Ashley Brown

Movement Artist and Teacher

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The Gift of Giving

Nov 12, 2019
8 min

The Gift of Giving

As the holy-day season approaches I thought I would share a few ways you can give gifts that are intentional and supportive to our BIPOC community. What is BIPOC? BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and People of Color. Historically these folks have suffered the most under Colonization, Imperialism and Capitalism. Somehow these holidays have been traditionally about exchanging gifts during the family and community gathering in these colds winter months have been manipulated in

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Retreat or Retreat?

Yin Yoga

May 20, 2019
6 min

Yin Yoga

I recognize that I am limited in this information, but I will share as much as I know at this time to the best of my abilities. With every truth there is some untruth and with some untruth there is some truth. Yin is a term that comes from Taoist (also written and pronounced Daoist) philosophy. Yin is interconnected to Yang. You may even have seen the symbol above. This is a representation that in the light part of the symbol there is still a drop of darkness and in the dark

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Lessons from Death and Loss

Nov 13, 2018
3 min

Lessons from Death and Loss

In the path of Buddhism the first 3 of the 4 noble truths is there is suffering, we must find the origin of the suffering, and knowing there there is a way out of that suffering. The fourth truth is the path to practice to eliminate suffering. As a young teen I didn't know why, but I felt so deeply connected to these four noble truths. The simple fact that I am suffering was a relief, Buddha knew we all came here and we would end up suffering as humans, but he also knew there

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Stressed out

Sep 10, 2018
3 min

Stressed out

This blog is dedicated to my niece and all students from all walks of life. May you all be free of stress. During my time in school I wasn't very interested in learning math skills or science. The teachers that I had tried their BEST to engage ALL of us into the math or science or whatever skill that was being taught. Remember the example of the train going down one track at a certain mile/hour and the other coming at another mph, which one will get there first? Who's going t

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What Yoga do you Practice?

Aug 4, 2018
5 min

What Yoga do you Practice?

This is the most common question; what type/kind of yoga do I practice? In Western society we have developed this separation into styles. It's nice, I will admit, when you show up to a Restorative class (for example) and you get...A Restorative class, not an Ashtanga class. It helps our Western mind know when I show up to this Restorative class I am going to be moving slow, lots of props and I might fall asleep ; ). When I show up for a Strong/Astanga class, I am going to swe

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Meditations from the Mountains

Jul 17, 2018
5 min

Meditations from the Mountains

A few weekends ago my husband and I traveled down to LA for a family wedding and decided to make a road trip out of it. This was a big deal for us as we haven't traveled just us, no other family, for more than a night in over 2 years. BIG DEAL! Well this trip we were driving down with our cousin and the first and main part of our trip was for family. After the wedding we also had a lot of alone time while driving up 395. I didn't realize how profound this trip would be. Not o

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Top Down or Bottom Up

Jun 25, 2018
5 min

Top Down or Bottom Up

Being a human is awesome and terrifying all at the same time. We get to witness this amazing life of standing upright, using our hands to do simple to complex tasks, all the way to re-growing cells while we sleep! All the while we are able to observe, with consciousness, that these thing autonomous, regulatory functions like breathing, happen and we have the ability to drop in and experience them. How miraculous is that?! Another amazing thing is the human brain and how we ar

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Yoga Poses You Can do Anywhere!

Jun 4, 2018
4 min

Yoga Poses You Can do Anywhere!

As the summer vacations (or just summer months) are approaching I thought I would share some Yoga Poses you could do anywhere (even a tiny cramped airplane seat)! In college, as I was studying another movement modality, this was a suggested idea for a final project. How to find a seated tight quartered movement practice. Not only is it curious to change our perception of where and how can practice. But we then find ourselves being spacious, mindful, and free within our bodie

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Judge Not

Apr 23, 2018
4 min

Judge Not

Have you heard that Bob Marley song, Judge Not? It is amazing how it relates not only to our actions towards others, but also our actions towards ourselves. He was such a Rasta-Yogi! As I continue to investigate my own healing process, I have found a playful yearning for my original practice, BALLET. I spent hours upon grueling hours over the perfection of this technique over the past 20 years, literally pouring myself into this art of Ballet with blood, sweat and tears and i

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Sink Your Teeth into This (Pt.1)

Mar 19, 2018
6 min

Sink Your Teeth into This (Pt.1)

As some of you know I took a big leap in my dental care last Fall and got my wisdom teeth removed. I learned a lot from that experience and thought I would share with you my tips and wisdom on the topic of dental care and how in my personal experience relates directly to the nasal cavities and allergies. Disclaimer: I am not a Dental Hygienist nor a Dentist, just a dental advocate. I am sharing my personal story and what supported me on MY path to better oral care and allerg

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Stuck in Your Skin

Feb 6, 2018
6 min

Stuck in Your Skin

"Becoming friendly with the body means recognizing "I live here" and feeling appreciation and love for the body..." ~Jasmine Lee Cori, Healing from Trauma I remember, as a kid of the 90's, watching those commercials where there was a person in the kitchen about to cook something. They have an egg in one hand and they say, "This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs" throwing the egg on the wall. In this day and age the most toxic thing that precedes the drugs that are pr

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Supporting Your Yoga Practice

Jan 8, 2018
4 min

Supporting Your Yoga Practice

"The ancient yogis used logs of wood, stones, and ropes to help them practice asanas effectively." ~Excerpt from Yoga The Path to Holistic Health, BKS Iyengar As we move into the New Year, we have so many opportunities and ways we can practice yoga. In the West we have so many different styles of yoga to choose from that it might even be overwhelming. You may have even gone into a yoga class for one reason, say shoulder tension relief, and you came out sweating and in even mo

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Foot Series, Part 2

Sep 4, 2017
2 min

Foot Series, Part 2

After a long day walking around on your feet, you may notice some fatigue or even swollen ankles. Some runners and other physical practitioners have told me they have been diagnosed, by their doctors, with plantar faciitis. As I tell my dancers, "anything iitis means inflamed". So Plantar, meaning the bottom part of your foot, fascia, meaning the connective tissue, is iitis or inflamed and can become a terrible discomfort to say the least. I will be offering, in this part, so

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Summer Update

Aug 31, 2016
6 min

Summer Update

As the weeks have rolled by I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. Why did I disappear into crisis mode where only one thing mattered? My husband is going through a medical emergency. All of my priorities and responsibilities went to the weigh side and they still feel like they are. Turning my focus into being a caregiver: I didn’t know what that meant (really) or how to do it. Soon after finding out the news of my husband’s brain cancer and after his surgery I attended

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Why Yoga?

May 6, 2016
4 min

Why Yoga?

As a dancer I have been very lucky and privileged to experience many different body therapy modalities. In college I was training to be a Gyrotonic® trainer. Due to a very complicated reason, I left and never completed my level-2 training, but I knew in my heart it wasn’t my path. At a very early age I wanted to try yoga, but due to its close relation to Hinduism, my family never fed the fire of yoga. Yet I got to experience yoga and Pilates in dance camps, and I didn’t like

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