Is both evidence-based and emergent, meaning that I geek out over the latest research & trainings on biomechanics, pedagogies, and neuro-processes, yet use my (and your!) experience and intuition to adapt our practice to meet the needful things of the moment.
My Approach
Structured yet rhythmic classes featuring sensory-rich inquiry, breathing practice, and musicality.
Agency is fostered intentionally through the cultivation of active choice-making moments.
Language-rich sequences exploring functional anatomy; image-rich guided mediations journeying the wonders of balance and harmony; and, when desired and helpful, complimentary modalities of energy work (such as Tarot, crystals, elementals and Reiki) are incorporated into the practice.
What to Expect
Megan Westerlind, MA, RYT-200
Wending like a river, my career has taken many shapes; each turn emphasizing place, interconnection, and wonder.
teaching farm-based education programs & advocating for food justice in the Hudson Valley, NY and Coastal MA
grant-writing, membership building, and researching major donors for eco-ag non-profits in MA and DC
designing edible gardens & community service projects in DC
starting anew with yogic trainings & teaching in-person with yoga camps, toddler groups & baby/adult classes in DC
launching my own mindfulness summer camp & kids group classes virtually in DC, once Covid became a shared reality
Now here in Mid-Coast Maine, I have found a new way to foster my relationship with Mother Nature: by cultivating love for the Self, and by holding space for children and adults to do the same, through movement, together.
Click each section title to expand my studies, degrees, certifications, and places of work so you can get a greater sense of who I am and what I am offering as a family yoga practitioner.
BA Sustainable Development and Environmental Relations, UMass Amherst
MA Curriculum Development and Instruction, Shepherd University
Graduate Certificate in Appalachian Studies, Shepherd University
CPR First Aid/AED Pediatric and Adult,
Red Cross, 2019
NOLS Wilderness First Aid, 2019
200hr RYT Training, Circle Yoga, DC, 2020
Yoga for Kids with Special Needs, Circle
Yoga, DC, 2019
Yoga for Kids (2-12), Circle Yoga, DC, 2019
Yoga for Babies and Toddlers, Childlight
Yoga, NH, 2019
Perinatal Yoga, Nurture & Nourish, VA, 2021
Trauma Informed Teaching: Practices of Resilience, Recovery, and Growth,
Little Flower Yoga, NY, 2020
Using Sensory Play to Stay in the Moment: Yoga + Mindfulness for PK and K Students, Little Flower Yoga, NY, 2020
Yoga and Mindfulness for Pre-K and K Students, Little Flower Yoga, NY, 2020
Montessori Retreat, The Montessori
Notebook, 2021
How to Talk so Kids will Listen, The
Montessori Notebook, 2019
Peaceful Siblings, The Montessori
Notebook, 2019
Anti-biased Parenting, via The Montessori
Notebook with Britt Hawthorne and
Tiffany Jewell, 2021
How to Set up Your Home the Montessori
Way, The Montessori Notebook, 2021
Reiki I & II Certification, Reiki Sanctuary of
Northern Virginia, 2015
Accessing Genetic Memory with the Tarot: Ancestor & Past Life Readings, Bell
Wen, 2021
CPR First Aid/AED Pediatric and Adult, Red Cross, 2019
NOLS Wilderness First Aid, 2019
200hr RYT Training, Circle Yoga, DC, 2020
Yoga for Kids with Special Needs, Circle Yoga, DC, 2019
Yoga for Kids (2-12), Circle Yoga, DC, 2019
Yoga for Babies and Toddlers, Childlight Yoga, NH, 2019
Perinatal Yoga, Nurture & Nourish, VA, 2021
Trauma Informed Teaching: Practices of Resilience, Recovery, and Growth, Little Flower Yoga, NY, 2020
Using Sensory Play to Stay in the Moment: Yoga + Mindfulness for PK and K Students, Little Flower
Yoga, NY, 2020
Yoga and Mindfulness for Pre-K and K Students, Little Flower Yoga, NY, 2020
Montessori Retreat, The Montessori Notebook, 2021
How to Talk so Kids will Listen, The Montessori Notebook, 2019
