Yoga has been one of the most influential practices in my life. My decision to complete a yoga teacher training was not only about becoming a teacher. It was also about creating space to learn, reflect, move, breathe and understand myself differently.
That experience became part of the foundation of the work I do today through Choose2be.
Why I Chose Yoga Teacher Training
At the time, I was going through a difficult period in my life and felt disconnected from myself. After several accidents and years of feeling physically and emotionally unsettled, I knew I wanted something to change.
I started looking for a yoga teacher training that went beyond simply learning poses. I found a Chakra Yoga school that offered an intensive three-month, 340-hour training in Thailand, and I decided to follow that path.
It was a big commitment, but it became an important turning point for me.
What the Training Was Like
The program included much more than physical yoga practice. Our days included breathing practices, chanting, movement, dance, yoga postures and lectures on topics such as nutrition, philosophy and the chakra system.
Taking that amount of time away from everyday life gave me space to slow down, learn and reconnect with myself.
Many of the practices I discovered during that training continued to influence the way I approached movement, teaching and personal growth afterward.
Becoming a Teacher
When I came home, I found myself naturally beginning to share what I had learned.
Teaching helped me discover another side of yoga. It was no longer only about my own practice. I began learning how to guide other people, adapt movement, communicate clearly and create an environment where people could explore yoga in their own way.
Over the years, my teaching continued to evolve. I studied and taught yoga alongside strength training, mobility, dance, functional movement and other forms of fitness, and those different disciplines gradually began to influence one another.
Today, I do not see yoga and strength as opposites. I see them as different tools that can help people become stronger, more mobile, more aware and more confident in their bodies.
Yoga Teacher Training Is Not Only for Future Teachers
One of the things I learned is that Yoga Teacher Training can be valuable even if you never plan to teach a public class.
A training can give you time to deepen your own practice, learn more about anatomy and movement, explore breathing and philosophy, develop teaching skills and spend time with a community of people who are interested in similar things.
For some people, teaching becomes the next step. For others, the experience is primarily personal.
Both are valid reasons to participate.
The Next Evolution of Choose2be Yoga Teacher Training
I previously offered Yoga Teacher Training programs through Choose2be, and I am now developing a new 200-hour training for 2027/2028.
This next version will reflect how my own work has evolved. The program is being designed to bring together yoga, functional movement, mobility, anatomy, teaching skills, breathwork, personal development and embodied practice.
My goal is to create enough time for students not only to learn information, but to practice, integrate and develop confidence in their own voice and approach to teaching.
You can learn more about the developing Yoga Teacher Training in Nanaimo.
Yoga Continues to Evolve With Me
My relationship with yoga today looks different from when I first travelled to Thailand for teacher training, and I think that is a good thing.
I still value the breath, awareness and reflective side of yoga, but I also bring in what I have learned through strength training, mobility, dance and more than two decades of working in health and fitness.
The practice has continued to change as I have changed.
If you are interested in practicing with me now, explore Yoga & Mobility Classes in Nanaimo.
For a deeper look at breathing and the nervous system, you can also read Breathwork, the Nervous System, and Epigenetic Trauma on Vancouver Island Holistic Counselling.
