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Nikki Rushing | Movement and Mindfulness

@practicewithnikki

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Helping you build a stronger body, steadier mind & show up fully — on and off the mat.🧘‍♀️
Functional movement + yoga philosophy | Yoga Teacher | Mom

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Hi, I’m Nikki.

I’m a wife, a mom of two, a teacher, and a lifelong student of movement and mindfulness.

For years, I thought wellness was about doing more—working harder, pushing further, always chasing the next goal. Strength looked like lifting heavier, accomplishing more, and never slowing down.

Yoga changed that.

It taught me that real strength isn’t just physical. It’s the ability to stay present when life feels chaotic. It’s responding instead of reacting. It’s finding steadiness in challenge, softness in strength, and coming home to yourself again and again.

Whether you lift weights, chase toddlers, work construction, spend your days at a desk, looking to expand your yoga practice, or have never stepped onto a yoga mat, I believe this page is for you.

Here you’ll find functional movement, mindfulness, and practical lessons from yoga- not just to help you move better, but to help you live with greater strength, steadiness, and presence.

This isn’t about becoming someone new.

It’s about practicing the skills that help you reconnect with the strength that’s already within you.

Not a destination- but a journey.

You’ll find that this practice extends far beyond the mat.

I’m so glad you’re here.

— Nikki by @practicewithnikki

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3 months ago

Try this strengthening sugarcane flow I’m loving this week! ✨

Downward facing dog
Turbo dog to knee to tricep
3 legged dog
Knee to nose
Pivot to fallen star (option to keep leg lifted)
3 legged dog
Low lunge to Easy twist
Cartwheel open to Warrior 2
Reverse Warrior (option to lift heel)
Extended Side Angle
Reverse Triangle (option to lift toes)
Half Moon
Sugarcane
Half lord of the Fishes
Low lunge to vinyasa
Switch sides

✨To activate the core and compression, try to bring the knee as high as you can when bringing the knee to tricep and knee to nose.

✨Engage your inner thigh muscles and core to keep the leg lifted in fallen star

✨Lifting your toes or heels during standing poses builds strength in both your feet and legs along with improving balance. Give it a try! 🙌

These little moments of intentional activation will build amazing strength and stability over the life of your PRACTICE👏🏻💪

As always, blocks are great in extended side angle and to focus on alignment in balancing postures.

Save this flow to practice later or to teach and let me know what you think! 🫶✨✅

#vinyasaflow #sugarcanepose #yogastrength #mindfulmovement #yogasequencing by @practicewithnikki

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2 months ago

Yoga or fitness?

BOTH! The body doesn’t care.

Here’s the concept most core workouts miss. Core work isn’t just creating “abs”. True core strength involves so much more.

The core is four layers working together: the diaphragm on top, the pelvic floor on the bottom, the transverse abdominis wrapped around the middle, and the deep muscles along your spine. These four work before the visible muscles ever move. They’re the reason you can stand, breathe, and brace all at once.

Most of these moves aren’t asking your core to create movement. They’re asking it to resist movement. That is what really builds the strength and stability.

→ Resisting rotation (kick-throughs, knee taps, side plank reach-down)
→ Resisting your low back arching (planks, slide-outs)
→ Resisting your hips dropping sideways (single-leg mountain)

Cues:
✨Protract through your shoulder blades in every plank. Let them round slightly away from your spine instead of pinching together. This keeps the muscles under your shoulder blade working instead of letting your shoulders sag.

✨Slightly tuck your tailbone under in each hold. We don’t need a “flat” back - more of your neutral spine. It shifts the work off your spine and into your actual core.

✨Work to keep your hips steady in the side plank reach and forearm plank knee taps- true core control.

✨Actively press the knee into the block and the block into the knee on the last one. Lights up hip flexor and stabilizer muscles with the added tension and work to stay balanced.

. Bonuses with this work are:
- Shoulder stability
- Hip flexor endurance under tension
- Lights up hip stabilizers

Train the whole system. Not just the part you can see.

➡️ SAVE for your next core workout or to mix in your yoga practice. You’ll feel the difference. 🔥🔥

➡️ FOLLOW for more like this.

#corestrength #functionalmovement #yogaandfitness #coreworkout #strengthandmobility by @practicewithnikki

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2 months ago

You look happier. What changed?

Not much on the outside. Same lifestyle, same kids, same long days, same to-do list plus some.

What changed is how I move through it and how I carry it.

I used to move through my day in fight or flight mode set at autopilot. Always rushing through the tasks, waiting for a certain time of day, trying to check off all of the boxes I thought I had to check in order to be a “good mom”.

Yoga taught my nervous system it is okay to settle.

It taught me how to be more present with myself and my family and how to see the beauty in the small things.

It taught me how to take full breaths that go beyond my chest.

It taught me how to catch tension before it turns into a short temper.

It taught me it’s okay to slow down.

It taught me how to connect to my body and build a resilience I can use everyday.

It taught me how to love myself again.

It’s not perfect all the time and there’s always things to learn and progress in.

But I am happy where I am now.

Santosha (YS 2.42), or contentment. This isn’t happiness because life got easier. It’s happiness because I stopped fighting the life I have.

