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About

In 1991 I married this dreamy guy who looked like Micheal J. Fox, was almost as funny, could fix anything and (best of all) he was crazy about me. We had Brody in 1994 and Hali in 1997, fulfilling one of my deepest heartfelt desires to be a mom (well I wasn’t quite done but they got things going). Around the time of Hali’s birth, I saw the movie that changed my life! “The Next Best Thing” with Madonna.  She looked amazing in it and the rumor was all she was doing was yoga! Aaannnddd she was a yoga teacher in the show!!! I was committed! Yes, that is the tawdry truth of how I got into yoga, I wanted to look like Madonna. Needless to say, I am very non-judgemental when people come to yoga with similarly shallow motivations. If you are here because you simply want a nicer ass, I’m your girl! The world needs more enlightened people with great arses.  


I was mostly self-taught for the first few years reading and following yoga and meditation books when I had the time.  At that time I had a home daycare and, due to my newfound yoga practice,  I was no longer coming down with every little bug, I had more patience and energy. I was getting the exact results my life needed! (something yoga is notorious for providing ; ) I also had some profound experiences in meditation, gently reawakening my own inner seeker. About 6 months in I injured my neck (which is what happens when you are learning headstand and shoulder stand from a book) so my practice became sketchy but it never fizzled out completely.

1998 was a hard year for me and my family. My sister Andrea was killed in a car accident, which still brings beautiful hot tears to my eyes. Her death, though the most painful thing I have ever experienced, also brought some of the most profound and meaningful gifts I have ever received. This challenging step in the path has shown me that the only part that dies is the body, the essence lives on, and if we choose to, we can continue a new kind of relationship with our passed loved ones.

 

My study of Reiki and iRest Yoga Nidra, and Andrea’s death, were the catalyst for me to develop a Yoga for Grief program for Caring Hearts Regina, which then led to more training in trauma and psychology.  Today I am a certified iRest Yoga Nidra teacher and part of IRI's Canadian Training Team, and am currently studying Internal Family Systems Therapy. iRest comes from a non-dual yoga tradition, and IFS fits perfectly with the non-dual yogic lineage I follow, Kashmir Shaivism, where everything is seen as Consciousness unfolding and nothing is rejected. It is a delicious way to be in the world! The path this life has taken me on has been profoundly healing and transformative for myself, my family and those I work with.

Back up a few years, the millennium brought us from Saskatoon to Regina and I decided that, yes, I could afford a yoga class now and again. I met Colin Hall, who became my main teacher for the next eight years. I began teaching Family Yoga and Yoga for Kids in 2004 for him and his wife Sara Garden, when they opened up what is now Bodhi Tree Regina. I completed their very first 400 hr Yoga Teacher Training that was offered in combination with their teachers from the Yoga Gateway in Calgary, namely David McAmmond, who, I am so sad to say, passed away. He was iconic in the Canadian Yoga scene. He will be missed by many, it feels a little lonely and vulnerable knowing he is no longer in the physical form. His legacy will carry on through numerous teachers all over the world. 

I taught at Bodhi Tree (Colin and Sara) for four years until Brad suggested we turn the woodworking shop in the backyard into a yoga studio. By then, we had four little bobbins, Drew in 2000 and Rayne in 2003, joined the clan. Being able to walk out the back door to teach a yoga class was perfect for our family and continues to be so. Full Life Yoga opened its doors in 2008 and has been going strong and evolving ever since.  

I continue to study yogic philosophy, namely the lineages of Advaita and Kashmir Shaivism and had a 12-year stint studying Rinsai Zen. Our kids are growing up. Our baby graduated this year, 2021, and we became GRANDS!!! We are LaLa and Papa to Mr. Maverick Robert Lenius, who fills our hearts to burst. Three babies and one Grand live with us. It is a busy little place bustling with activity at a time we thought things would be winding down, haha. Life has bigger and better plans for us than we could have ever imagined!!! Even with a house full of family, I can see how my life is turning more and more to the spiritual. As the next chapter approaches, I am much more willing to commit than when I was 20. I also realize that any adventure can be a spiritual one, depending on how you look at it.

