Breathing Room
A Yoga Support Circle for Women in Seattle
When was the last time someone took care of you the way you take care of everyone else?
You show up for the people who need you. You’re paying the bills (mostly on time) and checking things off the never-ending to-do list. You give so much to the people and causes around you, and somehow there’s never much left over for you.
You nap. You hit snooze. But there’s a tiredness that doesn’t go away with sleep.
You push past your body’s quiet signals. You say yes when something in you is saying no, and when you do say no, you explain and explain, as if you need permission to have a limit. And the way you talk to yourself? You’d never speak to a friend like that.
Somewhere along the way, joy got postponed. It’s waiting for a time when things feel more settled, but that time keeps moving further away.
If you’re neurodivergent, there may be another layer. Many of us have spent years feeling like too much in some spaces and not enough in others.
None of this is a sign that something is wrong with you. It’s a sign of how long you’ve been holding on, in a time when so much feels out of our control.
What might it be like to pause here, take one full breath, and let yourself be met with kindness?
You’ve tried to take care of yourself. Really, you have put in the work.
Some of it helped for a while. But most of it asked you to try harder and be more disciplined, and it became one more thing you “failed” at.
It isn’t that you didn’t try hard enough. It’s that most approaches treat the body and mind separately, and ask you to push when what you actually need is a different way of relating to yourself.
Yoga classes where you found yourself more often than not thinking about how to solve this problem rather than a place to rest
Meditation apps (or Muse Headbands) you downloaded with good intentions and opened twice
Reading books (more likely listening on Audible) by Deborah Adele, Elizabeth Gilbert, Octavia Raheem, Tricia Hersey, Glennon Doyle, Sonya Renee Taylor, and Thema Bryant, etc. (some of them still on your nightstand)
Morning routines, gratitude journals, a variety of habit trackers, and singing to Florence and the Machine on max in the car.
But… the Good Hang by Amy Poehler is actually what gets you through the week with a smile. (the Kate Berlant and Jonathan Groff interview… am I right!)
What if taking care of yourself didn’t feel like one more thing to do?
What if it felt like gently exploring movement, breath, and philosophy in a nourishing circle of supportive women? Breathing Room isn’t another program to keep up with. It’s a weekly space where you can stop pushing and start relating to yourself differently.
For thousands of years, yoga philosophy has offered wisdom for exactly what you’re feeling: the harsh inner voice, the grasping, the exhaustion, the joy that keeps slipping away. But these teachings are often left out of modern yoga classes, or taught in ways that feel far from everyday life.
In Breathing Room, each week centers on one yogic principle, like ahimsa (non-harming toward yourself), satya (truthfulness), or santosha (contentment). We explore it through:
Yoga, breath work, and meditation, so the insight lands in your body, not just your head
Reflection and conversation, so you can see how these teachings show up in your everyday life
A small circle of women, so you can feel less alone in the chaos of it all
Each week, a guest teacher from our community leads the movement and breath practice, bringing a fresh perspective to the theme.
No experience is needed, and there’s no “right” way to do a pose. The space is trauma-informed and neurodivergent-affirming, which means you’re invited to move, rest, fidget, or sit out whenever you need to. You’re the expert on your own body.
Breathing Room is facilitated by Monique Thakkar, a licensed mental health counselor and yoga teacher who brings both clinical understanding and a deep love of yoga philosophy to every session.
What you’ll receive…
Breathing Room is two part 8 week course that meets on Friday evenings, a chance to close out your week by coming home to yourself.
Blocking out time to end your weekend with nourishment to get through all the things you have to do on the weekend.
Eight 2-hour sessions, Fridays 6–8 pm
One yogic principle each week, from ahimsa (non-harming toward yourself) to metta (loving-kindness)
Gentle yoga, breathwork, and meditation led by guest teachers from our community
Guided reflection and small-group conversation
A community of women who’ve done this work together
About the Facilitator
Monique Thakkar is a licensed mental health counselor and yoga teacher based in Seattle. Through her private practice, Thakkar Therapy, she supports neurodivergent adults in managing stress, rediscovering joy, and building confidence. She also helps build and teach with Yoga Collective, a small, community-centered yoga project.
Her work is rooted in kindness, curiosity, and a deep respect for each person’s own wisdom. She draws on compassion-focused therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and somatic approaches, with a long-standing love for the ways yoga philosophy can help us come home to our bodies and ourselves.
After two years of dreaming up this group (thank you everyone that allowed me to brainstorm with them), Monique created Breathing Room because she believes in the power of engaging both body and mind, in community with incredible humans. She also believes that the best way to get through an apocalypse is to help women let go of what’s been weighing them down and reconnect with the part of themselves that simply wants to celebrate being alive.
Training and education
M.Ed. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of Puget Sound
200-hour yoga teacher training, Synergy Yoga (2026) and Octopus Garden (2013)
3 Day Pranayama Training with Tami Hafzalla
36 hours of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
30 hours of Trauma-Informed Creative Arts Therapy
8 hours of Compassion Focused Therapy
Two 10-day silent Vipassana retreats