Teachers
My affinity to yoga began with my very first class. Nothing I had done in the past had ever felt so right from the first moment I stood on my mat. My quest for knowledge and my journey within the practice of yoga began that day. I started with 5 years of attending classes whenever I could and taking my first teacher training in 2010 at the Sattva School of Yoga, becoming a RYT-200. It was a transformative experience for myself, having never attended a class outside of Drayton Valley. I started teaching shortly after training and have accumulated almost 2000 hours of teaching experience over the past 7 years. I took my 300-hour training in Akhanda Yoga in 2017 and am now a designated ERYT-200 and RYT-500. I have taken many other trainings over the years in Restorative Yoga, Yin, Yoga Therapy, Yoga Kids, and countless others to stay fresh in my teaching and practise. I will also be taking my 200-hour training in Kundalini Yoga this year. I recognize, as a practitioner and teacher that yoga has the potential to help us discover our hidden depths through inquiry and personal investigation. It’s because of this that I continue to take on many different trainings and continue to feel inspired to teach and share this beautiful practice.
My yoga journey has been a gradual awakening over the last 20 years to new possibilities and a greater awareness of the connection between breath, body and mind. My personal yoga practice has evolved over the years from a purely physical practice, to more of a moving meditation and a daily inward drawing of attention that has taught me and is still teaching me how to fully inhabit myself and cultivate an attitude of attentiveness and kindness within. Yoga has instilled in me a sense of deep peace and clarity that I’m able to carry off of my mat and into my life. It has proven to be a blessing for me during the busy and often demanding chapter of life involving mothering 3 teenage daughters.
I am a graduate of the South Okanagan Yoga Academy (SOYA) and registered with the International Yoga Teachers Association (IYTA) as a 200-hour RYT. My training is alignment-based Hatha yoga with roots in the Sivananda lineage which focuses on preserving the health and wellness of the practitioner and helps cultivate a new perspective about our relationship to the body, mind and spirit. I have participated in numerous classes, workshops and retreats to broaden my knowledge and continue my growth as both a teacher and lifelong student of yoga. After discovering the peaceful tranquility of practising yoga on a “floating studio” during our summers spent at Mara Lake, I completed my Stand Up Paddleboard Yoga & Fitness Certification through Stand Up Paddle Vancouver in June 2016. I offer SUP Yoga classes to all levels at Mara Lake, B.C., where we spend our summers. Most recently, I completed my 50-hour Yin & Yoga Nidra certification with Hali Love at I Am Yoga Shuswap in September 2016. I find it so rewarding to introduce students to the many benefits of Yin and Yoga Nidra as a complementary balance to an energetic Yang yoga practice.
I feel so grateful to share my passion of yoga and I love that each class is unique and resonates differently for every individual. In my classes, I hope my students find an accessible, non-competitive atmosphere where they feel safe to explore their own self-expression, freedom and discovery, and an opportunity to stretch and strengthen the body as well as the mind, heart and spirit.
I took my first yoga class back in 2008; it started out as a very physical practice for me, all I wanted was for it to be exercise and make me sweat! As my life moved forward and shifted so did my yoga practice, I longed for something deeper than that. I found myself searching for more in my life, I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what ‘more’ was but I knew it was important for me. Yoga became more of a constant and the relationship that was built between my body, mind, and soul started to fill that longing. I started out with teaching yoga to children and loved it, getting trained with YogaKids in 2013 and then couldn’t wait to get my adult certification in 2014. Yoga has changed me in so many ways. It has allowed me to grow into a much more grounded, positive and compassionate being and it inspires me to live each moment more mindfully. My hope is to help others live more mindfully and experience all that yoga has to offer. I hope that when you join me for a class that you leave feeling refreshed, nourished, and balanced. Namaste.