My son was in town visiting from LA recently and he left me with a challenge.

Core work. Twice a day. 4.5 minutes each time.

That's it. Sounds manageable, right? It is not manageable. It is sneaky and humbling and I have opinions about it.

But here's the part that stopped me.

I was doing my reps the way I do most things, trying to get through them. Head down, moving fast, checking the box, done. And he watched me for about thirty seconds and said: slow down. Let each rep actually land. Stop trying to finish and start trying to feel it. So I slowed down.

It got harder immediately. Like, significantly harder. But here's the thing,  I also needed less time. The work was actually working because I stopped rushing past it. I keep thinking about that on the mat this week.

How often are we just trying to get through the pose? Get through the hold. Get through the wobble. Get through Bird Dog so we can move on to the next thing.

What Patanjali called sukha - the ease, the comfort, the spaciousness inside effort, it doesn't show up when you're rushing. It shows up when you slow down enough to actually be in the thing you're doing.

Sthira gets you grounded. Sukha is what happens when you stop trying to be done.

This week in class, we slowed it down. Longer holds. More breath. Less rushing past the hard part to get to the other side. Because the other side isn't where the practice lives. Right here is where the practice lives.

All levels welcome. Bring a mat. We'll handle the rest.

See you on the floor, Annie

Something happened in class on Sunday that I didn't expect.

We were working with Bird Dog, one hand down, one knee down, one arm reaching, and I was talking about finding your foundation before you reach. The idea that you can't extend without something solid to push off from. Pretty standard yoga stuff.

And then it landed differently than I expected.

Being grounded doesn't mean being stuck. It means having a home base. A place that's yours. Steady, reliable, always there; that you can leave and return to. When things are good. When things are bad. When they're ugly and shaky and you're not sure which way is up. That home base is the freedom. Not despite the roots. Because of them.

I didn't expect that to feel as big as it did. But there it was, on a Sunday morning at a brewery, in a Bird Dog.

That's what we're carrying into week three. We've been building sthira: the steadiness, the foundation, the grounded hand pressing into the mat. This week we find sukha. The ease that lives inside the effort. The soft jaw, the easy breath, the reach that isn't straining because it trusts what's holding it. Sthira gets you home. Sukha is what happens when you stop gripping the door.

All levels welcome. Bring a mat. We'll handle the rest.See you on the floor, Annie

Affordability. Community. Accessibility.

It’s the last week of March, and something has shifted. Maybe you’ve noticed it. Maybe you haven’t. But if you’ve been showing up this month- even once, even imperfectly, your body has been taking notes.

This week’s class is about integration. We’re threading together everything from this month: the grounded seat from Week 1, the softening from Week 2, the exploration from Week 3. And we’re letting it echo through the whole practice; standing shapes, balance work, and a longer savasana to let it all sink in.

Here’s what I’ve learned after nine years of teaching yoga in breweries and distilleries in Minneapolis: people underestimate what they already know. You come to class thinking you need someone to tell you how to feel better, and the truth is your body already knows. You just need to get quiet enough to hear it.

That’s what grounding is, really. Not some mystical practice. Just the willingness to sit still long enough to remember that you’re okay. That the floor is there. That you’ve been holding yourself up just fine, and maybe you can stop gripping so hard.

Next month we start to rise; new pose, new theme, new energy. But this month was the foundation. And foundations, by definition, are the thing everything else stands on.

Come explore with us. Bring your mat and your curiosity. Leave your judgment at the door (or at the bar, we won’t judge).

See you on the floor, Annie

Three poses. You choose. This week’s class comes with options. Like a choose-your-own-adventure, but sweatier.

We’re in Week 3 of our grounding month, and here’s where it gets fun.

So far we’ve found the shape and we’ve started folding into it. This week, we’re giving you options. Side bends, twists, supported folds with props, three different ways to be in the same pose. Your job? Pick the one that feels like yours today.

I know yoga classes can sometimes feel like follow-the-leader. And there’s value in that. But there’s also something powerful about hearing three options and choosing the one your body is actually asking for. Not the one that looks the most impressive, not the one the person next to you is doing, but the one that’s actually right for you today.

That’s a skill, by the way. Knowing what you need and choosing it, even when other options are available. We practice that on the mat so it’s easier off the mat like when someone offers you three ways to respond to an email and you have to pick the one that’s actually you.

In the Yoga Sutras, there’s this idea that the practice becomes steady through consistency AND sincerity. Sincerity means you’re not just going through the motions, you’re actually paying attention to what’s true for you. That’s what this week is about.

Come explore with us. Bring your mat and your curiosity. Leave your judgment at the door (or at the bar, we won’t judge).

See you on the floor, Annie

Last week we sat down. This week, we’re going to fold forward.

Here’s the thing about forward folds that nobody tells you: they’re not about flexibility. They’re about trust. When you fold forward, you’re giving up your ability to see what’s coming. You’re literally bowing toward the unknown. And for most of us, that’s terrifying; even when the unknown is just the floor.

Upavistha Konasana with a forward fold is one of those poses that exposes exactly where you’re holding on. Maybe it’s your hamstrings. Maybe it’s your lower back. Maybe it’s the voice in your head that says “you should be deeper by now.” All of that is information. None of it is a problem.

This week’s classes are about the difference between softening and collapsing. Softening is active; you’re choosing to release tension while staying present. Collapsing is checking out. We’re going for the first one.

A question to sit with this week: Where in your life could you soften instead of push? Where are you gripping something that would work better if you let it breathe?

There’s a reason we practice this on the mat. Because if you can learn to soften into a yoga pose without panicking, you can soften into a hard conversation, a transition, a season that won’t end.

Come practice with us this week. We’ll fold forward together. I promise the floor will catch you.

See you on the floor,

Annie

March is here, which in Minneapolis means it’s technically spring but functionally still winter and emotionally somewhere between “I’m fine” and “will this ever end.”

So this month, we’re doing something different on the mat. We’re starting from the ground. Literally.

Our pose of the month is Upavistha Konasana, Seated Wide-Legged Forward Fold. Which, in plain English, means: sit on the floor, spread your legs, and see what happens when you stop trying to get somewhere.

That’s the whole theme for March: GROUNDING. Not the Instagram version of grounding where someone stands barefoot on a beach at sunrise. The real version. The one where you’re sitting in a brewery on a yoga mat and the floor is a little cold and you’re just... here. With yourself. In the in-between.

There’s a line from the Yoga Sutras that I keep coming back to: “Practice is the effort to be steady there.” Not the effort to get somewhere better. The effort to be steady where you already are.

That’s what we’re practicing this month. Come sit with us.

This week’s classes focus on just finding the shape. No folding, no pushing, just sitting wide and noticing what’s there. If that sounds too simple, good. That’s the point.

See you on the floor, Annie