CLASS CANCELLATION:

9 am class on Thursday May 25.
(10:30 am Joint Wellness class and noon Yoga class will be subbed by one of my colleagues)

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We will have a summer break in classes in June & July.
Classes resume in August.
I create yoga spaces with people across and between all ​cultures, colours, creeds, genders
and sexualities, sizes, life stages, (dis)abilities, and health situations in mind and in respect.
I am a white-bodied woman who calls myself both she and they.
A cross-cultural student of yoga, I use simple, foundational yoga methods
with a commitment to continually learn how to offer yoga in my community in a good way,
without misrepresenting or stealing from peoples of India and the Indian diaspora.

DO NOT ATTEND if you are symptomatic with any communicable disease.
MASKING IS TOTALLY WELCOME but not required. If I change this policy, I will update here.
COVID-19 vaccination not currently required. If this changes, I will update here.
DROP IN CLASSES
North Cowichan Aquatic Centre

Yoga For Humans 
Tuesdays & Thursdays 9 - 10 am
Community-minded hatha yoga, anchored in opening and closing breath work and meditation.
Dynamically tailored to the needs of those who come to practice. 
All levels including beginners welcome.

Joint Wellness
Tuesdays & Thursdays 10:30 - 11:30 am
A seated class with optional standing exercise, enjoyed by people whose bodies have seen wear and tear through injuries, illness, or just living life.
Changing adventures in movements to build strength, healthy range of motion, balance, fun, and relaxation.
Our equipment:  chairs, light dumbbells, stretchy bands, bouncy balls, and our body weight.

Noon Yoga
Thursdays noon - 1 pm
Community-minded hatha yoga, anchored in opening and closing breath work and meditation.
Dynamically tailored to the needs of those who come to practice. 
All levels including beginners welcome.

REGISTERED CLASSES
North Cowichan Aquatic Centre

Restorative Yoga
Tuesdays 1:15 - 2:15 pm
Register online:  https://www.reccowichan.ca/
Register by phone: 250.746.7665
Yoga here and now  ::  these are my priorities

Yoga in the global north is a complex and mixed phenomenon.
Its history and contemporary practice carry unresolved problems as well as potential.
I teach from a perspective of commitment to all people's mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual strength.
The challenge of now  is real  ::   let us be truthful
2020's pandemic breakout plus pre-existing and resulting crises have produced an explosion in mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health issues for everyone from children to elders. Many individuals are suffering because of weaknesses in our society and governance:

- ecological devastation and climate damage and emergencies
- entrenched and active skin pigment-based racism and hate crimes
- ongoing aggressive colonialism and imperialism
- renewed, hate-infected nationalisms and fascist surges
- reignited organized violent oppression of LGBTQIA2S+ people
- escalating violence against women, girls, all people with wombs, and organized attacks on their rights
- policy abandonment and social oppression of those living with all disabilities, illness, and addiction
- commonplace, overt abuse and encompassing marginalization of those who are fat
- class oppression and skyrocketing, punishing income inequality, employment precarity, and impoverishment
- lack of access to clean water and air
- food insecurity
- housing insecurity
- basic healthcare access crisis
- unaffordable education​ crisis

All signs point to the fact that the pandemic has functioned as the straw that broke the camel’s back, for the sustainability and basic feasibility of a large number of people’s daily work, school, family, and personal lives.

Embodiment and fitness programs have supported and empowered many over the years in some ways, but have also hurt many people. Exercise and lifestyle industries have often marginalized, underserved, and undermined BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+ people, women and girls, people with disabilities or illness, fat people, older people, and people with lower incomes. Current "wellness" and “spiritual” economies, including yoga and embodied movement, have used a number of assumptions and habits that are destructive, often employing practices that keep out and harm the same people. 

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The chance we have now is real   ::   I will acknowledge and adjust
Some within these industries have stopped to listen and learn in the presence of spikes in harm. Some within these spaces are working to take on board the lessons, and reflect on and address common patterns of injury and negligence. My aim is to provide healthy, uninjuring activity, social connection, and culture building  to contribute to expanding the usefulness of embodiment work to everyone in our communities.
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My yoga pathway
In 1999 I was a sleep-deprived mother providing child care to a small herd of wild toddlers. I missed simply being in my own skin. I needed to spend uninterrupted time within myself in order to be sane, decent, and productive with others. I had the good fortune to wander into a conscientiously-taught yoga class. I had no idea that a carefully and humbly-offered yoga practice could bring palpable change. The focus, purposefulness, and soft but continuous awareness of that class were revolutionary for me. The experience of being fully absorbed and single-minded was helpful. I began teaching much later, in 2012. 

I prioritize ways that simple, foundational yoga practices support our capacity to show up in non-harming, honest and flexible ways. I participate in yoga in cross-cultural studentship, committed to continually learn more about teaching in a good way,  without misrepresenting or stealing from peoples of India and the Indian diaspora.

I focus on students' mental, emotional, and physical well being, so meditation and breathing practice are vital to every class. I am informed every time we meet by the changing needs of the group and individuals within it; the tones of our nervous systems and our capacities to self-sense are my guides.  While my classes often create a super-slow “flow” where we keep moving, as a group, from one position to another, I weave in explanation, modifications and options, pauses, and personal attention.

I teach in a community centre setting, often in drop-in classes.  In this space, everyone is welcome and classes contain a vast range among students: the young (babies and up) to elders, the strong, injured and ill, the tight and the rubber-bandy, the experienced and the brand-new to yoga.  Embracing divergent needs, we find good ways to practice together.