MEET THE TRIBE

Brenna developed a love for movement at a very young age, and began practicing Yoga regularly in University.

After developing expertise in personal training, Yoga and spinning instruction, Brenna became a professor at Algonquin College where she teaches leadership, psychology, and fitness. This unique blend of psychological and physical knowledge qualifies Brenna to guide both groups and individuals through several categories of self-improvement.

My journey with yoga started over 10 years ago with an introduction to Ashtanga practice. Over time I expanded my practice to include the Kundalini, Hatha and Yin Yoga lineages. I noticed the ‘healing ‘ powers of yoga in times of personal life challenges and decided to dig deeper into it, by signing up for Hatha Yoga Teacher Training. After 200 hours of training, I graduated with a profound awareness that I had just made a first step into the incredible journey of exploring the mind-body relationship, and it’s powerful benefits that are attainable to each of us through yoga practice.

My yoga practice is focused on releasing the variety of tensions, inner and outer, through asanas and breath control.

My deepest desire is to share my passion for yoga and it’s secret powers with others through teaching in a safe environment, with emphasis on mindfulness, proper alignment, and breath connection throughout the practice.

During a busy time of life-changing decisions, Carmel’s regular yoga practice took a backseat. After a few months without it, she quickly realized the powerful and positive influence of yoga in her life. She immediately signed up for Hatha Yoga Teacher Training and is excited to be completing her 200hrs in May 2015.

Through teaching yoga, Carmel hopes to empower others to find happiness, tranquility and fulfillment in their lives.

She is currently focused on building her daily practice as well as studying anatomy and the yoga sutras of Patanjali. When she’s not thinking about yoga, she’s painting. ~ Namaste

Yoga seemed like some exotic exercise to this maritime transplant, but the reminders to breathe deeply and be present quieted a busy brain and introduced tools for contentment that had once proved previously elusive. After several years of practice, Roberta became a Rama Lotus certified teacher in both Hatha and Yin. Roberta has just added Yoga for Round Bodies to her certifications, under the training of Tiina Veer. She is now running the Yoga for Full Figures program in the Ottawa area.

Roberta has trained locally and with renowned yogis such as Sadie Nardini, Leslie Kaminoff, Ana Forrest, Martin Kirk, Susi Hartley and Rod Stryker. She loves blending different flavours of yoga to create classes that challenge, inspire and energize. Roberta encourages her students to explore postures, modifying on a student by student basis, she ensure everyone is getting their best possible version of the pose.

When I began seriously practicing yoga 5 years ago, I had so much tension built up within my body, that I could barely make it through a practice. This quickly changed through my asana practice, but I began to see that more important benefits when my overact mind began to slow down more and more. I believe yoga can truly be anything and everything, to anyone. To me yoga is a way of life, to maintain balance in all areas of my life; mind, body and soul.

In my classes, I like to deliver a taste of a full yogic experience (exploring mind, body and soul) no matter what the style is. I’d like to inspire you to find out what yoga means to you, by teaching you multiple limbs of yoga within an hour class. I always hope that you leave feeling more balanced and present.

A huge misconception about yoga is that it needs to look or feel a certain way. By focusing on these aspects we take ourselves away from the present, and get stuck in the future (how can I make this pose perfect) or the past (why didn’t I do that the ‘right way’). To get away from this, the breath will always be the #1 priority in my classes as it is the only thing ever in the present. It all about the journey!

Birgit is passionate about yoga, active and healthy living. Her yoga journey started when she was first introduced to the profound benefits of prenatal yoga nearly 20 years ago. Yoga has been a part of her life since then. Her yoga practice has helped her grow stronger, more flexible, and to feel more connected and in touch with her body, mind and soul, both on and off the mat. Yoga inspires her to live each moment more mindfully.

Birgit completed her 200 hour Hatha Teacher Training at Empower Me Yoga in June 2014. Her initial goal was to deepen her personal knowledge of yoga, but she soon discovered that through teaching she could share her love of yoga with others.

