It’s time for Yoga Boot Camp to say goodbye, for now at least.
Though I don’t want to say it’s forever, it seems it’s time for YBC to close its doors. Who knows, maybe there will be a revival sometime in the future. If so, we’ll let you know.
The truth of the matter is that we simply don’t have anywhere near the numbers we need to make this program thrive. And it isn’t much fun to struggle with a business, no matter how awesome it is at its essence.
So, like all good things, change is upon us. When one door closes, another opens.
The messages below are from the heart. Be sure to connect with us on Facebook so we can keep in touch!
St. Andrews on the Square. Located at the corner of 2nd and Seymour St., Downtown Kamloops
The energy of a place has a lot to do with the experience you have there.
That said, you can meditate in the middle of a sidewalk, or do yoga in the airport. Been there, done that. It can be fun, an excellent challenge, and an extraordinary practice.
However, the depth of opening and feeling you have access to when you are in an ideal environment
is very meaningful.
St. Andrews on the Square feels like a sanctuary. It feels safe, peaceful, spacious. It has a definite beauty that goes beyond the arched ceilings, stained glass windows and courtyard garden.
The last yoga class I taught at Let’s Move Studio was all about being strong enough to flow with life, and trusting the Universe while knowing you’re supported by inner and outer strength.
I did not know that would be the last class I would teach there. Perfect theme, really.
When I told Shalen, the owner of the studio, that the noise and distractions at the studio were conflicting with my teaching, and that I am moving my classes to St. Andrews to better serve my students, I got a big surprise.
I spoke from the heart, with the intent that the transition be smooth and easy for all involved, especially my clients. I did everything with integrity, honesty and respect to the best of my ability.
And her response was to request that I leave Let’s Move. Immediately. No notice. Even though my students expected me to teach there on Monday.
I was shocked by the corporate, sterile feel of the conversation when my entire business is based around service and helping people. Especially when I have been teaching at that studio for so long.
This said, I know she is doing what she needs to do for herself, while I do what is best for myself and my classes. I also know all of it is unfolding perfectly. Shalen later came to me with a compromise in the best interests of the students, and I am sincerely grateful for this.
There are very good people at Let’s Move Studio, and I wish them all the best.
Beginnings and Endings
The first yoga class I ever taught was at Let’s Move Studio seven years ago. Many of the students who were in that very first class were also in the last classes I taught there this week. Again, perfect.
In fact, many of my clients have been with me since Let’s Move was located downtown. These clients, and so many others who have found my classes through the years, have become my friends.
I taught at that studio for 7 years, and have done much to support, grow, and help the business and community there. Though I am leaving I wish all of the teachers and the studio team the best of success. Every teacher and space is important, and Let’s Move serves many people in wonderful ways.
To you, my friends and students, I want you to know that I left Let’s Move Studio in response to your requests and my own knowing of what kind of space is best for the yoga I teach.
This wasn’t a business decision on my part. I chose to switch locations because it was the right thing to do for my students.
It is my highest priority to provide you the most authentic, full spectrum practices.
And I can’t do that when the noise from the gym downstairs is so loud that my voice is drowned out when I sing mantra in savasana, or subconsciously you’re holding tension because the room is too cold, or 6 guys come up to use the bathrooms on the other side of a thin curtain, or there’s a guy beating on a heavy bag downstairs while you’re trying to meditate.
As I say this, I have absolutely nothing against the guys downstairs. I love that they give’er! It just doesn’t quite work for me when I’m teaching on the floor above.
There is a certain challenge in finding peace and being able to focus within all of those elements, and yes, challenge is a part of life, but it is not the safe, comforting environment I want to create so that you can get the most of your practice. So I went seeking a more suitable option, especially after many people have voiced their concerns about the distractions.
St. Andrews on the Square is my favourite place to teach. It is a sanctuary at the heart of the city.
It’s peaceful, absolutely beautiful, spacious, and has the most amazing acoustics for singing to you in savasana! Plus it’s always nice to have more bathrooms so you don’t have to wait.
