What is Friendly Yoga?

It’s really so simple.

To me, yoga is any activity that interconnects aspects of being a human being: our physicality, our breath, our minds, our emotions, our creativity, our hopes and fears, and our relationships to other people and the world around us.

And to be friendly is to be warm, curious, inclusive, kind, honest, playful, and affectionate.

In Friendly Yoga classes, I teach specific skills, often rooted in the amazing human body, usually incorporating creativity and play, and always in the interest of cultivating inner and outer friendliness.

My teaching style is serious and silly, nerdy and intuitive, challenging and empathetic.

I teach live classes, online, and through my writing and illustrating.

Friendly Yoga classes are for everyone from preschoolers through centenarians. (A bit of honesty: I have never actually taught yoga to someone in their second century, but if you’d like to be the first, hit me up!) I’m especially passionate about teaching kids whose nervous systems are easily overwhelmed and grown-ups who are aching for a friendlier relationship with their body-minds.

Who teaches Friendly Yoga?

Me!

I’m Ellen Olson-Brown.

I love projects and practice and people and potential.

I have my M.Ed. in Early Childhood Education, and I’m a certified yoga teacher. I mostly teach hot/26&2, yin yoga, and kids’ yoga classes, and I’m fascinated by all forms of movement. I’m a late-blooming creative, a wordsmith, a lover of desserts (this really cannot be overemphasized), and an introvert who greatly enjoys socializing.

I recently returned to graduate school to earn a second master’s degree in clinical social work, and I’m looking forward to incorporating what I learn about how to help humans thrive into my offerings.

You can find out more about me and my yoga-adjacent projects and interests here.

I live in Groton, MA with my husband (Caleb Brown, who is a talented painter and all around great guy), Pickles the dog, Orangeade the turtle, and sometimes my grown-up twin sons.