Today we’d like to introduce you to Ute Dorsy.
Hi Ute, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Working in the fashion industry during my twenties, I learned the art of self-care. My go-to fitness practices were yoga and meditation.
I preferred to visit my family in Germany during the summer and remain in Miami during off-season. That is how I was lead to massage therapy. My mother taught me the practice of self-nurturing and instilled in me the principles of preventive health from a young age. She said “you only get one body so you must take loving care of it.” I later obtained my LMT license. It was then that I had my first chance to work with little ones – a fascinating yet heart-wrenching experience. As part of a study conducted by the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami, I massaged and gently moved the limbs of babies born with Cerebral Palsy. Their eyes lit up more and more every time they saw us therapists come in. They responded so well to the care we gave them. I love this phenomenal field of touch medicine benefiting so many!
Fast forward a few years, I obtained a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from FIU and began teaching a first grade gifted class. I noticed my students needed to move, so I regularly let them gallop, run and jump around the classroom. The kids learned to read at light speed when singing and dancing were involved. I will never forget the end-of-year shows we put together, with themes like The 80‘s, The Beatles and Motown!
I also noticed test anxiety, bullying, and the immense pressure placed on the students by their parents. Kids are subject to stressors just like adults, but there was only one counselor serving several hundred students. I hoped to use my other abilities to help children as there were institutional gaps that left them undertreated.
During summers I recuperated from teaching with yoga, meditation and enjoying nature. I went on meditation retreats in Colorado and watched the sun rise and set on the island of Heligoland in the North Sea. I faithfully went to 3rd Street Beach Yoga, and I began to study and apply the principles of Ayurveda.
Was I finding what I was looking for? I found my husband! A local man whose father was from Paris, tolerant enough to deal with another one of those capricious Europeans. We both love nature, and our place is often filled with bonsai trees and objects that are from, or bring us back to the ocean.
I became a mother in 2016, and when my daughter was two I met a lovely lady from Brazil who recognized we were speaking German. When I told her I was an elementary educator, she said “please join us and teach kids yoga!” Pure kismet?
Joyfully, I joined Mindful Monkeys Miami, my monkey family, a group of kindred souls that pour their heart, body, brain and soul into teaching mindfulness, self-regulation and yoga to children and teenagers. I found the missing link! I fell in love with my work.
I truly appreciate the creative process of lesson planning, the inspiration from my colleagues and our science-based methodology, and delivering these enriching lessons to children and teenagers.
And teaching adults is no different, except they pay even better attention. I create a space for my participants where there is no competition with others and no pressure, just the opportunity to go within and experience peace and quiet, to connect to source and emerge with a relaxed, stretched and strengthened body and a coherent state of mind. And this can be so much fun!
Today, I work as a yoga teacher and a spokesperson and course instructor for kids and teens yoga. I teach adult yoga, and I am a respected massage therapist in our community.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The journey had its ups and downs. It was hard to be away from my family despite my frequent visits back home. I missed them like crazy and still sometimes do.
I had phases when there was no model booking in sight and I had to stay the course by trusting in myself and staying positive. There were always avenues to advance my career, such as refining a personal talent or investing in better photographs for my book.
When I began teaching in elementary school, one of my administrators asked me to generate extremely elaborate lesson plans. So instead of taking a break after school, I kept working far into the night, and I got very ill. I overcame that struggle by centering myself and increasing my meditation time in nature.
Everyone has their challenges and fears. I certainly have mine. But rather than focusing on drama, I try to appreciate how stress affects my mindset, my body chemistry, and its potential to create innumerable dis-eases. Likewise, I realize there are easy antidotes, like a day on the water or workaday mindfulness. With this awareness, I strive to be the best I can be, to research, and to grow with my clients and students. In many ways, challenges can foster compassion and empathy.
Ultimately, no matter the situation, I now make it a point to reflect on the question “Did I love who I was?” and “How can I self-regulate not liking at all what’s going on right now?” I want my daughter to know that she has the option of stepping away from an overwhelming situation and finding a healthy, happy place through skills I teach in yoga.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am tremendously gratified by working with Mindful Monkeys. We teach hands-on tools to counteract the effects of stress; we inspire and help children and teens to take care of their physical, mental and emotional well being. By becoming aware of how they are feeling and what they can do for themselves, they can proactively counterbalance the everyday pressures they experience.
All in all, I aim to facilitate a complete reset. Not just R&R, but rejuvenation and regeneration. Yoga means union, and it is so comforting to come back into your body and connect.
If my student or client is very agitated, I hold space for a pause from the physical discomfort or mental distress to break the anxiety cycle and to show them they possess the ability to move through and out of whatever might be going on. And like pebbles on water, this ripples out into their families and beyond.
By nature, I’m an observer. I remind myself to fully listen with my heart and mind. I like to read between the lines, but not too much – practice self-empathy – see it through a comical lens. I needed that lens to accept that I was not as flexible as some of my yoga classmates and participants – until I got certified for aqua yoga.
I now peacefully work on releasing tension and watching for possible compression. If I hear someone say “Oh I’d like to take a yoga class, but I’m not good at it”, I love sharing all the ways that yoga is for everyone!