This brings me to a new chapter in life, my yogic practice and how I teach. I am stepping firmly into the title of PSYCHO-SPIRITUAL YOGA THERAPIST, which scares me a bit, and it is what makes my heart sing and where I see such profound personal transformation. I use the tools of yoga therapy, iRest Yoga Nidra, Reiki, Transparent Communication, and IFS. Everything I have ever learned and found to be true, I offer to you for your own personal healing, transformation, and spiritual awakening.

Cred

PROFILE:
Utilizing Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), Integrative Restoration Yoga Nidra (iRest), Transparent Communication, Embodiment Practices, the Psychology of Yoga, Attunement, and Reiki Energy Healing, I support people with Healing, Personal Transformation, and Awakening.


EXPERIENCE:

Owner of Full Life Yoga & Wellness, Regina, SK — 2008 - Present
As a mother of 4, having a yoga studio right in the backyard has been the perfect setup for managing both of my worlds. When people come here, they notice a profound sense of safety. Our cozy little studio feels like home. For the past 16 years, I have held weekly group yoga & meditation classes for all levels. In the past decade, I have added the Psycho-Spiritual healing practices of Internal Family System’s Therapy (IFS), Integrative Restoration Yoga Nidra (iRest), Transparent Communication, and Reiki offered in Private and Group sessions. I have also developed a Yoga for Grief Program for Caring Hearts of Regina and am a yearly presenter at the Twinkle Star Peri-natal loss retreat. Since 2010 I have been helping run or running 1 - 14 day long retreats locally and internationally.
iRest Yoga Nidra, Teaching assistant, Banff & Sherwood Park, AB — 2018 - Present
I assist in Level I & II trainings under the guidance of Anne Douglas, Senior iRest Teacher and Trainer. My role is to support the training by monitoring students while they practice teaching to groups & deliver dyads, attend debriefs, track student needs, and assist with various tasks.
Yoga for Grief Teacher, Caring Hearts Regina, Regina, SK — 2010 - Present
In 2010 I developed a Yoga for Grief program. It includes restorative yoga poses to facilitate embodiment, and the deeply relaxing, self-inquiry, and mindfulness practice iRest Yoga Nidra. I have taught at the Caring Hearts Camp for kids who have lost a loved one. I have run Adult Group Grief classes, working with the extreme traumas of murder and suicide. I also present yearly at Twinkle Star Peri-natal Loss Retreat.
Yoga Teacher, Bodhi Tree Yoga Regina, SK — 2004 - 2008
I began teaching for Colin Hall and Sarah Garden even before I had taken Teacher Training as they had trouble finding teachers in the city. I was mostly self-taught in the very beginning, then completed my first 400hr YTT with Colin, Sarah and their teacher David McAmmond in 2006. I taught Family Yoga, Yoga for Kids and teens, Levels I and II Hatha Yoga, and Restorative Yoga as well as a variety of workshops.


EDUCATION:

  • Transparent Communication Practice Group Leader Training - May to July 202

  • Internal Family Systems Training - Level II, December 2023 - April 2024

  • The Spiritual Healing Journey, Thomas Hübl - November 2023 - March 2024

  • Internal Family Systems - Level I, January 2022 (IFS 660 completed Jan 2022, with Ann Sinko, LMFT, Senior IFS Trainer and Leslie Petruk, LPCS, NCC, BCC

  • Connect. Restore. Reclaim: Healing the Interconnected Legacies of Individual, Ancestral, and Collective Trauma with Thomas Hübl, PhD and Dr. Richard Schwartz - 2023

  • Thomas Hübl - Hübl has served as an advisor and guest faculty for organizations and universities and is currently a visiting scholar at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University. He has presented talks and taught workshops on resilience, collective healing, and relational competencies for healing trauma at Harvard Medical School since 2019. https://wyss.harvard.edu/team/visiting-scholars/thomas-hubl/

  • Dr. Richard Schwartz - began his career as a systemic family therapist and an academic. Grounded in systems thinking, Dr. Schwartz developed Internal Family Systems (IFS) in response to clients’ descriptions of various parts within themselves. https://ifs-institute.com/about-us/richard-c-schwartz-phd

