Batch of Sky Yoga

02/04/2026

What's Restorative Yoga? In these 30-minute practices we rest our body and mind by taking only 3 poses. But first, we gather blankets, pillows, and other household items to use as props that support us completely.

This method provides a better quality of rest than simply sitting on the couch scrolling or watching TV. Here are just some of the benefits of Restorative Yoga:

🌿 relieves muscle tightness
🌿 reduces cortisol levels
🌿 promotes the body's relaxation response
🌿 quiets a busy mind
🌿 develops compassion for self and others
🌿 can help alleviate symptoms of anxiety
🌿 promotes deeper, more restful sleep

Registering for this class is basically making an appointment with yourself to rest. And if ever there was a time to do this for you, it's now.

Click the link below to register for this or any live Zoom class. No, you do not need to turn on your camera.😄I'll meet you on the mat!

https://batch-of-sky-yoga.offeringtree.com/schedule

02/02/2026

You know what I love? Sharing what I enjoy with like-minded people. Whether that's yoga, hiking, mountain biking, or just sitting with my husband in the evening watching our favorite YouTubers teach us stuff as we eagerly listen, learn, and laugh.

The other night, I was thinking about the tree pose forests our communities created together in our yoga classes last week and marveling at the power of community. I find so much value in it.

I realized that over the years I've followed a pattern to gather people together to create tiny or larger communities over shared interests. I didn't create it, but I was part of the PTO at my children's elementary school, and we came up with some creative ideas to bring families together and raise money for students and teachers.

A while later, I got into hiking. I asked some friends if they wanted to join me, then they invited their friends. We grew into quite a dedicated group of hikers for a few winters and covered pretty much all of the most popular trails in the Valley and a little ways beyond.

After my husband and kids got me hooked on mountain biking, I started inviting friends to ride with me. Women who didn't think they could mountain bike saw that "Sara SketchyPants" did it and probably thought, "Well I guess I can too." And they do! Now we have a club called Moms on Bikes (aka the MoB), and this weekend my friend Chloe Woodruff (retired pro cyclist and 2016 Rio Olympian) shared with us some on-the-bike skills and gave us the chance to practice a few obstacles in a safe, controlled environment so we could gain more confidence for the trails. Check us out above!

Being in community can be wonderful. It's a reminder that we're all interconnected and interdependent. How powerful being part of a group can feel: it builds us up, makes us feel stronger, supports our confidence. Community provides stable roots yet also gives us the wings to grow. It's really phenomenal how different it can feel when we work together as opposed to when we do things all alone.

So thank YOU for being part of this community! Let's keep it going! 🌿

01/29/2026

It's one thing to get feedback like this immediately after a yoga class when the physical effects of the practice are radiating through the body and the mind is calm and clear.

But this message came to me via email on a random morning from someone who comes to class when she can yet also practices with me at home through class replays. It means a lot to me that she appreciates my teaching style and what I offer. ❤️

But I want to be clear: She's the one who's changing her life. Practicing yoga consistently helps us understand who we are, what matters most, what we stand for, and what we stand up against. We are striving for self-actualization so that we may determine how we can share our goodness with others in the best way.

Yoga has helped me realize that I teach slow, mindful yoga with sincerity and in a relatable way. I may not be hyper mobile, a dancer, or a gymnast, yet I don't have to be to feel the benefits of the practice and share it with others.

If you, too, would like to practice consistently but my live Zoom offerings don't align with your schedule, consider joining the Batch of Sky Yoga Membership. This gives you unlimited access to my complete digital library of classes that you can turn to any time and as often as you wish. 🌿

https://batch-of-sky-yoga.offeringtree.com/offering_packages

01/26/2026

I'm grateful for you and our yoga community. Whether you just started coming to yoga classes, whether you've been practicing for years or decades, and whether we recently met or you've been practicing with me for a while, I'm thankful you choose to take care of yourself in this slow and mindful way.

One of my yoga teachers, Kristine Weber, recently shared the Sanskrit mantra, and it seems ever so appropriate to continue sharing it right now.

This thought, intention, or prayer if you'd like, can be powerful. Our thoughts can be contagious. We can hope for good things for ourselves, but how beautiful it is to hope for good things for everyone. Imagine if everyone did that? How could the world be different? How would it be better? More inclusive? More peaceful?

