Support Our Sanctuary

For years it has been my dream to create a new Sanctuary, but I can't do it without your help.

  • Maybe you can donate to the cause, or maybe you can share the link with your friends and family.
  • Maybe you are one of the thousands of people who Sanctuary Studios helped to heal and educate.
  • Maybe I have helped you heal through my bodywork.
  • Maybe you sent your daughter to the holistic healing camp for girls I ran for 11 years.
  • Maybe you are or love one of the veterans who found support and healing at the studio.
  • Maybe you are or love someone struggling with addiction that found support with us.
  • Or maybe you just believe in a good cause.

Having a permanent location constructed with care and love, together with the local community will create a new standard for health and education in Playa el Coco, Nicaragua. It will also create much needed jobs and a model of ecologically friendly construction vital to preserving this pristine beach and the endangered sea turtles that inhabit it. I figure if just a portion of the thousands of students and clients I have helped over the years all contribute what they can, this will happen easily, and I am sincerely hoping you will help me make it so!
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Gratitude

You work hard for every dollar you donate, and we are so grateful for your generosity. It can be hard to give something for nothing, and so we want to offer what we can in return.

For your suggested donation of $50 or more, we will send you a Gratitude Flow, taught by Michelle in her transformational style. 

We also want to lend you our ear - what do you want to see at the center? We want this to be a home away from home - but with more education, more taking-a-break-from-chores, more community support!

Have ideas? Want to come work with us? Click here, we want to hear from you!

What our students want you to know:

  • Evolution Trainings

    “Michelle's ability to tease out exactly what you need is unparalleled. Whether it's physical, emotional, or spiritual, she is the greatest teacher and inspiration. I came on her Goddess retreat stuck in fear, but I was able to release and accept throughout each yoga session, each day, each intention. She does this with love, grace, and a touch of spiciness that she embodies. I am grateful for this incredible healing experience. Thank you Michelle!”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “Michelle is an amazing healer and puts her heart and soul into delivering a best in class retreat setting with farm to fork fresh food, beautiful ambience near the ocean in Playa De Coco, Nicaragua. The morning yoga practices and daily workshops will touch your heart and soul in ways never imagined. If you're looking for a week to disconnect from the outside world and reconnect with your inner goddess - this retreat is for you!”

    Jill Franze

  • Evolution Trainings

    “Following my stem cell transplant and chemotherapy treatment, I was left with a pain in my chest that was residual from my tumors there. My doctor said that it was the “new me” and something I would get used to. I heard about Michelle’s transformational bodywork, and after one session my pain is 100% gone. I want other people to know, so that hopefully they too can be freed from their pain.”

    founder of Webb’s Pro Fitness

  • Evolution Trainings

    “I would like to thank you for your time, patience and expertise as it pertains to my 'frozen shoulder.' It was so frustrating to have dedicated so much time and money going to PT three times per week with large co-pays only to have little to no improvement and another prescription for 12 more weeks of the same. Seeing you and getting relief after only one session was truly miraculous and meant the world to me. Your time and expertise offering such a unique perspective and specialized healing modality made all the difference. After our second therapeutic session last month, I am happy to report my pain is gone and I have returned to my full yoga practice. I believe the prescribed daily exercises were exactly what was needed to bridge the gap between sessions and towards full recovery.”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “As I dug deeper into the program and compared it with others, what I found was a miraculously organized yoga teacher training. Michelle has designed the program to include required classes as well as offering flexibility in the elective courses.”

