animal guides yoga series: our healing connection with birds

Happy New Year, beautiful souls!!

Phew! 2025 may have been a fantastic year for you, or the absolute pits, and that is ok, just how life goes sometimes! We may have done a lot of work on ourselves in 2025, it was the Year of the Snake, where we shed many layers we were carrying, things we were holding onto. We were brave and removed something heavy that was burdensome, maybe let people go in our lives, removed masks we were wearing, finally safe to be ourselves, show the world a little bit more of who we are. That's a lot of inner work, and it may have left us feeling exhausted, bare, naked, but in the end, hopefully free, a bit lighter, back home to our true selves! 

And, here we are! Another year has come and gone, we begin anew, a fresh start into 2026, we let go of what was, and welcome in the new, the unknown, the yet to come, with courage and hopefulness! 2026 is the Year of the Horse! This is SO EXCITING for me, personally, horses being one of my "animal guides" or an animal I feel incredibly connected to, mind, body, and spirit. Maybe they are yours too! Last year, two friends of mine created a local, draft horse sanctuary, Soulstride Sanctuary, rescuing horses from auctions, slaughter, repeated overworking and abuse. They have brought them home, to live freely, surrounded by love, and will be hosting many healing events for both the horses and women, including monthly yoga, and day retreats to bring us all together in community with herbal workshops, yoga, sound baths, equine somatic therapy, DIYs, and nourishing meals! I CAN NOT WAIT!! 

In our Year of the Horse, we call in our purpose, passion, and strength. The horses guide us forward, propelling us with intention, mindfulness and momentum. We move forward, only at our own pace, only that is healing for us. We trust our giant friends, connecting with their instinct, loyalty, friendship, and love, as they encourage us toward our breakthrough! This is the year where we make things happen! Horses are pure magic, and have an incredible gift!  Horses possess a large, coherent electromagnetic field (EM), notably from their heart, which influences human physiology, creating feelings of calm and well-being by synchronizing heart rhythms. Their expansive EM field is 5 times larger than a human's, so extending several feet outside the horses' body, essentially, you walk near them, and are drawn into their energetic  "bubble," so it is very powerful. They can sense human emotions, your heart rate, blood pressure, noticing if you are calm or stressed, or clinging to survival. They know when you are nervous, or depressed, stressed, or grieving, they are "Nervous System Whisperers!" Once you begin stroking a horse, they pick up on your physiology, and immediately send their healing energy directly to you, your heart rate begins to calm, and the horse is instantly regulating your own nervous system! They are wonderfully observant, sentient, emotional beings that can change your life!

Now, let's begin our very special yoga series, our first of the year! Y'all know I love a good series, I believe I created 5 series last year! Ancient Goddess Wisdom, National Parks, 4 Elements of Life, Healing in Nature, Chakras + Vagus Nerve Healing! You will always find a connection to nature and animals in every single class of mine! After all, so many yoga poses are named after animals because ancient yoga practitioners spent their time outside, surrounded by their natural world. It was believed that by mimicking the posture, poses, and movements of animals they witnessed, that they would not only build strength and ease of movement in their body the same way the animals do, they would also inhabit the same qualities of the mind and soul that animals possess such as mindfulness, body awareness, courage, strength, leadership, adaptability to change, loyalty, serenity, and gentleness. 

Last week we began our Animal Guides Yoga Series, week 1 with land mammals, our large  hairy friends, such as horses, lions, tigers, wolves, bears, elephants, maybe deer, rabbits, and our family furry friends at home, cats and dogs! We connected to their great strength, courage, loyalty, leadership, family bonds, trust, guidance, instinct, resilient, fearless, wild and free, protective, and much wisdom. Some are social, some are solitary, but they share the same qualities, with deer standing out a bit with their innocent, gentle, graceful nature. We will see these qualities in ourselves in our hour together!

“Nature is the purest portal to inner peace. the earth longs to feel our bare feet, the wind delights in moving through our hair. we are always connected. and it is here, that the earth gives us our basic foundation of belonging, safety, and home.”

