My yoga journey began when I was 20. I had just become a mom and started working in the healthcare field as an uncertified “homemaker”, supporting seniors and people with extra needs by cleaning their homes, providing respite care and taking them shopping when needed. I had some guilt for returning to work so soon after having my first daughter and was told to try yoga.

At the time I lived in a rural town in Northern Canada and the only thing I could find was a VHS (video tape) by Rodney Yee, and I loved it. In fact, I mail-ordered a whole gaiam video set and practiced in my home for years. I also started to advance my career by becoming a Care Aide, and then a Licensed Practical Nurse, a Registered Nurse and eventually received a speciality in Emergency Nursing. The majority of my nursing career was in the Emergency Room (ER) and I decided I loved the ER so much that my family and I moved to the city so that I could get more experience with trauma nursing. Within this time many things happened, another baby girl, a divorce, a new partner and a lot of self discovery.

Being in the city provided the experience I was looking for in my career, and also meant yoga in a studio and eventually the offering of a 200 hour yoga teacher training (YTT). I signed up immediately hoping to find some zen in life as I felt I was getting burnt out in the career side of things. I was really starting to dislike parts of my work and thought my only option was to advance my career even further, so I applied, and was accepted, to Medical School to become a doctor. I was shortlisted to an immediate start date that coincided with the start date of my YTT and when I approached the studio about a refund, they said I couldn’t get it. So I embarked on the journey of both – YTT & Med School. That first weekend of training, I knew in my heart that furthering my career in the healthcare field was not the answer I was seeking. Yet, my whole family was supporting me with the Med School decision and I had taken out a huge loan for my education. It also felt like everyone was excited to have a doctor in the family, therefore quitting didn’t feel like an option. In fact, I didn’t join YTT with the idea of ever becoming a yoga instructor, my goal was to get better at the poses and find out more about some of the things my yoga teachers had spoken about in class.