Exhale To Evolve Yoga

04/23/2026

I'm excited to be leading a brief yoga practice for this event! I love the positive messages that are painted in the local business windows by this group and the work they are doing for our teens!

Come join us on Sunday afternoon - 4/26/26 from 1pm - 3pm at the Merrill High School Jay Stadium!

04/23/2026

Two years ago today, I taught my first public yoga class here in Merrill. 🎉

Honestly? I didn't feel ready.

I'd spent over a decade in the field of personal development — doing my own work, working through old wounds, learning everything I could. I'd completed my initial 200hr yoga teacher training during COVID. But teaching felt like a different thing entirely.

It took a major life change to finally make me stop waiting.

Once the dust settled and life found its new shape, I knew I wanted to teach yoga — really teach it. So I reached out to River Flow Yoga in Wausau, and stumbled into a 300hr advanced training in viniyoga — a therapeutic, adaptive approach to yoga that's meant to meet you exactly where you are.

I was hooked. Not just because of the yoga, but because so much of what I'd been learning in personal development all those years had its roots right here, in this tradition. Nobody had ever told me that. I had to find it myself.

Six months in, I gathered a few friends and neighbors and taught a few classes in my living room. And then, two years ago today — I showed up and started to teach in public.

I've been showing up ever since. And what I've learned, both on and off the mat, is that you don't have to feel ready. You just have to show up.

If you've been waiting to feel like yourself again (and feel good in your body) — that's exactly what this work is for.

🎁 To celebrate, I'm giving away a $70 gift certificate — good for a 90-minute private session or a 5-class pass, and transferable, so if you know someone who needs to find their way back to themselves, you can pass it along. To enter, just comment below. I'll draw a winner in 72 hours!
Thank you, Merrill, for two beautiful years. 🙏

04/16/2026

These scholarships are for our front-line workers! If that's you, I definitely encourage you to take a look at what's available!

Blossom into Wellness🪻Spring Frontline Worker Scholarships available made possible through partnership with Healing Acres, Inc.! Upcoming April - May scholarship eligible events & series below. View more details here: www.5koshasyoga.com/events

In-Studio & Online 4-Week Series: Calm Under Pressure! Yoga & Stress Management First Responders | Wednesday, May 6th - Wednesday, May 27th 4:30-5:15 PM Anne’s Shanti Yoga

Online 4-Week Series: Mindfulness Meditation For Stress Reduction Beginners & Beyond | Thursday, May 7th - Thursday, May 28th 4-5 PM

In-Studio Event: Echoes of the Soul - A Vocal Sound Journey | Saturday, May 9th 10-11 AM Tune Me Studio

In-Studio Workshop: Lightness & Freedom in Daily Life – An Introduction to the Alexander Technique | Saturday, May 9th 1-4 PM Tune Me Studio

How To Apply For a Frontline Worker Scholarship, It’s simple!
Email Mary@5koshasyoga.com with your:
name
email
mobile phone number
occupation
employer
county you work in
type of 5 Koshas Yoga & Wellness service you are interested in above.

We’ll take it from there to get you linked with services! View more details here: https://www.5koshasyoga.com/special-events/frontline-worker-scholarships-for-services-at-5-koshas-yoga-wellness/

Questions? Email mary@5koshasyoga.com

04/09/2026

Here's a couple of pictures from me teaching during our recent training in Austin.
Evidently I need to work on smiling while I'm teaching? 😆

I was *really* concentrating!!

04/02/2026

April feels like a collective exhale. Spring is traditionally a time of rising energy in the body - and nature is giving us a pretty clear invitation right now.

The earth is stirring, the light is returning, and there's a quiet pull toward movement and renewal - and that's exactly where our practice is headed this month.

All of April, we'll be working with one sequence in our evening classes, centered on renewal and spring awakening -- building energy, opening the body after winter's contraction, and reconnecting with a state of aliveness.

There's something powerful about returning to the same sequence week after week. Just like our spring landscape, Layer by layer, things that weren't noticeable before begin to emerge. That's the practice working.

04/02/2026

No class this evening, April 2, at Riverside Athletic Club due to the ice.

See you next week!

Send a message to learn more

03/17/2026

No classes 3/17 - 3/25. I'll be in Austin for training with my teacher, Gary Kraftsow.
Classes resume Thursday, 3/26!

Send a message to learn more

02/16/2026

Rolling out my mat for my own practice outside on a sunny mid-February day? Beautiful!
When I practice outside usually it's in my backyard or back deck. However, I had to take the sun where I could so practice was on our front sidewalk today!

12/23/2025

All through December, my yoga classes have been exploring camel pose (Ustrasana).

I wasn’t sure how this would go—teaching the same sequence all month long, across all my classes. But it turned out to be a really meaningful experiment.

With repetition came more ease. I noticed small refinements I could make in the sequence and in teaching, and students seemed to settle more comfortably into the poses as their bodies became familiar with them. Each week felt like we dropped a little deeper into the practice.

Over the course of the month, camel became:
• a way to warm the body and open the heart during the darker, colder season
• an exploration of strength in the back of the body and flexibility in the front of the body
• a chance to gently move beyond fear of the unknown
• an opportunity to take in the energy of our practice and carry it with us—building stamina, resilience, and adaptability both on and off the mat

This month was a reminder that we don’t always need to do more to go deeper. Sometimes staying with something—long enough to listen—does the work.

Grateful for everyone who practiced with me this month.

12/10/2025

Hi Merrill neighbors,

I’m exploring offering an in-person 6-week “Yoga for Absolute Beginners” series this winter at Athletic Club and would love your input.

This would be a gentle, therapeutic-style introduction — perfect if you’re brand new to yoga, feeling inflexible, or wanting a slower, more supportive pace. We’ll focus on simple movement, calming breath practices, and practical tools to ease tension and regulate your nervous system.

And just to name it: *you can start yoga at any age*.
Beginning later in life can be incredibly supportive for balance, mobility, strength, joint comfort, and overall wellbeing. No flexibility or experience required.

Winter naturally invites us to slow down and restore, so this series is designed to meet you right where you are and help you feel better in your body.

Each weekly class would be about an hour, with clear guidance and options for every body.

Before I finalize the schedule, I’d love your thoughts:
• Would this be of interest to you?
• What days/times work best for you? I’m open to daytime, late afternoon, or early evening depending on community interest.
• And if a group series doesn’t feel like the right fit, would you prefer individual 1:1 sessions instead?

Thanks so much for helping us shape offerings that support our community this season. 💛

12/05/2025

This month we can focus on nourishment, gentle heat, and comfort to support the body through this season of darkness + cold.

Winter invites us inward, but we don’t have to feel heavy or stagnant. Small, intentional choices help us stay balanced, energized, and emotionally steady.

✨ Move in the morning to uplift energy and shake off sluggishness.
✨ Bring in lightness + joy — music, dance, laughter, anything that sparks a little brightness.
✨ Seek variety and inspiration to keep the mind from getting stuck in the winter doldrums.
✨ Stay gently active every day, even if it’s just a short walk or a few mindful stretches.
✨ Nourish with warm, light foods like soups, steamed veggies, and legumes; minimize heavy, oily, or overly sweet foods that can slow digestion.
✨ Use stimulating spices such as black pepper, turmeric, ginger, or cinnamon to warm the system from within.

A little bit of warmth, rhythm, and mindful nourishment goes a long way during the winter season. Let’s support our bodies—and our spirits—with softness and steadiness.