Insula Yoga

06/13/2026

Intensifying Fire 🌺 ☀️ 🔥
Last week I wrote about the symptoms that we can experience during this Yang building and Fire element season, and this week I was reminded how it can actually feel in the body. Lucky for me, I had an appointment booked with the pelvic floor acupuncturist in Fremont on Tuesday, so now my Heart feels more balanced and ready for the heat that's coming.

I forgot how uneasy palpitations feel. The heart beating at a rhythm that may or may not feel faster than normal but feels like it's about to fly right out of your chest. A building sensation of something being off and not quite right, often growing into anxiety. The mind racing and hard to settle, even with all the the deep breathing and calming techniques that I know how to do.

I told my acupuncturist that I'd been feeling like I should needle Heart 7 but don't love needling myself. It's exactly what I needed. As she put the needles in me, I felt everything settling into place. My mind slowed, and the Red Bird of my Heart settled back into its nest.

Yesterday, I felt my focus wane when the Qi cycle was in the Heart (11am-1pm) and realized that the days leading up to the palpitations starting, I'd thought about doing a yoga nidra and brushed it off because it was mid-day. Yesterday & today, I listened. It was magic. I plan on intentionally resting in the window through the Summer.

We have a Gemini New Moon this weekend (completeness on Sunday at 7:53 pm). Gemini is all about communication, adaptability, duality (represented by twins), quick thinking, holding two ideas at the same time, and being the bridge between them. It's ruled by Mercury and rules the lungs, shoulders, arms, hands, capillaries, and the nervous system.

The Gemini New Moon pattern calms your nervous system during the intensity of the Fire element; helps you to adapt to what you need; and helps you to listen...to what your Heart needs, what you need in relationships, and whether or not your boundaries are healthy & aligned.

👯 🌚 Join the Moon Cycle Community Acupuncture session on Saturday at 6 by texting Vanessa at 512-934-1917. $50

🧘‍♀️ Two spots open for Yoga + Acu + Sauna on Sunday 1-4:30. Text to join! $108

05/23/2026

On this Memorial Day Weekend, I wanted to pause & take a moment to acknowledge all who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. When I became a Marine, the meaning & purpose of this weekend shifted. Before, it was the weekend marking the end of the school year & beginning of Summer's long, hot days in Texas.

I was fortunate to serve during times of peace & don't personally know anyone who I should be remembering. My husband, however, lost a very close friend in Iraq. The loss of his buddy, forever changed him & still impacts him today. I think for him, there doesn't need to be a Memorial Day. Every day is a day of remembrance that his friend is forever 22 & not getting to experience life on Earth.

Ironically, President Harry Truman proclaimed Memorial Day to also be a day of Prayer for Permanent Peace in 1950. I learned that TODAY. So, this year will be different as I intentionally bring that into my pause.

I will be doing a Loving Kindness Meditation, too. Visit the link in the bio to listen the one that I recorded for you back in January. Doing variations of Loving Kindness, or Maitrī, has been helpful on the days when our world feels like a lot & there's nothing that I can do to change it.

It's an ancient Buddhist practice that helps us to connect with compassion, kindness, & good will towards ourselves and others. It can also be a powerful form of self-care & collective healing & have a positive effect on stress, anxiety, health, & empathy.
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​UW-Madison did a study on the impact of compassion meditation on the brain. They found that it changed the activity in the Insula, which is one of the reasons I named the studio Insula Yoga (it also means island in Latin)..."The insula is extremely important in detecting emotions in general and specifically in mapping bodily responses to emotion — such as heart rate and blood pressure — and making that information available to other parts of the brain."

May you take time to pause this weekend to breathe & consider adding prayers for permanent peace. If more of us knew that Memorial Day holds duality in remembering deaths from war & praying for permanent peace, maybe we could inch closer to that grand reality.

05/21/2026

🌺 Join Alexis this evening or tomorrow for one of her new offerings at Insula Yoga!

🧘‍♀️ RESTORATIVE COMMUNITY YOGA CLASS – Thursday 6-7 pm, class is accessible for everybody.

☀️Take a break from the world, and find solace in doing nothing, while supported by various props that can help your muscles relax and may help your nervous system start to calm.
☀️ Yoga shapes/forms are held for an extended period; however, students always have the choice to move into another yoga shape or form at any time if they find that more comfortable,
☀️ Class ends with a short iRest Yoga Nidra practice.
☀️ $20

🧘‍♀️ YOGA AND MOVE COMMUNITY CLASS, an experiential class for everybody – Friday 9-10 am, class is accessible for everybody, for all levels.

