Good Morning, Dear Yoga Community!

First, I invite you into a short, 30-second practice with me to start this email. Just notice what arises, without judgement nor attachment.

How are you? Take 1-3 deep breaths into your low belly while you sense into this question.
How is your body? Take 1-3 deep breaths into your whole body, from your fingertips, to your spine, to the soles of your feet, while you sense into this question.
How is your mind? Take 1-3 deep breaths into the back of your skull, while you sense into this question.
How is your heart? Take 1-3 deep breaths into your heart center, while you sense into this question.

Thank you, dear one. Read on for a special invitation!

We have officially passed through mid-winter. We can feel the shift in the light, and while snow and cold still surrounds us, the quickening of earth’s rebirth is palpable. The world turns, and much pulls at our attention. Without a disciplined practice, the mind grasps for truth outside of ourselves, and the soft, inner terrain – the feeling body – turns to ice. 

Practices such as Yoga and QiGong are our allies in these times. Just by showing up, they melt the ice.

Will you join me?

Cosmic Orbit QiGong
Sunday, March 1st
10:00am

At the UNCOMMON RANCH in Roscommon

Cosmic Orbit Qigong is a gentle, all-levels practice that weaves together breath, fluid movement, meditation, and sound to cultivate balance and vitality. This practice invites deep listening, presence, and alignment with the natural rhythms of life.

Qi is the vital life force that animates all living things, flowing through the body and connecting us to the wider world; in qigong, we learn to sense, nourish, and harmonize this energy with awareness and ease.

Through simple, accessible movements, we support nervous system regulation, and the smooth circulation of energy throughout the body. This highly accessible class offers a calm, restorative space to reconnect with your inner wisdom and experience gentle, lasting renewal, and can be done standing or seated.

Time: 10:00 – 11:00am

Cost: $20

Click here to book!

New Moon Candlelit Yoga
Thursday, March 19th
6:30 – 8:30pm

At the UNCOMMON RANCH in Roscommon

Immerse yourself in the power and potency of the New Moon. In this practice, we intentionally embody the cycles of growth, release, and rebirth. Through yoga asana, supportive breathwork, and other ancient techniques, we’ll explore the inner landscape where clarity, life force, and intuition live.

Each month’s class draws upon the unique energetics of the current moon, offering a supportive container for reflection, embodied release, and gentle recalibration. This is a practice of returning—to your body, your breath, and your inner knowing—away from the noise of the outer world. This class is designed to meet you exactly where you are, and guide you on a journey of remembering your power and reconnecting with your inner wisdom.

Book Now!

We are still offering weekly yoga classes at the CRAF Center! Click HERE to view the schedule and sign up.

I hope to see you soon!

Love,
Mariah

PS – here are some incredible local women, and also dear sisters of mine, with some amazing offerings coming up. Check them out!

Aria Mae: https://ariamae.com/

Shelby Alexander: https://www.shelbycoaching.com/

By Mariah Frye — April, 2025

Since beginning my yoga practice in 2008, I have been the recipient of life-changing gifts to my body, mind, and spirit. The asana practice and breathwork, combined with the teachings on consciousness and spirituality, spoke to my whole system in a way that was liberating and deeply nourishing, and which eventually inspired me to start Stone Turtle Yoga in 2012. Thus began my journey as both a practitioner and a teacher, a two fold path which opened up even more beauty by way of a yoga community, plus a team of truly outstanding and dedicated yoga teachers. 

Fast forward to Summer 2024, last summer. I had some of the most fun, enjoyment and connection teaching yoga than ever before in my yoga teaching tenure. However, my personal practice was almost non-existent, and by the end of the summer I noticed that I was hardly practicing at all. “It will come back,” I assured myself. Peaks and lulls are common in any kind of practice, so I did not fear when I noticed my inner resistance towards practicing, for the desire to practice had always returned. 

This time, however, the desire to practice was not coming back. Over time, as I really sat with why I couldn’t bring myself to the mat, I realized a simple and heart-breaking truth: yoga was hurting my body. My Sacral Illiac (S.I.) joint in the lower spine/tailbone region had been chronically out of whack and in a state of low-grade pain for years, and yoga seemed to exacerbate it. A knee injury I sustained from over stretching in 2011 had progressed to the point where I gave up running in 2017. While I wasn’t sure if yoga had caused any of this, what was clear is that the yoga I was doing in my home, while providing delicious movement and alignment for most of my system, was aggravating these troubled areas to the point where my body was saying “No. Not like that.” 

I decided to meet my resistance with curiosity, and endeavored to find a solution. If there was a way I could practice that felt healing and harm-free, I was determined to discover it. With great fortune, I was connected with a woman named Adelaide Meadow, a traditional midwife and expert on the female pelvis. She also happens to be an advanced yoga teacher, instructing other teachers on how to teach yoga in a way that supports female anatomy. 

Why does this matter? Yoga was created by men, for men. Which is great, except that men have entirely different pelvises than women: the female pelvis is a different shape, functions optimally with different postural positioning, and contains different organs and thus performs different functions. The pelvis is the epicenter of the body, with significant connections to the legs, knees, back, hips, and even shoulders and feet. How we align (or misalign) the pelvis, and how we stretch and engage the pelvic muscles and tissues affects the entire body. 

I took Adelaide’s teacher training, called “Teaching Yoga for the Female Body.” It completely reinvigorated me because I learned how to practice and teach yoga in a way that feels so good. My S.I. and knee pain is nearly gone. Most importantly, I have been wildly excited about both practicing and teaching yoga again. 

Four awesome women attended my first class teaching some of this new material at Somatic Flow (which has been renamed to Prana Flow). They graciously held the role of guinea pigs, and shared their feedback. We all marveled at what appeared outwardly as a subtle shift could create so much more inner harmony in the matter of one class. Everyone gave a report of feeling great when the class was over. 

I want to close by saying that there are many women who can practice the classical yoga postures without any pain or discomfort, and with great enjoyment. Yay! My intention is not to minimize the 5,000 year lineage that these practices come from, nor the ways in which it is taught. There is no objectively “right or wrong” way to teach or do yoga, because each person’s experience is subjective to her/him. As teachers, we all cater our teaching style to what we find to be most beneficial for our students, and for ourselves via our own practice. Every yoga teacher I know encourages her/his students to listen to their bodies and practice in ways that are not hurtful. I am writing about my own personal journey, and what I have had to learn to practice Ahisma (the yogic ethical principle meaning “do no harm”) so that I could continue to feel good while practicing and teaching yoga. 

Join me for Prana Flow on Saturdays at 9:00am, and stay tuned for my workshop, “Yoga for the Female Body,” on June 17th! Click here to register.