September 30, 2025 • 12 mins
We spoke with Breathe 2 Flow founder, Lindsay Riley, about yoga with pigs, bunnies, alpacas, puppies, kittens, and other animals! Breathe 2 Flow hosts yoga sessions in untraditional places across Connecticut and works with local rescues, organizations, and non-profits.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I
have a very very special guest this morning. Wait till
you hear what she does. I have a founder, Lindsey
Riley from Breathe to Flow here, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
For those who don't know about Breathe to Flow, let's
just talk about how you came about and then we'll
talk about what you do. All right.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
So I saw a need in the community to have
yoga involving animals and working with rescues and other small businesses.
We call ourselves traditional Yoga outside the studio. So we
work with local animal rescues who worked those dispensaries, breweries, studios,
even Lululemon, and we bring yoga to fun events baces
(00:47):
throughout Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
So how did this all come about? Were you laying
in bed one night the idea popped into your head?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
So I for my pig Yoga. That's actually exactly what happened.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
And I was.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Growing Facebook in the morning and saw Gilbert the Party Pig,
which does pig events, and I said, oh my gosh,
can I bring yoga and pigs together? And we became
the first pig yoga in Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Wow. For people who don't know about the benefits of yoga.
What are they?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Reduce stress and anxiety, also increased flexibility. There's so many
benefits of yoga, but that's just a few.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
And what about incorporating animals into it? What does that bring?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
It also brings reduced stress and anxiety. I've found people
who are beginners that might be more intimidated by a
traditional yoga studio really enjoy coming to the yoga with animals.
It just makes them feel a little more relaxed. They
don't always have to do every pose. They can pet
an animal instead, and it's always for a great cause.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Wow. How did you get involved with the rescues?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I reached out to a couple and I work with
Dogstar and Protectors of Animals mostly. We also work with
Everybody Counts, which is a rabbit rescue, and the rabbit
rescue I work with specifically because I have four rabbits
of my own.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
I love them. We had a guinea pig in studio
yesterday and I was kissing it and they're like, you
can't kiss it, Ali, But I love it. I love
them all, So I guess because I've never done yoga
with animals around me, like you said you can just
stop and pet them. I've seen pictures where they go
up on your back. What are the reactions from people
(02:38):
that you're getting while you're doing this.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
So in pig yoga, you can kiss a pig with
a cracker in your mouth and people love to do that.
We do kids yoga with that and also adult yoga,
and it's super fun. The animals, for bunnies and pigs,
can walk on your back. The puppies will just lay
down on your map, save as the kittens, So it's
(03:02):
a lot of fun. It's very interactive.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
And when you work with these rescues, do you find
that it may encourage someone to actually adopt these animals.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, that's an awesome part about it. We at our
kit and yoga we had a couple of people adopt
the kittens there, and for the dogs, it just like
brings a lot of interest to the animals, so they
might adopt at a later point. Same with the rabbits,
which is a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I'm speaking with founder Lindsey Reiley of Breathed to Flow.
It is Breathe the number two flow dot com again
Breathe tooflow dot com. You have so many amazing things.
Let's talk about the events we have, the sound healing experiences.
Let's start there.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah, so the sound healing experiences. I we do restorative yoga.
I work with one of actually the presidents of Everybody Counts,
Rebecca Bernardo, and she is trained in music, which makes
it an even better experience having someone so highly trained,
and she does sound healing with us, and it just
(04:09):
makes for a super relaxing event.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
So forgive me, forgive my ignorance. So are you like
doing yoga and music is playing or are you just
meditating and then the music is playing? What does it
actually mean while the music is playing? How do you heal?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah? So she uses to bet in sound bowls, which
is a healing practice in itself. We do restorative yoga,
which is just very slow holds of about five minutes
on each pose. They're made for deep relaxation, so you
might even drift asleep during the class. We kind of
guide you through a meditation during the class so that
(04:49):
you know you are able to experience deeper relaxation. But
the poses within themselves do that, and the sound as
well just kind of makes for some background noise and
really guiding you through the meditation, so.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
As you're meditating and going inward, sometimes that healing will
come up for you. Yes, yes, exactly beautiful. You have
yoga in the park.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah, we work with different towns. We've done them in
West Hertford and Manchester, and we do also go on
mountaintops to do yoga. We guide the participants up the
mountain and then do yoga at the peak, which is
more of like a gentle stretch yoga in the parks.
