Namaste,

"Our evolution into conscious contact with Spirit depends upon our ability to become fluid and changeable."
~ Sherrie Dillard

I consider myself to be an eternal student and as such, I practice staying open to new teachings and views. My centres of interest have taken many turns over the years, but my main focus has always been self discovery amidst life’s mystery. My apprenticeship has been non-linear, meandering like a river into the rich, impermanent and diverse tapestry of life. I am forever grateful to the many people who have influenced my spiritual pilgrimage and I carry them all in my heart. My practice has been to recognize and honor the lessons that were shared by those great souls and to organically integrate and weave within myself what made most sense in my unique way of understanding the world.

At the age of 18, I entered a 3 years college program in the study of death, during which time I have explored the mysterious process of dissolution, the psychology of grief, and the various cultural rituals that accompany this rite of passage. After my degree, I have traveled through many landscapes to discover my sense of purpose through music, dance, yoga and meditation, along with developing an intimate relationship with the natural world. I have never ceased to travel since, in my eagerness to continuously feed my beginner’s mind and as a way to remain open, adaptable, humble and respectful of the various cultural approaches to human life.

Through my travels, realizing the importance of health, I decided to immerse myself into the study of herbal therapy and other holistic approaches to re-establishing health and wholeness of the mind-body-spirit; a journey that has helped me connect with the wisdom of the natural world through rituals, herbal identification of indigenous plants, herbal therapy and herbal transformation.

In knitting a mindful connection to this Earth/body, I have been practicing Yoga for more then two decades, and I have been teaching for about 20 years. Since my first encounter with the yogic path, many yoga teachers have influenced and helped me deepen my practice. The way I approach yoga reflects the fusion of these different paths in which I cultivate the seed of gentleness, intuition and receptivity(see apprenticeship below).

Over the years, I have delve into many dance techniques, only to realize that I did not want to frame this natural portal of expression for the soul, and that I did not want to put labels and critical views on primal movements. I have deepened my approach to free movement with the Trance Dance Ritual, a neo-shamanic technique that uses dance, rhythm and breathwork as transformational pathways that help free oneself from inhibitions and stagnant energies. Trance dancing has helped me develop an intimate connection with the power of darkness as a means to go beyond the ego’s pattern of control, and as a means to gain clarity of vision.

The practice of Ecstatic Body Posture has also deepened my awareness of how physical postures attract spirit into being. It has underlined the importance of clear intention, ritual and offering intended to open and invite our connection with other realms of existence. Music has also been an important part of my life journey. I have played music for more then 20 years, mostly the harp and the percussion. I am the co-founder and member of the spiritual music ensemble called SuryaChandra (check the SuryaChandra page for more info). I have also studied the healing power of sound with Jonathan Goldman and Vickie Dodd, and I have been ever since offering workshops on how to bring back a healthy resonance within our beings.

Even though all these practices seem to represent a different approach, I find that they complement each other. Dance, music, art, yoga, meditation and Earth-based knowledge are all part of an ancestral heritage that is engraved deep within our collective consciousness. I am an adventurer and a weaver who aims at creating beauty, harmony, awareness and wholeness into the world.

Love and gratitude,

Apprenticeship

• Yoga teacher, certified by the Sivananda Ashram of Val-Morin, QC, Canada.
• Trance Dance Ritual facilitator, certified by Wilbert Alix, Kalani Oceanside Retreat, HI, USA.
• Ecstatic trance posture practitioner certified by the Cuyamungue Institute.
• Laughter Yoga Leader, certified by René Robichaud, Moncton, NB, Canada.
• Yin Yoga teacher training with Bernie Clark, B.C.
• Thai Yoga Bodywork therapist, certified from the Lotus Palm School, Montréal, QC, Canada.
• Study of Death; thanatology degree from Rosemont College, Montreal, QC, Canada.
• Herbalist degree from the Académie de phytothérapie du Canada, Montréal, QC, Canada.
• Artist-musician (harpist, vocalist, drummer, dancer and co-founder of the SuryaChandra ensemble).
• Healing sound intensive 2010 with Jonathan Goldman and member of the Sound Healing Association.
• Trained with Vickie Dodd, Sacred Sound School, 2011.
• Continuing education into the Tantric approach of yoga at the Agama Yoga in Thailand.