Team Members Archive - Page 5 of 7

Mona

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...

Lucie

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....

Gabrielle

Gabrielle’s love for teaching, sharing and learning about yoga and mindful living is matched by her affinity for her students. She believes yoga brings us greater joy, freedom of movement and a deeper connection to ourselves and one another. Forever a student of life, she embraces the opportunity to learn alongside those she teaches. Her yoga journey began in Okinawa, Japan, while teaching English to the great-grandchildren of some of the world’s longest-living people. Inspired by the connection between movement, mindful living and well-being, she went on to complete Ashtanga yoga teacher training with David Swenson in Tokyo. After returning to Ottawa in 2011, she completed Hatha yoga training and began teaching full time. Today, Gabrielle is an E-RYT, E-RCYT and RPYT, with experience in multiple yoga disciplines, functional anatomy, mobility, resistance stretching and intuitive movement. She is also osteopenia/osteoporosis-informed, bringing an understanding of bone health to her teaching. She shares her passion for anatomy, body mechanics and alignment, blending traditional and...

Anastasiya

Anastasiya is a member of the PranaShanti Education Faculty and holds E-RYT 500 and YACEP credentials through Yoga Alliance, qualifying her as an experienced teacher and Continuing Education Provider. She has taught in six 200-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings at PranaShanti, where she leads education in alignment, class structure, sequencing, and asana practice. Prior to joining the faculty, she taught and assisted in three intensive 200-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings and a 300-hour teacher training intensive at Vida Asana School of Yoga in Costa Rica. Her teaching is informed by the Ashtanga and Iyengar traditions, both rooted in the Krishnamacharya lineage. Her continuing education includes a 40-hour Ashtanga intensive with David Robson and Jelena Vesić of Ashtanga Yoga Toronto, advanced teaching and alignment studies with Alejandra Torres in Costa Rica, and intensive Ashtanga study in Mexico. Meditation is also an integral part of her practice, informed by Vipassana training. With over 1,500 teaching hours, Anastasiya has led workshops in advanced alignment, foundational asana, teaching...

Susan

Susan’s introduction to yoga began twenty years ago with weekly classes in the Chapel of the Mother House (a sacred space indeed!) at Mount Saint Vincent University, in beautiful Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was in this space that she discovered the positive and profound impact that yoga can have on one’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Susan completed her 200-hour yoga teacher certification in 2009 (Atlantic Yoga Teacher Training). Shortly after finishing her training, she relocated to Ottawa with her family and began teaching from her small home studio. With a special interest in how yoga can help specific health conditions, she continued her studies and became a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT) in 2020. Susan uses a light-hearted approach to create a sense of safety and ease in her classes, offering options and modifications as an invitation to students to honour their specific needs. She sees yoga as an amazing tool for physical, mental, and emotional transformation, health, and healing. Susan is...

Lynda

I believe that everyone is whole and complete even as the desire for change is present. My purpose is to remove the barriers to your belief in your infinite potential. My yoga, meditation, yoga therapy and life coaching programs are designed to increase the resilience of all persons, especially those working in high-stress environments, and to alleviate symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression and trauma. My approach is based on two key cornerstones of invitation and inquiry. By offering choice and encouraging curiosity, I guide you to fully inhabit your body in the present moment, thus empowering you on and off the mat. WHO AM I? I’m a Registered Professional Yoga Teacher (E-RYT-500) with over 1000 hours of training. I’m a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT), and I’m certified to teach Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and Chair Yoga. I have over 2000 hours of teaching experience. I'm a Certified iRest® Yoga Nidra Teacher. I’ve been leading iRest classes since 2014. I’m a meditation practitioner and have studied and taught other styles of meditation and mindfulness. I'm a Certified Warriors at Ease...

Pamela, Massage

My goals for each massage session are to eliminate the client’s pain and discomfort resulting from overworked or injured muscles, postural habits and stress in general, and to restore balance to the body. In the past, in additional to training in massage, I have also trained in Myofascial Fascial Release, Integrated Manual Therapy, Cupping Therapy, Tuina, Thai table massage, Indian head massage, Shiatsu (acupressure) and others. I frequently incorporate elements of these modalities and disciplines into my treatment plans. Prior to finding my passion for body work, I completed my BA in psychology at St. Francis Xavier University and my MA at Carleton University; my Mind Body connection....

Barrie

E-RYT 500, YACEP Barrie Risman is an internationally-recognized yoga teacher, public speaker, and author. Her best-selling book, Evolving Your Yoga: Ten Principles for Enlightened Practice, is a guide for teachers and continuing students to deepen, expand, and integrate the benefits of yoga in their lives. Widely regarded as a teacher's teacher, she's the creator of online classes, courses, and trainings that fuel the inner journey of yogis around the globe. Barrie is well known for her ability to convey the essence of the wisdom teachings of yoga with exceptional clarity, insight, and relevance to students of all levels and from all walks of life. As unpretentious and down-to-earth as she is wise and inspiring, Barrie teaches with a remarkable combination of rigor and challenge balanced with sensitivity, humor, and compassion. Her events weave together the technical precision of refined alignment-based practice with an ever-present awareness of the great wisdom of yoga philosophy distilled from decades of intensive study and practice. Teaching since 1999, Barrie shares the depth of her experience...

Anathele

Anathèle’s yoga journey began in 2010 when she was looking for ways to cultivate greater balance and well-being in her life. What started as a physical practice soon became much more, offering tools for self-awareness, resilience, healing, and connection. Through the years, yoga has remained a steady source of support through both life’s joys and challenges. In 2019, Anathèle completed her 200-hour Hatha Yoga Teacher Training at PranaShanti Yoga Centre. Since then, she has continued her studies in Power Yoga, Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Chair Yoga, Corporate Yoga, Trauma-Informed Yoga, and Stand-Up Paddleboard (SUP) Yoga, and has completed her 300-hour advanced teacher training. She is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT 200) and a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP). Anathèle is an occupational therapist, psychotherapist, and lifelong learner. Her professional work has deepened her appreciation for the connection between mind and body, and for the importance of creating spaces where people can feel supported, grounded, and empowered. She enjoys exploring the...

Debra

Debra has been practicing yoga regularly for over 15 years. She started with prenatal yoga classes during her first pregnancy and continued to explore various styles of yoga including Hatha, power, hot, yin, tune-up, yoga nidra, meditation and Kundalini. Debra completed 200hr Hatha yoga teacher training at PranaShanti in 2018 and is a registered yoga teacher(RYT) with Yoga Alliance. She enrolled in PranaShanti’s 300hr Hatha yoga teacher training the following year. She has completed training in chair yoga, hot yoga, meditation and Ayurveda. Debra is passionate about meditation and practices daily. It keeps her grounded and balances her busy family life with two active boys. She often incorporates meditation into her classes. Debra believes that yoga gives her the tools to embrace any challenges that life brings. She encourages her students to be guided intuitively and explore the practice of yoga at their own pace....