“As I heard the voice of the yoga master calling me out as the example of a tight, rigid body, I wanted to crawl under my yoga mat in shame. I was only 22-years-old. I was studying yoga because my body hurt. My shoulders ached, my hips were stiff and my lower back screamed out in pain. My mind was holding me, hostage, to the belief that I was wrong. My soul cried out for something more. Through my own determination, through the tools handed to me by my many teachers, through the years of coming to my mat every day --I sit before you 38-years later in an open, pain-free body that can do everything I want to do. I'm so grateful that I've made it my life's work to pass on the way out of pain and into feeling alive and ageless.”
This is part of the story that movement therapist Michelle Andrie shares in our conversation here. Michelle is an IAYT certified yoga therapist who’s been guiding students and clients to whole-body healing for three decades—and I am fortunate enough to have been her student. Michelle, who lives on Hawaii’s Big Island, leads retreats in Hawaii for women that are healing in a deep and life-changing way, attracting a group of women who seem destined, despite our diverse backgrounds, to go on a journey of discovery and healing together and to forge enduring connections in the process. This was my experience at the Ageless Move More retreats on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2022 and again, in 2024, which I wrote about here:
In this podcast, we talk about the miracle that is yoga therapy and why it is such a powerful healing practice. She shares why it’s so important to “breathe out fear, and breathe in love” (and a breathing technique to get us there). Yoga therapy, in my experience, is especially critical as we go through big mid-life transitions, like divorce, a serious illness, caring for an elderly parent, or becoming an empty nester. When we are in what Michelle calls our energy body, we can better navigate those transitions.
Michelle has put all her knowledge into the book Heal.Thy. Low Back. These are practices she uses every day as she copes with caring for a sick, elderly parent and other challenges. Each day she finds her center on the mat, with her massage balls and those deep healing breaths. She has taught me to do the same. And in addition to being my teacher, I am delighted to call Michelle my friend. We share the same birthday (April 12), one year apart (I’m the older one:-) Michelle is one of the warmest, most empathetic, caring, kind and fun-loving people I’ve ever known and her whole-body approach to handling life’s crises has been indispensable for me during the last two years of my own big life transitions. I am so glad to be able to bring her warmth and wisdom to my readers and listeners. Enjoy!
You can find out more about Michelle at her website: Ageless Move More.
Breathe out fear, breathe in love