April J Yoga

09/08/2026

🐒 Let's Shake Off Worry and Find Our Jungle Beat!

Ever notice how children’s bodies hold on to big feelings? Sometimes, when we worry about getting things right or trying to look "perfect," our muscles tighten up and we feel completely frozen.

This week at BULLET ACADEMY- Brandywine Heights Birth to Kindergarten Program students are going on a storytelling adventure with the book "Mula and the Snooty Monkey" by Lauren Hoffmeier! 📖

✨Through playful, mat-free movement and storytelling, we are exploring what happens when a snooty monkey lets go of his rigid rules and connects with a joyful jungle rhythm.

🤪 The "Silly" Reset: We are practicing the joyful art of letting go! Through kid-friendly breathwork and a mini-monkey dance party, children will learn how good it feels to shake off tension and embrace looking delightfully silly.

🌴Finding Our Balance: Using playful shapes like Tree Pose, Warrior, and Peaceful Warrior, we are building physical confidence while learning that it is completely okay to wobble.

We are teaching young minds how to tune into their own inner rhythms—helping them find a safe, cozy place to land and rest.

There are no rules to follow and no "perfect" shapes to make in our Storytime Yoga Class.

Every child is invited to show up, move, and express themselves exactly as they are!
📅 When: Thursday Sept 10th at 10am
📍 Where: Brandywine Heights Elementary School for ages 3–5, but all joyful monkeys ( in the district) are welcome!

I can't wait to breathe, move, and giggle together.

- I have openings in my schedule to add a few more Yoga Storytime locations - please reach out for more info.

09/04/2026

ADVANCE - 'to move forward in a purposeful way”

Moving forward in a purposeful way in your yoga practice happens in all kinds of different ways, none of which have anything to do with 'advanced' yoga postures or class types; all of which has to do with fostering a deeper CONNECTION - to yourself.

My approach to helping my students CONNECT & ADVANCE over the last decade has been:

⭐️Learning about their intentions for practice
⭐️Asking them questions & guiding them towards personal alignment
⭐️Celebrating their wins & acknowledging their struggles
⭐️Encouraging a slower pace
⭐️Cueing normal, relaxed breathing- noticing the body breathing
⭐️Offering unbiased asana options - all variations of a pose are the pose
⭐️Encouraging curiosity- creativity
⭐️Empowering them to do what's valuable for them, even if they stick out like a sore thumb!!

Looking for a place to safely ADVANCE your practice this fall?

April J Yoga is a yoga studio providing an intimate and welcoming atmosphere where individuals can openly express themselves and safely engage in intentional movement.

09/03/2026

POUND Unplugged.

Because sometimes yoga is lovely… and sometimes you just need to hit something with sticks!!!

POUND Unplugged is a little sweat, loud music, and permission to not take yourself too seriously.

Yes, there are mirrors.
Yes, there is choreography.
Yes, Nat & April will absolutely tell you to keep going when your arms & legs are questioning your life choices. 😂

But there’s also that moment when the music takes over, you stop thinking about how you look, and you’re just MOVING.

And that? That’s everyones favorite part.

So come get loud. Come sweat. Come laugh at yourself when you inevitably go the wrong direction.

You’ll probably leave happier than you came. 🥁🖤

POUND UNPLUGGED W/Nat tonight at 6

09/02/2026

Yoga gets a reputation for being about perfect, effortless balance.
But honestly? It’s a lot more about learning how to hold the weight of ourselves....physically, mentally, energetically.

We practice on the mat so we have the tools and capacity to support ourselves out in the real world.

It has been so exciting seeing so many new and familiar faces filling up the studio as everyone gets back into their fall routines.

A few open spots for PILATES or FLOW this evening!

09/01/2026

Today, the blankets are getting washed.

It may seem like a small thing, but I actually think these little acts of care matter.

These blankets get wrapped around you in savasana, tucked under knees, used as support and reached for when your body needs a little more comfort.

They’re part of the practices here, too.

In yoga, Saucha is often translated as cleanliness or purity. But as I sit here at the laundry mat it also feels like : tending to what we’ve been entrusted with.

Tending to the space.
Tending to the things we share.
Keeping things fresh.

