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The Phoenix Practice

The Great Exhale

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The Phoenix Practice

The Great Exhale

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Host The Phoenix Practice

A time to set it all down.

You have carried so much, for so long. A parent. A partner. A child. Patients, students, a congregation, a community. And somewhere beneath all of it — you.

The people who hold everyone else are rarely held themselves.

The Phoenix Practice is time that belongs only to you. Gentle, trauma-aware, and adaptive to every body, it is yoga as sanctuary — not yoga as workout. Nothing here asks you to perform, to share, or to be anywhere other than exactly where you are. You arrive as you are, and you leave a little more yourself.

This is not a fitness class. Not performance yoga. This is yoga as sanctuary.

If you give and give, this was made for you.

This practice was built for —
• Family and professional caregivers carrying chronic stress and grief
• Therapists, social workers, and helpers living with compassion fatigue
• Nurses, healthcare workers, and patient advocates
• Educators, nonprofit leaders, and clergy holding others through hard seasons
• Artists and organizers living where creativity and care meet
• Anyone weary from loving, grieving, or simply caring too long without rest

What a gathering may hold

No two gatherings are quite alike. The shape of the time together shifts with the room, the season, and what people bring — some begin with singing bowls, some with music already humming, some with stillness. These are the threads Dr. Best weaves together, in whatever order the gathering asks for.

Gentle movement — Slow, breath-led hatha to ease what the body has been holding. Every pose is an invitation, never an instruction. Chairs always welcome.

Breath & mindfulness — Simple, accessible practices that calm the nervous system — tools you can carry into any ordinary day.

Quiet reflection — A few gentle questions, held in silence: what you carry, what you're ready to release, what is trying to emerge. No sharing required.

Yoga Nidra & deep rest — The heart of the practice: a guided yogic sleep that brings the body into deep rest while awareness stays softly awake.

Creative imagination — A soft, guided visualization that reconnects you with creativity, belonging, and a sense of what's possible next.

Live sound & soundscape — Crystal singing bowls, chimes, rain sticks, and water drums, woven through a curated soundscape that carries the whole gathering.

What you'll carry home

You will rest more deeply than you have in months. You will be witnessed and held. You will leave grounded, replenished, and more yourself.

TRAINING RYT 200 (Anne Falkowski, Samadhi Yoga Studio, Manchester, CT) · Amrita Yoga (Amritapuri, Kerala) · Integrated Amrita Meditation (IAM) · Kripalu & Forrest hatha lineages · Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP), Jack Kornfield & Tara Brach · Yoga Nidra (Tracee Stanley lineage) · Live sound healing: crystal singing bowls, chimes, rain sticks, water drums

EDUCATION Ordained minister · M.A. in Religious Leadership & D.Min., Hartford International University · M.Div., Yale Divinity School

Dr. Shelley Best (RYT 200)

Creator of The Phoenix Practice™

Dr. Shelley Best is a yoga teacher, mindfulness meditation teacher, sound practitioner, and creator of The Phoenix Practice™. Her path began right here, at West Hartford Yoga. She walked through these doors newly fifty — a round Black woman who didn't fit anyone's picture of a yogi, underestimated before she ever unrolled a mat. She has never forgotten what it costs to walk into that room, and it shapes every space she holds.

A few classes in, a middle-of-the-night calling sent her to India within two and a half weeks. At the ashram of Sri Mata Amritanandamayi — Amma, "the hugging saint" — in Kerala, she immersed in Amrita Yoga and the Integrated Amrita Meditation technique under Amma's personal guidance. India is where her own healing began.

She carried that healing home. Alongside West Hartford Yoga's own Barbara Ruzansky, she co-founded a community yoga studio inside Hartford's 224 EcoSpace — her incubator for artists, health, and wellness — making the practice reachable for people who might never otherwise walk through a studio door. The woman once underestimated at the threshold had built a threshold open to all.

Her foundation was laid in a 200-hour training with Anne Falkowski of Samadhi Yoga Studio in Manchester, Connecticut, and her work has since deepened through the Kripalu and Forrest hatha lineages and the two-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program (MMTCP) with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. She is also certified in Yoga Nidra in the lineage of Tracee Stanley, and is a sound practitioner who scores each gathering with live crystal singing bowls, chimes, and water drums, woven through a soundscape that spans centuries and genres — Bach and Coltrane, gospel and Fleetwood Mac, Philip Glass and the music of the world — neither silence nor spa music, but music chosen so no one has to leave any part of themselves at the door.

"You are allowed to set it all down."

Questions, answered

Do I need yoga experience? None at all. The Phoenix Practice is designed for every body and every level — including people who have never set foot in a yoga room. You will always be invited, never instructed.

What if I can't get on the floor? A chair is always welcome. Every part of the practice — movement, breath, and deep rest — can be done seated. You set the terms your body needs.

What should I bring or wear? Comfortable, loose clothing and an open hour or two. Bring a blanket or shawl if you'd like extra warmth for deep rest. [Mats and props provided / please bring your own — confirm.]

How long is a gathering? About two hours, unhurried — with time to arrive, settle, rest deeply, and return gently to the world.

Is this religious? No. The practice is spiritually grounded and contemplative, but it is not denominational, and it asks nothing of your beliefs. People of every faith and none are equally welcome.

Is this therapy? No. The Phoenix Practice is a restorative wellness experience, not clinical treatment or therapy. It can beautifully complement other care, but it doesn't replace it.

Where and when does it happen? Currently at West Hartford Yoga, one Sunday a month — [day & time]. [Address.] New locations across the region are joining as the circle grows.