I'm a movement educator with over 26 years of teaching experience who writes about bodies, Flow states, being naughty for your own good, and how to stop your THINKY head from ruining all your movement fun.
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: : best of twenty-twenty-five inside : :
Published about 2 months agoย โขย 7 min read
โ โIn this email: 2025 things of note + upcoming trainings
I just slept for nearly 12 hours (thank you, jet lag) โ so i composed this monstrous and minimally edited year-in-review with a bad color palette ๐ง๐ผโ๐จโ โ many links in here are affiliate links - youโll know because of this*
๐ถโ๐ซ๏ธ STUFF I ENJOYED PUTTING ON MY FACE โ โ I know you're not on this list for my thoughts on skincare, โ but when thinking about a year in review, "stuff I put on my face" was the first thing I wrote. must be important??โ โโ โyouth to the people superfood skin drip*โ light yet creamy cooling glowiness. on my third bottle. โ โMad Hippie AHA exfoliating peel* notably improved my skin texture as part of the nightime put-stuff-on-face routine โ โIlia Skin Tint:* how is this tinted sunscreen so good? love
๐ PLACES I WENT โ โ 21 different cities this year โ most time spent in: โ 1. Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA: 214 days. โ 2. Dubai, UAE: 26 days. โ 3. Canary Islands/Cyprus/Playa Del Carmen, Mexico all tie in third at about 18 days each.
letting the energy body radiate at the CoSM in NY state
๐ป TECH I TOUCHED A LOT โ โ
โ
Notion:โ โ "hey marlo, what are you doing?"โ โ โ"Notioning"
is a likely response. โ I enjoy dance forms that involve showing off one's backend, but showing someone around my notion backend ...ohh la la , now we're talking ๐ฅ โ I've been told my notion skills are "advanced" (โข swings hair and twirls โข) โ However, Notion denied me as an affiliate partner after reviewing my online presence, which goes on the list of things I did not like in 2025๐๐ผ๐๐ผ โ โOne day, I want to run a program called Notion n' Motion where we alternate between making wiggling and visually appealing databases. would u attend??โ โ โ โDescript* editing videos from transcripts. this made my long-form video editing experience much better. โ โThrivecart* how I make checkout pages for most of my courses โ โSane Box* to all my friends with thousands of emails in their inbox, there is another way โ โObsidian:free, fast, locally stored note powerhouse. โ I use it for documenting patterns across my dream life โ (why so many of my dreams involve uncomfortable toilets?) โ and linking obscure thoughts like skill hoarding, autogenic inhibition and other ways the body doesn't fall apart under load, and 46,000-year-old Siberianโ worms that defrosted and came to life.โ โ
This is what the graph view in Obsidian looks like. The clusters are notes you connect. โ I learned this tool from Nick Milo at Linking Your Thinkingโ โ
๐ Top Reads
About 12 books front-to-back finished, about 186 party read, no joke. A few faves: โโ โAn Immense World* How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by EdYong. โ โthis book made me think about how sensing the difference between the activities of your own muscle, fascia, organ, and nerve etc. is a perceptual superpower. โ For many, this sensory world only exists in dull tones and bodily grumbles. But with training, you can gain high-def inner "vision"...โ โ โWandering Earth* by Cixin Liu: โ stories of enormity and cosmic scale ๐๐ผ โโ Sticky: The secret science of surfaces by Lauri Winkless* โ i was wrong about geckos, and now I know what's going on when "pole squeaks" happen
๐ฉณ Stuff I enjoyed wearing โ โโ โ โMy top gym shoes of all time !!โ โ ...ready .... โ
Thank you to Inlet Fitness in VaBeach for never once telling me to put on shoes at the gym โ โ โ
black so-called "men's socks" โ โThese Hanes max cushion Mens socks* allow for my fully liberated toe spread of my flipper-shaped forefoot. ๐ฆ โ These are my preferred weightlifting socks โ โ
love the shoes
โ ๐ But twirling and spinny-slidey behavior for a different sock.... โ Specifically, thin cotton, which offers a great blend of slip and stick. โ let's go Hanes Men's comfort blend. ๐งฆ โ โ โimbodhi* activewear makes me wanna wiggle my toosh โ comes from sustainably harvested beechwood trees + elastane All pieces are made in California at a women-owned factory. link gets you 15% offโ
did the first Return to the Air small group series inside the freestyle collective so that pole people could un-rust together, slowly. โ
๐ฑ 8-week group programs:โ โ ran the 5th Invert Ready: where we clarify what it takes to get your ass over your head on a pole โ >> click here to be added to the waitlist for the next round โ โโ โ๐ฏ Private coaching: โ
๐ฎ Most sessions ever in a year โI did 140 private coaching calls helping clients find flow in their strength, mobility, pole, floor, and careers โ โ(want me as your coach? hit reply!)โ โ
๐ค Critical review: I am sorely hurting in the non-pole offers department. โ I have different plans for 2026 โ there's the Floor Flow Teacher Training (check out the training track for non-teachers who want long-form flow education) โ and two new obscure mobility programs for people who would rather choke on a biscuit than do a standard stretch class. who's in?
