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August 2022

Power Yoga Canada’s Mission in Action

By Community Feature

Since the inception of Power Yoga Canada, the mission and vision has always been to empower communities into action and I witnessed and experienced this firsthand dating back to my first yoga class at Power Yoga Canada in 2014. I quickly realized that yoga is the medium and empowered action is the goal. To empower each and every community member into living their best life on and off the mat and to be a shining light to everyone around them. Little did I know that my entire life would change for the better after 60 minutes of breath, movement, and lots of sweat.

Day 1 – FIRST EXPOSURE TO PYC AND YOGA – February 7, 2014

I remember my first experience vividly. It was on a Friday at 12pm and as soon as I walked into Power Yoga Canada Oakville for the first time, there was upbeat music playing and I was greeted with so much love and kindness that I immediately felt welcomed. I thought to myself… Did the staff already know me? Why are they talking to me as if I am an old friend and someone they missed? All I know is that it made me feel warm inside. Heading to my mat, I did minimal research on yoga and the poses that I was just about to do. I figured I am an athlete, I’ll be fine. I jumped right in and thankfully it was okay to rest at any point because I did just that. I had to stop and watch the magic happening around me in order to understand what I was asked to do. I fell in love with the practice from that moment and joined the Energy Exchange program one year later.

Day 802 – FAMILY FOR LIFE – April 19, 2016

Many days later and many yoga classes later (118 to be exact), I had a second family. Power Yoga Canada was a place where I made numerous friends, learned countless skills as an Energy Exchange team member, and transformed my health to peak performance. Not only was I focusing on my physical health, but I was also prioritizing my mental health which was something I didn’t even think about prior to yoga. All of the yoga classes and the interactions with the community made me realize that the whole is the goal and that what I had to say was important. I was growing up 1 breath at a time.

Day 2130 – TIME FOR TRANSFORMATION – December 8, 2019

After being a part of the Energy Exchange team as a member for 3 years, it was time to take the next step and transform into a yoga teacher. Before entering the program, I had no expectations. I heard such great things about the training so I was excited, nervous, and ready!

Day 2245- YOGA FOR LIFE – April 1, 2020

After 3 months of asana, meditation, and self-inquiry (lots of self-inquiry) I had transformed. Yoga teacher training is something I never thought I would do and now it’s something I think everyone should complete. I was able to shed many layers of societal expectations and beliefs. I felt brand new and ready to take on the world in a brand new way! It also made me understand that no one was coming to save me and that it was up to me to make results happen in all areas of my life.

Day 3094 – CONTINUED LEARNING – July 29, 2022

With over 2 years of teaching and guiding yoga classes, I couldn’t be more grateful to this community that shows up each and every class ready to shine brightly. I will forever be a student of this beautiful practice and look forward to the 300 hour program to continue learning and transforming.

yoga pose

Yoga Workshops Explained with Benefits

By Workshops

Workshops are a great way to expand and grow your practice with the support of PYC Trained Yoga Teachers. PYC Teacher Haze Schepmeyer shares about the current workshops held out of PYC Oakville.

  • Foundations of Flow every month
  • Inversions and Arm Balances alternate every other month

During Foundations of Flow, you’ll learn how EVERY yoga pose in our flow is Tadasana facing:

  • The front wall
  • The side wall
  • The floor
  • The ceiling
  • Two directions (e.g., Revolved Crescent Lunge and Chair Twist)
Haze’s nickname for this workshop is 50 Ways to Take Tadasana. Whether you’ve been doing yoga for weeks or for years, this workshop will give you access to alignment cues for stacking your bones so that your muscles are doing less work and you can hold each pose longer while truly balancing effort and ease.
During Inversions, you’ll review the 15 instances in the flow where you heart is below your hips and show you how to use the inversions on your hands and feet (e.g., Forward Fold, Ragdoll, Downward-Facing Dog, Standing Split, Pyramid) as the foundation for the inversions on your hands and/or head (e.g., Crow, Handstand, Headstand, Forearm Stand, Scorpion).
During Arm Balances, you’ll learn how each of these poses is 20% strength and 80% balance/stability once you stack your bones, distribute your weight and feel around for your Tadasana. I usually cover:
  • Crow
  • Crane
  • Firefly
  • Side Crow
  • Fallen Angel
  • Knee-to-Elbow hover
  • Flying Half-Pigeon

Here’s what other yogis have to say…

“Haze’s inversion workshop has given me the ability to try new things in my practice by starting with the foundational theory/practice of Tadasana. Going upside down has completely restructured the rest of my practice by giving me a greater understanding of alignment in all postures. It can be easy to overlook the more technical aspects of the practice when going through the flow, but this is in fact where all the fun lies.”

“Haze has legitimately changed the way I view the foundational aspects of yoga and as a side note is an absolute treat to be around. Taking this workshop is the equivalent to breaking through to the next chapter of your practice.”

“Haze’s Foundations of Flow & Inversion Workshops have expanded my practice in ways I never imagined! For the first time in my life, I’m able to play with handstands & headstands. I literally take every opportunity I can to attend Haze’s classes. I always learn something new & have an absolute blast!”

Coming soon! 

  • Saturday, September 10th – Inversions at 1:00 p.m. (Oakville) – Sign up now!
  • Friday, September 16th – Foundations of Flow at 7:30 p.m. (Oakville) – Sign up now!
  • Inversions at PYC Burlington – Sign up coming soon!