Birgit is committed to a journey of continuous yoga learning and practice. She is deeply grateful for the loving wisdom her teachers have shared with her.
Birgit’s classes emphasize presence, inner focus, strength, safe postures and flexibility. She believes that yoga is for everyone, no matter what age or ability; all that is required is an open heart and a flexible mind. She seeks to help others thrive in life by nurturing body, mind and soul with yoga, and it is her hope that her students step off the mat feeling refreshed, calm and centered, and that they walk away with a smile in your heart!

I’m passionate about teaching yoga flow in an inclusive, safe environment. I truly believe that yoga is for everybody and emphasize alignment and modifications to fit your unique needs and goals. You choose your intention each day, and practice to suit your needs in the moment. No judgement, competition, or expectations.

I’ll never forget my first yoga session several years ago. I decided that if I was going to do yoga it should be hard and make me sweat. How hard could it be? So I took a power yoga class with an advanced group. Oh my! After initially hating yoga, I tried a few other classes. And guess what? My back began to crave the benefits of a regular yoga practice and I learned the best breathing tools to calm my anxiety! Yoga really IS for everyone – you just need to find the right match for you!

Outside of my yoga practice, you might find me at a master swim, biking at a painfully slow speed up to Champlain Lookout in the summer, or at Calabogie Peaks with my family in the Winter!

I look forward to being part of your yoga journey – what will you discover?

Louise obtained her teaching certification from the International Sivananda Vedanta Center in 2000. In 2008 she completed Yoga of the Heart a cardiac and cancer certification training, in 2010 Yin Yoga Teacher training, and in 2012 qualified to teach Restorative Yoga.

Over the years, she has taken many classes and workshops in meditation and various types of yoga such as Kripalu, Ashtanga, Iyengar and Kundalini. Louise has experience teaching in the community to people of all ages, including those with physical and visual challenges. As well, she taught classes and workshops in government and corporate sectors.

Louise believes that her commitment to her own regular practice of yoga and meditation since the early 90’s as well as over 4,200 hours of classroom yoga teaching, have helped her maintain a sense of balance, strength and total well-being in her daily life.

This is a journey that continues to evolve, and Louise is happy to be able to share it with others for she is convinced that through the practice of yoga, one becomes beautiful inside and out.
As a registered E-RYT200 member of Yoga Alliance, she is also a Hatha & Yin Yoga Teacher Trainer.

Tatianna has been practicing yoga on and off for several years but became a dedicated yogi when she was pregnant. She attributes much of her strength and flexibility pre and post partum to her yoga practice. After a few years of practicing yoga thinking it was only benefiting her physically, she began to crave being on her mat just to be “in the moment”. She is a Physiotherapist by profession and praises the value of yoga for body awareness and mindfulness. She has taught various yoga classes in North Bay for the past 3 years and is excited to be able to bring a mommy & baby yoga class to Kanata, her home town. Tatianna is a health enthusiast with a passion for cooking, baking, running, dancing and of course yoga.

TG Physiotherapy

My journey to yoga came 20 years ago when I was suffering from chronic illness and overall chaos in my mind. I needed to find something that would give me a sense of peace. I had practiced many styles of Yoga but it was Yin Yoga that did it for me. I fell in love during my first class. Even though I had no idea what the practice was about, it resonated with me on every level, even into my cells. Every single time I got on my mat, I felt more free from disease and in touch with myself.

To me, Yin Yoga had become a tool that gave me the strength I needed to tackle my challenges, the comfort I needed to manage when life got sticky but most importantly, it connected me to my authentic, true self, the part of me that gets disconnected when this thing called life becomes chaotic. One of the misconceptions about Yin Yoga is that its all about becoming bendy and is only accessible to the uber flexible yogis. That is the least important aspect of this practice. Yin Yoga is so much more than just a physical stretch. My Yin classes are approachable, accessible and work on the whole body: mental, emotional, physical and spiritual.

Yoga for me is the ultimate “me time”! An environment to honor mind, body and soul and release the stressful elements of everyday life. To reconnect with what matters most, inner peace, self love and mindfulness.

I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite class because I truly do have a beautiful and fulfilling experience each time I practice at Inner Revolution.

