Manifest your deepest desires while assisting others in manifesting their desires.
As we sit in a group, we each get a chance to talk about something that we want to manifest in our life. It can be anything!! Examples are: (Physical, emotional or mental healings. Career or occupational advances. Relationship or love miracles. Personal growth or spiritual breakthroughs. Obstacles you are wanting to overcome. Anything at all!) Each person gets a minute or 2 to share their intention. Followed by 3-5 minutes of meditation, where you and the rest of the group visualize your intention. (Be very clear so that we can all paint a bright mental image) Everyone gets an equal turn and time to have space held for them. Setting intention aligns your mind and your heart with your desires. Doing this helps us stay on track with our purpose and keep momentum moving quickly towards our dreams. Doing this in a group intensifies the energy substantially! Miracles happen and dreams come true, fast! I have tonnes of testimonials in my life and from the groups I’ve been in. This stuff works!! I promise!

About this Anatomy workshop:
Yoga anatomy: workshopping the Asanas through the relationship of soft tissue agonist/antagonist. The role of the skeletal system and understanding fascia and how it pertains to flexibility and strength. Internal organ placement and the chakras. Digestion, hydration and elimination.

Philosophy, empowered reasoning and the history of the yoga traditions with Daniel Clement
Before yoga arose in India, human groups across the planet had evolved the ability to project into the future and think about the past. Societies that could live and work well together thrived and grew, those that could not, did not.
Questions about the origins of humankind, the meaning of life and possible afterlife were answered by mythologies, ideologies and religions. The practices of yoga arose in part as an answer to some of these questions, and as a means sharpening the tools of inquiry. Daniel will take us through cultural changes as humans moved from hunting and gathering through the agricultural revolution, to ritual cultures, to the origin of the word Yoga, and the many definitions it has in the modern world. How does the yoga that we practice today reflect the traditions it grew from? Let’s find out.

About Daniel Clement

​Like many yoga practitioners and teachers, I had a natural predisposition to yoga practice. The qualities of self-study, a desire for balance and harmony and a somewhat sensitive and introverted personality served me as a musician and songwriter. I found the same qualities could be directed toward understanding and practicing yoga. I became interested in hatha yoga in the mid 1990’s as a way to heal a back injury. After attending classes in Iyengar yoga, I gravitated to Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. I practiced this rather intense form of yoga regularly for 3 years before attending my first teacher training with David Swenson. In the fall of 2003 I was introduced to postural biomechanics by Anusara Yoga teacher Elissa Gumushel, who was kind enough to teach me regularly at her home. By this time I had acquired a deep set of habits in the body through my Astanga Yoga practice, and also many small injuries and misalignments. I realized that though I had developed some strength, discipline and flexibility, I had a superficial relationship with the poses I was doing. I knew the basic forms, but had not spent enough time in each pose in any one practice to really understand how to use the pose to get into the body. After leading six to eight 200 and 500 hour trainings per year from 2008 – 2013 in Canada and graduating over 500 teachers, I began to ask some hard questions about what I was doing. My work now is to train effective hatha yoga teachers and to explore the more subtle aspects of the healing power of yoga through writing and workshops. To that end I offer 200 and 300 hour trainings and workshops at my home studio on the gulf island of Texada, British Columbia. I also travel regularly to Japan to teach workshops and try to absorb what remains of the grace of Zen and Taoist influence in the rural villages there.

In the workshop we will learn an opening invocation, Surya Namaskar A and B. The fundamental asanas of the primary series postures, closing sequence and mantra, the count and the lineage and history of Ashtanga Vinyasa.

Devon’s bio:

After a decade of practice and over three years of instructing, Devon has taught well over 1000 classes and remains passionate about yoga asana. For the last three years Devon has been practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa and is now sharing the practice.

Every person who walks through the studio doors is a resilient, beautiful survivor of something stressful and/ or traumatic. As human beings we just don’t get out of this life without experiencing adverse events. This is not a bad thing! Stress and trauma can be rich and fertile ground for growth, transformation, and learning when one has the capacity and resources to be with the bodily experience of such events, as well as a safe and supportive atmosphere and community.

In this workshop, we will learn how to be well- resourced, regulated human beings in order to create and hold safe space for others. We will look at how trauma responses might show up on the mat and how we can best support our students.

We will practice pranayama, guided visualization meditation, and gentle asana.

This workshop will finish with the practice of Yoga Nidra, or yogic sleep, so as to leave students feeling relaxed yet energized as they leave.

A portion of time will be set aside for questions and debriefing, and Meg will be available for private conversation should one feel the need for one on one support.

This workshop will look at the effects trauma has on our physiology and psychology through the framework of polyvagal theory, as theorized by Stephen Porges.