(05:38):
I work with one of my friends and teachers, Daisy Young,
and we do gentle to power style yoga in the
park to benefit the rescues.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And you even have kids yoga classes.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yes, we do kids yoga classes, mostly with the pigs.
The pigs can be tamer so it's easier to have
little ones in those classes. We do them ages for
and up.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Oh wow, that's wonderful and the same benefits for children
that you find with adults from doing yoga.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah, definitely, it's definitely. We talk about, you know, when
big feelings might come up, what pose might feel good
for them, and I ask them throughout the class, like
do you notice any sensations in your body? Do you
feel calmer? Do you feel more relaxed, and a lot
of times that makes them kind of tune into their
feelings and see like, oh, yeah, I do feel a
(06:38):
little more relaxed. And then we talk about how they
can do that throughout their day when you know, they
might be in school, they might get big feelings or
you know, with their brothers and sisters, and we talk
about kind of closing their eyes and relaxing and focusing
on their.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Breath and using that as they grow into adulthood.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, so it's really awesome to see the impact on
kids that it has. Some of them are familiar with
yoga already and some are brand new. So some of
them are already familiar with, you know, closing their eyes
and maybe doing some breaths when they're anxious, and some
of them it's brand new. So it's really exciting to
work with the kids and see how the impact it makes.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
If I would like to have a private event, I
could hire you.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yes, of course. We do bachelor up parties, we do
corporate events, We do anything you may need. We'll be
there for you.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
That is just amazing. How about donations, I'm sure you're
in need of that, or the rescues as well, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
So we collect donations as well for the rescues. A
lot of times people will come to the classes to donate.
Most of the proceeds go to the rescue with the
classes we do so, yeah, it's a lot of fun.
You can find us on social media as well. At
(08:01):
the same breed too slow to look for upcoming events
or join our mailing list down our website.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
For someone who may be on the fence about trying yoga,
what advice would you give to them.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
That you can always pause and not participate in a
particular pose. We always give modifications in my classes. It's
really up to the participant to go as deep as
they want. We always say, if you're not comfortable with
the next one, you can do maybe dispose instead. And
(08:36):
so people have options if you know they're feeling like, wow,
this class is too much for me. But all my
classes are more gentle yoga, so they're accessible to everyone.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And what about people who are senior citizens?
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, so we still offer yoga to the older generation.
We still see a lot of them in our classes.
They have the option to fit or bring, you know,
whatever props they might feel necessary for any injuries they
may have. My parents are definitely always in my classes,
(09:13):
and so we do modify for them as well.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
And when you say modify, I know for me, Like
let's say it's I don't know a position where you
got to put your leg up, Well, you could put
your leg up halfway. You don't have to put it
up at all. You know, whatever is comfortable really yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, we always tell people like the next breath might
be going into a little bit deeper of a stretch,
so you can kind of lay off deeper of a stretch.
You can bend your knee. You know, whatever feels comfortable
in your body is really our motto. We don't really
push anyone to go outside of their bounds.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And when the class is over with the animals or
without the animals, what are you getting from people? Are
they feeling happy they did it, relaxed, encouraged to do
it again.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah. We have a lot of people sign up for
different classes after their first one. A lot of people
give great feedback, you know, we have good Google reviews
that people are feeling more relaxed. They might, you know,
want to adopt a kitten or a dog right after,
but they really part of the community is a lot
(10:23):
for the people, so they might need a new friend
as well, which is really awesome to see people kind
of becoming a community within these classes.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You read my mind. I thought not only friends, but
maybe even meeting a companion.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah. Yeah, there's more men, I would say than in
traditional classes in a studio, just because the nature of
animals attract everyone, not just you know, females or males
or whatever it may be.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
How great would that be to find somebody who likes
to yoga with you?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
For sure. Are most of your events on Saturdays or
are they during the week.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Most of them are on Saturdays and Sundays.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Okay, And again they could just go to Breathe Too
the number two flow dot com to find out about
all these events. Yep, I'm speaking with founder Lindseyiley of
Breathe Toflow dot com. I love the class with the
pig where you put the little treat in your mouth,
they come over and they take it out. I did
that actually in Africa with a giraffe. That's how I
(11:30):
was able to kiss a giraffe.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I don't think you could do yoga with a giraffe.