This week, we connected to our aviary friends! Birds of prey, raptors, such as eagles, ospreys, hawks, falcons, and owls, songbirds, waterfowl like swans, herons, geese and ducks, maybe larger birds are your animal guides such as ostrichs, emus, and flamingos. Birds are our messengers, sending us beautiful messages from the universe, from loved ones long gone, to inspire us with messages of love, wisdom, strength, and transformation. Songbirds often bring music and joy, hope, innocence, resilience and comfort. Cardinals are often connected to lost loved ones, and the sight of them are messages of love, and comfort. Raptors help us see within ourselves, qualities such as strength, focus, determination, clarity, protection, action, and freedom. Owls help us see our own intuition, wisdom, knowledge and clarity. Waterfowl such as heron, geese, ducks, and swans help us connect to our own love of water, how it washes the soul clean, and reminds us of our own focus, patience, self-reliance, balance, quiet contemplation, determination, wisdom, and calm strength. WIth the help of our aviary friends, we find balance, confidence where we are grounded, before we are able to take flight, to soar. They help us to detach, to let go, and find freedom. We keep their messages and wisdom close to our soul, listening to their link between heaven and earth and seeing that within ourselves, we see the big picture, and overcome challenges. We spread our wings and move forward, buoyant and free in the air we breathe.

I have a strong connection to swans, never even seeing them fly until I moved to my current town, I often see them flying with my car as I'm driving. astonished every time I see them above, outside my window, their long necks outstretched, giant wings slowly flapping. There are ponds everywhere between neighborhoods to help reduce flooding, and I witnessed the daily courtship and growing partnership of a female and male swan, and eventually the creation of their family! I took photographs of them, their 7 signets, and named their family, the Von Swan family, naming the children after the Von Trapp family from the Sound of Music. I loved watching them grow, change colors from gray to white, and eventually leave the pond as adults over a year's time. I've also held the mother swan, after she was tragically killed, hit by a car. My dear friend, who lived near their nesting site, called to tell me, and together we moved her to another location, to be laid to rest, crying, and placing flowers on her beautiful feathers, and precious head. I'm still emotional about, years later now, as if I mourned a piece of myself now gone. We often saw the male alone, on various ponds, as they do grieve loss greatly, over a great length of time. I often wondered if the two swans I'd see were him and a new lady friend, or if it was one of their offspring starting a new family. I adore swans, their grace, elegance, peace, and beauty. They calm my nervous system immediately, the same way horses do. Animals are such incredible beings. My passion to protect them runs deep!

“the more we rid the world of the wild, the more we rid the world of ourselves.”

We began on our backs, arms spread out to a T, like large wings, legs outstretched in our 5-pt Star as we welcome in our breath, long deep inhales through the nose, long slow exhales through the mouth, signaling to the brain we are safe in our bodies in this moment, from the belly, expanding the chest filling the lungs, and third round up to the crown of the head. We inhaled hands overhead, toes reaching forward, exhale knees hug into the chest, finding rotation in the ankles, a sway side to side, massaging the lumbar spine. Legs lengthen long, hands reach down by the hips, inhale hands paint the floor out to a T, and up, opening up our wings, exhale knees hug in. Inhale feet reach up to the sky, T-pose, rolling ankles, hands grip the edges of our mat, small criss cross ankles over one another back and forth, hovering down toward the mat, criss crossing as we hover the legs down, 6 inches above the mat, inhale back up, exhale hover scissoring down, inhale up, 3 times total, a little birdie yoga! In our T-pose, right leg over the left, hug the thighs together, bend the knees, reach for shins, hips scooch to the right, knees fall to the left, into our Supine Twist. Here we shifted from our busy minds back into the body, scanning through our senses. We notice what we see, eyes open or closed, noticing items in the room, or finding peace in the darkness. We traveled to our smell, noticing what we smell around us, I sprayed "Sacred Space" in studio, so we noticed notes of Palo Santo, Sweet Grass, and Rosemary hovering overhead. We scanned to our hearing, noticing the hum of the furnace keeping us warm, pinpointing an instrument playing in the music. On to our taste, noticing the last thing we may have eaten, or a sip of cup of tea, coffee, bite of food lingering in the mouth. Lastly, we noticed our sense of touch, what we feel against the skin, warm air swirling around, softness of our clothing, the stickiness of our mat underneath us, supporting us, holding us, bringing us back home to ourselves. We unraveled into our Bridge Pose, floating hands overhead and back as the hips lift, and down as the hips melt down. Inhale feet to the sky, T-pose, knees bend, soles of the feet together, knees out, feet extend out, and soles of the feet back together, knees together, feet to the sky, 2 more times, Birdy aerial yoga, and then finding our twist to the left.

