As first and foremost a student, I acknowledge there will always be so much more to learn about yoga. My approach to my own practice and to the classes I share is informed by many teachers in the local and international community. Rachel Brathen and the Yoga Girl Community she has created have been a continuing source of connection and growth for me. She is the primary instructor I completed my teacher training with and an individual I have looked up to for almost a decade. Her commitment to staying true to herself and being whole and vulnerable in sharing her life with the world have given me the confidence to (try) and show up as my whole self everyday. 

 

As a priority, I am committed to honouring the roots of yoga and trying to act in ways to de-colonize the practice. This is a continuing process and I encourage you to check out Susanna Barkataki, one of my teachers from my training and an active educator in fostering a respectful, diverse, and inclusive yoga community. Susanna's work inspires me to teach only what I know and believe in from my heart, rather than taking something that's not mine to share.

 

I am also hypervigilant about yoga anatomy and alignment after personally suffering various physical injuries by focusing on aesthetics of postures rather than practicing for my own body. In trying to deliver the safest and most effective classes for every body and their unique characteristics, I actively try to provide options in my cueing and postures. Becoming more aware of my own body and its anatomy has helped me heal and grow stronger from my injuries, and this would have been impossible without physiotherapist and yoga instructor Lara Heimann. She takes a unique and anatomy-centered approach to her flows that helps people quite literally fix themselves. Diane Bondy is also an inspirational teacher who is dismantling the belief of who can do yoga, or any idea of a 'yoga body', and is someone I am learning from to make sure I continue to offer truly accessible classes. 

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Finally, pieces of my practice will inevitably come from those I have learnt from in person for many years. Ms. Desfosses, my first yoga teacher in highschool. Kelly Trimm, the teacher of the challenging hot power classes that led to my first 'breakthrough' (see my story). Crystale Boisvert, who with her extraordinarily creative and intuitive classes have made me feel more connected to my body, the earth, and the practice. And Mary Ruth Mayo, a hero that keeps me active and having fun while doing so, as not only an incredible yoga but zumba instructor!