Michele Laura is the founder of Focused Flow Yoga and the owner of Joyful Movement Studio School in Concord, Massachusetts.  She acknowledges that the study of yoga is a complex curriculum that would take many lifetimes to learn completely.  Over decades, Michele has enjoyed a consistent personal yoga practice and continued education while teaching thousands of hours of classes and workshops. In all of her teaching, she draws from a lifetime of movement arts including classical dance since childhood (ballet, jazz, tap), a 2nd degree black belt (Isshinryu Karate), and multi-cultural dance (belly, african, samba, etc).  She became a registered yoga teacher in 1992, began training students to become teachers in 2012, earned her 500 hours of certification in 2015 and was certified as a Yoga Therapist by the International Association of Yoga Therapists in 2016.  In October 2018, Michele became a formal student of Zen meditation at Zen Mountain Monastery.

Michele created and taught an original Dance Fusion Program for 8 years.  Her Dance Fusion Program introduces participants to Ballet, Jazz, 60’s Pop, Funk, Latin, African, Belly Dance, Authentic Movement, Charleston and more.  Outside of her studio school, Michele has taught Focused Flow Yoga and Dance Fusion programs at such locations as Endicott College, Cambridge Friends School, Garden in the Woods, Women's Well and Merrimack College.

Beyond dance and movement, Michele connects with indigenous cultures from around the world through African drumming, used as meditation to balance left and right brain, and keeping the land for both a local Lakota Indian Sweat Lodge and the hamlet of the Sacred Fire Community, formed to retain Native American traditions.

Michele was formerly  a Certified Public Accountant, is  the mother of 4, and has two grandchildren.  She believes parenthood has been her greatest avenue of personal growth and spirituality.

Teacher Training Offerings
Michele is the primary instructor for the Focused Flow Yoga Teacher Training (200 hour) offered through the Joyful Movement Studio School and a (300 hour) Advanced Yoga Teacher Training program for graduates of the 200 hour program. Both programs are intended to deepen your yoga practice, whether you become a teacher or not.  

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Focused Flow Yoga emphasizes stilling the mind using breathwork, moderate posture flow, alignment and body inquiry.  Yogic lifestyle suggestions (Yamas and Niyamas) are made through readings, example and workshops. Through Focused Flow Yoga ( which is based in Raja Yoga),  we explore eight limbs of yoga to still the mind, the “king” of the psycho-physical structure.  Kundalini Yoga informs the breathwork, Ashtanga Yoga shapes the flow, and Iyengar Yoga ensures alignment.
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The 8 limbs of Yoga are:
Yamas:     Guidelines to open us to life                           Pranayama: Free LifeForce with Breath      Dhyana: Meditation
Niyamas: Observances to sensitize to subtle realm      Pratyahara:  Inward Focus                            Samadhi: Bliss of Union
Asana:      Physical Yoga Postures                                    Dharana: Concentration

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 Joyful Movement Studio School    is surrounded by nature.  We are a semi-private school,  located off Lexington road, with a special permission to operate in a residential area in Concord, MA.  Location details are provided when you request your first complimentary class or register for a workshop.  Besides daily weekday classes, Joyful Movement Studio School offers workshops, retreats and certification courses to either deepen your yoga practice or to become certified as a yoga teacher.

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