gifted me In Fine Feather’s New Student Intro Special Pass so she and I went together. My first class was with Shelley Gordon, owner of Love My Mat and I loved it. I did pay what you can/community classes for months until Helena suggested I do Yoga Teacher Training, additionally offering me an Energy Exchange position. Through months of consistent practice, I felt my anxiety become more bearable and I developed tools to ease my stress. I made new friends and started dreaming about what it would be like to guide a yoga class, having been a dance teacher in the past. I felt my knee continue to get stronger and my own awareness of my physical body and thoughts become more clear.
As an experienced yoga teacher and assistant manager at IFF, I’m now sharing what I would have wanted to read on the first day I attended a yoga class at In Fine Feather Yoga. I hope you feel supported and even more confident that you’re being led into a community that welcomes everyone no matter what. A community that values, health, wellness, vitality, and most importantly, compassion for ourselves, each other, and the world.
What You Can Expect: Functional Movement & Mindfulness
Functional movement & simple integrations into mindfulness are important to us during any class on the schedule. All teachers begin each class with breath as an opportunity to land in your space and check-in with yourself. This allows students to heighten their own body awareness and notice the quality of their thoughts. Although our yoga classes are traditionally based on the Vinyasa and Anusara practices we sometimes like to veer off into other creative and playful movements.
Your safety is our priority which is why all teachers have studied anatomy and alignment for a number of additional hours to ensure we are fully equipped to guide with the utmost care and consideration. Through regular practice, students often find they build strength while increasing their range of flexibility and mobility. The benefits of a regular yoga practice are known to heighten your quality of life off the mat.
Going even deeper than the mindfulness practices we teach in class we offer a number of additional resources like blogs, IGTVs, quick chats after class, book recommendations, community chat in the private Facebook Group and more so you can feel confident when inviting additional mindfulness habits into your day to day routine. We want our students to feel a sense of ease, balance and connectedness as often as possible, not just on the mat.
Love & Kindness Are the Only Student Prerequisites
We continue to learn and unlearn how to create a welcoming community for everyone. There is room for every body shape, belief system, ethnicity, background, age, and representation at In Fine Feather Yoga. We feel inspired by the work Robin Yolanda Lacambra does and highly suggest our community explore her Sharing Privilege workshop here as an opportunity to go deeper.
You can show up exactly as you are. Rest your “baggage”, trauma, stress, mental health battles, hurt, etc down beside your mat and give yourself permission to simply be. We believe each yoga practice or act of mindfulness is a step closer to healing, growth and inner peace. The more often we can open our arms and hearts to one and another to share this gift, the more love and kindness there will be.
Financial Accessibility
This has always and will always be important to us. You can begin your practice for as little as $5.00 by exploring the various Online Offerings available here. Many of our regular students began their yoga journey with the New Student Intro Special which gives you 30 days of unlimited live classes for $30.00 here. If you are still unsure if a home practice will suit your lifestyle you can try a class with Helena for free here. We occasionally pop up free replay classes on our YouTube channel! In the warmer months, we host Yoga in the Park at Hamilton Gage Park. These classes are pay-what-you-can and give students an opportunity to practice outside! We will release the Yoga in the Park schedule in late spring!
How Our Community Stays Connected
It’s been really beautiful to see our community come together to support each other. You can request to join our private Facebook Group here. One of our ambassadors and key members is Carol. She has been the glue keeping the students and teachers connected virtually through book shares, donation drives, engaging post opportunities, etc.
We are better together. However, you find In Fine Feather Yoga, we are happy to have you and accept you where you’re at in whatever season of life you may be walking through. So many of us have found yoga during difficult seasons and our mat was and still is a safe and peaceful place to be. As teachers, we know this to be true for ourselves from our experiences. This is part of the reason we are so passionate about guiding you and holding space.
Book your live class via Mindbody here and explore our membership options here. I encourage you to read our additional blogs here to learn more about yoga, meditation, mindfulness, our community and the personal growth resources available. Follow us on Instagram here to find even more including Flow Progression videos and inspiring chats with myself and Helena McKinney, our founder. If you have additional questions, email info@infinefeatheryoga.com.