Follow for more yoga and strength. Because we can find a little inspiration in others journeys. 🫶

#mindfulliving #yogaoffthemat #mindfulmovement #loveyourlife by @practicewithnikki

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2 days ago

Some days, it’s just like that. 🤷‍♀️

But honestly… Laughs are good for the soul. Taking in every silly moment I can.

#noexcuses #movementismedicine #calisthenicsathome by @practicewithnikki

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6 days ago

And that’s only one of the physical problems.. 🤷‍♀️🤔

#yogaeverydamday #yoga #yogabenefits by @practicewithnikki

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12 days ago

A few things:

Not everything is a perfectly held pose or a calm smile.

Turns out gravity doesn’t care about your certification.

Laugh anyway.

Warm up before you go upside down. Really.

Filing this under “also yoga” 🤣

#instagramvsreality #yogafail #practicenotperfect #yogahumor #realtalk by @practicewithnikki

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2 months ago

Just a reminder that you don’t have to choose between your nervous system and your workout OR your to-do list.

Some days, this is all I have time for. Or honestly, sometimes after being with a 2 and 5 year old.. all I want to do is go lift heavy things and sweat. 😅

But I do both. Because my mind and body need BOTH.

Save this for the day you’re sure you have no time. 😋

#yogaeverydamday #consistencywins #yogaandwellness by @practicewithnikki

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11 days ago

Strength training has been a part of my life for a long time, and actually.. yoga has been more recent. Yoga just maybe created a more profound change in my life emotionally and spiritually and with the freedom my body feels everyday. I love and NEED both.

But in this world, it often feels like you have to pick one. You’re either the yoga girl or the gym girl. Calm or strong. Soft or capable.

I’ve never believed that. Yoga taught me to slow down, breathe, and actually listen to my body. It has built strength in a different way than what the weights taught me.

But I took a long break from lifting while I was studying and immersing myself in yoga and I’ve realized more and more that both are a huge part of me. I gained strengths and abilities in certain areas but lost it or stopped progressing in others.

Yoga and strength training are two halves of the same thing; incredibly complementary pieces of a puzzle. Actually.. tons of research proves it. More on that later!

So I’m doing something a little crazy: studying to become a certified personal trainer, alongside working through my 300hr yoga teacher training. Not to become someone different or step away from yoga.. but to show up more fully for the people I hope to help, along with myself!

My hopes are to bridge gaps and create a space where both worlds can come together to build a mind and body that’s strong and resilient. Yes, yoga can give that! But there’s more to the puzzle. Let’s piece it all together.

Lifelong student. Learning it the right way. Come along? 🤍

#yogaandstrength #yogaforlifters #nscacpt #yogaandweights by @practicewithnikki

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10 days ago

Im not sure if it’s the change of weather season or the change of ME season. But I’m cooking up some big plans for the future, starting new projects, and setting new goals. Who needs a new year, right?

#growthjourney #sayingyes #yogaeverydamday #strongmom by @practicewithnikki

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12 days ago

If your hips don’t move well, your low back ends up doing the work instead.

That’s not just a feeling. Research on chronic low back pain keeps showing the same thing:

Limited hip mobility- especially in hip extension, shows up alongside extra compensation happening in the lower spine. Your hips won’t move, so your back moves for them.

Give your hips their full range back, and your spine gets to stop covering for them.

This flow works both sides of that: the strength to control your range, and the length to actually have it. Plus yummy rotation in the spine.

✨ Hip Circle to Pigeon
5-8 reps per side, controlled
Press your front foot into the ground for extra activation.

✨ Half Frog Push-Up
8-10 reps per side
Press your hips down. Control the return on the way back up.

✨ Wide Legged Fold Rotations
8-10 per side, slow and controlled
Point your toes slightly in. Option to press your hand to the floor under your face before you twist instead of grabbing ankle.

✨ Runners Lunge to Extended Pyramid
5-8 reps per side
Press firmly through your front heel and back foot. Keep engagement in the thighs. Blocks under the hands are great here.

✨ World’s Greatest Stretch
5- 8 reps per side
Tuck your tailbone slightly and engage your back glute. Keep your front knee tracking toward your pinkie toe.

✨ Gomukasana Leg Hold
Hold 30-45 seconds per side
Ground your sit bones, flex your feet, and press your top knee into your arm.

Repeat flow 2-3x

Don’t underestimate what mindful engagement in a muscle under tension can do for strength in your end range! 👏🏻

These are some of my go-to’s before leg day. SAVE this for your next one. 🙌

#mindfulmovement #hipmobility #mobility by @practicewithnikki

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a month ago

I had a bit of a tough week, mentally and physically, so I slowed down a bit on here. Here’s a quick, one photo post since it’s the best physically I have felt all week. 🙌

Bird of paradise.
This pose had been eluding me for a while but I’m getting closer to fully straightening my leg! Balance here takes such focus for me and sometimes that is what I need to quiet the noise of everything else going on.

I love this practice and seeing what my body is capable of. Then the calm after. 🙏🏻

#birdofparadise #progressoverperfection #yogapractice by @practicewithnikki

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23 days ago