1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?:
I started practicing yoga shortly after college and immediately fell in love with everything about it. Regardless of the format, I love how it feels to sweat out the day and disconnect from an otherwise very connected life. Yoga provides me a platform and a space to look inward. That time and space is so precious to me because it has shaped my outlook on life and has helped me find the confidence to be authentic and true to myself.
2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?:
I just recently began teaching yoga! After years of contemplation, I finally took the plunge and took sculpt teacher training and my 200 hour power training this past year. I always knew it was something I wanted to do to deepen my own practice, but was not sure I actually wanted to teach. Within just a few days of training I suddenly felt a strong calling towards becoming an instructor. Yoga has such a unique ability to inspire each individual it touches in a different way. My practice gives me a way to continually grow physically, spiritually and mentally. I wanted to be able to share my passion for yoga and help inspire introspection through yoga for others.
3. What makes your classes unique?:
I always try to find ways to add on to basic poses or exercises to help students find a different perspective. I genuinely believe people are so much stronger than they believe and always aim to empower my students to find strength they may not have known they had. I try to encourage students to focus on the strength they are building rather than the challenge they may feel in that moment, whether physically or mentally.
4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?:
Music is so important to my classes! In my sculpt classes I teach to the beat to help students find pacing and have fun with it. In my vinyasa classes I use music to help energize and keep students present.
5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online:
I’m so excited for my live music class with DTO coming up this Tuesday Oct 10th at 6PM at the CorePower Del Mar studio. You can follow me on instagram (@michele_maley) and please come take my class anytime!
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