☀️ A community yoga class full of options, choices, variations, stillness, movement, lightheartedness, and a sprinkling of fun!
☀️ Facilitated through the lenses of accessible hatha yoga and alignment-based yoga, including mindfulness and awareness.
☀️ $20

🧘‍♀️ COMMUNITY YOGA TO BUILD BONE DENSITY AND HEALTHY AGING - Friday 10:30-11:45 am, class is accessible for everybody.
☀️ Students will learn the theory and safe practice behind building bone density, and aging healthy through participation in various yoga shapes/forms, variations, and sequences.
☀️ Alignment, stability, mobility, posture and safety is addressed in every class, and there’s always time for questions and observations in all classes.
☀️ $25 per class (4 class course package price starting 06/01/2026)

📍 5570 S Harbor Ave, Unit A, Freeland

🌟 Link in bio to register.

"Start from where you are, moving in alignment through each pose safely, connecting with the breath and body, acknowledging any limitations, and loving yourself because of that. To see the practice as a yoga practice and not a yoga perfect and to sprinkle in some fun and laughter along the journey."-Alexis

05/05/2026

✨ Join us this Friday, 5/8, for Insula Yoga's Open House in Freeland ✨

Friday, May 8th ~ 4 – 7 p.m.

5570 S Harbor Ave, Unit A, Freeland

Gather with us, meet our teachers, and learn about our offerings. There will be snacks, drinks, and giveaways. Blessing of the space at 6pm and live Kirtan music with Lauren.

Our mission is to create community where all feel safe to breathe, restore, and balance – body, mind, and soul.

🧘‍♀️ Better Balance Yoga Therapy (Sarah Birger)
🧘‍♀️Maven Alchemy Acupuncture (Vanessa Cameron)
🧘‍♀️Community Teachers: Leah Barnett, Alexis Burroughs, Lauren Flynn, & Emily Gilligan

📷 Debut of Coastal Chroma – locally inspired art & goods brought to you in a dynamic way.

Ongoing Classes:
🧘‍♀️Sunday 10-11:15 Power Flow with Emily (Until 5/10 and then on 5/19 moving to 🧘‍♀️Tuesday 6-7:15 pm)
🧘‍♀️Wednesday 10-11 Flow + Restore with Lauren
🧘‍♀️Saturday 10-11:15am Gentle Yoga with Leah

Beginning May 14th & 15th with Alexis:
🧘‍♀️Thursday 6-7pm Restorative Community Yoga Class
🧘‍♀️Friday 9-10 am Yoga and Move Community Class
🧘‍♀️Friday 10:30-11:45 am Community Yoga for Healthy Bones & Aging

We hope to see you soon!

05/01/2026

Scorpio Full Moon Community Acupuncture
Saturday, 5/2, at 4:30 & 6
Register via Maven Alchemy or text 512-934-1917

🦂🌝 The Moon is in Scorpio & making its way to peak fullness today at 10:22am on Bealtaine, marking the mid-point between the Spring Equinox & Summer Solstice. It's peak Spring energy & an opportunity to release what's holding you back from blossoming & growing.

There's an intensity in the air. Pluto (the God of the Underworld) is one of Scorpio's rulers & helps us surrender to the process of transformation. It's in Aquarius right now & creating a hard angle with this Full Moon.

It will help us go deep into all the muck of what we've been avoiding or deep within our subconscious to unearth what we don't know is there, return it to the Earth to compost, & bring nourishment to what's next in your life to grow. With Pluto's help, we can journey into our underworld & take the dark stuff of our life and learn to surrender & transform it into empowerment & wisdom.

The Scorpio Full Moon brings the Metal element of Autumn & its themes of surrender & letting go into Spring. As we tend to our gardens now, we have to get everything tidied up for optimal growth to occur. If we don't intentionally remove what's no longer needed, there isn't space for the new growth & our vision can be impacted.

I was reminded of this in my own garden. Several of our beautiful lilacs only produced a few blossoms this year because we didn't prune the dead blossoms from last year.

We can't fully bloom into our majestic nature if we're full of old stuff we no longer need.

The Full Moon acupuncture pattern connects deeply with Spring's Wood energy & the depths of Scorpio's Water element & surrendering. It inspires you to...

🌸 Connect with your element & nature. Have confidence to leave behind what's no longer needed & put your goals into action

🌸 Shed old wood & allow your true vision to emerge

🌸 Gain perspective from above to see your way home & put your dreams into action

🌸 Grow filled with order, purpose, harmony, & balance

🌸 Feel calm, stability from Mother Earth & receive ancestral insight, vision, & protection.

🌝 Full Moon Cycle Community Acupuncture
🌸 Saturday 5/2, 4:30 & 6
$50
🔮 Link in bio to register/text 512-934-1917 to join
🏠 5570 S Harbor Ave Unit A, Freeland