Hi!
I’m Michelle. I’m a music teacher, yoga instructor, and trauma survivor. Artsy & Me is the product of those three intersecting facets of my life.
My trauma goes back to my childhood years. But like many trauma survivors, I did not seek help until many years had passed. During those years, music kept me afloat. At age 12, I fell in love with the bass clarinet. And so throughout my middle and high school years, I found myself performing at music festivals throughout Europe and Asia.
After high school, I pursued the path of music educator. As an Ogston Music Scholar at the University of Aberdeen, I was mentored by prestigious musicians, such as Professor Paul Mealor and Lieutenant Colonel Robert Owen. And during those college years, I helped establish the private music lessons program at the International School of Aberdeen.
I then traveled the world. I was a band intern at The American International School of Muscat in Oman. This led to a teaching job at The American School of The Hague, my alma mater in my home country of The Netherlands. After several years of teaching there, I taught elementary school music and middle school band at the Next Generation School in Illinois. Then I moved back to Europe to teach PYP performing arts and MYP music at Ålesund International School in Norway.
And somewhere in between, I also earned my Masters of Arts in Teaching from Kaplan University.
All sounds pretty smooth, right? But the truth was – I was suffocating, constantly haunted by that childhood trauma. And so well into adulthood, I finally asked for help.
I underwent intense trauma therapy (EMDR). But I also sought out yoga and musical expressive arts as therapies. This had such a positive effect on me, that after regaining my wellness (both emotionally and physically), I knew I had to incorporate this into all facets of my life – and pass these transformative experiences forward.
And so I became a yogi, earning my YTT500 (500-hour Yoga Teacher Training) from My Vinyasa Practice. I then continued my yoga training with specializations in adaptive yoga, trauma-informed yoga, and – of course – yoga for musicians.
But with my heart still in education and my ongoing day job at Ålesund International School, things did not not come full circle until I met the founder of Arts Education in Social Emotional Learning (ArtsEdSEL). That’s when I began to discover the potential of incorporating yoga into the music classroom to create an environment that is optimal for Social Emotional Learning. An environment that encourages true expression from a young age onwards, and teaches us to establish healthy relationships with ourselves, and those around us, in all settings.
And so today, Artsy & Me is excited to teach you how to embed yoga practice into your music classroom to create a learning environment that is optimal for Social Emotional Learning, so that all of your students – regardless of their circumstances – are equipped with the tools to reach their social, emotional, and physical potentials.
I’m excited to start our journey together! Browse our website, and let’s connect.
(For closed captioning, please view directly on YouTube and click “CC.”)