6 Good Questions with Christine Engelfried!

It's about time we got to know another one of our amazing instructors! Please say hello to Christine! She's been bringing some late-night classes to the schedule since November 2023. Sign up for one of her classes here:

• Gentle Flow (30 min) on Mondays at 10pm ET / 7pm PT and Fridays at 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT

• Restorative Yoga (30 min) on Mondays at 10:45pm ET / 7:45pm PT

Here's what folks are saying about Christine:

"I really look forward to Christine’s classes, And I try my best to not miss them. With each class I feel relaxed the tensions and blockages that existed prior to class starting dissipates by the end of class. Her voice is extremely calming and the directions called are easy to follow without looking at the screen."

Who are your classes for? What kind of vibe can people expect in your class? What is your teaching style like?

[My classes are] for anyone who is interested. If there's an openness and willingness to show up, it's there for you. It's my heart for you to feel seen in my class, that you feel successful - there are classes some classes where you feel like "it's not quite the class for me" - and it is my heart in these particular classes that there is a level of universal design, so to speak, that there is something you are able to gain from the class. The classes are Gentle Flow and Restorative Yoga. In the Gentle Flow, we usually begin on our backs with some connection to our breath, with some mindful meditation and then we move into some gentle movement in terms of joint articulation, just getting the blood flowing, into some gentle cat/cows, into some possible stretches and standing poses. That's sort of the structure of the class but some time it can shift and change. They are both 30-minute classes so we do what we can in the short amount of time but it is my hope that people come away feeling like that they're glad they showed up and they were able to receive some benefit.

How did you get into yoga? Do you have other favorite types of movement?

I first found yoga through the doorway of dance. I was taking dance in college and there was a dance class called "Yoga for Dancers". I thought it was just to support our flexibility or strength in class but what I was able to discover was this whole other world basically of getting to know myself better and learning more to know what mindfulness was and that translated not only into my dance, be able to listen to my body more, being able to know where my edges were, just feeling more at home in my body and my mind, body heart and breath. I feel like the more that I learn about Yoga, the more I don't know. I'm also really humbled and honored to share what I do know and that's what I hope to show up at my class - I don't know all the things but I do hope to share what I've found that has helped me in hopes that it helps others too. I recently started to work with a methodology called KINRGY, an intersection of dance fitness, but also energy work and breath work and movement, created by Julianne Hough. She pulled together all of these things that are usually separate classes and combined them. You're moving while you're connecting to different breath patterns, you're visualizing, you're connecting to the energy of the different elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether. That has been a really powerful practice for me - sort of unlocking just different parts within myself but also being able to connect a little bit beyond myself too.

What's the most valuable lesson you've learned from your own practice? What does yoga mean to you?

The most valuable lesson I have learned is meeting myself where I am. Either by nature or nurture, I've often learned to place a lot of value in striving and learned to change my state, so being really good at if I'm not feeling so great, changing my state so I can show up and perform and go on stage or get the job done and then afterward, come off the stage and then actually experience what I'm really experiencing, my authentic self. Yoga has been a place in which I can practice showing up as my authentic self and meeting myself where I am without having to change or fix or heal and that's the irony because the first step in transformation is actually acceptance. So that naturally happens once I learn to surrender and accept myself where I am. That I think has been such a gift for me - is to have a space where I'm really being asked to be my authentic self and to show up with those parts of myself that feel less than worthy, or less than perform-y, or what have you, and just be there. To not try to change it. To be with it. To breathe with it. To allow it to exist and to welcome that in. I think that's something that I'm still working on. I just feel really grateful that yoga provides that space for me to explore that.

What does Yoga mean to me? It's so funny - like "what is Yoga?", haha, and there's all these definitions that pop up. But for me, yoga is just now - it's this very moment - like this moment now - that is Yoga. I heard someone once say that when you start a meditation practice and your mind keeps wandering and you keep bringing it back to whatever that focus point might be, that the moment that you realize that your mind is wandering is actually presence. So instead of me getting tough on myself that my mind keeps wandering is that actually when I'm realizing that, "uh, I've just wandered", it's like that moment now, like that moment is that space. So, yeah, Yoga is now. Yoga is this present moment. If you had asked me before I started my practice, I would have been like "Yoga is about the poses, achieving an elusive headstand" or something like that. No, Yoga now for me is like "oof, I have not eaten and I need to give myself compassion," or like "wow, I just lost my temper" or like especially in parenting and mothering, that is a whole other muscle of Yoga that is off the mat, into the world, and really asking me to cultivate a different aspect of Yoga, which I think is really the heart of what it really is, of what yoga is and these poses are just a way in which we allow our bodies to become still enough to widen those spaces

Do you have any pets? We love our #petsofompractice ❤️

I do! Teddy (german shepherd/husky) and Fiona (husky/lab). Both are around 10 years old.

What is your favorite easy seasonal recipe to share right now?

It's really a year-round thing because I really just appreciate kale and all of its benefits. I chop up some kale and saute it lightly with EVOO, 2 cloves of garlic. You can use zucchini too. This other one is from a liver cleanse but I take 2 bananas, 2 cups blueberries, 1 packet of pitaya, with water (or non-dairy or dairy milk if you want it creamier) and blend it all up. It's really yummy and really good for my gut.

Tell us a bit about your morning routine and what gets you revved up/excited for the day?

It looks a lot different now that I'm a momma, haha. I could have told you a full three-hour routine before and we adapt because we're in a different season. So my morning routine, to be very transparent, has been, as soon as I open my eyes, I try to think about 5 things that I'm thankful for, 5 things that I'm looking forward to, and 5 things that I'm proud of myself for and they have to be things that are really small ("Christine, I'm proud of you for not looking at your phone first thing" and "I'm proud of you for flossing your teeth last night" because that doesn't always happen, haha) but just kind of starting my mind in a framework of being kind to myself and kind of bolstering myself up after that. I will try to drink half of my water intake for the day, ideally with some lemon, and then gently moving my body. Again, a practice at this season right now is not super realistic but even if I just sit at the edge of my bed and I just do some neck circles and just like reach my arms up before my son's like "MOM!" You know that's what my mornings are looking like, which is probably all of like 3 minutes, but that's my true morning routine. I try to make sure that I have a real good breakfast. I am an Earth sign so I definitely need to have 3 square meals a day, 2 snacks in between but that usually sets me off on a good start, having that balanced meal.

For fun, we always like to have a few extra credit questions:

• What's one life-changing product under $25 you'd recommend? Organic almond oil - I use it instead of lotion - all over. I'm huge fan of Ayurveda, becuase of it being a sister science of Yoga. I've started to learn as well that during cold and flu season, our nasal passages get more dry and when they get more dry, the hairs in our nose flatten and they become less of a filter to the bacteria and stuff that come in, like the allergens, and stuff. I take some in my hands and put some in the inner nasal passages. And especially during Vata season, or a season when there's more wind element in the air, and you need to feel a bit more grounded, you can also rub it in the inner ear canal and something about that lubrication and that moisture has been kind of life-changing. It feels like it keeps me a little bit more healthy.

• Most delicious bite of food lately? iced lavender matcha latte with oatmilk from Starbucks

• Best books on your shelf?

  • WomanCode by Alisa Vitti
  • Becoming by Michelle Obama