When we do breathwork, I suggest exhaling first. So often when a yoga teacher says “take a deep breath” I feel like breathing out first. It’s just how I get rolling. Before the physical outer alignment comes the inner alignment. Every hour I teach offers an invitation to my participants to meditate on this.
If, say, my client has to analyze financial data for work, I might suggest as an intention to “cultivate the awe of the Fibonacci pattern – think of a pine cone, a sea shell, a Romanesco broccoli. Even our eyes and ears contain beautiful geometric patterns.” Or I might invite a class to remember that the opposite of fearful is playful.
I love teaching small or private classes, tailoring them to who exactly is with me and engaging the senses. Are we using mint, cedar or lemon cake for essential oils today, or something uplifting I found at the farmer’s market?
You can call it a calming focal point or Drishti: I intend to offer the simple lesson of watching thoughts pass by like scenes from a movie.
And there is so much you can do with music – choir singers for example need to breathe deeply for a euphonious outcome. That is why I like dance too. I sometimes assist and passively stretch in the rhythm of the song that is playing. My assists serve to enable the participants’ poses rather than correct them. I support them without requiring any optimization, just creating more space and stability in their bodies. The students become aware of something they may not realize with their own ears, eyes or proprioception, the body’s “sixth sense”.
Anyone who has taken a yoga class knows what it is like when sometimes, the teacher does some stretching or a foot massage during Savasana – and sometimes not. So if desired, I utilize this moment every time.
Towards the end of the class, I give a bit more food for thought. For instance, I may invite my students to muse on the meaning of Marianne Williamson’s quote: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” Or I may mention how yoga treats the subtle body, the sukshma sarira which is so beneficial to our health and well-being, yet outside of yoga it is often neglected.
To seal the practice, I usually identify the tonic of the song playing – the central note that feels like “home”, and then we chant an OM tuned into that main key. The oscillation this creates is palpable, like the speaker’s vibrations resonate through my deaf cat’s fur.
That was my approach to an hour of adult yoga. The formats for children and teens are much different but the goal is the same: Comfort, connection, a strong core.
I am most proud of the long hugs, tickled-pink laughs and kind words my precious junior participants express. Recently I was able to help a new student break the ice with another one, and when I saw the new child’s smile of relief during Savasana, I knew I did my work.
Then there was a very young student who suddenly began to cry and show signs of anxiety. The class had briefly been interrupted which had unnerved him. He seemed so lost. I managed to calm him down, and I gave him some tools to use, right then and in the future. To see him back at ease, full of love and in control, and maybe stronger than before made me very happy.
Recently, a friend told me about the migraines and sleeplessness her teenage son was having. The doctors ruled out anything physical. He had to pass some tough tests during the summer before entering high school. He told me that sometimes, he just puts his bare feet into the pool and pauses. Whether he is familiar with the relevant research on mindfulness and grounding or not, he is giving himself the space to form a new habit that serves as his brain break. He is to commend for finding out what helped him all by himself.
I love re-teaching a teenager how to take a deep, heart-felt breath. Sometimes, they have already lost that skill, yet when they regain their capacity to focus on breathing well, they rediscover the power it comes with.
I offer a full spectrum of yoga and wellness classes designed to suit all ages, skill levels, and intentions. Whether you seek a dynamic workout, deep relaxation, or a lighthearted family experience, my classes provide a pathway to greater well-being.
• Energize and flow: Hatha, Vinyasa, and Dance
• Rest and revive: Yin and Restorative
• Strengthen and balance: Aqua Yoga and MYP (Mindfulness, Yoga, Pilates)
• Specialized and supportive: Yoga for Seniors and Yoga for Kids & Teens
• Connect and play: Family Yoga
As for massage therapy, it is my time to tune into stillness and meditate. I always attend to the body with a soothing, gentle touch. Many years of playing the piano helped to develop this. The paradox of touch is its ability to simultaneously soothe and vitalize.
I am currently certified in Thai Massage, Infant Massage, Arthrossage, Cupping, Facial Rejuvenation, Access Bars, Freeing the Breath with Esalen Massage, MindScape, BodyTalk, Lower Back Treatment, Lymphatic Drainage of Head, Neck and Face, Spa Specialist Treatments, and Healing with Sound and Music.
I may include Trigger Point Therapy, Reflexology, and Ayurvedic Rejuvenation as requested.
In addition to my other areas of practice, I focus on Women’s Health and Wellness during every stage of their lives.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
For kids and teens yoga, I often hear adults say “I wish I got into yoga when I was younger”. Well! My vision is for children in each and every school to learn self-regulation. I hope yoga and mindfulness in general expand into more trauma-informed and therapeutic realms.
For adult yoga: An aerial yoga retreat combined with Ayurveda in Pondicherry, Rishikesh or Costa Rica would be fun!
For massage therapy: I see a trend towards more care for prenatal and especially postpartum women. Every mother can learn the benefits of baby massage – and it is a beautiful way to bond. And every mother can sure use a massage to rest. The same rings true for women going through the later stages of life.
We have seen a move away from touch during the 2020 pandemic, whereas now it is coming back but in an even better way.
I envision a space where we can all reconnect with our inner calm, find harmony, and approach life with equanimity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sphereofdelight.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/SphereOfDelight
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/UteDorsy
