Those of you who know me know that I have all the things on the go. When I started my yoga teacher training last year many people asked why I was adding another thing to my already full plate of commuting (at the time) working full time, photography, helping out around the farm, and doing it all during a global pandemic. The truth was, I don’t know how I could have continued on that trajectory without yoga.
When I finally took the leap it was early February 2021, I had just had appendix surgery, it was -35 outside and because of those 2 things, all the tools I had for emotional regulation had temporarily been taken away from me. I couldn’t go for walks outside, I couldn’t workout, I couldn’t even take a bath, and it was a 3-week wait to get an appointment with my therapist. My mental health had hit an all-time low and I didn’t really know where to turn.
At the time I was already taking a course from Jess at Embodied Living and knew how she fostered community, encouraged her students, and guided us through some deep personal work. When I decided to dive into her yoga teacher training I had zero intentions of ever teaching, I was there for the mental health support, the personal work, and, since I was planning to move full time to the farm, to learn to safely move my body without a coach or teacher in the room. I had done yoga before and had learned to appreciate the stretching and meditation aspects but by no means would have called myself a yogi. It was an all-out hail marry shot to improve my mental health.
And man was it a deep dive! The course I took was apparently quite different from most yoga teacher trainings as the focus was helping us grow as humans not contorting your body into a specific pose or teaching a specific sequence. The first 100 hours of training were virtual and basically a deep dive into ourselves, in such a supportive community we discussed hard things, worked on leadership, mind, body and spiritual health. We also learned a shit ton about the human body and anatomy (shout out to Syd one of the best teachers I have ever had in this area!)
The second 100 hours were in the beautiful Ucluelet BC. Surrounded by the ocean and forests we worked on yoga on the mat as well as off the mat. We came together in community, we laughed, we cried, we built each other up, we connected with nature, and we moved our bodies. The whole experience was beautiful, healing, and inspiring I completely fell in love with teaching yoga and how much better I felt in my body and mind when I practiced often and wanted to share that gift with the world. The photos featured here are from this amazing emersion in Ucluelet.
All of this has shaped who I am as a yoga teacher, I strive to teach classes that anyone can attend, to support my students with modifications. To guide you through a class that both makes your body feel good at the end as well as supports you mentally, and helps you reconnect with your body. I hope my students leave my class feeling relaxed, stretched and calm.
If you are in the area I would love to see you at my Tuesday night class, 7:30 at the Piapot hall.