Bio
Machelle Lee is a certified and experienced registered yoga instructor (E-RYT 200), massage therapist, childbirth educator and has earned a Masters Degree in mythology and depth psychology. Machelle leads Vinyasa and Yin Yoga weekly classes as well as a variety of Yin Yoga themed workshops.
Machelle's philosophy is based in the powerful alchemy that occurs through the tension and compression of tissues via physical postures while engaging psychologically in self-inquiry. She creates Yin and Yang based asana practices around the concept of “depth” to incorporate the wisdom that is held in the unconscious realm of the body tissues - thus acknowledging the body's 'voice' that speaks out in moods, food cravings, sleep patterns, energy levels, and when very challenged, can rise up as symptoms of disease.
This intelligence develops as postures are created based on individual body types, health states, and bone orientation, not from some aesthetic guideline on how postures "should" look on the outside - but rather how postures FEEL when we tap into the key purpose and intention of each pose.
In a pragmatic and grounded approach to self development, Machelle coaxes the busy thinking mind down into the body practice through imagery, story telling and poetry, which provides deep relaxation and self-care.
Her impassioned synthesis of Yoga, Chinese Meridian Theory, mythology, and Jungian psychology began much like the unique and personal journey of so many others ... in a search for meaning and understanding of "Self".
Machelle's interests in the connection between body, mind, and movement began in 1990 with a prenatal yoga class. Pregnant with the first of her three children, she experienced the physical and emotional ease that came with being with other expectant mothers, talking about joys and anxieties while simultaneously moving the body. The result was a somatic and psychological balancing that helped prepare her, and the other women, as they transitioned into motherhood.
Desiring to continue as a mentor in that community, Machelle trained as a prenatal fitness instructor, ASPO Lamaze childbirth educator, and a DONA certified labor and delivery assistant (doula). From 1991 to 1996, Machelle taught at St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center in Lincoln, Nebraska for five years, talked and moved with women through their pregnancies and had the honor of assisting dozens of births.
In 1998, Machelle's received her certification in massage therapy from the Finger Lakes School of Massage in Ithaca, NY. Though the school offered a wide range of modalities, the largest one aspect of the program focused on the body work and philosophy of Shiatsu, the Japanese based massage of “finger pressure” that simulates energetic pathways (meridians) similar to the the science of Chinese acupuncture.
Since 1998, Machelle has been leading hatha yoga while emphasizing how asanas complement
the Chinese Taoist meridian philosophy of moving life force (Chi/Prana). Making the shift in 1999 from prenatal care to leading yoga for men and women of all ages opened a new level of self development.
From 2002-2004 Machelle lived in Caracas, Venezuela teaching weekly community yoga classes and yoga-adventures through tourism with Autana. Upon returning state-side, Machelle trained formally in Vinyasa with Shiva Rea, earned certification, and registered with Yoga Alliance in 2005.
In 2004, Machelle was introduced to Yin Yoga and recognized its potential for moving deeper physically and meditatively into the energetic riverbeds of the connective tissues. Machelle turned her yogic exploration to studying with Paul Grilley and reading the scientific research of Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama and James Oschman on the biophysics of energy medicines.
In the spring of 2005, Machelle opened Shakti Yoga and Sacred Movement Yoga Studio in South Bend, Indiana. Between its two locations, she enjoyed five and half years of living, teaching, and growing in yoga and her community. To compliment an ever infused presence of poetics and self-development through the asana practice, Machelle also completed her masters in mythology and depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2009.
2010 brought her family to Maryland where Machelle's husband, Dr. Eric Lindland, works for a Washington D.C. non-profit organization, Frameworks Institute. Machelle currently leads weekly community practices in Silver Spring and Frederick, Maryland and offers intensive Yin Yoga workshops in several cities surrounding the DC metro area.
Machelle's philosophy is based in the powerful alchemy that occurs through the tension and compression of tissues via physical postures while engaging psychologically in self-inquiry. She creates Yin and Yang based asana practices around the concept of “depth” to incorporate the wisdom that is held in the unconscious realm of the body tissues - thus acknowledging the body's 'voice' that speaks out in moods, food cravings, sleep patterns, energy levels, and when very challenged, can rise up as symptoms of disease.
This intelligence develops as postures are created based on individual body types, health states, and bone orientation, not from some aesthetic guideline on how postures "should" look on the outside - but rather how postures FEEL when we tap into the key purpose and intention of each pose.
In a pragmatic and grounded approach to self development, Machelle coaxes the busy thinking mind down into the body practice through imagery, story telling and poetry, which provides deep relaxation and self-care.
Her impassioned synthesis of Yoga, Chinese Meridian Theory, mythology, and Jungian psychology began much like the unique and personal journey of so many others ... in a search for meaning and understanding of "Self".
Machelle's interests in the connection between body, mind, and movement began in 1990 with a prenatal yoga class. Pregnant with the first of her three children, she experienced the physical and emotional ease that came with being with other expectant mothers, talking about joys and anxieties while simultaneously moving the body. The result was a somatic and psychological balancing that helped prepare her, and the other women, as they transitioned into motherhood.
Desiring to continue as a mentor in that community, Machelle trained as a prenatal fitness instructor, ASPO Lamaze childbirth educator, and a DONA certified labor and delivery assistant (doula). From 1991 to 1996, Machelle taught at St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center in Lincoln, Nebraska for five years, talked and moved with women through their pregnancies and had the honor of assisting dozens of births.
In 1998, Machelle's received her certification in massage therapy from the Finger Lakes School of Massage in Ithaca, NY. Though the school offered a wide range of modalities, the largest one aspect of the program focused on the body work and philosophy of Shiatsu, the Japanese based massage of “finger pressure” that simulates energetic pathways (meridians) similar to the the science of Chinese acupuncture.
Since 1998, Machelle has been leading hatha yoga while emphasizing how asanas complement
the Chinese Taoist meridian philosophy of moving life force (Chi/Prana). Making the shift in 1999 from prenatal care to leading yoga for men and women of all ages opened a new level of self development.
From 2002-2004 Machelle lived in Caracas, Venezuela teaching weekly community yoga classes and yoga-adventures through tourism with Autana. Upon returning state-side, Machelle trained formally in Vinyasa with Shiva Rea, earned certification, and registered with Yoga Alliance in 2005.
In 2004, Machelle was introduced to Yin Yoga and recognized its potential for moving deeper physically and meditatively into the energetic riverbeds of the connective tissues. Machelle turned her yogic exploration to studying with Paul Grilley and reading the scientific research of Dr. Hiroshi Motoyama and James Oschman on the biophysics of energy medicines.
In the spring of 2005, Machelle opened Shakti Yoga and Sacred Movement Yoga Studio in South Bend, Indiana. Between its two locations, she enjoyed five and half years of living, teaching, and growing in yoga and her community. To compliment an ever infused presence of poetics and self-development through the asana practice, Machelle also completed her masters in mythology and depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2009.
2010 brought her family to Maryland where Machelle's husband, Dr. Eric Lindland, works for a Washington D.C. non-profit organization, Frameworks Institute. Machelle currently leads weekly community practices in Silver Spring and Frederick, Maryland and offers intensive Yin Yoga workshops in several cities surrounding the DC metro area.