In our practices this week, we welcome the ideas of this mantra, doing our best to embody the heartfelt intention of happiness for ourselves, happiness for others. Health and safety for ourselves, health and safety for others. May we choose to see the good, may everyone choose to see the good. May we be free from suffering, may everyone be free from suffering.

We offer up this intention to our higher self, a higher power, the universe through our breath and body.

May it be so. ❤️

Register for live Zoom classes here:
https://batch-of-sky-yoga.offeringtree.com/schedule

01/21/2026

Today marks one year since this presidency began. I heard a few words about it on my commute, perused some articles, read, reread, and confirmed this letter from the US president to the prime minister of Norway is real and not AI, and then....

I asked myself: How are you today compared to one year ago?

I sat and took an honest self-assessment by asking questions based on campaign promises:

Do I feel safer?
Is my community safer?
Am I more financially secure?
Am I paying less for healthcare?
Are my energy costs lower?
Am I paying less for food and other necessities?
Is America respected globally?

Then those questions led to:
Do I trust those in power at the executive branch?
Those in Congress?
The Supreme Court?
Are their actions in line with my values?
Is the checks and balances system working?

Then came the more absurd questions:
What's important about Greenland?
A White House ballroom? And bathroom?
It's 2026, why am I worried about measles?
Why rename the Kennedy Center?
Why does he hate American heroes like JFK? Mark Kelly?John McCain? And Martin Luther King, Jr.?

I had to pause, take 3 slow breaths, and ponder what little old me can do about any of this right now. I'm still there, but I do know it's not fighting with others on social media.

Instead, I turn inward to understand what's important, what matters to me, how I can do the most good, and take the next right action.

Consider asking yourself these questions. What other questions come up for you?

01/19/2026

🌿 Yoga Enthusiast of the Month 🌿

The best part of my job is connecting with others. I've been introduced to so many remarkable human beings through teaching yoga, and they inspire me to be a better teacher and a better person. Each month, I share with you someone I'm grateful to have met.

I met Thao at the LA Fitness in Ahwatukee a few years ago, but after that club closed she started coming to the gym in Chandler. This location is 18 miles away from her home, and I'm impressed that she makes the trek so we can still practice together. When she's travelling, she often joins our at-home practices to help her day flow more smoothly and keep her body and mind grounded.

In addition to yoga, Thao loves T'ai Chi; she is very active but those are her two favorite forms of exercise. She says her body is often stiff, especially in the mornings, and these practices help to soften everything and calm her restless mind. Yoga has supported her through difficult moments: her surgeries, low-energy days, and many emotional ups and downs. She always feels more peaceful and alive after practicing.

Thao often approaches me after class to discuss concepts as there are many times when what she's studying regarding meditation, the chakras, spirituality, and/or mindfulness are aligned with what we do in class. It's meaningful for both of us to explore these themes more deeply so that we can both leave with something more to ponder the rest of the day and beyond. I'm always happy to see her front and center in class and am thankful for our friendship.

01/14/2026

I'm teaching yoga via Zoom from my childhood home in Pennsylvania this week and rockin' the Colonial American vibes. ❤️🤍💙

When I was little, we took many school field trips to Clayton, the mansion of Henry Clay Frick, and I was enthralled with the history. I practically memorized the docents' talking points.

I'd come home and give tours of "George and Martha Washington's living room." You might say my imagination rivaled Anne Shirley's back then. 😄

Seriously though, my mom and dad created a really sweet and cozy space, didn't they? They spent a lot of time and effort making a beautiful home for us. 😍

If you'd like to join me for yoga from this storybook setting, Restorative Yoga is Wednesday (tonight) at 7 pm AZ/9 pm ET and Morning Yoga is on Friday at 5:30 AZ/7:30 ET. Yoga to Support Cognitive Health is also on Friday at 8 am AZ/10 am ET. Register using the link below. 🥰

https://batch-of-sky-yoga.offeringtree.com/schedule

01/12/2026

I taught at a new senior living location, and I made an older lady cry. But in a good way.

She introduced herself as "Mary Ann Broken Leg" as she broke her leg a while go and it still gives her trouble. I teach an exercise where we rub our hands together so the friction creates some heat, and then we cup our hands over our eyes. The heat feels really soothing, "as if warm, healing energy is coming into your eyes, your head, and all through your body."