๐ WORDS of the year: โ โโ โโ I analyzed hundreds of hours of movement teaching transcripts. โ the word I used most was: โ
NOTICE โ as in: "notice what happens when you kick your leg to the side" โ do you feel the fireball shooting out of your foot?
โ โ Other words I say a lot while coaching: โ โข Feel โข โข Where โข โข Instead โข โ โโ And then there's my word creation habit:โ โ I enjoy word crafting. 100+ added in 2025, mostly portmanteaus, aka combo words. A few faves: โโ โengourgeous: engorged and gorgeous ๐ โ โMidline crisis: struggling to track your head-tail relationship in space โ โquandering : querying and wandering - talking a walk while asking questions โ โvigorosity: the skill of accessing vigorous motion (spoiler: this will be a workshop name in 2026) โ โsomatgnosis: from soma + gnosis (knowledge). proprioception tells you where you are, kinesthesia tells you how youโre moving.Somatognosis tells you that youโre here at all โข jk not yet
๐ช fave morning snack
essential year in review contentโ โ If simple mills decides to sponsor movement educators, I do hope they will consider me ๐ u know how cookie companies are always looking for people who misbehave in gyms to represent them.... โ simple mills almond flour pecan cookies, my fave, several years running for a dip-in-coffee cookie โ โinstant coffee Anthony's organic ultra-fine powder, delish hot or cold, comes with me on the road
๐ง Top performing content โ โ
As a former person of the stage, it is odd to say that my emails "perform," but this is the language of metrics. โ A strong/ good open rate for a list of my size is 35% โ Friends, comrades, dear people who open up what I send out of marlo@flowmovement.net
my average open rate on emails sent to my full list of 6K+ people is 66% โโ howwwww also: woowwwwww ๐ธ๐ผ โ
my emails, performing
โ โ I bow in gratitude. thank you, thank you putting your eyes right here. โ โhit reply and tell me why you open - what do you want more of?๐คโ โ โโ ๐งTop email opens: โ โ 1-900-hip play (who i learned movement science from in 2025) โ โi haven't shown this before (a look inside my IG saves)โ โ
โDigital Organizer:โ I loved paying for this. They helped me recover from an email, file, and password management shitshow. Tell Sean that marlo sent you. โ
Francesca @ Sunny days VA behind the scenes at Flow Movement getting videos uploaded far faster than i can ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผโ โ
โ I've teamed up with Adam Wooley to take you on a warm-up-burning, curriculum-crushing, movement-class makeover journey. โ If you are a movement teacher who is either tired of your own classes or annoyed with everyone else's...โ
โ โโ Floor Flow Teacher Training 2026โ โโ โscience-backed strategies to help you think less and feel more as you move on the floor โ if youโve been told to โjust relaxโ or โfreestyleโ and felt more stuck instead, FFTT gives you a structure that makes smoothness emerge naturally- in yourself and while guiding others โโ โโ What even is Floor Flow? What is the difference between the teaching and training track? How would this training fit in with my life?โ โโ ^^^ Check out the FFTT info session recording right here^^^โ โ this program runs Jan-June 2026. registration closes in: โ
โ
New in 2026
โ โsmoothness isn't just an aesthetic. it's a diagnostic. โ smoothness of movement tells you the whole systemโbrain, fascia, joints, timing, intentโis actually working together instead of fighting itself. โ โPole Continuity Coach is the only 6-month professional training committed to the art + science of smooth pole dance movement โ โโ this program runs july-dec 2026 โ โsave 30% as part of the program pre-sale until Jan 21โ โโ but... register for FFTT and PCC, and get it for 40% off ๐ฎโ โ FFTT gives you the method for fluidity and continuous movement - PCC shows you how to apply it to the momentum of pole dance
I'm a movement educator with over 26 years of teaching experience who writes about bodies, Flow states, being naughty for your own good, and how to stop your THINKY head from ruining all your movement fun.
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What do pelvic action alternatives to crusty old movement class customs rubbing yourself all over the floor to give your brain a break and the science of smoothhave in common?me. and maybe you?Check out the new workshop drops below, and stay till the end for a little personal update. ๐ Articulate Anatomy: Hips Hands up if you're interested in PELVIC POSSIBILITES?Dec 19 is my final session of the year inside The Freestyle Collective. Articulate Anatomy: Hipsis a $25, 75-minute anatomical...