Topics we will consider include:

• The difference between positive and toxic stress
• Regulation, dysregulation, and co-regulation
• Nervous system anatomy and hygiene
• The use of hands of touch
• Passive versus active languaging
• How trauma might show up on the mat
• How to be a safe “other”
• Self care

Meghan Bio:

Meg is a certified and registered Yoga Instructor, a certified TRE® Provider, and holds a diploma in Social Services. Meg’s approach to yoga is trauma informed, and based in cultivating friendliness with one’s body through mindful attention and intention to breath, sensation, and movement. She also focuses a great deal on nervous system health and stress physiology, and how we can use the power of neuroplasticity to transform patterns that no longer serve our highest self. Meg began her lifelong love affair with yoga fifteen years ago. The evolutionary and compassionate nature of yoga drew her in and she’s never looked back. She believes in the transformative and illuminative qualities of yoga, and offers them with the intention of creating deep connection to one’s self. Through her work as a mental health and addictions outreach worker, Meg discovered the practice of TRE®, or tension and trauma releasing exercises, and trained under Jessica Schaeffer in Portland, Oregon. TRE® has been an invaluable addition to her toolbox of health and wellness empowerment, and she is passionate about sharing it and empowering others in their well being. Meg’s overall work focuses on getting to know and befriending the body through a compassionate and strengths based approach. She strongly believes that the healthier one’s connection is to one’s body, the more one can enliven inner resources thereby facilitating growth and transformation. Meg has over 1000 hours of training in styles from Vinyasa to Yin, and as a lifelong learner, attends professional development workshops and trainings whenever she can, and very often has her face buried in a book! When not immersed in pro-d, you will find Meg in the yoga studio, hiking, or sitting quietly and enjoying what this beautiful island has to offer.

While living abroad for 15 years I was introduced to a powerful, mystical and healing instrument, the Tibetan Singing Bowl.

On Meditation: When two frequencies join together another is created through a process called entrainment. As the Tibetan Singing Bowl’s special harmonic frequencies penetrate your bodies sensory systems, entrainment can facilitate deeper states of meditation via alpha and theta waveforms.

On Healing: The harmonics of Tibetan Singing Bowls stimulate the brain’s corpus collosum, which is the bridge between the right and left hemispheres. As the two sides become more synchronized, the release of stress, worry, anxiety, fear and other feelings that have a negative impact on our health enables us to experience more balance, clarity, and productivity. Tibetan Singing Bowls also create strong vibrations that facilitate sensory integration processes. This can be especially helpful for individuals with hyper and hyposensitive disorders.Sound vibration affects each individual differently on a physical, emotional and spiritual level. It is clear that Tibetan Singing Bowls facilitate relaxation, which improves meditation practice and your sense of well-being.

On Inner-Attainment Experiences:
For more information please contact Ben Bollich at the following: namastenanaimo@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/innerattainment/
Phone Number: 250-802-1930

Mala, Mantra, Méditation.

‘’Like prayer and affirmation, the repetitious use of mantra can have powerful effects on the mind, body, spirit and emotions. In this 2 hour workshop you will learn about Malas and Mantras while you create your own unique Mala necklace to take home and use during Japa Mala meditation practice. Mantras are unique combinations of Sanskrit words and sounds that when chanted repeatedly invoke different energies. All supplies and instruction needed to create a Mala unique to your needs and desires are included. Also included are a list of mantras to use with your Mala. We will practice a Japa Mala meditation at the end of the workshop using your new Mala bead necklace.’’

About Karen

oga came into my life on a chilly winter morning in Edmonton in 2002. And for this I am eternally grateful. Yoga is more than a daily practice, it’s a lifestyle, one I’ve been evolving into for the past 18 years. It’s a lifelong process of incorporating the many teachings of yoga into daily life and I continue to study and learn every day. Over the years my personal practice has evolved and changed according to my physical, mental and emotional needs. My personal journey through chronic pain has gifted me with a compassion for the suffering of all beings, and brought me new ways to practice yoga. I weave poetry, music, meditation and mantra into my classes to enhance the experience for all my students.
Over the past 18 years I have studied with many teachers around the globe. I have received teachings in Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga vinyasa yoga, Yin yoga, Restorative yoga, Prenatal yoga, Yoga Nidra, Meditation, and Nada Yoga. I am also trained in sound therapy, reflexology, and am a trained Conscious Connected breath work facilitator, a Reiki practitioner, kirtan leader and formerly a registered nurse.
I am forever humbled by the power of yoga, meditation and mantra, and am grateful to all my teachers and students over the years, from whom I continue to learn and grow.

