Our Story
Spiritual growth can be a messy process! We offer a tried and true formula from ancient India that will help you navigate the currents. Tim’s philosophy teacher, Vidwan Nagaraha Rao, tells us that there are four important components to the process. When all these ingredients come together the student is well supported in their efforts.
25% Teacher Effort
Tim and Kino, the MLC founders, are the heart and fulcrum of our Miami shala and community. Just like you, they came to yoga seeking healing and clarity. Recovering from a near fatal accident, Tim stumbled into yoga in 1994. Realizing its powerful potential for physical and psychological healing he gradually committed his life to the Ashtanga path. For Kino it was a moment of ‘spiritual desperation’ that brought her to the practice. Years of struggling with depression and self medicating eventually brought her face to face with yoga. For both Tim and Kino real healing took distinctly effective form on the mat.
At Thiruvananthapuram airport in South India, on their separate ways to study yoga in its birth place, they first ran into each other in 1993. Four years of courting, Kino giving Tim her ‘yes' and many yearly returns to Mysore followed. In them we have come to find two of the Ashtanga community’s most cherished representatives and their internationally recognized sanctuary for Ashtanga Yoga, MLC receives a steady stream of students from all over the globe, traveling to study under their expert tutelage.
The teachers at MLC are all direct students of Kino and Tim, and of course study intensively with Sharath Jois in Mysore, India regularly as well. To teach Ashtanga at MLC a 2 year in-depth apprenticeship is the first step, which includes 6 days a week practice, studying select yogic texts, learning anatomy, adjustments and injury prevention, assisting daily mysore classes for the entire time plus much more- all before teaching students is taken on. We dare say, these fine people are some of the most knowledgeable and dedicated students of Ashtanga yoga around. We all come from very diverse backgrounds, from different countries and divergent socio-economic backgrounds. We have all found yoga an unparalleled support in overcoming the challenges in our lives and we all have found genuine trust in its means. We have all dedicated our lives to carry the torch of Ashtanga yoga all over the world, to share this amazing tradition of Ashtanga yoga with everyone who wants to learn. Each year we visit Europe, Asia, the Americas and beyond, traveling to different cities in a plentitude of countries to share the message of Ashtanga Yoga.
25% Student Effort
We welcome you as you are and appreciate any individuals personal reasons to begin a yoga journey. Our students come in all different shapes, sizes, ethinic backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities. People join our MLC community for precisely these reasons, they feel a welcome sanctuary of open hearts and space to be one self. At MLC you will find complete beginners and seasoned practitioners, often practicing side by side. No matter your experience level, we offer you a well considered program of traditional practice to help you to cultivate ‘Tapas', the right level of effort which is the very foundation of experiencing a positive transformation.
“Ashtanga Yoga is a ritual designed to erect a temple within your body, and on this holy site you experience the magic of personal transformation.”
— Kino MacGregor
25% Community Support
Community is a tapestry built of the joys and efforts of student and teacher alike. The fibers are bound together by the strength of their weaving. MLC gives structure and form to our community by suggesting a committed practice, with like-minded people in a setting of welcome, support and fun. Or as Kino’s puts it ..
“It is so important to have a sangha—spiritual community or yoga friends—friends who understand and support your practice, who will applaud you for getting up at 5:00 a.m. and dragging yourself to practice. Yoga friends are happy to celebrate and lift their glasses to cheer with green juice and a handstand instead of wine and cigarettes. You need someone to commiserate with about your failed headstand and to celebrate your first backbend. It can be hard for people who do not practice to understand why you are nearly in tears just because you balanced on your head for a few seconds today."
25% Time & Patience
To grow a fruit, a seed must first be put in the ground. Nurture and care must be given in the right amounts for the seed to thrive and sprout. Even when the first frail sprout breaks ground, mindful vigilance is needed until strength and self sustenance has been achieved. As the seed grows into a tree and as the seasons offer just the right environment, finally at last a mango will materialize for the enjoyment of the gardener. Yoga practice is no different.
This final ingredient in the formula, time, makes us who we are. We know that the Ashtanga method is powerful because we feel it in our own bodies, in our own lives and relationships with others. The steady practice combined with a stable student teacher relationship is Yoga tradition's proven power to success. Yoga works best when practiced with hospitality and over a period of time.
“Community is everything. Without a sangha or someone to share our ups and downs with, practice can get quite lonely and confusing. When we have a place to go to for support, understanding and acceptance, we grow more easily. ”
— Tim Feldman
MLC
Our teachers are the guiding force for your practice. They will work devotedly with you to create a sense of success, accountability and purpose. We will be there for you when you need it, reminding you of your potential and already achieved levels of success while keeping your feet to the fire and making sure no one slips into lethargy. We are here to remind you to just show up on the mat!
Our shala is your home away from home. We strive to be your sanctuary from the craziness in the world - we promise you that! Since we opened our South Beach shala in 2006 we have welcomed thousands of aspiring students to practice. Over and over we have heard our students cheer about the special energy that we all feel when we walk through the MLC doors. While the times have changed, and the neighborhood too, what we offer inside remains the same experience of coming home to your family, to an old friend.
In 2020 we expand into a brand new space. Our second location will be in Wynwood and every detail has been designed expressly to support and challenge your personal practice in a setting where we all thrive and everyone’s value is recognized.