My journey into yoga began at a small community hall on the Westside of Calgary nearly 7 years ago. I had just returned home from my first year of University (freshman 15 in tow) and I was looking for a way to get my former dancers butt back into shape! Around that time I discovered that a friend of mine had recently begun teaching this “hippie dippy, new age, quasi meditative form of exercise” called yoga. Apparently with this yoga stuff, I’d be able to get back into shape, de-stress, touch my toes once again and look great in a pair of black stretchy pants!
This is how it began for me, and I’m sure how it begins for a large group of people when they first come to yoga. However, the moment I stepped into that hall and onto my mat I began a journey towards so much more. In my life yoga brings me peace, balance, strength, compassion and love. Yoga for me began as a physical practice and has become a way of life.
Two years ago, inspired by my teacher Jodi Bobenic, I traveled to Byron Bay, Australia and completed my yoga teacher training. I spent five glorious months in a place we teacher trainees lovingly called our “bliss bubble”. I trained at the Byron Yoga Centre with John Ogilvie in a style of yoga is known as Purna (complete) Yoga. It is a style which fully encompasses asana (physical practice), pranayama (breath work), philosophy and meditation.
Through various workshops, retreats and my own practice, I have had the benefit of studying with some of the most amazing and inspiring teachers. Among the many things I have learned from them, I am eternally grateful for this valuable piece of wisdom: that I am student first and a teacher second. I live by that philosophy and look forward to learning from and growing with my students every time we hit the mat.
“The rhythm of the body
the melody of the mind
& the harmony of the soul
create the symphony of life.”
~BKS Iyengar