Let’s bring it back to what’s really important here:
This is about yoga, not business. I really just want to teach exceptional yoga classes in an ideal space.
Though the transition was not what I had envisioned, it doesn’t matter. It’s done, and our new space is perfect! So, time to move on and get back to what it’s all about.
Just yoga, you know?
Myself and Carrie Few both love teaching at St. Andrews!
Honesty. Integrity. Intention from the Heart.
These three virtues, “Honesty, Integrity, and Intention from the Heart,” are the guiding forces of my life.
And by following my heart I always arrive in the right place.
I am truly excited about creating a yoga sanctuary at St. Andrews on the Square!
It’s perfect, and I know without a doubt that everything is happening in the best possible way, even if it’s a bit of a shock and really fast.
When things need to happen, the Universe can make them happen NOW.
I’m okay with that.
There are beautiful new props ready to be enjoyed, including bolsters with organic covers.
I think everyone who comes to class in this new space is going to feel a tremendous difference in the energy of the room, which will translate into a more meaningful practice, whether it’s a playful Align and Flow class or peaceful Restorative Yoga.
My intention with the space and the investment I’ve made in the props is this:
Teach authentic, meaningful yoga in an ideal environment.
Balance the benefits of physical practice and asana with those of meditation, pranayama (breathing exercises), and holistic wellbeing.
Collaborate with talented independent instructors wanting to share their skills and heart in playful, peaceful, empowering service.
Yoga classes at St. Andrews on the Square.
This will truly be a sanctuary of the heart.
And we’ll have a grand opening night on June 20th, Summer Solstice. I’ll let you know more about it soon, but expect a night of song and celebration (this will also coincide with the release of my new Yoga Music Album titled “Gratitude”).
In closing, I’d like to say this:
It’s all good. I am so completely flowing with things right now because everything up until this point has given me a foundation of both strength and the ability to surrender and trust.
And, most importantly, I feel so very supported. The genuine caring that has been shown to me from my friends and students (you know who you are!) goes right to my heart.
Your path looks different than mine, yet we are wandering this Earth together, as human beings–bright sparks of spirit who have voluntarily forgotten how incredibly amazing we are so that we can go through the adventure of remembering.
This, to me, is the re-awakening.
It is the realization, that comes in moments and songs and deep breaths and tears and dances, that who you truly are is Divine.
This is what yoga is all about–union, or really, it is RE-union, since we were never truly separate in the first place.
We’re in Mercury Retrograde now, which can make technology, communications, and things like that tricky. But what it does invite willingly is re-lease, re-newal, re-connection, and yes, re-union.
This month the theme I’ll be teaching in my Kamloops yoga classes is “Re-Awakening.”
Perhaps this is always my theme, simply spoken in different ways and woven into other angles of seeing.
The point of so many incredible teachings is to really get you to not just think of yourself as a Spark of Source–which is a challenge because the ego fights it–but to feel, at the heart, from the pure being-ness of who you are, that you truly are Divine.
Tricky, eh?
Yet you aren’t expected to just pick it up in a flash, it’s actually what the entire journey is about. That and enjoying all of the experiences along the way, including nature, loved ones, dance parties, sunsets, chocolate, and numerous detours that somehow point you back to yourself.
As you live, breathe, do, and be, when you practice yoga and when you’re caught up in the whirlwind of life, see how often you get flashes of this remembrance.
The more you tune in, the more you’ll notice those moments where you feel a knowing that goes beyond the mind to your heart–that, yes, you are this beautiful physical form, but you are also so much more, and that your essence is pure, flawless, and truly Divine.
A deep bow to the journey of Re-Awakeing!
Re-Awakening Quotes
“Life gives you exactly what you need to awaken.”
― T. Scott McLeod
“Jesus Christ knew he was God. So wake up and find out eventually who you really are. In our culture, of course, they’ll say you’re crazy and you’re blasphemous, and they’ll either put you in jail or in a nut house (which is pretty much the same thing). However if you wake up in India and tell your friends and relations, ‘My goodness, I’ve just discovered that I’m God,’ they’ll laugh and say, ‘Oh, congratulations, at last you found out.”
