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About Kathryn

Chiropractor: You’ve got scoliosis.

Me: What’s that?

C: It’s a curvature of the spine.

Me: Huh?

C: It’s quite common. Don’t worry, yours is quite small.

Me:???

This is how, at 18 years of age, I found out I had scoliosis. I went to the chiropractor after hurting my neck in a trampoline accident. After the treatment, my neck felt better but I was very confused about this scoliosis. What was it exactly? Could it explain my chronic lower back pain? Soon afterwards, I discovered hatha yoga classes. While I didn’t connect with the meditation part of the class, I enjoyed the stretching and especially the relaxation at the end.

During university I basically forgot about yoga with all the intellectual stimulation and new people I was meeting so I rarely exercised except for riding my bike and some aquafit in the pool for stress relief during exams. Upon graduation, I travelled and worked abroad and certainly gave my body a few challenges. Fortunately I wound up working down the road from an Ashtanga Yoga Studio and it became my home away from home. Improved posture, core strength, confidence, new friends, encouragement from a wise teacher and learning to breathe all increased my energy levels and lifted my dark moods. My pain became much more manageable as did my desk job. Visiting chiropractors and massage therapists also helped a great deal.

Returning to Toronto I found another desk job, another chiropractor and wonderful massage therapists. The company I worked for had lunchtime yoga classes and I took advantage of them twice a week. The more I practiced, the more I learned to listen to my body and take care of it. Lifestyle and dietary changes soon followed and I became a regular student when a new yoga studio opened across the street. At this time I found Iyengar Instructor Elise Miller’s work online- at last! A basic sequence designed for scoliosis- for people like me! It felt great. I experimented with attending Iyengar classes and also explored other styles at my local studio, where by this time I was a teaching assistant and thoroughly hooked. I had never felt so strong both in body and mind- I doubt I’d ever known how to breathe fully or even stand tall before then. Soon it was time to deepen my practice and I enrolled in a 6-month, 250 hour yoga teacher training program. Little did I know the transformation that would occur during this Introduction to the Eight Limbs of Yoga. I haven’t looked back. Yoga is my go-to, my salve, my quiet and peaceful time. The insights and confidence I developed led me to quit the corporate world, study nutrition and move to the west coast.

In Oct. 2009, Elise Miller conducted a Yoga for Scoliosis workshop in Toronto and I jumped at the chance to work with her. Afterwards, I conducted two four-month case studies working intensively with two individuals with scoliosis who have patterns different than mine. I completed a written assignment and submitted these materials to Elise and now I am certified as a Yoga for Scoliosis specialist. Since that time, with careful attention to my body during practice, and liberal amounts of massage and self-care, I have a vastly improved quality of life and body experience. It is a lifelong journey and continual process of learning. Every day I am grateful for the tools and the teachings. It is my joy to share what I’ve learned from others so that they too, may benefit.

What started it all…

I came to yoga because I was suffering anxiety and physical pain. I stayed because I found relief – and then some. Being on the mat was one place where I felt safe, safe to be me. And then the real work began. What I thought was ‘me’, I soon discovered was simply my personality, a collection of thoughts, beliefs and experiences I used to construct this ‘me’. In reality, there was much more to me, which I had only ever glimpsed in the past. Yoga is designed for transformation and that’s why I love it. Putting on an explorer’s hat, being curious and open as to what’s under the rocks and in the caves of me I find endlessly fascinating. What can this body do? Where does this mind travel? What is actually true?

This journey led to yoga teacher training in 2001, holistic nutrition studies, bodywork, energy work, creativity, communication, coaching…and it continues.

The greatest gift I received from this tradition is the ability to take conscious control of my life. Increasing self-esteem, building on strengths and widening my perspective are additional benefits. The physical strength, stamina and flexibility yoga provides allows me to enjoy my life, to travel, deepen my relationships with others and do many things that I previously thought were impossible.

While living in the residential yoga community of The Salt Spring Centre of Yoga, I deepened my learning of yoga philosophy and established a regular meditation practice. A deep respect for the path of karma yoga or selfless service as recommended by Baba Hari Dass developed. The elders I lived and worked with provided examples of what can result from a lifelong dedication to yoga practices. In April 2021 I completed a 300 hour yoga teacher training in this tradition from Mount Madonna Institute.

For asanas I am primarily inspired by teachers in the Krishnamacharya lineage. I count myself fortunate to be influenced most recently by Deborah Wolk and Elise Browning Miller (Iyengar style). Currently I am enrolled in an 800 hour Yoga Therapist program.

What I offer is a safe space to explore the many layers of self. My skills include empathy, resourcefulness and deep listening. Resolving problems, increasing awareness of strengths and honouring inner wisdom are my forte. Specializing in yoga for scoliosis, the process of making peace with my twisted body opens me to unimagined possibilities. My deepest desire is to show the way to freedom for my clients and students.

Curriculum Vitae

Bachelor of Arts Honours Dean’s Honour roll 1994

Travelled and lived abroad 1994-1998

Yoga Teacher Training 2001

Usui Reiki 1st & 2nd degrees 2002-03

Registered Holistic Nutritionist 2003

Lived at Salt Spring Centre of Yoga 2003-04

First 10 day silent retreat 2004

Yoga for Scoliosis Specialist 2009

Usui Reiki Master 2010

Ayurvedic Marmatherapy (Acupressure massage) 2010

Traditional Thai Massage 2011

Karuna Reiki Master 2013

Holy Fire III Reiki Master 2017

Lifestyle Design Coach 2019

Registered Yoga Teacher 500 completion date 2021

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