Peaceful Siblings, The Montessori Notebook, 2019
Anti-biased Parenting, via The Montessori Notebook with Britt Hawthorne and Tiffany Jewell, 2021
How to Set up Your Home the Montessori Way, The Montessori Notebook, 2021
Reiki I & II Certification, Reiki Sanctuary of Northern Virginia, 2015
Accessing Genetic Memory with the Tarot: Ancestor & Past Life Readings, Bell Wen, 2021
Dr. Linda Kirby
Directress, Kit Hayes
Dr. Sylvia Shurbutt
Jen Mueller
Craig Hanauer
Alex Phelan
Bonnie Foote
Eduardo Guedez
Linda Feldman
Claire Sandberg
Annie Mahon
The Poughkeepsie Farm Project,
Poughkeepsie NY
Ravenswood Ecology Center,
Gloucester MA
Weir River Farm, Hingham MA
Land's Sake, Weston MA
American Farmland Trust, Washington DC
Love & Carrots, Washington DC
Tenfold Fair Trade, Harper's Ferry WV
Breathing Space, Washington DC
The Poughkeepsie Farm Project, Poughkeepsie NY
Ravenswood Ecology Center, Gloucester MA
Weir River Farm, Hingham MA
Land's Sake, Weston MA
American Farmland Trust, DC
Love & Carrots, Washington DC
Tenfold Fair Trade, Harper's Ferry WV
Breathing Space, Washington DC
“The girls really enjoyed your class, especially because we were going through rough times then. They looked forward to your class every week. For kids like mine, that never have taken yoga, you made it super easy for them to follow, participate, and enjoy the overall experience.”
—Parent of yogis ages 8 + 10
About Seedleaves
Seedleaves is yoga and mindfulness space to breathe in relationship with each other and the self once more. Here, we are inclusive of pregnant people, baby and children folk, siblings, friends, people new to parenthood or revisiting parenthood, and caregivers. Our practice includes play, musical moments, and breathwork, with both rigor and ritual, community and solitary sessions. Students guide the practice based on their needs, and sequences are founded in evidence-based research, best practices, and intuitive experience.
From pandemic unknowns to finding home
Spring of 2020 was a peculiar moment in time that offered no playbook—on how to live, how to work, how to commune. It was amidst this tumult that I branched out on my own and launched a mindfulness summer camp (online!) and kids’ group yoga (more online!).
This was the start of Seedleaves.
I realized that I approached my teaching with a focus on play and a celebration of the natural world, and while I revere the teachers that have taught me, I had trouble fitting the mold of their brands.
I’ve since Homed myself in Mid-Coast Maine, where Seedleaves has continued to grow as its identity now entwines directly with the land upon which I live. Forest, lake, marsh, and path have enriched my teaching practice as these places have brightened my own personal practice. Drawing inspiration from the Seasons of the Wheel, I offer an intuitive practice that changes throughout the calendar year. Informed by a sense of place here, the classes are offered as compliments and bridges to the natural rhythms of our lives.
I draw from Vedic studies, Zen Buddhism, The Montessori Method, Cognitive Neuroscience, Intuitive Reiki, biomechanics & anatomy, and the primal responsiveness of rhythm, sound, dance, and play.
What's in a name?
A seed leaf is the first leaf or set of leaves of a flowering plant. The seed leaves of dicots unfurl into the shape of two small hearts. The seed leaf originates within the seed as containing all of the food—the original needed requirements, to germinate and grow above the soil, until the seedling can reach the Sun. Any leaf grown thereafter is known as a true leaf, representative of that plant's personality, true to its family, genus, and species. But, before their true leaves grow, sprouts all share a common reminder of the nurturing place inside the seed from which they grew:
