Team Members Archive - Page 6 of 7

Laurie

Laurie was one of those who was unwillingly dragged to a class back in 1988, and Anne Pitman was her first teacher. She loved yoga from the start, though the journey to embracing the practice fully was bumpy, to say the least. Over time, yoga has become one of the most potent tools to help her navigate through life. Some of the things she loves most about yoga is that there is no end point and that the “perfect” asana is the one you can do with how your body feels at the time. It doesn’t have to look good to feel right. Under the guidance of many skilled teachers and following her own unending curiosity, Laurie’s practice continues to unfold and evolve. She started to teach almost as soon as she returned from completing her first 200 hour teacher training at the Kripalu Yoga Centre, in 2005. Yoga opens doors and pathways for awareness, expression and acceptance. Laurie’s mission is to...

Laura

Laura is a warm and welcoming 200 hour experienced yoga teacher. Although her sequences combine functional movements, traditional hatha postures and movements borrowed from other modalities, she is a firm believer that yoga is for every BODY and will ensure that all bodies feel respected and welcomed in her classes. Students can expect to flow slowly, with intention and move in both traditional and novel ways. Laura’s personal yoga is equal parts Yang and Yin; a strong physical practice accompanied by a deep reverence for meditation and mindfulness. This can be felt in her classes as she strives to honour the true essence of Yoga by integrating breathwork, mindfulness and meditation into her sequences. Laura believes that to be a good teacher you must also be a perpetual student. With this in mind she is committed to frequently pursuing opportunities that further her yoga education: Advanced Vinyasa Sequencing, Yin Yoga, Meditation, Yoga Detour Method, Honouring Yoga’s Roots, Advanced Anatomy, Biomechanics for...

Kim

Kim is a 200 hour certified yoga teacher and visual artist with a strong desire to unleash the creativity within her students. Believing that yoga and art are intrinsically linked, Kim crafts creative sequences that are both nourishing and challenging, through which she encourages students to travel inward and find their personal flow state. Kim’s use of heartfelt language and humour, allows students of all walks an opportunity for deeper self-reflection, and reintroduces a sense of play in each of her classes. Motivated to embolden students to trust in their own power, Kim serves her classes with compassion, and familiar kindness. Following her training at PranaShanti Yoga Centre, Kim continues to attend workshops and trainings, including Advanced Anatomy, Teacher with Therapy Balls and Advanced Yin. Roll out your mat in Kim’s class to roll into a deliberate and reflective experience....

Kethy

Kethy (she/her) is a Cameroonian – Canadian 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher with a background in ashtanga and vinyasa hatha yoga. She teaches Slow Yoga Flows that are accessible to Beginners. The yoga practice she leads is meant to be taken at one’s own pace, letting go of expectations and meeting the body and the mind in the present. Mindful movements — strengthening and stretching muscles — while focusing on the rhythm of the breath. Participants are invited to be kind and gentle to themselves. To breath, move, modify and rest. Go hard. Go slow. Do you. The journey is all yours. Enjoy!...

Melissa

Melissa has been practicing yoga since 2004 and fell in love with it immediately. Constantly amazed at all the benefits yoga has to offer, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally; her passion for yoga led her to wanting to share it with others. One of the things Melissa loves about Yoga is that it can be practiced anywhere, anytime and by anyone. Many of us feel that we can’t, aren’t able, haven’t…., etc. But Yoga is not about flexibility or getting into that funky pose. It’s about being in the moment and using our breath to create balance and awareness in ourselves. Melissa is registered with Yoga Alliance as E-RYT 500 & Continuing Education Provider and the International Association of Yoga Therapists. With her diverse trainings, she teaches many styles of yoga including Hatha (all-levels), Flow, Yoga & Mobility, Yin, Restorative, and Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga. She also offers workshops such as Partner Yoga, Mother’s Day Yoga and her own Bliss Yoga!...

Michael

Om Sri Hanumate Namaha Anjaneya, Michael Hutkins teaches traditional Hatha Yoga and meditation classes to students of all ages and abilities. With his foundation of classical Hatha Yoga, classes incorporate Pranayama (Breathing exercises), Sun Salutations or other warm ups, Asanas (Steady postures) and a deep guided relaxation. He adds gentleness, challenges and humour, to help students along their path. Classes can be made accessible to all students. Training at several Sivananda ashrams in Canada, USA and India has allowed Michael to live with his teachers and be fully immersed in the yoga experience. His training covers a wide scope of yoga, from philosophy and Bhagavad Gita courses to chanting and devotion ceremonies to the physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation. As well as enjoying family life, Michael is also a Certified Yoga Therapist....

Monique

Monique values her yoga practice as an ongoing journey of becoming more self-aware and lighthearted. Over 25 years of practice, she has come to deeply appreciate the choices she has to live with integrity, to be of service in society, and to live as part of, and not separate from, Nature. As a yoga teacher, Monique offers a space to pause, digest, and integrate. Feeling our body experience is prioritised over thinking about our body experience. Monique’s classes are breath-filled, grounding, and calming. She offers a space where students feel safe to be themselves and enjoy their practice. Monique is passionate about finding ways to bring her yoga studies and practice into her engagement with conflict transformation work in all its many forms. She enjoys giving workshops where practitioners can explore their self-awareness and other skills to strengthen their services and teachings. Monique is a certificed Yoga Therapist, C-IAYT. She is an RYT 500, E-RYT200, YACEP registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance. Monique...

Chantal

Chantal is a Yoga Alliance-certified 500 hour therapeutic yoga teacher who understands yoga as a practice in awareness of and acceptance of our selves. She offers nourishing, trauma-informed classes that invite students to cultivate self-compassion while releasing tension and balancing the nervous system. Her systems-based teachings draw on elements of several yoga lineages learned from practice and from over 900 hours of teacher trainings around the world, as well as on principles of ecopsychology (fostering a connection to the earth), and have a strong focus on nurturing the nervous system. Chantal has led Yoga for Sleep, Restorative and Reiki, and Yoga Nidra workshops and supported students in healing from PTSD, anxiety, insomnia, and sciatica in Canada and internationally. She has taught in hospital, school, home and studio settings as well as virtually and in person. Chantal has also written for Yoga International, Elephant Journal, and other publications about how to apply tools and bring lessons learned through yoga into practice in everyday life....

Philippe

Philippe, an E-RYT 200 Yoga Teacher, has been teaching in the Ottawa-Gatineau region since 2012. He has logged in over 9000 hours of teaching Power, Flow, Yin, Meditation and Yoga Philosophy. On top of taking various trainings such as trauma sensitivity, advanced Pranayama, advanced anatomy, Yoga therapeutics, Yoga Core Tune-up, and Vipassana, Philippe’s daily studies and practice include the Yoga Sutras, an intense movement regiment, meditation and mantra. His philosophy is simple; be aware of what is actually happening, accept it and move forward intelligently. This process required discipline, focus, the ability for self-honesty and the courage to follow one’s intrinsic values. Philippe’s classes will challenge you to do your best while giving lots of options for all levels of practice. Expect some core strengthening and maybe a few optional arm balances or inversions....

Sarah

Sarah is a registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) who is passionate about movement and athletic disciplines. She had been competing at national level in point sparring karate and had to stop everything when she incurred her traumatic brain injury. Yoga and meditation helped her to transform her life and enabled her recovery. Sarah believes in continuous education; she has taken additional training in advanced anatomy and advanced power training. Her approach is to create space for her students to explore their relationship with themselves on the physical, mental and spiritual level; as a balanced method to enable continuous growth of our ever-evolving best selves. She challenges her students to meet their physical edge with friendliness and compassion, and invites her students to practice listening to their bodies and their breath....