Why We’re Here

At appyhay yoga, we strive to add a spark of happy to each day through fun, continuous-movement yoga practices and mindfulness.

Yoga started for me many years ago with an interest in both how the movement made my body feel (great!) and the knowledge that it has so many scientifically-supported benefits. It wasn’t until I found the right teachers that my practice really started to develop into something I truly enjoyed and my body kept calling me back to the mat day after day. I learned that you can laugh in yoga - truly. It’s that attitude that had me coming back to certain classes again and again. The teachers laughed, they made mistakes, and they encouraged a lightness in the atmosphere, even while working the students through some pretty challenging sequences. We also kept moving.

Now, there is a time and place for a good hold and a good stretch, but in my body, most of the time I need to move. Most appyhay yoga classes are vinyasa-style, in which we flow - constantly. Poses move frequently with the rhythm of the breath, keeping the flow active. The poses can be as simple as you choose to make them, but it’s within the continuous weaving together of the postures that we also find a bit of mental calm and centering. There is little time to think beyond your awareness of your body, no time to worry, no time to question whether you “can” do a certain pose or for your mind to wander to what your afternoon will bring because your mind is fully focused on the flow of your movements and getting the poses to feel right in your body.

We also offer yin yoga, which is slower, with lots of long holds and intentional, mindful tension. After several years of strong movement, I found my body started to crave a few days a month of some slower and more significant opening, despite all the stillness I had previously avoided. Yin is a way to balance the body and remind ourselves to take a step back and slow down every once in a while. You might even think of it like another kind of mindfulness for the body.

You can also find our “happy challenges” both in class and on Instagram - @appyhayyoga - encouraging everyone to take time as often as possible to #findyourhappy through moments of mindfulness. We all know that not every moment can be sunshine and rainbows, but through careful attention, we can guide our mind, thoughts, actions, and reactions in a way that will eventually help to soften those harder moments and also put greater internal emphasis and focus on the things that truly do feed our happiness - like yoga!