Sangha Yoga Studio

02/02/2026

A new woman walks into class.
She’s early because she’s nervous.
She wants to get her bearings and feel safe.

She rolls out her mat.
A regular walks in.
She stops.
Looks at her.
And says,
“You’re in my spot.”
There is no faster way to make someone feel unwelcome.
And there is no faster way to expose where our practice is still surface level.

When I read stories like this, I feel horrified and grateful all at once. Horrified because there are studios where someone will actually look a new person in the eye and say, “You’re in my spot.” Grateful because I have never witnessed that in our space.

But I do see the pattern underneath it. I see it in the way people show up earlier and earlier to guard their spot. I see it in how we arrange our props like little safety zones. I see it when the room shifts and someone’s whole energy collapses because the plan changed.

Yoga asks us to notice where we cling, and right now we are a vata pitta society in a vata pitta deranged time, especially here in the U.S. Fast paced, full of fear, and full of people trying to create stability in any way they can. Sometimes it shows up in the smallest places, like needing your mat spot to feel okay. I get it, we are human. We love our rituals, and we long for predictability, especially when the world around us feels chaotic.

These things aren’t wrong. They are human. And they are invitations.

Aparigraha is often translated as non-grasping, but that doesn’t mean giving things up. It means looking at the places where we hold on so tightly that our flexibility disappears. It means noticing when our sense of safety gets tied to a corner of the room or a familiar routine. It means remembering that yoga is meant to soften us, not make us territorial.

If you feel unsettled when someone takes “your spot,” that feeling is not a failure. It is insight. It is the exact place your practice is inviting you to grow next. The moment you soften your hold, your practice expands.

Let the mat move. Let the view shift. Let yourself be shaped by the moment instead of the ritual around it. That is the transformation. That is the work. That is yoga.

01/21/2026

Let’s stop pretending yoga is easy fitness. Let’s stop pretending the postures are the magic instead of the vehicle for the magic.
Yoga is a program, a system, with 8 limbs that work together
Working the WHOLE program is where the magic is.

And the best teachers have experience working the whole program and know how to teach it as part of each physical practice.

That’s where our 200hr Yoga Teacher Training shines💛

You already know you’re ready for a deeper kind of study, a study that teaches you yoga poses and grows you into who you’ve been becoming for years.
When I guide a training, I’m giving you so much more than surface level instruction. I’m inviting you into a lineage I’ve devoted my life to, a path shaped by travel, years of practice, real mentorship, and the kind of embodied understanding that comes from living this work day after day.
You’ll learn the alignment, the sequencing, the safety, the way postures actually land in a real body.
And you’ll learn it alongside the deeper systems that give yoga its power, the energy body, the philosophy, the nervous system regulation that makes practice feel alive and sustainable.
In this 200 hour yoga teacher training, you’re not lost in a crowd.
You’re seen, challenged, and supported.
You learn the system of yoga through the body, through energy, through the mind, and you learn it in a way that changes how you move through your life.
If you’re feeling the pull toward deeper study, trust that.
The people who choose Sangha’s 200hr are the ones ready for steadiness, clarity, and a more embodied way of living.
💛
Kandice

01/21/2026

01/20/2026

01/19/2026

I once heard a woman say, almost casually, “I got into headstand the first time I tried.”

There was a pause, and then she added, “But to be clear, it wasn’t the first time my body had done the work.”

She went on to explain that while it was her first time upside down in that way, she had spent years practicing foundational postures. Warriors. Downward dog. Transitions. Building strength, awareness, and relationship with her body in ways that didn’t look particularly flashy. So when the moment came, her body already knew what to do.

I think about that story often.

It’s easy to be drawn to the more exotic shapes in yoga. Crow, headstand, arm balances. They’re interesting. They look impressive. And they can be fun to explore. But the real power of a physical practice lives in the foundations.

When we refine how we move through warriors, how we organize ourselves in downward facing dog, how we transition with care, we’re building strength that actually supports the body. Not just for one pose, but for the long arc of practice. We’re developing a conscious relationship with how strength is created, where it’s coming from, and how it’s being held.

This kind of work doesn’t rush the body. It prepares it.

There’s also something deeper happening here. Foundational postures offer the nervous system clear information. Where am I grounded? Where am I stable? What can I trust beneath me? That sense of physical steadiness is closely tied to what, in yoga, we might call the root. Safety. Stability. Feeling supported enough to stay present.