Then we create that heat twice more with the option to place it on our knees, hips, shoulders, neck..."whatever part of your body needs extra TLC." We don't label it as pain, just a part of us that could use more love. That hit a nerve with Mary Ann because she was feeling down about her leg, and this made her "feel grateful she even has a leg."

Pain, especially chronic pain, has the tendency to create a feedback loop. Something hurts, we fret about it, it hurts more often because we're constantly noticing it, we stress over it. The more we worry about when or if it's going to get better the worse it feels. Does this sound familiar? I've done this many times myself.

I'm not saying pain isn't real, but I admit there are times my pain probably isn't as bad as what my mind is making it out to be. And like Mary Ann, I start to identify with my pain and say things like, "I have a bad knee," when I should say instead, "I rode my bike too long, so now my knee is sore." If we are able to reframe our attitude around our pain or discomfort, even if chronic, we may lighten the load in our mental capacity regarding the sensation and be more rational. And adding the pain to part of our name is certainly not helpful, just as Mary Ann showed us with her emotional breakthrough.

Physical issues come, go, or stay; viewing them as problems make us feel worse. Instead, send love to those spots: strengthening with a physical therapist, massage, stretching, flowy yoga movement, getting surgery and doing the rehab. Help that part of ourselves rather than view it as a part of us that's hurting us.

Maybe it will get better, maybe worse. Worrying helps nothing. Reframing may require mindfulness and patience, but we can practice. 🥰

12/28/2025

As the end of the year approaches, I take time to reflect on what went well, what missed the mark, what changes or shifts can be made to create a successful new year, in whatever way success may be defined in the present.

You may already know (as I say this at the start of nearly every practice) my goal is to provide you with a thoughtful, meaningful, and well-balanced yoga practice. So how am I doing? Am I providing you with what's expected or am I missing the mark? What changes or shifts can help?

I've created a brief survey and would be so appreciative if you completed it so that I can serve you in the best ways a yoga teacher is able. Thank you in advance for taking a few minutes to share your opinion and/or thoughts.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtxOa-u4dnx-GN7MG5XCy_eh4L_hKl-Jwf8TtfW48szBNghQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=112849792973800156565

12/25/2025

12/24/2025

Looking for a meaningful and supportive holiday gift? Invite a friend to join you for this workshop on Saturday, January 3rd. ✨

You'll learn:

✨ How to ground yourself in order to clearly define your vision for the new year (or the next month if a year seems overwhelming).

✨ How the energy of the Full Moon is an excellent time for reflection, release, and renewal.

✨ Use the tools of the yoga tradition as well as modern psychology to map your road to success.

✨ Begin moving towards your desired vision with confidence.

This workshop will be held at Energy Lab Studio in SE Mesa from 2-4 p.m. Includes asana practices, meditation, a workbook, writing supplies, and chai tea refreshment.

Use the link below to register or check out to save your spot. Space is limited.

https://www.mindbodyonline.com/explore/deals/energy-lab-studio/intro-offer-100029?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPNTY3MDY3MzQzMzUyNDI3AAGn8MB-If2KHEebYQU3HWcF85BkKJvySh8YMxOHOYRr4RC0wmila5M7rkFRme4_aem_LwYordjMxNT6ct08y_LVgg

12/23/2025

It's nice to be appreciated, but it's not me. It's honestly the yoga.

I love to exercise! I'm an active person who enjoys moving around, especially outside. I do a lot of walking and mountain biking, and in the past year I've added weight training 2-3x a week to my routine because I know it's good for my bones and overall strength.

But yoga is not my exercise. It's slow and mindful movement, breathwork, and meditation that I use to tune in to my body, breath, heart, and get to know and understand myself better. And when you know who you are, you know what to do.

To be clear: there is nothing wrong with power yoga or hot and sweaty fitness-style yoga. It's just not what I do. And since that's not what I do, it's not what I teach.

Teaching what I know and what I do is more authentic, and it's lovely when participants in my classes validate this.

Join me for at-home practices via Zoom or try my mini-course Steadfast and Sustainable (links in bio). DM me for in-person practice opportunities, and I'll share my studio and gym schedule in the Chandler and Gilbert, AZ area.