I don't know. I will have to see probably littler
animals like what you have right, yes, yes, and again
she has all of these amazing events and they help
rescues as well. Go to Breathe the number two flow
dot com for more information. It was such a pleasure
(11:55):
speaking with you this morning. Thank you so much for
serving the community.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Thank you for
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Having me on
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. I
have a very very special guest this morning. Wait till
you hear what she does. I have a founder, Lindsey
Riley from Breathe to Flow here, good morning.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
For those who don't know about Breathe to Flow, let's
just talk about how you came about and then we'll
talk about what you do. All right.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
So I saw a need in the community to have
yoga involving animals and working with rescues and other small businesses.
We call ourselves traditional Yoga outside the studio. So we
work with local animal rescues who worked those dispensaries, breweries, studios,
even Lululemon, and we bring yoga to fun events baces
(00:47):
throughout Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
So how did this all come about? Were you laying
in bed one night the idea popped into your head?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
So I for my pig Yoga. That's actually exactly what happened.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
And I was.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
Growing Facebook in the morning and saw Gilbert the Party Pig,
which does pig events, and I said, oh my gosh,
can I bring yoga and pigs together? And we became
the first pig yoga in Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Wow. For people who don't know about the benefits of yoga.
What are they?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Reduce stress and anxiety, also increased flexibility. There's so many
benefits of yoga, but that's just a few.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
And what about incorporating animals into it? What does that bring?
Speaker 2 (01:36):
It also brings reduced stress and anxiety. I've found people
who are beginners that might be more intimidated by a
traditional yoga studio really enjoy coming to the yoga with animals.
It just makes them feel a little more relaxed. They
don't always have to do every pose. They can pet
an animal instead, and it's always for a great cause.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Wow. How did you get involved with the rescues?
Speaker 2 (02:00):
I reached out to a couple and I work with
Dogstar and Protectors of Animals mostly. We also work with
Everybody Counts, which is a rabbit rescue, and the rabbit
rescue I work with specifically because I have four rabbits
of my own.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
I love them. We had a guinea pig in studio
yesterday and I was kissing it and they're like, you
can't kiss it, Ali, But I love it. I love
them all, So I guess because I've never done yoga
with animals around me, like you said you can just
stop and pet them. I've seen pictures where they go
up on your back. What are the reactions from people
(02:38):
that you're getting while you're doing this.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
So in pig yoga, you can kiss a pig with
a cracker in your mouth and people love to do that.
We do kids yoga with that and also adult yoga,
and it's super fun. The animals, for bunnies and pigs,
can walk on your back. The puppies will just lay
down on your map, save as the kittens, So it's
(03:02):
a lot of fun. It's very interactive.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
And when you work with these rescues, do you find
that it may encourage someone to actually adopt these animals.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah, that's an awesome part about it. We at our
kit and yoga we had a couple of people adopt
the kittens there, and for the dogs, it just like
brings a lot of interest to the animals, so they
might adopt at a later point. Same with the rabbits,
which is a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
I'm speaking with founder Lindsey Reiley of Breathed to Flow.
It is Breathe the number two flow dot com again
Breathe tooflow dot com. You have so many amazing things.
Let's talk about the events we have, the sound healing experiences.
Let's start there.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah, so the sound healing experiences. I we do restorative yoga.
I work with one of actually the presidents of Everybody Counts,
Rebecca Bernardo, and she is trained in music, which makes
it an even better experience having someone so highly trained,
and she does sound healing with us, and it just
(04:09):
makes for a super relaxing event.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
So forgive me, forgive my ignorance. So are you like
doing yoga and music is playing or are you just
meditating and then the music is playing? What does it
actually mean while the music is playing? How do you heal?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah? So she uses to bet in sound bowls, which
is a healing practice in itself. We do restorative yoga,
which is just very slow holds of about five minutes
on each pose. They're made for deep relaxation, so you
might even drift asleep during the class. We kind of
guide you through a meditation during the class so that
(04:49):
you know you are able to experience deeper relaxation. But
the poses within themselves do that, and the sound as
well just kind of makes for some background noise and
really guiding you through the meditation, so.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
As you're meditating and going inward, sometimes that healing will
come up for you. Yes, yes, exactly beautiful. You have
yoga in the park.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah, we work with different towns. We've done them in
West Hertford and Manchester, and we do also go on
mountaintops to do yoga. We guide the participants up the
mountain and then do yoga at the peak, which is
more of like a gentle stretch yoga in the parks.
(05:38):
I work with one of my friends and teachers, Daisy Young,
and we do gentle to power style yoga in the
park to benefit the rescues.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And you even have kids yoga classes.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Yes, we do kids yoga classes, mostly with the pigs.