And how that applies to our own practice, too.

Sometimes we need to pause and notice what has accumulated — physically, mentally, emotionally — and ask what needs to be cleared, cleaned, released, or simply given some attention.

So yes… today looks a whole lot like just laundry.
But I kind of love that this is part of the work, too.

There’s something grounding about remembering that the practice isn’t only what happens on the mat.

It’s in how we tend to the space.
How we care for what we share.
How we make room to begin again.

Sometimes creating a meaningful space is simply about caring enough to notice the little things.

08/31/2026

Inner Current: Gentle Somatic Lymph Flow 🌿

A little glimpse into the setup for tonight’s class.

The blanket running vertically along my spine was intentional. I used it to create support and a subtle lift through the center of the body as we explored the relationship between breath, movement, pressure and release—with particular attention to the tissues around the axilla, or armpit.

Before class started, I found myself experimenting with the setup and added this gentle bridge movement. It wasn’t part of the sequence I taught; I was simply curious about what the position might create through my own body.

The axillary lymph nodes are located in the armpit and receive lymph from the upper limb, as well as portions of the chest and back. The lymphatic system plays an important role in fluid balance and immune function, and unlike our cardiovascular system, it doesn’t have a central pump.

Lymph is moved through the body with help from several mechanisms, including skeletal muscle contractions, breathing and changes in pressure within surrounding tissues.

That’s part of what makes gentle, rhythmic movement so interesting.

We’re not trying to force lymph to move or “flush toxins.” We’re creating movement and subtle compression and release while allowing the body’s natural systems to do what they already know how to do.

And then comes the somatic piece.

Can I feel the pressure against the blanket?
Can I notice my breath moving through my ribs?
What changes around my shoulders and armpits when I move?
Where can I soften rather than do more?

For me, this is where movement becomes more than movement.

It’s an opportunity to listen.

This is Inner Current—a gentle exploration of the body from the inside out.

Less forcing.
More sensing.
More curiosity.
Finding your inner current. 🤍

08/29/2026

A new month, a new season, and plenty of opportunities to move, breathe, connect, and grow together. 🤍

The September class calendar is here, and I’m especially excited to highlight two meaningful offerings:

🌱 FREE Storytime Yoga at Brandywine Heights Elementary School
A special offering for local residents with little ones ages birth–5. We’ll blend stories, movement, imagination, and connection in a playful, age-appropriate class designed to introduce our youngest yogis to the joy of movement and mindfulness.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScqK8vRQv4iG2wUvC4RpKWHsfPCBLD7XdezLvjTmaaAwqkBFA/viewform?usp=publish-editor

📚 FINAL CALL — Embodied Presence 200HR YTT
If you’ve been feeling the pull toward teacher training, this is your moment. Registration for the Embodied Presence 200HR Yoga Teacher Training officially closes September 1st.

This training is so much more than learning how to lead a yoga class. It’s an invitation to deepen your own practice, explore somatics and nervous system awareness, and learn to hold space with presence, compassion, and integrity.

Whether you’re stepping onto a mat for the first time, bringing your little one to Storytime Yoga, returning to a familiar practice, or feeling called towards something deeper — there is a place for you here.

08/29/2026

Not everything that is meaningful has to be visible to be real.

Tonight, beneath the full moon and surrounded by a season of flowers, we practiced trusting what is still becoming.

A seed doesn’t bloom because we demand it. It blooms because it is tended to—watered, nourished, given time.

We are not so different.

Sometimes the work we’re doing within ourselves looks like nothing from the outside. The breath we return to. The boundary we hold. The thought we redirect. The choice to show up again.

Roots are forming, even when we can’t see them.

As this season begins to turn, may we release the need for immediate proof that our effort is working.

May we honor what has already bloomed, make space for what is still becoming, and trust the unseen work.

Keep tending. Keep showing up. Keep trusting.

You don’t have to be finished to be growing. 🌿🌕

Sometimes we are just watering dirt
Bloem Acres Flower Farm

08/24/2026

Dr Meg has launched her own program!

She has created an online program that brings together scoliosis education + yoga + movement awareness + breathing + strengthening—so you can start understanding your spine and learn how to move with it!!