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In the dissection lab we cling to one another in unprecedented ways. All that we are seeing and cutting into cannot be shared with those who are not present. It’s a grave imposition to ask anyone to hold space for what we are looking at. Beyond the tissues of a human cadaver we are excavating intricacies of our own existence as we penetrate the layers that make up the skin to eventually dive into viscera.  It’s thought provoking and exposing in unexpected ways. The light as it enters the spaces normally shrouded by the busyness of life, is brilliant. We […]

This feels so familiar. The first time I “ran away from home” was when I was in my mid-twenties. Struggling to make my way in the world and carve out an identity for myself, I gave very little thought to the move before I packed my things and took up residence in downtown Toronto. I had one friend in a house of six others, all roughly my age. It took me two years to settle into a routine and I remember well, the sensation of loneliness and boredom while I wandered the city looking for work and purpose. I lived […]

Practice is not about improving my asana. It’s about seeing who I am and grasping an opportunity to explore my tendencies, emotions and reactions. As children, our parents navigate life and relationship for us; we learn these things for ourselves first by mimicking them. Without knowledge or intention, we become mini versions of our role models. The beginning breather knows only the inhale and the exhale. A practiced breather learns to explore the spaces between. I begin each day as a beginner in this realm, and as I unlock the space between, I open up the potential for calm action. […]

What could possibly be so difficult about savasana (corpse pose)? Physically, it’s about the easiest position to get one’s body into. All you have to do is lay down on your back and decide whether or not you need a lift under your head or knees to ease any low back or shoulder pain. For most beginning yogis, everything seems backwards when you are upside down, and it’s tough to decipher right from left. This is sort of the brilliance of yoga, it distracts your mind with the details of the body. Forced to investigate a sensation or movement within […]

Even though you are passive during a massage, the muscles are being stimulated in a way that is similar to a workout; cycling through a repeating pattern of stretch-contract. This creates micro tears in the muscle, increases blood flow and eventually results in inflammation. The inflammation is what causes the soreness and is also what promotes healing. So, yes it is completely normal to feel some soreness following a massage. Just as soreness lessens as you become more efficient with a specific exercise, soreness also decreases with repeated massage; the body builds a tolerance to the level of intensity. Increase […]

In 1999 I began an epic yoga journey. I call it epic because it’s the only thing that has been consistent in my life for that long. I began practicing 6 days/week within the first month of my first class. Everything in my life changed in order to make space for my time in the studio. It’s still difficult to explain why. I can come close by saying that somehow the practice facilitated an improved management of my life choices. I was so desperate for everyone to feel the same empowerment, that I enrolled in teacher training and began teaching […]

If I do not metabolize my experiences, my system becomes congested, lethargic and grumpy. Sound familiar? me·tab·o·lism noun noun: The sum of the physical and chemical process in an organism by which its material substance is produced, maintained and destroyed, and by which energy is made available. Emotional Metabolism & Self Care We know that emotions impact the body because they often manifest physically through tears, digestive upset and wacky immune responses. So if emotional stress and trauma involve the body, it makes perfect sense that you must consider the body in healing. Firstly, through breath. Releasing stored emotion is […]

On my first visit to the gross anatomy lab in 2004, after recovering from the initial shock of what I was looking at, I was hooked. I entered the lab with an extreme excitement to see the muscles and bones I had been studying and trying to memorize. However, those were not the structures that ultimately seduced me into spending hundreds of hours and numerous dissection intensives in the lab over the years to come. That first day I was introduced to the greater omentum, which is basically a blanket of fat cells that lay over top of your digestive […]

How can you sleep, read, or focus on anything when your brain is constantly interrupting? Just as you lay down to sleep, or take a moment to enjoy a quiet break, your brain pipes up with nagging thoughts of all that needs to be done, or begins to replay stressful situations you are facing. With all of the intelligence the brain is rumoured to embody, why is it that we struggle so much with the simple task of silencing this great structure for only a moment? Because the constant chatter overwhelms us so much so, that we convince ourselves the […]