DR. BLAKE MARTIN – E-RYT 500, BFA, MA, PhD

Neuroscience and Yoga

Blake Martin holds a PhD in Kinesiology and a Graduate Diploma in Neuroscience from York University, a B.F.A. and M.A. in dance, and a bachelor of education. His doctoral research was in neural mechanisms of attention when trying to perform more than one movement at a time. His current interests include understanding how recent bouts of physical activity impact learning and thinking, and how the motor repertoire is connected to cognitive flexibility. Blake has danced with Kaeja d’Dance and Motus O Dance Theatre and is a founding board member of the Pulse Ontario Youth Dance Conference, a province wide initiative uniting secondary dance educators and students with professional dance artists. Blake teaches part time in York University’s Dance Science Diploma program and is Defence Scientist for the Canadian government. He has been a feature teacher at the Toronto Yoga conference and show since 2009, as well as speaking provincially, nationally and internationally on issues related to yoga and the brain, arts and the brain, creativity and the brain, anatomy, and classroom management. He is a respected teacher in Traditional Thai Massage, a long distance runner, and a martial artist for more 30 years.

JAY ANDREWS

Meditation & Nada Yoga

Jay Andrews knows first hand the ability of the yoga practices to bring relief, stability and self-discovery to those on the path of healing and wholeness. A long-time touring musician and producer, he discovered yoga through his recovery and rehabilitation from addiction. What began as a meditation practice soon evolved into an exploration of the many practices of Yoga.

Today, Jay is a 500hr certified yoga teacher who also studies Nada Yoga (the yoga of sound), trauma-informed yoga, Yoga Nidra, restorative yoga and rhythmic entrainment. His practices are infused with pranayama, meditation, philosophy, live music and drumming, chanting, and laughter. Jay also continues to produce and perform music for yoga and spiritual practices. His music can be found online or catch him live in Yoga classes around Toronto! Keep moving, keep breathing and keep listening, one day at a time.

www.jayandrewsyogamusic.com

ROBIN WALEY

Chakras, The Subtle Body, Mantra & Meditation

Robin merges his love for health and wellness with his passion for social justice, by working daily to provide opportunity for marginalized communities within physical activity, sport, and mental health services in Toronto. He brings this passion to yoga by teaching from an anti-oppressive standpoint, and working to decolonize the practice (and other forms of physical activity). By taking this approach, he strives to make yoga a more inclusive and accessible practice for everyone; especially those who wouldn’t normally have access to, and have the greatest need for, movement and mental health supports.

After feeling a deep connection to the positive benefits yoga and meditation offered to him in 2013, Robin pursued 2 years of self-study, and a 200 hour teacher training; learning in-depth yoga philosophy with Scott Petrie, meditation with Josh Cohen, asana with Nicky Poole, Sanskrit with Marla Meenakshi Joy, and restorative and energy healing practices with Tasha Rooke.  Robin has led meditation and mindfulness programs at U of T, instructs classes and workshops at multiple studios in Toronto, and is a practicing energy healer in Usui Reiki.

NICKY POOLE

Namaskars & History of Yoga, Pre & Post Natal

Nicky Poole, a mother of two originally from New Zealand has been enmeshed in the study of yoga since 1999. She founded the first yoga studio in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in 2004 and cultivated a unique community on the banks of the Saigon River until moving to Canada in 2009.  Calling Toronto home, Nicky has established herself as a highly sought after teacher trainer, and pre and post natal specialist in the city. She created and led the 889 Living Yoga Program from 2011 to 2016, and is now a co-owner and co-director of Octopus Garden Yoga Centre, and facilitates and mentors their highly esteemed teacher training programs.