― Alan Wilson Watts
“WE ALREADY HAVE everything we need. There is no need for self-improvement. All these trips that we lay on ourselves–the heavy-duty fearing that we’re bad and hoping that we’re good, the identities that we so dearly cling to, the rage, the jealousy and the addictions of all kinds–never touch our basic wealth. They are like clouds that temporarily block the sun. But all the time our warmth and brilliance are right here. This is who we really are. We are one blink of an eye away from being fully awake.”
― Pema Chödrön
Many traditions and modalities of healing have the approach that by healing, you are returning to your healed state.
This is something that already exists for you, this wholeness that is natural and inherant in all of us. It simply gets forgotten, scattered, twisted, cluttered, and otherwise messed with in ways that manifest as the variety of human pain and disease.
But there are ways to return to this healed state–to reaquaint yourself with the vibration of your true self.
One way I like to think of returning to the healed state of being is to let go of the vibrations that don’t feel good and focus on the ones that do.
Like when I’m in the peaceful presence of trees, I feel good. I naturally let go of stress and contraction, and return to my natural pulsation. That is a vibration of wholeness.
What about you, when and where do you naturally return to that pulsation of peace, joy, and pure being?
Our first session of Evening Yoga and Meditation classes have been so successful that they’re continuing. YAY!!!!
“Seva Soul Sessions”
Yoga and Meditation Classes at St. Andrews (Downtown Kamloops)
What you’ll experience:
A yoga practice designed to stretch out the tightness and release the stress of your day and week.
Each class will include a 15 – 20 minute guided group meditation with focuses such as Inner Peace, World Peace, Personal Healing, World Healing, Loving-Kindness, and more!
Both the yoga and meditation will help you feel a sense of wellbeing. Calm. Centered. Peaceful.
I will sing to you. (More on that below.)
ALL LEVELS are welcome. You can choose gentle modifications or intermediate variations as you wish. This isn’t a power class—it’s a perfect balance of strength, stretching, softness and surrender.
This is an exceptional opportunity to create a consistent yoga and meditation practice, with the countless benefits this brings to your life.
Details:
Next session is 6 weeks, Mar. 18 – Apr. 24 (and yes there WILL be class on Monday, April 1st).
Mondays 6:00 – 7:15 PM
Wednesdays 5:15 – 6:30 PM (Please note there will be no class on Weds, April 17th)
Location is St. Andrews on the Square (2nd and Seymour, downtown)
All levels, women, men, and interested children welcome (kids must be able/willing to sit for 15-20 minutes quietly)
Evening Yoga and Meditation 6 Week Session and Drop-in Pricing:
Two classes per week at $10/per class = $110 ($123.20 with HST)
One class per week at $13/per class = $78 ($87.36 with HST)
DROP-INS WELCOME at $15 cash per class
If you know you’ll be away for a week, register and then email me for a pro-rated session price!
Thank you to all who pre-register for class. Your commitment makes it possible for me to hold these classes!
There are ways to give yourself the very needed time to cultivate self-love and support, even when it doesn’t feel like there is space in the day. You can create windows of time for your yoga practice that revive and re-inspire you on every level.
Even one deep breath can make all the difference.
When it comes to asana, the physical postures and practice of yoga, my body craves it every single day!
Yet, because life can be busy and time becomes a premium, I’ve found myself developing a home practice that fits into 5, 10, or 15 minutes.
In this video, I show you one possible 5 minute practice. (Okay, it’s only 4:27, but I did do Savasana at the end and you don’t see that bit.)
The singing in the background is me. A bluesy Om of sorts, with occasional accompaniment by my dog Riley.
5 Minute Yoga Practice Flow
So that’s an example of what my practice might look like if I had only 5 minutes to stretch everything that needed stretching, and open to a more full and free ME.
You very likely have experienced how much more freedom and ease you feel when you’ve taken time to strengthen and stretch your body, as well as connect to a deeper sense of self.
The increased clarity, circulation, and feeling of well-being is very noticeable!
So what does your yoga practice look like if you only have 5 or 10 minutes?
Your practice might not look like mine. It might look like a chair practice, a slow gentle sequence, a rock-star arm balance play session, or just 5 minutes of Legs Up the Wall pose followed by Savasana.
It’s about finding whatever is most appropriate for you, for your body and any needs it has, and for your energy or capability at any given moment. Day to day it changes.
Part of a home yoga practice is learning to trust yourself and feel what’s right for you.
Create Your Own Custom Yoga Practice
Here are some questions you can ask yourself, and examples of poses to get your creative juices going:
Art of Alignment: Yoga Workshop – Mastering the Basics and Exploring Intermediate Variations
The last Art of Alignment workshop I offered sold out and was so well received, I’ve decided to create another workshop along a similar format, focusing on mindful alignment to receive enhanced benefits, comfort, and enjoyment so you can expand your yoga practice.
PLEASE NOTE, this workshop is designed for you if:
You want to understand how precise alignment can help you feel more comfortable in your body and in your yoga practice.
You want to really ‘get’ the basic poses in yoga. (These poses aren’t necessarily easy or simple, but they are the foundation of all other poses.)
You want to use the knowledge you gain through the alignment to take your personal yoga practice to the next level – whatever that is for you: whether it means finding relief from pain or playing in more advanced postures in yoga.
In fact, my yoga practice completely blossomed when I learned the techniques I’ll be teaching in these classes! AND I am able to apply this knowledge to the rest of my life.
This is what I want to share with you.
This workshop is currently full. If you’d like to be notified of future workshops and yoga classes, please subscribe to my Yoga from the Heart Newsletter.
Parsvakonasana can be a fabulous stretch for your hips, hip flexors, shoulders and side body. Plus, it often brings a profound opening in your breath that feels incredible!
This two day workshop helps you explore a new paradigm in therapeutic alignment, and gives you the tools to align optimally which leads to a more fulfilling yoga practice and inspired life.
Discover how to practice yoga safely and skillfully, address any areas where you currently experience pain, and feel more comfortable in your body.
Learn how to get the most benefit from basic poses which are the foundation for all levels of yoga practice, and how these poses translate into more intermediate versions OR modifications appropriate for your body.
This workshop is ideal for beginners and experienced practitioners alike.
Often this is because we tend to spread ourselves out energetically, focusing on so many things at once or sending thoughts out to different places.
The good news is that this is pretty normal, and you can collect that scattered energy back into yourself.
One way is to simply take a deep breath and intend that any parts of your energy or awareness that have gone travelling please return now.
You can also extend this intention into a beautiful meditation…
Mini-Meditation for Wholeness and Harmony:
Take a beautiful seat.
Pelvis rooted, heart lifted brightly.
Allow your breath to naturally deepen as you turn your focus there.
With each exhale, allow anything that is not in the present moment to melt away.
With each inhale, draw your own energy and awareness into yourself, calling back any scattered thoughts or energy.
Feel yourself become more and more conscious of the movement of your breath and your mindful presence in the now.
Feel your energy become more full, more complete—returning to your natural state of wholeness and harmony.
Feel yourself shine like a star with all of that energy concentrated in one place, and naturally radiating light outwards without loosing any energy or potency.
Keep breathing slow and deep, allowing yourself as much time as you’d like for this meditation.
You’re beautiful. Truly. Allow yourself to acknowledge your own beauty and light.
When you practice with this in mind, it brings a vibration of harmony and peace to every cell of your body, to your mind, and to your emotions.
And, of course, whatever vibration or state of being you create in yourself also ripples out to the world around you.
We are at the dawn of a new year.
It is time to find gratitude for all that 2012 brought, and let it go. With this release, there is space to welcome the gifts of the moment, and open to the limitless possibility of 2013.
What seeds of intention would you like to plant in this potent transition?
