Flow with QQ

How it started vs how it’s going. 🥹 First pic is of me from about 4 years ago, practicing alone at home, with a sequence I memorized from a class I attended (Yes, I memorize sequences from class. Haha. And I encourage you to do so, too!). Second pic is from last Saturday at Namnama Wellness - Isabela, after a Slow Vinyasa class I shared with our growing community. 💗

Aaahh. It’s been a month of teaching at the studio, and I’m in awe! When we opened Namnama, I didn’t know what to expect. But I just trusted that if I just keep showing up, the right people will, too. 🫂 It’s crazy how this little vision that I wrote about in my journal years ago is now here. And I get to build it with you all little by little.

We’ve got a long way to go, but I’m simply grateful for what’s here. If you’ve attended any of our classes or are planning to do so, thank you for being a part of this! Thank you for embracing Namnama with us. 🛖✨

So deeply grateful! A practice that changed my life now has a bigger purpose. 🤎 See you all again in January!

Our little studio — a home for our classes and more mindful experiences — is almost ready to open!!! If you’ve been resonating with my posts or are simply curious about what we’re creating, I invite you to follow along and be part of the journey. 🤎

In Ilocano, Namnama means hope. We chose this name because we want everything we do and offer to spark lightness, joy, and a sense of renewal.

As we open our studio — the first expression of what we dream Namnama to become — our wish is that everyone who steps inside leaves feeling a little more open and a little more alive.

If this resonates with you, we invite you to follow along and be part of our journey. 🤎

celebrating my birthday in a few days and i can't help but get a little sentimental and extra grateful. 🥹

Reflecting and manifesting. 🧡 (More yapping in the image captions lol)

I’ll be away next week for an engagement, so this week is a great time to come to class if you’ve been meaning to join. We’ll be working on our yoga foundations to support and strengthen your practice. 🧡 See you!

Move like the Kween you are. Join us on the mat! 😉

When I enrolled to be a Mat Pilates instructor, I honestly came into the program thinking it was mostly similar to yoga. I even had the audacity to say this out loud in class — which was met with a blank look from my teacher. 🥲

As we dove into the lessons and explored the repertoire, I understood why she responded that way. The two methods are indeed very different. To be fair, there are overlaps! There were quite a few exercises that felt familiar and “easy” because I had encountered similar poses in yoga.

But I realized that they have different areas of focus. For one, while yoga often asks us to expand, open, and stretch with awareness (which has its own benefits), Pilates highly emphasizes control (fun fact: it was once called Contrology).

An insight that really stuck with me from the program is that big movements (without control) only cause superficial muscles to overcompensate. Sometimes we think we’re doing so much, but we’re not actually benefiting the body the way we think. On the other hand, small, precise, controlled movements “recruit” the deeper muscles — the ones that truly affect how we move day to day, and the ones that support us in the long term when strengthened.

That opened up for me a new way of seeing movement. But rather than taking away from the yogic approach I knew, my new learnings from the Pilates method are an opportunity to enrich my practice and inform the way I design my yoga classes. And vice versa.

Learning and growing the capacity to hold these two practices together has been a wonderful journey so far. Now I don’t only have the knowledge of two distinct paths for mindful movement… I have two methodologies that can inform each other in beneficial ways. Super excited to explore this more. 🥰

P.S. I finished the program about a month ago. Teaching demo classes soon!