Nicky’s current movement based practice is broad and includes deep study in kalarippayat – a martial art from South India, Axis syllabus, strength training and classical ballet.   Her yoga methodology draws from a variety of lineages, but her primary source of inspiration and connection for the past fifteen years is Prana Flow Yoga with her teacher Shiva Rea.  Recently she has begun academic study in the prestigious Yogic Studies program at the SOAS school at the University of London. Nicky draws on extensive study of ayurveda to inform her teachings, and enhances her care and support for her students with her offerings as a birth doula and a thai yoga massage practitioner.

www.nickypoole.com

HALI SCHWARTZ – E-RYT 500

Yoga History and Philosophy

Hali has been immersed in the study of the yoga tradition – its history, philosophy and practical methodologies – since she was a young girl, and after spending many years studying in India, she received certification to teach yoga philosophy, meditation and Sanskrit from the International Meditation Institute (I.M.I.) She leads various yogic study retreats to both India and Europe and my teachings reflect the strong belief that yoga’s teachings are not an archaic from of mysticism or spirituality, but rather an eminently practical set of teachings that we can apply to our everyday lives. Hali is passionate about the subject and it’s her life’s joy to share this knowledge and this practice with anyone and everyone who has the interest to dive into it. 

www.yogahali.com

MATTHEW REMSKI

Critical Yogic Theory & Application

Matthew has been practicing meditation and yoga since 1996, sitting and moving with teachers from the Tibetan Buddhist, Kripalu, Ashtanga, and Iyengar streams. Along the way he has trained as a yoga therapist and an Ayurvedic consultant, and maintained a private practice in Toronto from 2007 to 2015. From 2008 through 2012 he co-directed Yoga Festival Toronto and Yoga Community Toronto, non-profit activist organizations dedicated to promoting open dialogue and accessibility. During that same period, Matthew studied jyotiśhāstra in a small oral-culture setting at the Vidya Institute in Toronto. He currently facilitates programming for yoga trainings internationally, focusing on yoga philosophy, meditation, Ayurveda, and the social psychology of practice. In all subject areas, he encourages students to explore how yoga practice can resist the psychic and material dominance of neoliberalism, and the quickening pace of environmental destruction. He is the author of eight books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.

www.matthewremski.com

AARON MOORE – BA, E-RYT 500

Mental Health, Trauma, and Stigma & Integration of Yoga

Aaron is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and co-founder of Solace Counseling alongside his wife Michelle. Originally from the gulf coast of Florida, Aaron has a Bachelors degree in Psychology and a Masters in Counseling. He works with adults and adolescents experiencing a wide range of struggles, including addictions, marriage and relationships, trauma, depression, and anxiety. He is a Master A.R.T. clinician, is trained in EMDR and is also a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200). Aaron first found yoga in 2005, regularly incorporating yoga into therapy and recovery.

In addition to counseling, Aaron is an adviser for To Write Love On Her Arms and faculty for Blu Matter Project. He is an avid speaker both in the U.S and internationally about mental health, and our struggles with stigma, shame, and recovery. Through these events, Aaron has promoted an honest discussion of life, difficulty, recovery, and healing in a multitude of communities. Aaron serves as a board member for the Now Matters More Foundation which is dedicated to providing help for those struggling with addiction.

TIFFANI HARRIS

Advanced Anatomy

Tiffani Harris is an Ottawa based Yoga Teacher and Registered Massage Therapist with over a decade of teaching experience. She leads classes, workshops, retreats and is a lead Educator for Pure Yoga’s Teacher Training programs.

She loves to share her passion for Anatomy Asana & hands on Adjustments by helping students understand their bodies and how to teach others to move safely and effectively. Each session is interactive and accessible making the subjects digestible, applicable and even enjoyable. She continues to study and learn from some of the best in the movement worlds to stay up to date with all recent evidence-based points of view to offer current information from a modern lens on asana.

KIM MCBEAN

Enhanced Embodied Restorative Yoga

Kim is a gifted and empathetic educator and practitioner with a passion for yoga, pilates and so-matic movement practices. With 15 years educational and practical experience in movement and therapeutics, Kim nurtures a safe, contained space of self-inquiry, empowering others with tools and techniques that support mindful, bodily presence as a means to grow and transform.
Kim has trained at The Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica and the Octopus Garden Yoga Cen-tre in Toronto. She has studied Restorative Yoga with Judith Lasater, Trauma Informed Yoga with Sarah Kinsley, and Pilates with Leslie Parker at Mindful Movement Centre. She continues to study and practice yoga, somatic-body energetics, and other various forms of experiential movement with her most valued and cherished mentors.

