Capitol Hill Apt Steps from MetroBook Online Find a place to stay in Washington Did you know we have a fully equipped in-law suite in the basement? We do, and you can come stay with us! The apartment has its own entrance, a full kitchen and bath, access to shared laundry and a yard/patio. Sleeps 4 adults comfortably in a double bed and living room futon. A portable crib (pack and play) or air-mattresses for children or extra adults are also available. Location and Ammenities Best part? Our place is unbelievably convenient to transit and DC attractions. Step outside and choose a blue or orange line metro train across the street, or bus stops that serve 7 different routes within a stone's throw of your accommodations. During peak hours, your public transit commute to the U.S. Capitol, the mall, and Smithsonian Museums is less than 10 minutes. Our home is... Continue reading

A new session of yoga at Hill Center begins April 10 and runs through June 23. Registration is open and classes are starting to fill. See individual descriptions below and registration links for full details. Adult Yoga When: Wednesday, 6:15 to 7:15 pm with Jen OR Sunday 3:30 - 4:45... Continue reading

I'm excited to announce that I will be hosting summer camp for 5-10 year old yogis in August 2013 and partnering with Labyrinth Games & Puzzles to provide programming from 8:45 am-6 pm! Our summer camp provides children ages 5-10 with a fun, creative, educational and enriching experience through yoga... Continue reading

Amalie is a certified Next Generation Yoga teacher and has been teaching kids yoga in D.C. since 2010. She began her own practice of Iyengar yoga in early 2008 as a student of John Schumacher. Amalie’s teaching approach is therapeutic, alignment-based, playful and creative for adults and children alike, she... Continue reading

Kate MacDonnell, E-RYT 200, started practicing yoga in 1997 and earned her teaching certification in 2006 at Boundless Yoga in Washington DC. She is also a children's yoga teacher (RCYT). She has experienced and continues to study the therapeutic aspects of the practice of yoga and sees yoga as the... Continue reading

Cindy has been practicing yoga for over ten years, since taking her first class with a friend and trying to keep a straight face while doing "lion's breath." Thankfully, she stuck with it after that first class, as it has been a constant source of strength and stability in her... Continue reading

Registration is open for January-March 2013 Capitol Hill family yoga classes with a new registration system for all Hill Center classes! All classes below are taught by Jen Mueller unless otherwise noted. Saturdays @ Hill Center New 10-week Itsy Bitsy Yoga® sessions begin on January 12 and run through March... Continue reading

Maya came down the stairs this morning and declared: "Mom, you have to measure me to see if I'm really 5." Photo by Siobhan Hanna Photography / All rights reserved Nearly-five has already been amazing us this fall with improved attitude and independence. Still an avid drawer and artist with a significant attention span for those activities, her artwork is detailed and story-oriented. And, oh my goodness, board games. A couple of months ago, Maya developed an interest in and attention span for board games that can often outlast her parents. Now in PreK (in a mixed-age Montessori classroom), Maya is desperate to learn to read. She recently discovered the graphic novel and has been rapidly consuming the DC Public Library supply of them (we have to be a bit careful, because 5 is not the target demographic for many of these). This time last year, Maya wore her Cinderella... Continue reading

To her playmate on the way to the swimming pool Thursday afternoon: "Want to pretend that you are 40? Cause that's really super old!" And on the way back home because I obviously had not understood the question the first time: "No, no. How did "dad's name" and "mom's name" make "child's name" be born. How did they do it?" Luckily, my "That's a conversation for another time" response sufficed, because I'd really rather not educate someone else's 5 year old on that topic. Maya and her playmate subsequently decided that the playmate should go home and ask her parents, too. After dinner while discussing why she can't wear her Crocs to school any more (The tread is gone and she slips in the halls) but she doesn't want to get rid of the old ones or remove her Hello Kitty decorations: "Can't you and Dad just please decide that... Continue reading

Grown ups sometimes come into a kids yoga class with the expectation that it will be quiet, orderly, and that their child will participate and pay attention the entire time. Part of my job is to help them let go of all of that. Although there are moments, children's yoga... Continue reading

Who are your heros? Mine include: Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Wangari Maathai, Lois Gibbs, Mitch Snyder . . . Find out why I'm writing about mine and what it has to do with yoga over at jenmuelleryoga.com Continue reading

Who are your heros? Mine include: Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Wangari Maathai, Lois Gibbs, Mitch Snyder . . . What your answer and mine probably have in common is that heros tend to be people who have consciously decided to contribute their energies to positive change in the world. That... Continue reading

Liz Wolgemuth of U.S. News and World Reports pretty much summed it up for me with: "When you put off exercise until your workday is finished, the abundance of scheduling conflicts that arise can be positively mind-boggling." Source: facebook.com via Jennifer on Pinterest If you have children and yoga practice... Continue reading