We rock n rolled along the spine to arrive in a comfortable seat. We inhaled hands overhead, palms connect and to the heart, and formed our Garuda mudra, thumbs interlock, palms extend out, palms face the chest, fingers open out like Eagle wings, one wing representing protection, the other our fearless nature. We brought the palms together, rubbed them to create some heat, some healing energy, remembering that our hands are tools for healing, and cupped the hands to the eyes, sending healing energy to the soul. Hands floated to the crown, sending healing energy to the mind, calming the chatter. The mind can become stuck in the past, ruminating over things that have been, or travel too far forward into the future with worry, but the body is always present, so here we connect and stay present. One hand floated to the forehead, and the other to the base of the skull, sending healing energy to the mind + body, finally bringing the hands to the heart sending gratitude to the heart and lungs. We set an intention for our class, and released it, reaching the hands to the sky and to the right for a twist, peeling the right shoulder back to open the chest 5% more. We arched the right hand to the sky and toward the opposite knee to open the side body, and then brought it to the left knee, crossing the arms, arching the back and dripping the chin. We twisted to the other side, and then came through center, planted the fingers behind us, opened the chest, arching the spine into a backbend, and melted into a forward fold. We unraveled the legs and melted the hips back into a child’s pose, bending the elbows, prayer hands overhead, thumbs melting to the nape of the neck. Hands melt down, travel to the right, hips melt back and to the left, hands through center, and to the left, hips back and to the right, hands thru center, we walk the hands back, knees together, we lift up into our Hero pose, inhale cactus the arms, open wings, exhale curl in cradle the head with our wings, inhale open out, exhale curl in, inhale we walk the hands forward, melted onto the belly, hands under the shoulders, inhale up into our Low Cobra, early bird gets the worm! Some raptors eat snakes too! Exhale melt, inhale Low Cobra, exhale melt, inhale left hand extends out, roll onto the left hip, Broken Wing, right foot plants behind the left leg, through center, Low Cobra, and Broken Wing to the right, thru center, Inhale hands reach back, float, feet float, flying in our bird, exhale melt, inhale fly, exhale ground. 

 Our cat cow flow followed as we warmed up the spine, adding in organic movement, hips swaying side to side, or rolling forward and back into Childs pose creating a wave forward and back into our table top. We moved to our breath, our own pace, making our cat cow our own. We came into our neutral table top, inhale the right hand reaches to the sky, exhale thread under the left arm, hover, inhale reach up, exhale thread and ground the right temple, right shoulder, left hand reaches toward the top of our mat. Inhale left hand in toward the face, right hand peels up, right foot reaches back, we open the chest, right hand high, Supported Side Plank, rolling out right wrist. Inhale float off the left hand, right hand to right thigh, left hand overhead into our Gate, cartwheel the hands around, left hand down, right hand overhead. Hands melt toward the long side of our mat, legs stay as they are, hips melt back, 1-legged Childs pose. Through center, cat cow, and honor the left side!

 We flowed through downward dog- plank waves, pranam knees chest chin, into a low cobra, and up into our downward dog, a total of 3 times. We floated to the top of our mats into a forward fold, hanging heavy, and began to root to rise, we slowly lifted up, one vertebrae at a time, the head the last to come through, into our Tadasana, our mountain pose. We felt the grounding energy from the earth pull at the soles of our feet from the toes to the arches to the heels, like roots of a tree pulling us into he soil, anchoring us. This energy circled around the legs, to the pelvis, the hips, around each vertebrae of the spine to the shoulders as they melt down from the ears. The crown reaching for the heavens, we are stable, rooted, and anchored. 

