An organization breaking barriers to access mindful wellbeing in our community through evidence-informed Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, yoga, meditation, community public health initiatives and school-based programming.
We are community organizers. We break barriers to access mindful wellbeing through a diverse system of evidence-informed public health practices.
Over the past eight years Kristi and Fell Jenkins have combined advanced training, graduate-level education, professional certification and field research to create mindfulness-based wellness and fitness programs supporting public health initiatives in schools and businesses across the Baltimore region.
They were passionate about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and yoga, but noticed those spaces were often organized around hierarchy, lacked female and family programming, and lacked coaches with trauma-sensitive training. Yoga Mouth was built to be the thing that was missing.
Founders Kristi and Fell have a blended family of five children with a range of mental and physical health needs. Their business and their lifestyle are intricately connected and designed to support their whole family.
Yoga Mouth Studio starts inside a small Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym in Essex, MD. Kristi and Fell meet and recognize mindfulness as the core of their BJJ practice.
Married on the BJJ mats, a baby at home, graduate study in Yoga Therapy, and a new studio opened in Dundalk during the pandemic.
The brick-and-mortar studio closes by choice so the team can focus on rapidly expanding school and community wellness programming.
Yoga Mouth Collective is formed as the 501(c)(3) partner for Yoga Mouth Studio.
A BCPS contract lands in January. Sangha House Studio and Mat Lab Martial Arts open at 431 Eastern Boulevard in March.
Much of this story was first told in Voyage Baltimore, April 2025, in an interview with Kristi and Fell Jenkins.
We meet in sweat and struggle and become witness to each person's growth and commitment to themselves.
Promotions are earned through class hours and consistent training. We encourage cross training and community building with other gyms and studios.
Our team is made up of professional movement and mindfulness coaches trained and certified across a variety of disciplines, including improv, dance, massage, theatre, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai, ABA, yoga, meditation and education. Our work is intentionally multidisciplinary.
Co-Founder & Science Director
Kristi has 25 years of experience in public mental health education and practice, from early childhood through geriatrics, and is in the clinical year of her MS in Yoga Therapy at the Notre Dame of Maryland University School of Integrative Health. She built the Yinjas curriculum now running in schools across Essex and Dundalk, and writes the translations of mindful science the whole Yoga Mouth system is built on.
Co-Founder & Head Coach
Co-founder and head coach. Fell brings years of both competition and mindful Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training, and leads the kids’ and adult programs with an emphasis on cross-training, community building and training without ego.
Movement & Mindfulness Coach
Movement & Mindfulness Coach
Movement & Mindfulness Coach
Movement & Mindfulness Coach
Classes, memberships and events run through Essex Kindness Club at 431 Eastern Boulevard.