The Story Behind Zenyasa®
The evolution of a method shaped by slow-flow yoga, functional conditioning, and Zen mindfulness.
Zenyasa® didn’t appear all at once — it emerged through years of practice, study, experimentation, and a deep desire to help people move with clarity, ease, and inner steadiness. This is the story of the inspiration and evolution of the practice.
The Evolution of Zenyasa®
Zenyasa® emerged from a long season of curiosity, study, and personal transformation — a period when I was trying to understand not only how the body works, but how movement can help people feel more grounded, centered, and alive.
In my early years teaching yoga and leading teacher trainings, I found myself wanting more precision. I loved the tradition, but I also wanted a deeper, more scientific understanding of the body — something that could help my students move with clarity and keep them safe. That desire pulled me into the Swedish Institute of Massage Therapy, where I enrolled in their 1,200+ hour program to study musculoskeletal anatomy, kinesiology, injury patterns, and functional movement.
Those three years opened up an entirely new world.
I began taking on massage clients.
I launched Anatomy Studies for Yoga Teachers, a 108-hour program that helped yoga teachers build functional, real-world anatomical understanding.
I was invited to teach internationally — in Berlin, Basel, and France.
Teaching anatomy became a core part of my identity.
But another evolution was happening in parallel.
While teaching at OM Yoga in New York City, I encountered Buddhism. Something about Zen practice — the simplicity, the directness, the return to presence — resonated deeply with me. I began practicing at the Fire Lotus Zendo in Brooklyn and later attended training periods at Zen Mountain Monastery. I spent time with Thich Nhat Hanh, attending retreats and eventually taking the Five Mindfulness Trainings.
My inner life shifted — and my movement practice shifted with it.
After completing the Swedish Institute program, I stayed six more months to study personal training. Functional strength, resistance training, and injury-informed sequencing all became part of my work. At the same time, I was exploring the five elements from Traditional Chinese Medicine and began designing classes that integrated anatomy, energetic themes, breath awareness, and mindfulness.
What began as an experiment gradually became a method.
The method became a style.
And that style became Zenyasa®.
Zenyasa® brought together the worlds I had been moving through —
- Western anatomy and injury science
- Functional strength and mobility
- East Asian energy theory
- Somatic mindfulness
- Breath-led sequencing
- Zen-inspired presence
The practice developed its own structure, its own rhythm, its own way of helping people return to themselves.
I taught Zenyasa® at Reebok Sports Club and Pure Yoga, and eventually opened The Zenyasa Yoga & Wellness Studio on West 72nd Street — a space dedicated to this integrated approach. For years, hundreds of students practiced Zenyasa® there, experiencing a form of movement that was grounded, intelligent, strengthening, and deeply regulating.
The Practice Today
Although Zenyasa® continues to evolve, its essence hasn’t changed:
Zenyasa® is a mindful, intentional, strength-based movement practice designed to help people connect with the body, cultivate functional strength and mobility, regulate the nervous systems, and cultivate inner steadiness and stability.
Today, the practice lives on through the live Zenyasa® movement cohorts offered through Zenyasa Wellness — small-group classes that blend strength, mobility, breath awareness, and contemplative attention.
For many students, it becomes more than exercise. It becomes a practice of returning — again and again — to presence in the body and steadiness in the mind.
Experience Zenyasa®
If you're curious to experience the practice for yourself, you're welcome to join one of the upcoming 6-week Zenyasa® movement cohorts.
These small-group classes are designed to help you build strength, improve mobility, and cultivate a grounded, steady relationship with your body.