    President, TST Designs

  • Evolution Trainings

    “Between being immersed in the culture, daily excursions doing ziplining or just walking the beach, this trip exceeded all my expectations.”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “The bodywork Michelle performed on me was MIRACULOUS! She made me feel so comfortable talking about my past and current medical history, discomfort I have been feeling, and really listened to what I wanted to get out of the experience. ”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “The challenge from the environment as well as the program pushed me to see just what I was capable of! And the results we got with our clients at the end of the training were spectacular. ”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “After you worked on me again today I want to tell you again how wonderful your work is. My arthritic knees and legs feel great tonight. I have in the past done extensive PT for my legs and have never had the results or the insight you offer about solutions. I am remembering back to last summer after I had a nasty fall from an unmarked extra high step, a flying fall across a parking garage floor that resulted in two fractured elbows, my PT who I have known and worked with over the years told me I should be working with both you and my dear chiropractor Katina for healing. She said she had exercises to provide but you and Katina together were providing the real healing. You were an incredible team for that time and for the subsequent more recent intense back pain. I am very grateful and appreciative of the unique quality evaluation and healing skill that I am lucky enough to experience.”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “As a mother of an adolescent young woman I can tell you that you have absolutely made a positive impact in her life. She first came to the Yoga for young women for the summer yoga camp in 2015.
    After that week with you I felt that I had my daughter back. ”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “Big, BIG Thank you to Michelle Fleming for moving out YEARS of toxic energy from my body! What you do is so intimate and special...Thank you sister for being a healer and a friend. I love you.”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “I really stepped into my power this past week, I see my beauty now. Thank you for showing me how to take my power back.”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “If you really want to 'nerd out' on the anatomy and physiology of yoga, there’s no one better than Michelle Fleming. She explains postures, and how they affect us, both physically and mentally, in such a straightforward, and funny, way, she is a total original! I got so much out of spending a week at her orthopedic yoga retreat in Nicaragua.”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “I had THE best class ever yesterday, thanks to you Miss Michelle ...you totally rocked my chakras, feel like a new woman.So empowering......... Have a great trip!”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “Michelle transformed my practice in the first Downward dog of the class... So whether it’s running a microscopy lab or teaching a yoga class, I carry Michelle’s teachings with me and try to pass them on. She is a light to everyone she touches, and I cannot recommend her teachings enough.”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “Seeing you and getting relief after only one session was truly miraculous and meant the world to me. Your time and expertise offering such a unique perspective and specialized healing modality made all the difference. After our second therapeutic session last month, I am happy to report my pain is gone and I have returned to my full yoga practice. ”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “As a mother of an adolescent young woman I can tell you that you have absolutely made a positive impact in her life...You gave her back to me from depression...I will be forever thankful that she had the opportunity to attend that camp. I honestly feel you taught her important lessons that she applied to her life and gained strength and belief in herself that is not taught through social media, selfies or reality TV. ”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “I’d like to thank you for changing my life! Your classes are always unique filled with new poses and postures, but there are always some familiar parts. My body feels younger and much more agile. My mind is clearer and more relaxed.”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “Michelle’s extensive knowledge of the human body combined with many years of teaching bring about some very empowering classes (like fire salute). Safety is always the focus. Michelle has a way of connecting to her class and structures her classes around their needs. She is always there to answer a question or offer an adjustment. Savasana is heaven as Michelle guides you through a meditation that will relax you from your head to your toes; her calm, soothing voice almost putting you to sleep.I bared my soul and in turn, found my voice and my courage which I had long ago lost. I came with an open heart and open mind and found one of the most incredible experiences of my life. The person that arrived at this retreat was not the same person that left. That person who left is a Warrior. ”

    Office/Order Administrator

  • Evolution Trainings

    “I have a genetic bone disease (X-linked hypophosphotemia) and I have had many orthopedic surgeries done to try to align my bones. I had a massive physical flare up in Nicaragua while working at Michelle’s retreat. I couldn’t put any weight on my knee, which I’ve had multiple surgeries on. I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to execute the job I came to do. Michelle told me the knees are the seat of fear, and I knew she was right. She offered to help me. She adjusted my knee so gently and when I stood up the pain was gone. I was walking and doing the photoshoots I came to execute. The yoga she offers also made me strong enough to heal whatever injury it was. My fear that I would have to have another surgery when I returned home also disappeared.

    It was a physical injury, yes, but it was also rooted in something much deeper than that and Michelle intuitively knew it. I’m hesitant to believe someone is a healer based on past experiences I’ve had, but Michelle is different. She is the real deal. She is grounded in her magic, and generously shares her healing gifts with those around her. I experienced her healing hands and heart first hand and it has changed me for the better mentally, emotionally, and physically. I am grateful to have had the honor of meeting her and cannot recommend her enough to anyone in need of true healing.”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “One of the things I have found to be so fantastic about Michelle’s approach to yoga is the authentic way she interweaves the spiritual with the intellectual. Even something as simple as the instruction of a quick way to measure if my feet are hip distance apart. Her quick, individualized technique made me realize that I was misjudging that distance for as long as I can remember, and I have been placing my feet further apart than they should be. This misjudgment could have contributed to years of joint issues—exasperated by my hypermobility. I know, on the surface, this may sound trivial, but being able to do yoga without getting injured is huge. In addition to being given techniques to keep my body in proper alignment while moving through yoga postures, I would be remiss not to mention the spiritual part of her yoga classes.