 Our main flow began in Tadasana, and we found our Breath of Joy! Small inhale hands reach forward, small inhale hands reach out like wings, small inhale hands reach up, big exhale melt into a fold, 3 times in our Breath of Joy! Inhale sidebend to the right, right hand wraps behind to the left hip, left hand overhead, thru center and to the right. Inhale ground into the left foot, right knee lifts in our Pilar, and twist, left hand to right knee, right arm reaches back, opening our wing, back thru center, open our gate, right knee opens out to the right, or we hook the big toe, extend the right leg out, left arm out to balance. We must be strong in our balance before we can take flight!  Right knee thru center, wrap right leg around the left, Eagle the legs, eagle the arms, right over left, inhale lift, exhale curl in, 2 times, inhale unravel the arms out, Warrior 3, right leg floats back, strong in the left leg, left hand down, we open up, Half Moon, right hand high, right hand down, soft landing, right foot back, Sky Archer, straighten the left leg, right hand down, left hand high, wing up to the heavens. Melt to the right foot, Skandasana, pivot to the back of our mat, Twisted Lunge, left hand down, right hand high, right hand down, Standing Splits, left toes high, exhale knee curls in, 2 more extensions and curl in, float hands to heart in the third, into our Flamingo, left foot tucks in toward the glutes, balanced and strong. Left foot steps back, Twisted Lunge, left hand down, right hand high, right hand down inside the right leg, straighten the right leg, building our Triangle from the ground up, left hand high. Microbend into the right knee, we rise up 5-pointed Star, exhale Goddess, side bend to the right, right elbow to right knee, and to the left, straighten the right leg out, Side Angle, half bind, full bind under the left thigh, or rise up Bird of Paradise! Back into Side Angle, pivot top of the mat, left foot out to the edge into our Dragon, melt the hips, bind for back foot, back thru center, float forward, right toes high, Standing Spilits, exhale curtsy tap, right toes out to the left, 3 times, and melt down right shin down, Seated Twist, left foot over right knee, twist to the left, right arm around left knee, thru center, extend left leg up, into our Heron, holding the ankle, right arm extends out, we open to the right, right arm back thru center, both feet together and down, hug the knees, seated Childs pose, into our Birdy Egg! Rebirth, Transformation, Renewal! Rock n Roll along the spine, move through a flow, pranam or chaturanaga, into downward dog, forward into a fold, we rise up Tadasana, to honor the left side!

☃️Our Somatic practice gives us tools to regulate our nervous system, to stimulate the vagus nerve that begins at the base of the brain and runs throughout the body touching every organ system! We agitated emotions stuck in the body, to help them move around, release, and to serve as a reset button. We rubbed the palms together to create some healing energy and heat, and we brought the fingertips to the crown, massaging the fingertips all over the crown and behind the ears, even the base of the skull. We moved into the temples, massaging circles here, and then rolled the fingertips all around the eyes, circling the orbit of the eyes. We dripped the fingers to the jaw, the hinge where we open and close the jaw, the perfect release for jaw clenchers like myself, and maybe you too. The more we massage this area, hopefully the less we keep going back to this area holding tension, causing pain. We pulled down on the ear lobes, pulled the middle of the ears out to the sides, up to the top of the ears pulling toward the sky. We brought our fingertips to the base of the skull, pressing into our vagus nerve, and melted the fingertips toward the ears, along the jawline, and down the front of the neck to the collarbone. We repeated this 2 more times, releasing tightness in the throat, freeing any lumps from holding stress here, allowing us to speak our truth. We brought our right hand to the back of our head, into the vagus nerve, and with the left index and middle fingers began to slowly roll down the forehead, down the bridge of the nose to the tip, 3 times, and then switching the hands. I've done this while my son is waking up in the morning, for my pup, and for horses, we all seem to benefit, calming us all down. We tapped into the collarbone, with slow rythmic taps, all fingers in unison, into one of our acupressure points in the body. We brought this tapping to the sternum, center of the chest, so good for those of us who hold stress in our chest, causing tightness, shallow breathing, even hyperventilating. The tapping tells the brain that we are safe, to expand the chest walls, slow down the heartbeat, lengthen and slow down the inhales and exhales, signals of safety, not survival. We slowly tapped here, continuing as we inhaled, paused to bring the hands to the heart, stacked on top of one another, and as we exhaled we audibly hummed into our bee breath🐝! Our bee breath, not only a somatic tension release, humming reduces anxiety even more than sleep, and also important in the winter to keep things loose in the lungs, preventing illness. We crossed the arms at the chest, and squeezed into opposite shoulders, down to the biceps and triceps, and into the forearms. We brought the hands to the shoulders again for a squeeze, and swiped the hands down the arms, chest, abdomen, low back, and legs, making sure anything still tethered to the body is fully released. We released everything from last year we need to let go of, sweep it away, let yourself be freed of it. Send it all out into the breeze, no longer needed in this moment!

 We came into stillness, then swayed right and left, and found stillness again, noticing the effects: we can feel cool, heat, or tingling sensations, even a spontaneous yawn! All signs that one or more of these tools has worked for us, we keep practicing, moving closer toward a more regulated nervous system. We inhaled high onto the toes, and slowly bounced in the balls of the feet until we grounded the heels, 2 times, bounces into the heels.  We removed anything stuck, anything harmful & toxic still attached to the body! We stimulated the vagus nerve, the super highway of information from the brain to the body! We sent messages to the brain that the body is not under threat, it does not have to exist in a continuous active state (fight /flight/freeze/fawn mode). We helped our body to experience a larger capacity to sit in discomfort, and not immediately reach for unhealthy soothers, or run from it. We welcome space for triggers to be felt and moved through. We have the ability to help our nervous system shift fluidly between states when each are needed, the sympathetic & parasympathetic nervous systems! Both are useful and 100% needed, but we do not want to become stuck in one state for too long. These practices are so useful off the mat as we encounter stress or triggers in our daily lives! We find balance! We find freedom!

Our cool down began in Tadasana, we inhaled hands overhead, and planted the hands as we stepped back into our downward dog. We inhaled as the right leg extending to the sky, exhaled knee to the chest, repeating 2 more times, right shin down, left leg extends back, exhale knee to nose, 3 times, bind right hand to left foot, grab those tail feathers! Left foot back, unravel right leg up and back, knee to chest, and shin plants into our Pigeon or Swan, melt and rest. Inhale as we lift up, unravel right leg high, into Downward Dog, walk the hands back, either Yogi Squat to fly your crow or raptor that speaks to you, or find a Toe Squat, knees peel out, maybe hands float, diagonal line of energy, left hand up and out to left, right hand down and out to right, changing sides in our Flying Owl, finding that wisdom, intelligence, balance, precision within ourselves! Thru center, walk the hands forward into our downward dog, left leg floats honoring the left side!

 After the Swan or Pigeon on the left side, roll onto the left hip, right leg extends up to the right upper corner of our mat, sidebend, right hand to right foot, left hand overhead, cartwheel around, left hand down, hips lift, Rainbow Arch, right hand overhead, hips melt down, face top of the mat, hands to heart, legs lift as they are, switch out legs, 3 times, to land left leg long, right foot in to left thigh, sidebend, Rainbow Arch, knees hug in, into our BIrdy Egg. Inhale legs extend up and forward into our Boat, exhale knees pull in toward right hip, exhale forward, inhale knees toward left hip, back and forth, Birdy yoga, thru center, and melt to our backs!

We lengthened long, hugged the knees into the chest, extended our feet to the sky into our T-pose, crossed the right foot over the left thigh, Reclined Pigeon, find a clasp behind the left thigh, maybe a sway left to right, right elbow nudging right knee away and open, release clasp, hips scooch to the right, knees fall to the left for a supine twist! We came through center, lifted the hips into our Bridge, hugged the knees in, and extended the feet to the sky, T-pose, crossed the left over the right, Reclined pigeon on this side into a twist. We made time to come into any final poses we needed before our final rest, such as legs up the wall, bridge, plow or wheel, or coming into Savasana early! 

We made it to our PEAK POSE: Savasana! Together, we completed a full body cleanse! We found meditative peace, a calming of the mind, removed masks, heavy burdens, found insight into ourselves, we experienced expansion, fearlessness, release, and freedom. Yoga helps us shed what we no longer need, so we may see our most purest selves! We connect to divinity! To slow down means to heal! That is why savasana is the peak pose, the most important pose, the goal, the pinnacle. To find peace. In the stillness! We surrender. We discover ourselves again without the layers, the armor, the walls. They all come down, revealing our divine self.

This class was really so incredibly fun, and I loved it so much! So much fun energy in the room, and we found connection with our animal guides, or maybe discovered for the first time, what bird we felt a connection to! When we rid the world of wild animals, we rid a piece of ourselves. We do all we can to protect our animal friends, and our beautiful planet! I'm filled with SO much gratitude for you all choosing to practice with me, I'm humbled and so thankful!  And of course, our Animal Guides: Birds playlist was all about birds, heights, sky, flying, and nature! Listen here! Next week, we connect to our Ocean friends!!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4YWiDvuHPO3LskHwvH1Ueg?si=SglmFiXVTiWWkG2SW8yx4g&pi=Ut2uyXWIQDSUb

🍃Come practice with me on  Fridays at 11:30am for a non-heated Gentle Somatic Flow, and on warm Somatic Sundays at 10:00am!🫶🏻 ✨🌿