www.kimmcbeanyoga.com

LANA SUGARMAN

Yin & Meridians

Yoga has been a grounding and transformative practice in Lana’s life for the past 20 years. Since 2009, Lana has been teaching contemplative and active practices throughout North America. She strives to create a safe space for students to evolve, be curious, nourish themselves, and build resilience. Lana’s early training was in Jivamukti Yoga- a style that includes creative vinyasa flow, meditation, chanting, and philosophy. This integrated approach continues to inform her teaching style. She completed her 300 Hour training at the Omega Institute with Sharon Gannon and David Life. That same year Lana completed her first Yin Yoga training in Toronto with Tracey Soghrati. She continues to study and embody this modality with Tracey as well as Sarah Powers.

In 2004 Lana began her study of Sanskrit with Marla Meenakshi Joy. Her passion for mantra and music led her to kirtan (call and response chanting). She shares the power of group chant and bhakti yoga internationally, and has two acclaimed albums of mantra music: Invocation (2013) and Reverence (2017).

Lana has taught at studios throughout Toronto and is a facilitator in teacher training programs. She encourages critical thinking, creating inclusive spaces, and the value of being a lifelong student. Lana leads an annual retreat at the Shanti Retreat Centre on Wolfe Island, and enjoys collaborating with other teachers on workshops and festivals. Her personal practice continues to evolve.

ELAINE CLARK – E-RYT 500

Director, Nutrition & Advanced Sequencing

Elaine Clark, E-RYT 500, received her undergraduate degree in Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa. She immersed herself in the study of yoga and mindfulness in 2010 where she completed her initial 200hr teacher training in Kerala, India and has been a full-time teacher since. Since then, she has completed a 300hr Advanced Yoga Training at the Nexus Institute Yoga & Wellness in Nosara, Costa Rica, and a Trauma Sensitive Yoga Training with The Blu Matter Project. Elaine has 10 years of continued education with practitioners like Dr. Dan Siegel, Jack Kornfield, Dr. Shauna Shapiro, David Emerson, Seane Corn and many more.

For Elaine, the practice of yoga and mindfulness serves as a reminder of the importance in self-compassion and energy management. She draws on her extensive study in nutrition to inform a holistic approach in her teachings. She has facilitated retreats in Italy, Peru & Costa Rica and has developed yoga-based programs in India for underprivileged women. Elaine is the director for the 200hr & 300hr teacher training programs with Iam Yoga and is an on-going mentor for newly certified teachers. Her goal is to provide a supportive and inclusive space to empower students towards self-inquiry.

JULIAN BRASS

Business of Yoga & Branding

Julian completed his first RYT 200 in 2015 while living in Tel Aviv where he trained extensively under the highly regarded Indian yogi Aryan Vedh. After moving back to Toronto, he furthered his training under world-class international teachers Ron Reid and Marla Meenakshi Joy in their prestigious and rigorous RYT 500 at Downward Dog, a Toronto studio that has been offering instruction for over twenty years.

Julian is also the author of ‘Own Your Anxiety’ the international bestselling book and an award winning entrepreneur who created the Notable Awards and Notable Life. He has had the privilege of teaching at yoga and wellness festivals all over the world.

Julian stepped on the mat in 2009 and experienced that euphoric “ah hah!” moment, when he needed it most. He had just launched his former business in 2008 and was experiencing anxiety for the first time in his life. Yoga was the first step he took in creating a new reality for himself. It was in yoga practice that he finally found that moment of inner peace, harmony and acceptance he knew he needed. For Julian, yoga is a constant practice of unifying the mind, body, and soul. By going in he truly believes that we can then go out as more loving, stronger, patient version of ourselves.

His flow and teaching style is highly motivating and fun while being strengthening and dynamic. Expect to sweat, light your inner fire, tone your muscles and deepen your self-love.