Ren is a proud West Coast Weirdo! She is a Japanese-Canadian, former A-type freakshow, fight or flight work-a-holic turned Dakini, Divine Feminine, Kundalini Realness/Self-Healing Evangelist Extraordinaire. Unable to heal a debilitating injury medically, she was forced into existential crisis = spiritual awakening. Ren had no choice but to heal herself spiritually and emotionally and was blessed to be connected with the ancient and powerful healing technology of Kundalini Yoga. Ren is an E-RYT200 and receives ongoing training through the Kundalini Research Institute (KRI). She completed her Teacher Training in 2012 at the Guru Ram Das Ashram in New Mexico, the home of Yogi Bhajan, Master of Kundalini Yoga. As a teacher and mentor, Ren is able to help students navigate grief, deep-seated anger, chronic pain, intimacy blocks and nervous system related illness. She has deep, embodied wisdom in the realms of core wound healing, the balancing of the masculine and feminine energies and is skillful at teaching people how to harness and transform sexual energy into emotional healing. Ren uses the sacred technology of Kundalini Yoga and Rebirthing Kundalini Yoga to help students release emotional plaque and trauma from the body. She is co-founder of Garuda Centre, a natural health centre in Nanaimo, BC.

“Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan is the Yoga of Awareness. It is a dynamic, powerful tool that is designed to give you an experience of your soul. In Kundalini Yoga we harness the mental, physical, and nervous energies of the body and put them under the domain of the will, which is the instrument of the soul. This technology precisely and consciously combines breath, mudra, eye-focus, mantra, body locks, and postures to balance the glandular system, strengthen the nervous system, expand lung capacity, and purify the blood. It brings balance to the body, mind, and soul.”- 3HO Organization

This teaching methodology module of the 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training program offered by Choose2be, is being opened up to yoga teachers, teacher trainees and advanced yoga students (with prior approval).

In The ART of SEQUENCING we will explore the following topics:

• Reverse Engineering: building a class based on an apex pose
• Thematic design: using class inspiration and peak poses to create and guide a class
• Anatomical consideration: building a safe, effective, and transformative practice
• Notation: creating your short hand
• Clear Intention: Determining a “goal” and building towards it

Through lecture, discussion and practice we will explore the fundamentals as well as the creativity needed to design original, class-specific sequences. Participants will be lead through the process of creating a sequence and then experience it in their bodies. Time will be given to experiment with creating short class plans within the group context to allow participants to receive feedback in a safe and supportive environment. The topic of cueing will be introduced and discussed as needed in relation to the topic of class design.

In The ART of ASSISTING we will explore:

• Objective and subjective approach to touch
• Safety and personal space
• Relevance of anatomical knowledge
• Critical and compassionate observation
• Specific techniques of touching from basic to advanced poses
• Cueing and the importance of clear directions as a way to guide and assist students without touch

This full day training explores the much debated topic of hands-on assisting within a yoga practice. This is a hot topic currently in the yoga world, and the recognition is being given to the importance of considering the ethics and implications of touching others. In this training participants will be asked to consider how and when to use touch, if at all, and what it means to have consent from students. We will explore the importance of, and build skills in, our verbal cueing, recognizing that the clearer our words are, the less “interference” may be needed.
Within the training, participants will also learn mindful, intentional, and effective hands-on assists to enhance the use of touch in their yoga classes when desired. Throughout this training, participants will begin to discover the depth of this seemingly simple topic. From these layers of awareness, participants will be more equipped and feel more confident, to make decisions on when and how to use touch, as a seamless factor in their instruction, enabling teachers to cultivate a compassionate experience for class participants––physically, emotionally, and mentally.

About Nura Madjzoub – nuramadjzoub.com

Nura has been teaching yoga for 19 years around the world. Her primary style of teaching is a flow “vinyasa” style, where she draws from her dance background and extensive and continuous anatomical studies, to create intelligent and effective yoga sequences. Her yoga teaching and practice is also greatly influenced and informed by her practice as a massage therapist. She has been a licensed and practicing massage therapist since 2006, and She has also spent time in Thailand learning Thai yoga massage to add to her growing interesting in the interplay of yoga and touch.
Above all, Nura is a life learner and perpetual student. Her own practice as well as her teaching, has evolved and shifted in many ways over the past 2 decades, and she can’t imagine it ever remaining stagnant. There is always more to learn and it is this love of learning, that she is also passionate to share with her students. Life is so full of discoveries and new thoughts and ideas, we can only remain open and curious so that we might benefit from them!

In this lesson we will explore considerations for the business of being a yoga teacher. Clarify your values and goals then set your business strategy in alignment. Some topics will include business licensing, insurance (e.g. liability, income replacement, disability, worker’s compensation), employee vs. self-employed contractor considerations (tip: always consult your accountant), home-based and commercial space considerations, plus much more. Bring your questions. About Megan Megan Bailey began practicing yoga after tweaking her back at work. Tagging along with friends to a class changed her life and career. The profound physical benefits and application to life outside the mat are why practice is a joy. Megan began teaching yoga in 2005 and opened her studio, Nanaimo Yoga Sanctuary, in 2006. In addition to her RYT200, she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management, has a Post-degree Diploma in Business, and is completing her MBA part-time while working. Megan is a Chartered Professional in Human Resources.