Whatever you choose, if you invite peace to be your companion then all of life flows more easily, and you contribute to creating a peaceful Earth. A very high practice indeed!
Weaving a Practice of Peace
Here are three examples of what a peaceful practice can look like:
1.) Sweet and Restful:
On Mondays at 9am I teach a Deep Healing Restorative Yoga class, which blends gentle yet active stretches with restful and completely supported poses. This class allows you to go deep, yet feel very safe and take it slow. The combination of active poses and restorative ones helps your body, heart and mind return to your own natural pulsation, which is immensely healing.
This class often includes meditative practices, and sometimes mantra. This means you are guided lovingly into a place where you connect with your own inner truth, and the sanctuary of your heart where peace resides.
2.) Flowing and Strong:
Both my Align and Flow yoga classes on Wednesdays at 9am and the Yoga Boot Camp program cultivate different levels of strength, playful challenge, and inner peace. I’ll speak to the latter in the next section, but let’s explore the benefits of the Align and Flow practice now.
When you find a challenging situation come up off-the-mat, you are able to call upon the qualities of yourself that get you through a tough yet satisfying yoga practice, and these aspects bring a deeper peace and flow to life, letting you live in a more aware and engaged way rather than feeling as if you’re just “getting through”.
Having a steady yoga practice that brings a balance by developing strength and sweetness at the same time helps you to find these contrary complements in other areas of your life, and embrace them with mindful kindness. It also brings immense health benefits, making the experience of being human more joyful indeed!
What does the concept of being a Peaceful Warrior bring to mind for you?
Personally, I envision being centered and strong, in fighting shape but with the wisdom to flow rather than fight.
This vision makes me think of myself as powerful yet kind, skillful in living life to its fullest as the highest expression of who I am. It’s an inspiring and motivating idea!
To me, Yoga Boot Camp is like Peaceful Warrior Training.
Typically a warrior would awake and train first thing in the morning. And because the guiding wisdom of yoga is present in all of our practices, there is a definite depth to this program that calls to your highest self.
Kamloops Yoga Boot Camp is a women’s only program with all ages and abilities present in a supportive, fun, and encouraging group. We combine the best of yoga and fitness to reap the benefits physically and on every other level.
Kamloops Yoga Offerings: Details
All of my classes are taught in Kamloops, BC. The Monday and Wednesday 9am yoga classes are at Let’s Move Studio.
However you practice yoga, there are always common elements. Stillness, movement, waves of breath… Yoga speaks to the essence of who you are and allows your natural state of peaceful being to shine through.
The three purest vibrational feelings are these: Love, Joy, and Peace
All others come from these three, or are in contrast to them. And so, when you practice, as you naturally purify your body, mind, and heart, these feelings become more clear and accessable.
It is a great gift. For yourself, and for the world.
May we all bring this gift to ourselves, to each other, and to the world in 2013.
The last yoga class I taught at Let’s Move Studio was all about being strong enough to flow with life, and trusting the Universe while knowing you’re supported by inner and outer strength.
The first yoga class I ever taught was at Let’s Move Studio seven years ago. Many of the students who were in that very first class were also in the last classes I taught there this week. Again, perfect.
There is a certain challenge in finding peace and being able to focus within all of those elements, and yes, challenge is a part of life, but it is not the safe, comforting environment I want to create so that you can get the most of your practice. So I went seeking a more suitable option, especially after many people have voiced their concerns about the distractions.
There are beautiful new props ready to be enjoyed, including bolsters with organic covers.
Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha
We are each on our own path.
Many traditions and modalities of healing have the approach that by healing, you are returning to your healed state.
Our first session of Evening Yoga and Meditation classes have been so successful that they’re continuing. YAY!!!!
I like to think of yoga as a peace offering.
On Mondays at 9am I teach a Deep Healing Restorative Yoga class, which blends gentle yet active stretches with restful and completely supported poses. This class allows you to go deep, yet feel very safe and take it slow. The combination of active poses and restorative ones helps your body, heart and mind return to 
To me, Yoga Boot Camp is like Peaceful Warrior Training.