MIMSY - What It Is - What It Does

Meditation In Movement Soft Yoga:

A Slow Dance With Yourself

 by Lanita Varshell

 (Originally published July 2012, updated July 2024)

    Not coming from an exercise background, if you are a yoga teacher, or yoga addict, when you first meet me you may wonder what in the world I have to teach you that you do not already know. Having always been chubby in my youth, and always a large woman, you may initially look at me and conclude yoga has not worked for me.

     But if you are willing to spend more time with me, if you are willing to not run away from my style of teaching or try to discredit it, you just may discover “a softer side of yoga” that is changing the lives of hundreds of yoga students each year.

     When I was introduced to yoga, there were very few teachers modifying it for the needs of the, larger, older, or less physically able students. When I was introduced to the slow, relaxing floor style of yoga we now call MIMSY - Meditation in Movement Soft Yoga, I knew that my first teacher, Naomi Judith, had discovered something very special. Here is what I discovered:

~ That when you relax before you begin to stretch, balance, twist and sweat, our bodies do not resent being moved. 

~ Movement becomes joyful, dancelike, welcome, and healing. 

~ Sometimes it is a slow dance, other times a sway or a rhythmic flow, or no outer movement at all.

     At first I thought that MIMSY would only attract larger women like myself, but soon they began bringing their more fit friends, and husbands, and those who were used to traditional active poses soon realized that this slower, softer side of yoga was a great missing link to a fully balanced yoga practice.

Sixteen years later, and thousands of classes later, the effects of MIMSY just keep getting better. 

As we lie on the floor, relaxing the body, and then slowly moving every different way, there seems to be a channeling that moves through me, leading each class into many similar poses, but still customized for those who attend.

     After each class, someone will just sit there, not wanting to get up and say: “how did you know that was exactly what I needed today?”  

      And that is how we know it is yoga.  

      Union with ourselves.  

      Poses that are steady, comfortable, and healing.

      ~ Lanita Varshell

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Here is what a few of our students have to say:

     "BEST THING I EVER DID FOR MYSELF! I spent a week in July 2011 at Feathered Pipe Ranch with Lanita Varshell for a yoga retreat and Plus Size Teacher Training. It was such an amazing, peaceful, healing time. The heaven on earth beauty of the ranch, the great staff, the incredible food, yoga every day and the wonderful people you meet makes for such an incredible break from our busy lives. This is the most perfect place to experience Lanita's unique, gentle yoga and meditation. She creates such a healing, safe, non-judgmental environment for everyone to practice her style of yoga, which will relax and rejuvenate you from head to toe.
     It may be the hardest yoga you've done because you have to completely let your body go and allow yourself to relax and release. (A hard thing to do for those of us so wound up with tension, busy, demanding lives and the monkey mind that never stops.) You will feel as if you had a massage after taking her classes. I highly recommend you do this for yourself - it will truly renew your heart and soul. I hope to come back every year, it's the best gift I can give my mind, body and spirit. ~ Jackie Anderson

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     My first introduction to Lanita Varshell as a teacher was at a retreat last summer at Feathered Pipe Ranch. It was nothing less than a trans-formative experience for me. More than twenty years ago I had been a practitioner and teacher of Himalayan/Iyengar yoga.  Since then I had gained a lot of weight and only in the last two years started to practice yoga again on a regular basis, but felt too intimidated to take yoga classes at the studios where I live.
     I found an ad in the Yoga International listing Lanita Varshell as a gentle yoga teacher who also taught a certification in plus size yoga.  I felt something inside of me say, "Yes!" I was very excited and afraid of going at the same time, afraid of being judged for my more than plus sized body.
     Lanita had a way of immediately making me feel not only safe, but at home in the body that I have.  There were no judgments, only an awakening of the beautiful spirit that was so lovingly and gently coaxed out in my time with her as my teacher.  Lanita has an intuitive style of teaching that just allows everyone to simply be in there body and let go of layer upon layer of feelings that are stored in our bodies to be integrated with our minds and our spirits.  It helped me find a balance and a deep sense of peace with which I have since been able to take care of others and my students that I now teach, thanks to Lanita's encouragement. I would recommend this retreat to everyone, whether you are new to yoga, or an experienced teacher. ~ Carol Radke

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     Lanita doesn’t “teach yoga” in the traditional sense. Meditation in Movement is less a yoga class than a deep experience. You cease fighting gravity as you lie on your back. You release tension from parts of your body you had no idea you were clenching. You open yourself to waves of relaxation and invite the body’s innate healing wisdom to do its work.
     Now you can move. Now you can move muscles that were too tight to move with ease or pleasure when you came in the door. Now you can stretch those muscles and enjoy the stretch. You’re moving slowly, mindfully, and with the breath, so your movement feels natural. You go to your first place of tightness and then ease back instead of pushing an edge. On the physical level, this gives tight muscles a chance to loosen gradually. On the mental level, this calms fear and resistance because you know you will not go too far and injure yourself.
     Meditation in Movement is not about how much you can do but about how much you can let go of. As the body releases tension, the mind gives up its need for control.  As breath and movement work to shift energy in the body, the spirit lifts.
     When I first began taking these classes with Lanita over ten years ago, I thought we weren’t doing enough. I wondered where the Warrior poses were. Then I came to see that the impact of Meditation in Movement style yoga was a profound change in the way I inhabited my body. I reconnected with it on a deep level and I felt more integrated, body, mind, and spirit. This yoga will change your life. It changed mine. ~ Carolyn Wheat, ERYT-500

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     The practice of yoga has brought greater ease to my body and calm to my mind. There was just one area that still brought forth a hot little seed of frustration and disappointment - the fact that most classes were still targeted toward to people who were already perceived as flexible and fit.
     The pace was too fast.  Modifications were not offered to people with structural variations or recovering from injury or years of neglect. The risk of injury was high. This yoga was clearly NOT available to Every Body.
      Lanita's approach to yoga is completely inclusive. It is the kind of yoga that you hoped to find the first time you gathered the immense courage it takes to step into your first yoga class - worried that you might look foolish or be judged by others. There is no "failure" in Lanita's teaching. Only support, ease, calm and acceptance. What you learn here will not only make you feel comfortable and safe, but it will give you tools to make the practice truly your own. I cannot recommend this workshop highly enough.          ~ Cindy Davis

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Lanita will return to the Feathered Pipe Ranch August 24-31, 2024