Risa Maldonado (2025)

27/08/2021

WHERE YOU LEARN MATTERS🧠✨

I’ve done two ‘official’ teacher trainings, and I can honestly say that while my foundations were grown in an appropriate yoga asana teacher training (which is very common for a tradish ‘200hr RYT’), I use little to none of what I learned there. At least not in the traditional sense.

The second teacher training I took was almost the opposite of the first, and I come back to the tools I inherited and learned from this TT allllll the time. Most of all, and maybe most importantly, I come back to this TT for inspiration and it never fails to provide. 🌱

Why? What was so different and revolutionary about this teacher training that I was having such different results?

There are many answers. The facilitator, the instructors, the studio it was born in, the cohort, the material!!! (SO WELL PUT TOGETHER), the effort. Mostly though, I think it was that this TT asked;

‘Where do YOU want to go? How can WE get there together.’

Collective. Community. Creative thinking. How do we do this together but let you be where you are, and let me lead you to where you need to go? Instructed by me, but lead by you.

As I get ready to return back to in studio teaching tonight I grabbed my deck to casually parooze postures. Looking at all the indentations on the cards, the little rips in the corners, the pen marks of when I scribbled down notes on top of them- reminds me how much I’ve changed and my teaching has changed since taking their TT in 2020.

Where you learn from is important. It is the foundational earth in which you will grow and lead people from in the future. Go somewhere that will continue to water your soul soil even after you leave. Learn from people of color. Make sure your TT prioritizes Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Q***r voices. Make sure your TT is all about accessibility!!! Because literally everyone has something different going on that they need some accessibility help with. Learn where they help you help EVERYONE grow. We get there together. 🌳

05/08/2021

SATURDAY MORNING CLASSES ARE FINALLY HERE! ☀️

You’ve been asking for it, and I am so glad to finally be able to add this perfect weekend morning class to our communities weekly schedule. Welcoming..

✨SATURDAY SALUTATIONS✨

The gooiest way to welcome yourself into a weekend! A yoga (asana) inspired class with light additions of mobility and strength work. Participants can expect a full body class with LOTS of options for accessibility and a variety of strength level options.

This class is beginner friendly and welcoming! You don’t need to be ‘flexible’ or have any experience with yoga to join. ⭐️

Corktown Park 🌳
Saturdays, 10:30 - 11:30 AM
Sliding Scale $5-$20

Link in bio goes live tomorrow! 🔗 🤩

06/05/2021

CHURCH TURNS ONE TODAY! 🥳🥳🥳

What a YEAR! WOW🤯. This was not the first year we had in mind😅. But it has been a wild ride that I would never give up on.

I need to take a long moment to give praise and thanks to an unbelievable leader, Monika Benkovich, the soul owner and lead creator over at CHURCH. She has been the electricity that has kept our amazing creator team going, motivated, engaged, and encouraged. Her ability to be flexible and pivot on a moments notice is comparable to no one I know. She’s dedicated her life to this space this past year and it has been incredible to watch her grow, morph, and evolve♥️. Her capacity for kindness and love know no bounds. As she continues to grow this evolving community she seems to find MORE TIME (🤷🏻‍♀️) to connect with the Creator team and grow the dream space that is CHURCH.

Above I’ve included the max amount of photos Insta would allow, and this is only SOME of the amazing team that help make CHURCH the community based space that it is.

To many more years, many more convo’s, many more pivots, and much more love.

Let’s keep building up this CHURCH ya’ll!

06/05/2021

CHURCH TURNS ONE TODAY! 🥳🥳🥳

What a YEAR! WOW🤯. This was not the first year we had in mind😅. But it has been a wild ride that I would never give up on.

I need to take a long moment to give praise and thanks to an unbelievable leader, Monika Benkovich ( .punk )the soul owner and lead creator over at CHURCH. She has been the electricity that has kept our amazing creator team going, motivated, engaged, and encouraged. Her ability to be flexible and pivot on a moments notice is comparable to no one I know. She’s dedicated her life to this space this past year and it has been incredible to watch her grow, morph, and evolve♥️. Her capacity for kindness and love know no bounds. As she continues to grow this evolving community she seems to find MORE TIME (🤷🏻‍♀️) to connect with the Creator team and grow the dream space that is CHURCH.

Above I’ve included the max amount of photos Insta would allow, and this is only SOME of the amazing team that help make CHURCH the community based space that it is.

To many more years, many more convo’s, many more pivots, and much more love.

Let’s keep building up this CHURCH ya’ll!

04/05/2021

Mothers Day can be a joyous time of year, celebrating the Mom's who gave life to us and bring so much joy into our lives! However, for many of us, Mothers Day can be an emotionally hard day where processing our emotions and feelings is difficult and highly charged. Especially with COVID happening this past year, bringing even more distance between us and who we love most.

This class is for anyone who is feeling the disparity this Mother's Day, for any reason. This space is made for you.

This class will be one hour in length and will be a combination of yoga inspired breath techniques, soothing standing movement, and light floor/abdominal engagement, and a meditation to send you out into the rest of your day.

Class will be sliding scale and if finances are a problem DM me and we'll get you a link. ♥️

Let’s come together in community this Mother’s Day and hold space for each other.
444
Sunday May 9th
12 pm

17/04/2021

THIS IS IMPORTANT📢📢📢

Please share amongst your community and loved ones.

Although many municipal police stations have spoken out against the new by-laws out in place to stop and question anyone on the street, but police are corrupt and lie and I have no doubt some as***le police officer is going to abuse there new rights eventually.

Marginalized folx have been disproportionately effected by this pandemic. Giving the police this type of power instead of supporting our community with paid sick days shows you exactly where this provincial governments head is at; on money and budgets and not with the safety of the people.

It is our responsibility an privilege to show up for those who need support.

Stay safe💕.

17/03/2021

RECOVER. MOVE SLOW. FEEL. 💫

Over COVID I started spinning, and more recently I have been spinning A LOT. Long gone were the days where I thought I’d be pushing my body physically (and mentally) like this again and I must say, it has been such a pleasure to feel this strong and capable in my body once more. Don’t get me wrong, I felt strong and capable before but there are different versions of strong and capable, this feeling of building myself up physically and mentally through the bike and with my breath has brought back so much goodness for me. The effect it has had on my depression and mental health has been enormous and something I never would have predicted.

With the return of these old but new feelings and sensations, I am reminded that I am no longer a spry little cheerleader who’s body did everything and anything w no problems😅. I am reminded of the necessity of taking time to recover and have a recovery practice.

This was today’s recovery practice. Nothing crazy, in sweats, post class, lots of props (we all know I love me a bunch o’ delish props🤩), and being led by the sensations my body was giving me. No expectations, just moooving how feels best.

I’m really interested in exploring this balancing game further. Growing the body, building up the mind but continuing to remember the loud importance of moving slow and connecting always to self.

Here for the ride, present for the journey, always doing the work. ⚡️

04/03/2021

Waking-up w depression. 😓

Hola friends✌🏼. It’s been a minute! I’ve come on here this AM to talk about something that is near and dear to my heart, and that has plagued me pretty badly for all of covid;

WAKING UP IN THE MORNINGS👎🏼👎🏼👎🏼

For some people, mornings are a lovely peaceful time when the body slowly warms itself up and gets on w it’s day but for someone like myself who suffers from depression the mornings can be a mountainous challenge before your day even begins. Every. Single. Morning.

Learning how to reeeeeally LISTEN to what my body says to me has been a journey this past year😅. But a necessary one that meant learning how to respect my bodies boundaries and also pursue my goals and life.

My mornings used to be 15 minutes max before I ran out the door to work but now they’re a much more conscious (longer) process that makes sure my body, soul, and mind are grounded before my day continues.

Littles that make a BIG difference:
🌾 Self-asses in bed. Wake up and before you do anything ask your bod how’s it’s doing. Head, heart, tummy. How do they feel? What are they saying to you?

🌾 Consume water. Try different temps until you find the right one for you. My body likes luke warm plain water in the am.

🌾 Eat. Don’t worry about anything except making your morning meal delicious. F**k calories, portion size, breakfast/dinner foods, WHATEVER. Just eat something you like and if you don’t like anything that morning start w a piece of fruit and go from there.

🌾 Accept the feelings. You have no say in your depression, not right now at least. Know that this feeling is here now, but it’s not forever. Take stock in what your body can do in that moment. All wins are big wins.

🌾 Move slow. Don’t rush yourself. Let your nervous system take its time to relax.

🌾 Look for something later in the day that will bring you joy. A trip to grab your fav bevy, a zoom call, a walk outdoors, time w a loved one. ANYTHING.

Self care, love, and acceptance is how we start to combat this REDIC capitalist world that we live in. FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT! But do it for the love of ya self. ❤️

Chat soon peeps! 🥰

08/02/2021

EXHAAAAALE 💨💨💨💨💨💨

It’s amazing how much value a piece of paper can have. But it’s not the paper you value, it’s the earned ability to have it and to have earned it in the hardest fu***ng year ever.

I will, for me, I can.
We will, for us, we can.

has officially been released onto the community!! 🎉👩🏼‍🎤💥💥💥

01/02/2021

SELF CARE THROUGH HARD HONESTY 🫂

Last month I announced the addition of a new class being added to my weekly roster come February. FEEL STRONG is what the class is called. It encapsulates further my growing dream to help peeps feel great, strong, and capable in their bodies. 🤍

Today is Feb 1 and as much as I do not want to tell myself this - I am not able to jump on promoting another class rn. Or rather, I COULD, but I would be sacrificing my mental health to do so. A mental health that I have worked so hard to achieve over this past year.

SO. My class schedule will stay the same, for now. The same great, strong, well rounded classes on Monday and Friday nights. Perhaps I’ll look to start my new class in March.

As much as this may look like a set back, it’s not. READ THAT AGAIN. My ability to tune into my body and tell where my boundaries are are not a set back. My ability to respect my physical and mental boundaries is not a set back. My ability to identify that I need more rest and less gas is not a set back. All these tools push me FORWARD in growing the life I want and need to be able to sustain myself from a happy and health place. This I am very proud of. 🥲✨

Get honest about saying no to yourself and being proud of it when you need it.

REST. RESIST. CONSERVE. BUILD. ✌🏼

26/01/2021

GOLDEN HOUR✨

Today a pillow was our prop and man was she a sneaky b*tch. Just flat out RUDE at some points, but they asked for shoulder relief so what was I supposed to do? 🤷🏻‍♀️😆

✨No music
✨Yoga inspired
✨Slow & steady
✨Minimal weight to wrists & knees

28/12/2020

Walk into 2021 with a focus on your mental health! 🧠😃

Alright friends, I am SO PUMPED to offer my first month long ‘challenge’ (I hate this word, if you can suggest a better one I’m all ears)! Starting January 1st 2021 I’ll be hosting the...

🌟REACH FOR JOY CHALLENGE🌟

Offering you the opportunity to move, find joy & share!

Using the prompts provided or making one of your own. Show us how movement and joy are intersecting in your lives💕. Great options could be;

💫”I reached for the ice cream today and it brought me sooo much joy!”

💫”I rolled around with my kids/cats/dogs today and it made me smile and laugh!”

💫”I was reminded of this *insert sweet memory* today and it made me smile.”

The sky is the limit people. Let’s help hold each-other up & create an online space of positive, joyful expression. 🎆

Oh did I mention there’s a prize at the end of the month? 🎁😏 More details to come...

Risa Maldonado

27/08/2021

05/08/2021

06/05/2021

06/05/2021

04/05/2021

17/04/2021

17/03/2021

04/03/2021

08/02/2021

01/02/2021

26/01/2021

28/12/2020

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