    They are profoundly healing and cathartic. I’m not sure I’ve ever cried during yoga class from a place of pure catharsis before her classes. From my work and study of somatic psychology, I know we hold emotional trauma in our bodies. But this is the first time I experienced a release through a yoga practice. It is equally important to note that this would not have been possible if Michelle did not create a space safe enough for everyone, including herself, to be vulnerable, courageous, and seen.”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “I just got back from the amazing Goddess retreat in Playa del Coco, Nicaragua. I left there an entirely different person. The healing that happened was mind-blowing. Michelle is not only an amazing yoga instructor, but she integrates where the body stores emotion & trauma and teaches how to release it through specialized movement, thoughts and breath work. Never have I experienced anything like it. I feel so blessed to be able to experience Michelle’s teachings and on top of that, to experience them in an untouched, beachfront paradise with amazing Goddesses around me and being fed delicious, fresh, homemade meals made by amazing chefs every day! I was taken us on spiritual healing journeys from deep within guided by Andrea, embodied movement by Keriann, and all the way to the stars-and how we’re affected by planetary movement by Dr. Laura and how we can use all that information to heal even deeper.

    I am so thankful for Michelle and each and every one of the facilitators. I have met the most amazing women including those other Goddess attendees… I’ve created such a deep bond with them as we all healed together. I love all of you Goddesses and am beyond grateful for such a life-changing experience!!!”

  • Evolution Trainings

    “I am very grateful and appreciative of the unique quality evaluation and healing tools you have and I am lucky enough to experience. ”

Get to know us: 


Michelle elbow

Michelle Fleming

Michelle is a Yoga Therapist, a Thai Bodyworker, a Nerve and Artery specialist and a Board Certified Structural Integrator in the lineage of Ida Rolf. It was through these complementary practices of wellness that she healed her body - and from there Orthopedic Yoga Therapy was born.

These days she trains teachers and students to find a fluid pattern of movement that protects and nourishes the joints while stretching the muscles and connective tissue and quieting the mind. She is the owner of Sanctuary Wellness Studios, Director of Orthopedic Yoga and Transformational Yoga Therapy and founder of Equilibrium, a non-profit dedicated to bringing breath, movement and nutrition education to young people with anxiety and mood disorders. 

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Wyly Brown, AIA

Wyly Brown is practicing architect and is a principal and founding partner of Leupold Brown Goldbach Architects, with offices in Germany and the US. Wyly holds a Bachelors of Art in Anthropology, and spent a number of years researching the connection between cultures and monuments through the reconstruction of full-scale, functional objects, often using historically accurate methods. Past projects include the reconstruction of Finnish reindeer-pulled sledges, Egyptian obelisks, British siege-engines, and Medieval man-powered cranes. After receiving a Masters of Architecture from Harvard University in 2006, he spent two years conducting research at the Institute of Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design, University of Stuttgart, Germany, on the topic of rapidly deployable disaster relief structures. In 2008, due to Wyly’s experience in innovative approaches to structure, he was hired at Behnisch Architekten. In the four years at Behnisch, Wyly developed parametric optimization design tools that were implemented on several award winning projects, including the Max-Aicher Speed Skating Arena in Inzell, the “Spider’s Web” of the Spinnereipark in Kolbermoor, and a High School in Ergolding. In 2014, he founded LBGO architects in Munich, with Andreas Leupold and Christian Goldbach. He approaches design through a process of analysis and optimization, searching for simple unified solutions to complex, and often contradicting, requirements. In addition to his professional practice, Wyly teaches and researches bamboo architecture as faculty at the Washington University in St. Louis, integrating indigenous building practices with contemporary design and construction capabilities and techniques,

What do you want to see offered at our center?

Send us a message! We'll reach out to you as quickly as possible.


Thank you for sharing your wishes with us!

Sanctuary Studios - Plymouth, MA (2006-2017)

At Sanctuary Studios, we promoted health and well-being by utilizing natural and holistic approaches to healing such as yoga, therapeutic massage, reiki, nutritional counseling, and detoxification programs. Not all bodies are the same, nor should be all yoga practices. We worked with our students individually and in small groups to keep your joints safe and your practice continually moving you to a more pain-free, strong, centered place. Together we traveled the path towards wholeness and the best health possible, in this most important of all work: for as we heal ourselves, we heal our world.

Before its closure in 2017, Sanctuary Studios evolved from a studio offering yoga classes to a studio offering several YTT trainings, advanced trainings, workshops, bodywork, and now has co-developed Orthopedic Yoga Therapy. These days Orthopedic Yoga Therapy collaborates with Evolution Trainings, a passionate and educational collective of specializing teachers who want to share what they have learned with the world.

 

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