A misconception that I can personally dispel is “yoga is not for everyone”. I have witnessed people from all walks of life find a connection to it, even when at first uncertain. Yoga can be practiced at any level and Inner Revolution is a space where it is abundantly comfortable to do so!

Much like most other people who try yoga for the first time, I was searching for physical benefits that were mostly superficial. What I found instead was something that I needed much more than I realized. If I could sum up my first class in one word, the word that I would use would be “relief”. Relief from pain in my back, tightness in my hips, and most predominantly relief from the constant noisy chatter in my head. I was smitten. The further that I explored my new, found practice, the more that I learned just how many benefits I could absorb. Benefits I had no idea existed and had no idea I even needed. I no longer get that terrible feeling in my gut and accelerated heart beat when I speak to a room of people. I no longer lay awake at night from constant back pain, and an anxious, busy mind. I have had so many “Ah-ha!” moments on and off my mat, it astounds me. It is so liberating to have those moments where things just click and finally become clear. I am continuously learning more, and hope to share that knowledge with anyone and everyone who I cross paths with. I look forward to meeting you in this wonderful space Brenna has created for us!

Christine is an energetic, fun loving adventure seeker. That’s why yoga captured her attention to add balance to her life. She has been practicing for over 10 years and is passionate to share with others the gift of breathing, flowing and embracing stillness. Christine adds humor, and a sense of calmness and gratefulness to her classes to truly share that yoga is for everybody and every body. As a certified 200 RYT with Yoga Alliance, she practices and teach a variety of styles in hatha and power flow, restorative and yin classes focusing on principles of alignment and anatomy. Christine is always continuing her education with trainings towards her 500 RYT, she is looking forward to sharing her energy with you.

My name is Brian Simser. I started my yoga practice in the late 2000s as an additional form of exercise. Having no idea what I was getting myself into, from the beginning I knew it was something that made my body and mind feel good. I continued a committed regular practice leading to Costa Rica in 2017, where I became a Global Alliance Certified Teacher trained in Holistic Yoga with Soma Institute.

Yoga to me is in everything. It’s breathing, it’s when we are internally and externally kind. It’s in these words, the time I take to reflect before I type them. It’s smiling on the world and noticing when the world smiles back. It is the positive and negative of the universe. It is the trees, fields and oceans, it is something that starts at the very center of everything and encompasses all without discrimination. It is downward dog and it is the strongest something that is inside each and every one of us.

I come from a very competitive and athletic background, I like to move and be physically challenged. So these days I would be categorized as a “Power or Hatha” type yogi. But I also like to love so I take time to rest and work on being mindful of spreading love internally and externally during my classes.

Being a Man, yoga is not just for bendy women. It’s something for everyone, all types and ranges, especially for men. Want to be a better man in all aspects of life than take time to find yourself through yoga.

For me, Yoga is devotion in motion. I come to the mat to connect with my higher Self. My practice is a way for me to express myself through movement – something I’ve been doing since I was a child although, it first started in dance class. It’s also how I tap in to, and develop, my intuition. I believe that the body possesses an innate wisdom and when you re-learn to trust that innate wisdom, you find more ease and more fluidity in your movement. Think back to when you were a child and you would dive headlong into somersaults and cartwheels not thinking twice about your neck. You threw yourself into movement trusting that your body wouldn’t crumple underneath you. Personally, Yoga has helped me to explore what my body is capable of and has helped me to re-learn that blind faith that came so easily as a child. Re-learning to trust that my body knows how to move has been one of the biggest take-aways from my personal practice. Because of this, I try to weave the development of body intuition in to my classes by stressing the importance of sensation.

Yoga is a singular practice that can be made accessible to any individual with the right tools and the right teacher. I strive to create a body positive space by offering creative ways to use your props and plenty of adaptations for all poses. As Desikachar put it, “Adapting yoga to suit the needs of every unique individual is where the true greatness of yoga lies.” I believe that Yoga is about how poses feel not how they look. I also believe that every Yogi’s practice begins with a desire to know more. So, if you’re curious, come explore with me!