
Stillness in Motion
yoga classes and sound baths with Mathilde
I'm a sound bath facilitator and Yoga Alliance-certified yoga teacher with more than 20 years experience. I teach private yoga classes and facilitate sound baths for all types of private functions: baby showers, retreats, bachelor(ette) parties and more. I also facilitate more interactive sound baths at private and public schools for kids aged 4-18.



Sound
Sound is medicine. It can help release tensions and traumas, calm anxiety and provide profound insights. Just as a massage relaxes tense muscles, sound baths literally massage your cells into a state of harmony. When played individually or together, the vibratory sounds of the bowls can be deeply relaxing and cathartic on your body and mind. It's not uncommon to have powerful emotional/somatic releases during a sound bath, as the vibrations can work their way through deep-seated emotions and tension. You can also fall into a deep rejuvenating sleep.
The adult sounds baths I facilitate last around an hour and incorporate 7 different bowls, each with their own frequency and vibration. The sound baths I lead for children and young adults will typically begin with a more interactive introduction to the power of sound using a variety of instruments before transitioning into a 10 minute relaxing sound bath.


Yoga
Yoga means to yoke. To yoke or bound yourself to life. Far from being an escape from life’s trials it gives us a way to face them with more equanimity and grace. How you move and breathe on the mat can provide profound insights on how to move through life.
Strength, flexibility, refinement, expansion, acceptance: so many states and qualities are cultivated through this practice. The benefits continue to unfold for me, as I hope they will for you. Michael O’Neill, the author of the stunning coffee table book On Yoga put it so beautifully. Yoga is “the architecture of peace” and the “geometry of Love”. Cultivating both is a how we better ourselves, and the world. I teach all ages and levels.


In 2001, I walked into a yoga studio in Los Angeles, where I live, intrigued by what this practice offered that other forms of “stretching” and exercise didn’t. I walked out my body drenched in sweat but my mind oddly still and calm, as if my thoughts had gradually settled, like sediment at the bottom of a glass. I had never experienced this type of stillness before and wanted to experience it again, so I dived in. In 2008, I was diagnosed with a large herniated disk, the result of bouldering and horse riding falls. After 3 back surgeries and a year of Alexander technique with the brilliant Sharon Jakubecy, I returned to yoga more in tune with my body than ever. I became a certified Level 1 Hatha Yoga instructor in 2011, training under Anthony Benenati and Rebecca Benenati. In 2011, I was certified in Children’s Yoga by Golden Bridge/Light Leaders and in 2016 I trained in Trauma Informed Yoga with Uprising Yoga. Over the years I have also continued to practice and study Katonah Yoga with the incomparable Abbie Galvin . This unique style blends Taoist philosophy with Hatha yoga and pranayama (breathwork). For the past decade, I have taught donation-based classes, all the while continuing my career as a storyteller in unscripted television, and refining my own yoga practice. Along with the poses, or asanas, I also incorporate pranayama or breathwork into my classes, syncing breath to movement, and encouraging students to observe their mind as they move.

Drawings
I’m often inspired to make “portraits” of my friends, or drawings of places or feelings. I typically meditate on the person, event or emotion and draw them in one sitting, without reflecting on composition or color, intuitively. I do not allow myself any straight lines, as there are very few in nature. Circles symbolize motion, and as someone who loves to move and explore, the idea of stillness in motion - always having a place of calm and peace at your center you can go back to - is something I try to imbue into the drawings. If you'd like your portrait done, please...
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Thoughts

Thoughts


Thoughts