  • Befriending Difficult Protectors in IFS Therapy with Mike Elkin, LMFT, Senior IFS Trainer

  • Self-Energy & Self-Like Parts, a Relationship Not a Polarization, with Pamela Krause, LCSW, Senior IFS Trainer

  • Transparent Communication with Thomas Huebl, PhD 2021

  • Attended and Presented at Caring for Saskatchewan Families Coping with Perinatal Loss Conference, 2019

  • The University of Regina, Art’s & Science - 2017 - 2018

  • First Responder to Sexual Assault and Abuse Training Program, Regina Sexual Assault Centre, 2017 - This training was taken in an attempt to develop a support network on the U of R campus. I was to teach trauma-informed yoga & meditation. Unfortunately, the person heading up the program was released from her position, and this program did not continue.

  • Mystic Principles of Healing, Thomas Huebl, PhD 2017

  • Teaching Trauma-Sensitive Meditation with Molly Birkholm, Executive Director of Warriors at Ease, 2016

  • The Art of Transparent Communication, Thomas Huebl, PhD 2016

  • Trauma Sensitive Yoga Training with David Emerson, Founder and Director of Yoga Services for the Trauma Center at the Justice Resource Institute in Brookline, Massachusetts, 2016

  • Warriors at Ease - Fundamentals of Teaching Yoga and Meditation in Military Communities with Robin Carnes, MBA, E-RYT500, 2014

  • Assisted and Audited a 200hr Intensive Hatha Yoga Teacher Training at Shanti Yoga Studio, Nelson, BC, 2014

  • Certified Integrative Restoration Yoga Nidra (iRest) Teacher with Richard C. Miller, PhD, President of IRI, 2013

  • Prison Yoga Training with James Fox, MA, Certified Hatha Yoga Instructor, Founder/Director - Prison Yoga Project (My intention here was to teach at the correctional facilities in Saskatchewan; however, during the training, we realized it may not be the safest given that my yoga studio was in my back yard and all internet information brings everyone directly to my home.), 2013

  • Helping Children & Teens Cope with Grief: A Companioning Philosophy of Caregiving with Alan D. Wolfelt, PhD, 2012

  • Level III Reiki Master, Usui System of Natural Healing with Russ Littau, Reiki Master, 2012

  • Supplemental Yoga Teacher Training, Dealing with Chronic Pain, 37.5hrs with Neil Pearson, MSc, BScPT, BA-BPHE, CYT, RYT500, 2011

  • Yoga Ed Instructor Certificate - K-8 Students & Tools for Teachers, 2010

  • Yoga Therapy Teacher Training with Nivedita Pingle, Rishikesh, India, 2009

  • Restorative Hatha Yoga Teacher Training, 44hr with the Yoga Gateway of Calgary. Teachers David McAmmond, Cynthia Palahniuk and Susan Jensen, 2006

  • Hatha Yoga Teacher Training with the Yoga Gateway of Calgary and Bodhi Tree Regina. Teachers: David McAmmond, Colin Hall, Sarah Garden, Cynthia Palahniuk, and Susan Jensen, 2006

  • University of Saskatchewan, Arts & Science, Saskatoon, SK, 1987 - 1990

  • Other teachers I have studied with online and in person:

I continue to study the work of Thomas Hübl’s Inner Science organization, Pema Chodron, Thich Hat Hanh, Adyashanti, Dan Siegel, Gabor Maté, Ekhart Tolle, Linda Graham MFT, Bonnie Badenoch PhD LMFT, David Wallin PhD, Kristen Neff PhD, Brené Brown PhD LMSW, Marshall Rosenberg, Rick Hanson PhD, Jack Kornfield, the Regina Zen Sangha, Lotus Vu (12 yrs), Regina Insight Meditation Community, etc. I love to learn!

SKILLS:
I am exceptionally good at holding safe space for big emotions and traumatic experiences that arise within myself and with clients
I am rarely triggered by clients and when I am I can manage those thoughts and emotions with compassion and professionalism
I have excellent interpersonal skills
I am a concise communicator
I implement healthy boundaries
I am extremely professional

I am passionate about how Spirituality, combined with psychology, is a profound catalyst for personal transformation & healing in the world

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