The pigs can be tamer so it's easier to have
little ones in those classes. We do them ages for
and up.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
Oh wow, that's wonderful and the same benefits for children
that you find with adults from doing yoga.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Yeah, definitely, it's definitely. We talk about, you know, when
big feelings might come up, what pose might feel good
for them, and I ask them throughout the class, like
do you notice any sensations in your body? Do you
feel calmer? Do you feel more relaxed, and a lot
of times that makes them kind of tune into their
feelings and see like, oh, yeah, I do feel a
(06:38):
little more relaxed. And then we talk about how they
can do that throughout their day when you know, they
might be in school, they might get big feelings or
you know, with their brothers and sisters, and we talk
about kind of closing their eyes and relaxing and focusing
on their.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Breath and using that as they grow into adulthood.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah, so it's really awesome to see the impact on
kids that it has. Some of them are familiar with
yoga already and some are brand new. So some of
them are already familiar with, you know, closing their eyes
and maybe doing some breaths when they're anxious, and some
of them it's brand new. So it's really exciting to
work with the kids and see how the impact it makes.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
If I would like to have a private event, I
could hire you.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yes, of course. We do bachelor up parties, we do
corporate events, We do anything you may need. We'll be
there for you.
Speaker 1 (07:32):
That is just amazing. How about donations, I'm sure you're
in need of that, or the rescues as well, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
So we collect donations as well for the rescues. A
lot of times people will come to the classes to donate.
Most of the proceeds go to the rescue with the
classes we do so, yeah, it's a lot of fun.
You can find us on social media as well. At
(08:01):
the same breed too slow to look for upcoming events
or join our mailing list down our website.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
For someone who may be on the fence about trying yoga,
what advice would you give to them.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
That you can always pause and not participate in a
particular pose. We always give modifications in my classes. It's
really up to the participant to go as deep as
they want. We always say, if you're not comfortable with
the next one, you can do maybe dispose instead. And
(08:36):
so people have options if you know they're feeling like, wow,
this class is too much for me. But all my
classes are more gentle yoga, so they're accessible to everyone.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
And what about people who are senior citizens?
Speaker 2 (08:51):
Yeah, so we still offer yoga to the older generation.
We still see a lot of them in our classes.
They have the option to fit or bring, you know,
whatever props they might feel necessary for any injuries they
may have. My parents are definitely always in my classes,
(09:13):
and so we do modify for them as well.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
And when you say modify, I know for me, Like
let's say it's I don't know a position where you
got to put your leg up, Well, you could put
your leg up halfway. You don't have to put it
up at all. You know, whatever is comfortable really yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Yeah, we always tell people like the next breath might
be going into a little bit deeper of a stretch,
so you can kind of lay off deeper of a stretch.
You can bend your knee. You know, whatever feels comfortable
in your body is really our motto. We don't really
push anyone to go outside of their bounds.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And when the class is over with the animals or
without the animals, what are you getting from people? Are
they feeling happy they did it, relaxed, encouraged to do
it again.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Yeah. We have a lot of people sign up for
different classes after their first one. A lot of people
give great feedback, you know, we have good Google reviews
that people are feeling more relaxed. They might, you know,
want to adopt a kitten or a dog right after,
but they really part of the community is a lot
(10:23):
for the people, so they might need a new friend
as well, which is really awesome to see people kind
of becoming a community within these classes.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You read my mind. I thought not only friends, but
maybe even meeting a companion.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yeah. Yeah, there's more men, I would say than in
traditional classes in a studio, just because the nature of
animals attract everyone, not just you know, females or males
or whatever it may be.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
How great would that be to find somebody who likes
to yoga with you?
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:59):
For sure. Are most of your events on Saturdays or
are they during the week.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Most of them are on Saturdays and Sundays.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Okay, And again they could just go to Breathe Too
the number two flow dot com to find out about
all these events. Yep, I'm speaking with founder Lindseyiley of
Breathe Toflow dot com. I love the class with the
pig where you put the little treat in your mouth,
they come over and they take it out. I did
that actually in Africa with a giraffe. That's how I
(11:30):
was able to kiss a giraffe.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
I don't think you could do yoga with a giraffe.
I don't know. I will have to see probably littler
animals like what you have right, yes, yes, and again
she has all of these amazing events and they help
rescues as well. Go to Breathe the number two flow
dot com for more information. It was such a pleasure
(11:55):
speaking with you this morning. Thank you so much for
serving the community.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Thank you for
Speaker 1 (11:59):
Having me on
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