Like many mothers of girls, I've struggled with the rise of the princess culture. Until quite recently, we were all about princesses around here. Maya owns each of the tiny fashion dolls, a couple of the Barbie-sized dolls, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty costumes, princess underwear and several items of bedtime-wear with princesses. And my impression is that we've been fairly conservative in princess acquisition (the majority of which is hand-me-down in origin). We could have purchased clothing, furniture, bedding, lunch boxes, toothpaste, shampoo . . . even grapes. Post based on an article originally published on Care2. Check out comments there. Disney Princesses Are Everywhere I don't remember owning much princess paraphernalia as a child. Sure, there were princesses, but there wasn't a Disney Princess marketing machine the way there is now. There was almost a blog post here titled "Not Really a Ball Kind of Girl" (though I did... Continue reading

Anyone who has taken my yoga for runners workshop or approached me about IT band issues knows that I have a thing for foam rollers. I bought my roller from a physical therapist in 2001, but you can now purchase them in the grocery store (well, Whole Foods anyway). This... Continue reading

Blog originally posted on YogaActivist.org I've taught extra-curricular and enrichment yoga classes in a variety of settings: public and private schools, for children just turning 2 to 12 years, and as part of the school day and within after-school care. In nearly all cases, the teachers I've worked with are... Continue reading

Yoga for Beginners at the Hill Center starts September 19. Unwind mid-week with yoga at The Hill Center. This introductory-level class teaches both new and continuing yoga students the essential postures and alignment principles of a Hatha Yoga practice. Class emphasizes building strength and flexibility through standing poses and shoulder-openers,... Continue reading

Apparently, now that I've made yoga my job, I need a new hobby. Last week, Maya and I treked out to the suburbs in rush hour traffic (OMG, people do this daily?) and came back with these. Maya has been asking to play the violin for well over a year and we've been putting her off. I looked into it last fall, but was overwhelmed enough with her starting full-day school, ballet, and gymnastics while I attempted to turn teaching yoga into a living. For ballet and gymnastics, parents simply sign up and then cajole drag take our child to once-a-week lessons where we sit around with other parents and/or a book/laptop for 45 minutes and bask in the glow of an excited gymnast/ballerina afterward. Preschooler instrumental music lessons on the other hand, at least Suzuki method style, are a high-parent-commitment endeavor. Parents don't have to play, but they do... Continue reading

I am so excited to begin sharing the Yoga 4 Classrooms program in the Washington, DC area this fall. The Yoga 4 Classrooms mission is to transform educational environments through yoga-based wellness training and support, empowering students and educators to create positive, peaceful, productive classrooms that support exceptional learning and... Continue reading

"Babies don't need yoga. They're fine the way they are," was the comment made in my presence by another yoga teacher not that long ago. I totally agree, I also wholeheartedly advocate and teach Itsy Bitsy Yoga classes for babies. Smiling Child's Pose by flickr user lululemon athletica Babies are... Continue reading

As I was getting off the phone the other evening, Maya asks: M - "Mom, were you talking to SunTrust?" J - "No, why do you think I'd be talking to SunTrust? Who's SunTrust?" (No one in the family has a SunTrust account.) M - "They are the people you call when you need someone to help you solve your problems." That, of course, immediately made sense. We've been hearing the same Pandora Internet Radio ad for weeks. Maya is quite effectively primed for the inevitable encounter 14 or so years from now with the SunTrust account rep selling credit cards in exchange for T-shirts in the student union. Though she sees comparatively few advertisements, we've talked a little bit about them. There are ads every half dozen Pandora songs (wondering if paying for ad-free Pandora is worth it now), at then end of a few of the selections on... Continue reading

The response from my summer class planning survey was so strong that I'm launching not one but two weekend family yoga classes on Capitol Hill and prenatal yoga too! Check out details below or my whole spring/summer teaching schedule online. Family Yoga @ St. Mark's Yoga Center Who? This class... Continue reading

Beat the heat and let your kids get their wiggles out with these parent and child yoga classes in Logan Circle this summer. Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Babies What? Babies class is filled with calm and nurturing to enhance bonding, support baby's development and improve baby's sleep. Babies enjoy yoga... Continue reading

Two Care2 stories hit close to home this week. The first was a report that drinking water with levels of arsenic considered accpetable by EPA might cause prenatal growth and development problems and reduce the nutrient availability of breastmilk. Having worked on the campaign to get the arsenic limit lowered to its current level while at U.S. PIRG, I remember how hard fought that standard was. New research indicates the new it may not be protective enough afterall. “Safe” Levels of Arsenic in Water May Harm Babies and Mothers When researchers from the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth began feeding mice low levels of arsenic considered safe for human consumption in drinking water by the Environmental Protection Agency, they intended to study the heavy metal‘s affect on the immune system and susceptibility to the flu, but they didn’t get that far . .... Continue reading

While I've got several blog drafts in the works and ideas for more, I don't seem to find as much time to post here as I'd like. When the puddles seem a little dry for jumping here, you can often find me elsewhere online: Websites and Blogs Jen Mueller Yoga is my professional yoga teacher page. This is where I post about the benefits of yoga, yoga philosophy, yoga resources in DC, and my teaching schedule. I sometimes cross-post here, but not usually. Care2 is a b-corporation site for news and commentary about social issues to promote civic engagement and build support for its sister site, thepetitionsite.com I'm a regular contributor on environmental, food, and health issues. My more personal Care2 blogs will be cross-posted here and I typically push my all articles out on Twitter, but you can also subscribe to my author page RSS feed. Social Media My... Continue reading