When those foundations are in place, effort becomes more sustainable. Strength builds without force. Awareness sharpens. And over time, the practice starts to feel less like something we’re doing to the body and more like something we’re doing with it.

That’s very much part of what we’re exploring this month at Sangha.

This week in practice, whether you’re joining us in class or practicing on your own, I invite you to bring your attention to the foundational postures. Notice how they feel in your body. Notice where strength is being built. Notice what changes when you bring your awareness more fully into the shape, the breath, and the transition.

01/18/2026

When I was invited to be part of a human trafficking advocacy initiative this coming year, it was an immediate yes in my heart.
This year a grouo of women from around the globe are coming together to raise funds for this special cause. Knowing that this work is being carried forward collectively, by women in many countries, cultures, and communities, feels incredibly powerful to me. It’s a reminder that this is not a solitary effort, but a shared commitment to protection, dignity, and care.

For me it as a student of yoga, and a teacher, also feels like a rare and meaningful opportunity to give back to a land that has given me so much, and to do so in a way that feels close to my values and my lived experience.

Traveling to India and studying there shaped me in profound ways. The practices that sustain my wellness, my teaching, and my livelihood were born there. Being in that landscape held immense beauty, devotion, and aliveness. It also introduced me, very clearly, to a depth of suffering that is difficult to understand until you witness it firsthand.

India holds extraordinary richness, and it also holds extraordinary density. So many lives, so much resilience, and not nearly enough resources to go around. I’ve seen what it means for people to hold joy and celebration alongside deep adversity. I’ve also seen how fragile safety and freedom can be for women and children, especially in places where systems are strained and support is limited.

That awareness has stayed with me.

So when the opportunity arose to support organizations doing real, on-the-ground work for women and children in Kolkata, it felt like a natural extension of the gratitude I carry for the teachings and traditions that have shaped my life.

This year, Sangha will be engaging in a human trafficking advocacy initiative with the intention of offering tangible support. We’re approaching this with reverence, clarity, and care. Our hope is to raise at least $5,000 through a primary community fundraiser, along with smaller acts of giving throughout the year.

I’m exploring a few different options for community fundraisers - what i iniw is i want it to be an opportunity for many to gather, enjoy one another, and contribute to something meaningful together. It matters to me that giving feels connected, human, and rooted in relationship, not obligation. And of course we want to raise funds!

In the past, we’ve supported the Humane Society and initiatives serving women navigating domestic abuse, alongside quieter forms of giving woven into our year. This initiative is a step into a larger commitment, and I’m grateful to be taking it alongside a community that values integrity, devotion, and impact.

More details will be shared as plans take shape. For now, I wanted you to understand why this matters so deeply to me, and why it feels aligned to carry this work forward through Sangha.hr isr

01/15/2026

Something really good is happening at the studio right now.

In just the last couple of days, three people who have been practicing with us, some for months, some for just weeks, chose to step into deeper care for themselves by becoming members. That choice matters. It reflects devotion. A decision to tend to health more fully, more consistently, and more honestly.

One of the notes I woke up to this morning came from someone who has walked with the studio for years. She shared how deeply supportive her practice here is feeling right now. How steady it’s been for her nervous system, her body, her life. She also named how meaningful it’s been to feel held and contained in this season. Reflections like this tell me we’re doing something right.

Everything at Sangha is intentionally offered in a one-to-few model. No matter which class you attend, you’re practicing in a smaller group where you’re seen and your body and energy are responded to in real time. That level of attention supports growth on every level.

This approach also creates continuity. In an industry where many studio relationships last only a few months, our community tends to grow slowly and stay connected for years. When people are known and supported over time, practice becomes something they return to, not something they cycle through.

Growing membership opens up real possibilities for the community. More members means more classes and more opportunities to practice. It also allows us to bring on more teachers, adding diversity of experience and perspective. All of this deepens the studio, and it’s something I’m genuinely excited about as we look ahead.

January gets a rough rap sometimes. We don’t subscribe to that here. We’re a community. We love welcoming new people, and we love continuing the path with those who have been here through many seasons

01/12/2026

When we think about foundations, the most basic place to begin is knowing where you are. Feeling your body. Feeling your breath. Giving your nervous system enough information that it can settle and respond, instead of staying on high alert.

Steady, conscious practices have a very real regulating effect. When we return again and again to practice in With curiosity and intentional presence, things start to change. We begin to feel more steady. More present. And over time, we become more capable of staying with sensations and feelings instead of rushing past them.