Full Price List

New Students

Introductory 1 Month Unlimited: $49+hst

Memberships

Monthly Membership: $109+hst/Monthly – Four month minimum commitment
Yearly Passport: $1199+hst

Packages

Single Class: $24 w/tax
5 Class Pass: $102+hst
10 Class Pass: $192+hst
20 Class Pass: $336+hst
1 Month Unlimited: $156+hst
2 Month Unlimited: $300+hst
3 Month Unlimited: $420+hst

DAVID EMERSON – SPECIAL GUEST LECTURER

Trauma-Sensitive Yoga

Dave is the Founder and Director of Yoga Services for the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute in Brookline Massachusetts, where he coined the term “trauma-sensitive yoga”. He was responsible for curriculum development, supervision and oversight of the yoga intervention component of the first of its kind, NIH funded study, conducted by Dr. Bessel van der Kolk to assess the utility and feasibility of yoga for adults with treatment-resistant PTSD. Mr. Emerson has developed, conducted, and supervised TSY groups for rape crisis centers, domestic violence programs, residential programs for youth, military bases, survivors of terrorism, and Veterans Administration centers and clinics. In addition to co-authoring several articles on the subject of yoga and trauma, Mr. Emerson is the co-author of Overcoming Trauma through Yoga, released in 2011 by North Atlantic Books and Author of the forthcoming, Trauma-Sensitive Yoga in Therapy (Norton, 2015). He leads trainings for yoga teachers and mental health clinicians in North America, Europe, and Asia.

LISA HELM-KITTERINGHAM – E-RYT 500

Advanced Physical and Energetic Anatomy

Lisa loves to teach creative, challenging sequences so students increase their kinesthetic awareness, a concept that Shiva Rea describes as ‘bodily intelligence,’ or an awareness of the self through the physical body. Bodily intelligence and awareness allow the student to explore their own body in a safe and sustainable way and to understand their own limits and potential. Lisa’s sequencing focuses on transitions in order to teach core compression and awareness throughout movement so that balance and core engagement become instinctual instead of conscious. Her movement progressions are designed so that students can find the focus to breathe fully and deeply even in potentially demanding situations, a skill that can then be applied to real-life circumstances. The challenge is always balanced with frequent chances to rest, ground the body and come back to the breath.

Lisa’s teacher training modules focus on grounding anatomical and practical knowledge in physical experience so that new teachers can teach from a place of embodied experience. Her passion for the subtle nuances of teaching combine with her patience and warmth with her students to create an environment that is conducive to every trainee learning what is most valuable to them at their own pace.

LINDA MALONE

Business and Branding

Founder of Iam Yoga, Director of Blu Matter Project, and self-confessed type-A yoga gurl, Linda Malone loves teaching and talking about the power of movement and the body all day long! Having completed an 800-hour Yoga Alliance Teaching Training and courses in yoga anatomy with Susi Hately-Aldous and mindfulness meditation with Frank Jude Boccio you cannot help but leave Linda’s hybrid classes, workshops, training and retreats physically motivated and mentally inspired!
This B.A.Sc and Lululemon Ambassador translates her experiences in a unique teaching style that combines anatomical focus, philosophical insight and challenging sequencing. Linda feels so lucky to be able to share her life lessons and love of teaching with Iam Yoga while connecting with incredible people every step of the way.

JOHN VERVAEKE – BA, MA, PhDT 500

Cognitive Science and Mindfulness

John Vervaeke is an Assistant Professor, in the teaching stream at the University of Toronto since 1994. He currently teaches courses in the Cognitive Science program including Introduction to Cognitive Science, and the Cognitive Science of Consciousness; courses in the Psychology department on thinking and reasoning with an emphasis on insight problem solving, cognitive development with an emphasis on the dynamical nature of development, and higher cognitive processes with an emphasis on intelligence, rationality, mindfulness, and the Psychology of wisdom. He also teaches a course in the Buddhism, Psychology and Mental Health program on Buddhism and Cognitive Science. He has won and been nominated for several teaching awards including the 2001 Students’ Administrative Council and Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students Teaching Award for the Humanities, and the 2012 Ranjini Ghosh Excellence in Teaching Award. He has published articles on relevance realization, general intelligence, mindfulness, metaphor, and wisdom. His abiding passion is to address the meaning crisis that besets western culture.