Our Teachers
Christine - Christine believes in
yoga as a tool for life on and off the mat. She hopes her classes celebrate
the YOKE of the body, mind and breath and allow the student to create
a moment in time that is all theirs. Christine is also a Postnatal and
Labour Doula, Visual Artist and mother of three.
Denise - Denise began practicing Tai Chi in 1994 as a means of improving her chronic back problems and to counter the effects of stress. She taught Tai Chi in Hamilton & Montreal before moving to Cantley where she continues to practice Tai Chi and yoga
Gillian - A lifelong learner and yoga practitioner, Gillian found her calling as a teacher of Vinyasa Yoga. She completed her in-depth Hatha teacher training in Toronto and has continued to enjoy attending workshops that enhance and deepen her own practice. Gillian encourages her students to find their innate sense of stillness and expansiveness in their yoga practice. She balances this inward awareness with a keen understanding of postural alignment, strength and stability.
Helene - Helene believes in yoga as a way of life, a practice which continues off the mat into every day events, an awareness renewed every moment to create peace within and without. Helene has been practicing yoga for close to a decade and teaching since 2009. She has trained at Rama Lotus in Ottawa, and at the Sivananda Ashram in Val-Morin, where she recently spent 6 months as a full time staff and resident. This was a deep experience encompassing many different aspects of practicing and teaching yoga, working with regular students as well as drop-ins of all ages, body types and personalities. Her teaching style is gentle yet firm, centred on relaxation and alignment of body and mind, by way of a Hatha yoga style that can be uniquely satisfying to beginners, yet challenging enough for more advanced practitioners.
Jennifer D - Jennifer was born in Pennsylvania and started dancing at the age of 4. Jennifer began her professional training at the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet at the age of ten. Six years later she moved to New York City to train at the prestigious School of American Ballet. It was there that she was spotted and offered her first job. In 1994, she joined American Ballet Theatre where she had the opportunity to perform and travel around the world. Jennifer later went on to dance with Alberta Ballet in Calgary and most recently with the Tulsa Ballet in Oklahoma, where she had the privilege to work with some of the foremost choreographers in the dance world today. Throughout her schooling, Jennifer had several opportunities to work with and assist in teaching younger students. As a professional, she taught during summer workshops for children of all ages. Now as a mother to a young son, she realizes the value and importance of dance and movement in children, and hopes to share her knowledge and passion of her art with them.
Jennifer G - Living in an increasingly busy world, we are constantly bombarded by negativity, guilt and sadness. Jennifer believes that consistent yoga practice is one positive way to enrich your daily life and to restore the natural harmony between body, mind, and spirit. Her aim in each class is to provide you with a refuge and the tools needed to release your physical stress, settle your mind, and open your heart to feel love and compassion towards yourself and the world that surrounds you. From Montreal to Ottawa, urban to rural, groups and individuals, Jennifer has been instructing yoga for 7 years and is excited to now be teaching in her community. In addition to yoga instruction, Jennifer has worked as a personal trainer and currently operates her own Kumon Math and Reading Centre in Orleans.
Jessica - Jessica has been practicing and teaching yoga and meditation for over ten years. She is a visual artist and dancer with a background in comparative religion and Eastern philosophy. She has sat many long retreats with a variety of different Buddhist meditation teachers and integrates Buddhist awareness practice into her teaching. She trained as a yoga teacher at the Kripalu Centre for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts and her teaching emphasizes compassion, acceptance and listening deeply to one's own body, needs and level.
Kristin - Kristin first started practicing yoga in 1999 in an effort to heal a knee injury and was amazed at how it transformed her way of being and moving in the world. Since that time, she has been inspired to share the healing potential of yoga with others. In each class Kristin’s intent is to provide a calm and healing atmosphere where students can leave behind the stresses of the day by breathing and moving together, building strength and flexibility. Kristin’s classes also build on her Plant Spirit Healing practice, a modality that works at an energetic level to create deep personal healing.
Lucia - Lucia Miller has been practicing Svaroopa yoga since 1999 and teaching since 2009. She is a certified Svaroopa yoga teacher, having received her training from the founder of Svaroopa Yoga, Swami Nirmalananda (Rama Berch) in Exton, PA. She enjoys the meditative and calming aspect of this gentle yet deep style of yoga. Lucia continues to deepen her teaching skills through continuing education courses with Master Yoga Foundation in Pennsylvania. She is relatively new to the area, having moved here in 2005.
Sarah D - Sarah grew up in both Ontario and Quebec, spending summers not far from Wakefield. Sarah completed her teacher training at Upward Dog Yoga in Ottawa and is now teaching yoga full time. Being a nature lover, Sarah immediately fell in love with La Grange as a peaceful and energizing place to teach yoga. Sarah is bilingual and can offer interpretation of the asanas in both French and English.
Sarah W - Sarah came to learn yoga through an experience with meditation. Upon completing a 10 day meditation retreat in 1995 at Tushita, in McLeodganj, India and having the good fortune to meet the Dalai Lama, it was clear that life had radically changed. This practice supported her work as a wilderness guide with youth at risk for several years. She began to practice yoga in earnest while living and teaching in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut where she needed an indoor practice that would rejuvenate and restore body, mind and spirit. This experience led Sarah back to India in 2010 to complete her teacher training course with Sindu Nayar, at Tulasidalam Ashram in Thiruvalla, Kerala. She is a certified yoga instructor with Yoga Alliance, as well as a JourneyDance instructor, and a Prenatal Yoga Instructor. She is now pursuing studies in yoga therapy, thai massage and ayurveda in addition to experiencing the joy of teaching yoga. She infuses her love of life, dance and nature in her classes.
Shaunna - A fourth generation Wakefielder, Shaunna began practicing Yoga in Montreal in 1998 and it has been a part of all the ups and downs of her life including one pregnancy and one cancer diagnosis. Certified in Hatha Yoga at Rama Lotus Yoga Centre, Shaunna’s goal is to create a class environment where self-awareness and ahimsa (compassion) are part of each practice. Shaunna is grateful to share her love of yoga with her students.