That kind of steadiness deepens self-trust. And this is really where intention comes in.

Once, a student asked me what it actually means to set an intention in practice. Should it be about getting stronger? Improving posture? Working toward a particular shape?

Those things might happen, but that isn’t really the point.

An intention, especially at the beginning of practice, is most valuable when it helps us notice how we’re moving through our life experience. Maybe it’s an intention to slow down. Or to notice when we rush. Or to smooth the breath and feel it more fully. Or to cultivate kindness.

Whatever the intention is, the mat gives us a smaller, clearer place to observe those patterns. To notice where we drift away from them. And to practice choosing differently.

When we do this again and again, the nervous system starts to learn. We build familiarity with steadiness. We build new neural pathways. And over time, that way of being begins to show up off the mat as well.

When yoga is offered with thoughtfulness and continuity, it naturally becomes more than a physical practice. It becomes a way of understanding oneself, and a way of staying connected to life as it’s actually happening.

That’s what we’re really exploring this month.
Foundations that support real change, simply by being returned to.
This week in practice, try setting a clear, simple intention before you begin. Notice how it changes the way you arrive on your mat, how you move through a posture, or how you respond when something feels challenging. Whether you’re practicing in the studio or at home, let the intention be something you return to, not something you perfect.

01/09/2026

This past week, I’ve found myself moving a little more intentionally, out of care. There’s a lot happening in the world, close to home and beyond it, and it’s reminded me that choosing presence is part of how I tend my mental health and stay steady enough to support others.

January at Sangha is centered around the theme Atha, often translated as beginning the practice.

The Yoga Sutras open with this line: Atha yoga anuśāsanam.
Now, the practice of yoga begins.

Atha points us to now, this present moment. In texts like the Yoga Sutras, it serves as an auspicious, inceptive particle, marking a true beginning. It reminds us that yoga only happens when we are here for it, and that beginning requires conscious commitment, much like the sound Om.

I love that the sutra doesn’t say yoga begins when things are calm or when life makes sense. It simply says now.

In that spirit, this month is about arriving in the body, the breath and the moment.

In practice, that might look like slowing down enough to feel where the body meets the ground, paying attention to transitions and letting the breath be an entry point instead of an afterthought.

As a collective we're revisiting foundational postures and remembering that steadiness is a skill we build over time.

I often say that if you come to practice and consciously rest on your mat for the entire class, you are doing it. And I truly mean that. Most importantly, practice looks like showing up as you are and recognizing that the simple act of showing up is most of the work.

One of the foundations that supports us as humans is community, the circles we walk in and return to.

I once read that the average yoga studio retains a student for about three months. Our retention rate is measured in years. That kind of continuity is special, especially in today’s fast-paced, changing world.

Sangha is a community I’m deeply proud of. People don’t just come for a season. They stay. They return. They build relationships with themselves and with each other.

Showing up as we are and learning to navigate life together is part of the practice.

This weekend, Carmen will be teaching Saturday’s 10am practice, and you’re warmly invited to join if it feels supportive. No pressure to show up in any particular way.

12/18/2025

Boutique fitness is often built around novelty.
A practice you can grow with is built differently.

At Sangha, we work in a one-to-few model because bodies don’t get stronger, steadier, or more resilient by constantly starting over. They change through consistency, intelligent pacing, and being seen over time.

Small groups allow us to practice in a way that actually supports the nervous system.
Being live creates relationship.
Relationship builds safety.
And safety is what allows real strength to develop — physically and beyond.

This approach is intentional and relational.
It asks for more presence from teachers.
And more commitment from students.

That’s not a drawback.
That’s why it works.

This is the heart of how we practice at Sangha, and it’s something I’m committed to protecting as we grow.
💛Kandice

09/03/2025

Follow Daisy Fest -- you never know, we may have an event in YOUR area! It's our 6th year of hosting the Daisy Fest Outdoor Festival in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and this festival is not possible with our generous sponsors! BIG daisy thanks to Daisy Blue Naturals, Sangha Yoga Studio, Big Stone Therapies - Albert Lea, Alerus Financial, KOWZ 100.9 FM, Albert Lea Convention and Visitors Bureau, Holly Miller Design & Schipps Pro Power Wash & TankerKleen! Find our more at the event page as well as the web page here: https://daisybluenaturals.com/daisyfest/