Archives: Team Members

For Stéphanie Wong, yoga means complete wellness - bringing one’s mental, spiritual and physical bodies into alignment and harmony. She has been actively practicing yoga for over 15 years. She completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2019, followed by Restorative Yoga training, Mindfulness & Yoga for Children training, and Reiki certification training. She has taught at the City of Ottawa since 2019, working intentionally to reverse the pains and discomforts that often arise from extended hours working in an office setting. She created and taught a yoga program for disadvantaged youth, where she saw firsthand the positive impact yoga has on people's self-esteem, emotional health, and stress management. She includes elements of meditation, affirmations, intention setting, chakra balancing, mobility and strength training in her classes, while ensuring that her sequences are accessible to all. Stephanie aims for all her students to feel refreshed, peaceful, and a sense of bliss upon completing her classes....

Stuti is an RYT 200 hrs and a Bharatanatyam artist(Indian classical dancer) based in Ottawa. She was born and raised in India and moved to Ottawa in 2016. Stuti came across the art of Yoga only through dance. After a decade of practicing Yoga, she realized Yoga is her dharma, and that's how she blends her Indian roots of Yoga philosophy along with her Western knowledge of Yoga to pass it down to society. Stuti wishes to share the gift of Yoga so that our community can get an insight into the science and philosophy of this ancient practice. She wants our community to reap all the benefits of Yoga as she did! In 2016, after landing as an immigrant in Canada, Stuti started a regular asana practice. In 2021, she completed a 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training as a Warrior Yoga BIPOC Scholarship recipient. Towards the latter half of 2021, she started leading a community class—that was indeed a full circle! Stuti enjoys...

Shar is a devoted practitioner and a life-long learner. She is on a journey to understand herself and consequently the interaction of life all around, while integrating the teachings of Yoga. Meditation has been a daily non-negotiable practice since 2017 and she notices it continuously relaxes her, bringing peace of mind. As the process of yoga unfolds, Shar is in awe of what can be perceived and felt if we pay attention. She is curious and enjoys playing with the edge. Love is at the center of her teaching, on the mat and in her kindergarten classroom. She longs to share space and stories with humans. While teaching, she encourages her students to explore the sacredness of their experience with breath, movement and compassionate presence. She inspires inquiry and careful listening, in connection to students safely experiencing all aspects of themselves as they are. She helps make room for possibilities so that we can all find the deeper parts of ourselves,...

Mona is committed to helping people find comfort and ease within themselves. She spent a good part of her career as a college and university counsellor helping students with various personal, career and academic struggles. At the same time, she started to engage in a yoga practice to stay fit and found it to be beneficial in many other ways: connecting back to her body, finding calm, presence, and peace of mind. This led her to pursue a 200-hour Hatha Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) in 2014 with Caroline Elson and Donna Davis. Since then, she has continued her personal practice, started teaching and read many books on the topic while pursuing a variety of other trainings on topics such as chakras, pranayama, meditation, yoga Nidra, restorative yoga, Ayurveda, trauma, the subtle body, chair yoga, and she is currently completing an additional 300-hour YTT at Pranashanti. Mona believes that the yoga mat offers an opportunity to find a state of well-being by...

Maria is a 200hr PranaShanti trained Hatha Yoga Teacher. After teaching 3 to 4 fitness class a day on a regular basis, Maria was in search of a means to help balance out her very high energy day. Yoga answered the call and since then has been a part of her everyday life for the last 9 years. She wanted to fully understand the benefits of regular yoga on the body, mind and spirit so she acquired her Teacher Training in the summer of 2020 through PranaShanti and has not looked back since. Combining her knowledge and training of fitness with yoga allows for a unique understanding of how the body works. She uses humor, compassion and empathy with her students to help bring a comfort level and ease to the class. Maria’s happiest places are anything to do with water, sailing is her latest endeavor, and live music! If you don't see her teaching then she is probably at the Front Desk waiting to...

Lucie is a certified teacher in Hatha, Kundalini and Yin Yoga. She is now expanding her knowledge in the Kundalini Level 2 with the Pranashanti Yoga Centre and The Wellness Path Centre. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with the Yoga Alliance. She has also completed training in Yoga for Everyone with Dianne Bondy. Lucie discovered yoga in the mid 90’s and has been practicing several disciplines of yoga since then. With the years, Kundalini yoga became her regular practice. She has learned to play the singing bowls and enjoys using them during Shavasana or Corpse Pose. Lucie’s approach on yoga is simple: you do it because it makes you feel good, keeps you healthy and makes you feel happy....

When guiding a class, Gitanjali integrates different aspects of yoga practice to create a balanced and harmonized practice for the spirit, mind and body. Experience Indian traditions and stories, a keen sense of alignment and a big smile in her classes. Gitanjali looks forward to sharing the joy, lightness and strength that can be found on and off the mat through yoga. A scientist by training and at heart, she likes to experiment to enable everyone to find the inner strength to empower each asana. Gitanjali’s upbringing in India, surrounded by the scriptures, the daily chants and rituals, formed the basis of her spiritual pursuits. It is in Canada that she heard the call of her body to move and breathe consciously. She has been actively pursuing the asana practice for over the last decade. Her first 200-hour yoga teacher training in a Vinyasa based style opened the doors of her curiosity and since then she has added more than 800...

Cassie Connor is a trauma-informed yoga therapist (qualifying) and teacher with a passion for meeting students where they're at. She has been practicing yoga since she was 13 years old as a way of healing and tending to her mental health. She has been teaching yoga in a variety of environments such as recovery programs, social service agencies, gyms and studios since 2018. Her classes focus on creating a comfortable, playful space in which students can explore movement, rest and breath practices which genuinely serve their personal wellbeing from moment to moment. Common themes in her classes will include mindfulness, compassion, self reflection and personal choice. Often, the teachings of yoga philosophy will be woven throughout practice so that students are empowered to take their yoga practice with them beyond the studio and into daily life. “I would like my life to be a statement of love and compassion – and where it isn’t, that’s where my work lies.” — Ram Dass...

Anastasiya, a dedicated 200-hour RYT, embraces yoga as both a teacher and a student. With over 1000 hours of teaching and continuous education, she aims to inspire and empower students to tap into their inner strength. Combining breath, movement, and mindfulness, Anastasiya's classes find a balance between ease and effort, fostering strength and grounding. Offering a diverse range of asana styles, including Hatha, Vinyasa, Somatic Yoga, Power Yoga, and Ashtanga, Anastasiya's sequences blend traditional methods with modern movement modalities, inviting students to deepen their practice in an enjoyable and accessible manner. For her, yoga illuminates life's path, and she seeks to share that light with as many people as possible. Anastasiya is a practitioner of the Ashtanga method, currently practicing the Intermediate series, and having studied under two L2 Authorized teachers. Led both Mysore-style classes and Led Primary in multiple locations. Anastasiya has completed a 40-hour Primary intensive with David Robson - L2 Authorized Ashtanga Teacher....