Yoga is not about fixing you or even for the betterment of who you are. A yoga practice or a counseling with me may not be what you are normally used to. But at core, it is based on the Āyurvedic principles, “returning to who you truly are is the essence of health” because the true core of you is truly the great bright light. It’s enough just being you but most of the time, we have layers and layers of judgement, doubt, and simple misunderstanding that somehow you need to be better. I believe modern day human species do not need any more struggling, striving or making of one’s effort. It’s quite the opposite.
We need softening into the core of self.
Personalised yoga sessions and yogic counseling are always based on your individual needs and lifestyle. You might notice even during yoga sessions, we spend time checking in and discussing. My yoga session with me is not about getting into shape or “getting your yoga on” and my counseling sessions are not about “here’s how you can fix yourself.”
If you are not sure which services might be appropriate for you, please feel free to contact me and we can discuss before we start.
Soma Yoga’s focal point is on decompressing and releasing the spine, incorporating elements of Indian astrology and Ayurvedic wisdom to guide the practice.
There is a universal need for releasing, decompressing and rejuvenating. Keeping this idea in mind, our sessions are constructed from our conversations (which we call “Check-In” which is about anywhere from 5-30min, your constitutions, and your star alignment as well as your habitual patterns.
Each of my classes will be carefully designed around these following principles:
The practice aims to provide a respite from the constant stress and tension of modern life. With committed practice, this sense of relief can deepen. Eventually, with committed practice, this respite becomes more and more permanent as we heal from the source of the problem.
The practice is “deceptively gentle” but we do not flop ourselves on blankets and sleep. We use very precise angles and specific ways to use props to target the deepest, tightest muscles for optimal health.
Here are topics we deal with often with my yoga students:
Yogic Counseling with me is not about fixing you. It’s about how we can find ways and try out different viewpoints for you to return to a totally, unapologetically, unencumbered, authentic, bright you.
Yoga is, foremost, an inner work through counsel and self-inquiry. It’s strange that yoga has become so much of just one aspect, exercise part, of an ancient practice. The teachings of yogic philosophy is the basis for a counseling with me. How can we live a life based on our dharma (the most authentic and truthful way for us to live)? How can we live with a more open, whole heart? How can we connect more deeply? Through career, lifestyle, relationships? These are the questions we often deal with during yogic counseling. Although my specialization is anxiety, sleep deprivation, grief or loss, I have worked with many people with different backgrounds. I may prescribe breath work, meditation or reading. Each person is unique and we use various tools to understand our struggles. If you are interested, please do ask me any questions before we begin. I am happy to answer any concerns.
When I started to finally embrace the most simple and repeated teaching from my teachers, I realized something: we are most powerful when we drop our defenses. Our most natural, innate state is a soft-hearted, unguarded, unforced self filled with creativity, vitality and openness. I will never promise an instant fix, though you may have a moment of clarity in one breath, the practice and our sessions are our sacred conversations for you to feel, rest and simply be. So we can prolong these soft feelings to your life.
After being a yoga teacher trainer, body worker, and a business owner as well as a mother, I noticed I was always working in the same realm: healing and counseling. Everyone benefits from sacred conversations. And I am not the counselor for everyone. But if you’re like most people who work with me, then you might be noticing the fatigue and overwhelm from the world that is hard hearted and fast paced. You may be looking for an effective rest, or a way to embrace our souls in a very physically oriented world. You may be searching for yogic teachings that go beyond physical movements. You may be looking for a softer, slower, deeper approach for your lifestyle. Then this is for you.
As a yoga teacher of 16+years and a yogic counselor (B.Sc. of psychology and neuroscience), I offer private counseling sessions online and in-person as well as self-paced courses on effective rest, relaxation and grounded, slow living lifestyle. My approach to counseling is based on yogic teachings and I may prescribe yogic breathing technique, meditation or gentle movements and self-inquiry tools to prompt our sacred conversations that stem from softer, unforced views on life. Our conversations may include ideas like dharma and chakra system. I keep yogic teachings applicable and digestible for our fast-paced modern life. But one thing I can guarantee is I never promise an instant fix. It’s a process and and a journey we take together.
Steward noun /ˈstjuːəd/a person employed to look after the passengers on a ship, aircraft, or train.
My teacher says that we must be a steward of yoga. And I love this word. This refers to someone who upholds the teachings of yoga that have been passed down since the first yogi was born.
While I love how yoga became a household word, I often think about the future of yoga. Of course, I say this because I, too, have been part of the catalyst for this modernisation of yoga. I spent the first 6 years of my teaching career fully immersed in fast-paced yoga teacher trainings, workshops, and “advancing” more in my yoga career. It just so happens that these were also the toughest times of my life.
My depression and anxiety became so crippling that I was unable to sleep at the night. Though I was exhausted during the day, I ran around the city teaching 4-5 classes per day. I am so thankful for my teachers who supported me from those early days. No matter what happened, they were there, right beside me. I have confidence in what I teach because of what my teachers have passed on to me. My teachings are derived from my direct experiences with them.
Hi, my name is Tomomi. Although I am Japanese, having spent 15 years in Atlantic Canada and 7 years living nomadically in Southeast Asia has enriched my life experiences. My move to Pulau Weh, a very remote island in Indonesia where I lived with ‘only what’s available,’ allowed me to view Yoga culture from an external perspective. At that point, I returned to the teachings of my first mentor and my meditation instructor, steeped in the Tantra and Vedic traditions.
My yoga practice with you is very different from what you might see in social media. I will not teach a goal-, or performance-oriented practice. There is no “we can now move into these poses because you’re so advanced.” If there is any advancement, it lies in delving deeper within. And you will notice that the deeper you go within, the less it becomes about the way you look from outside and the softer and more authentic you feel on the inside.
I specialise in private classes with the occasional intensive retreats. I use Jyotish (Indian astrology) and Āyurveda to identify your behavioral and habitual patterns, discuss with you on your current environmental factors and together, we decide how we can design our yoga practice to better support your life.
Bachelor of Science in Psychology at Dalhousie University in Canada in 2006
200hr Yoga Teacher Training program at Therapeutic Approach Yoga Studio in Canada in 2008
150 hours of Vinyasa Training with Coeli Marsh
Journey into Power with Baron Baptiste
500+hours Yoga Teacher Training and Facilitator Training, Hands-on Assisting, Teaching Spirituality, Practical Anatomy with Philip Urso, Deborah Williamson and Stacy Dockins, 2011
500+hour Yoga Teacher Training program at Therapeutic Approach Yoga Studio (including Guylaine Williams, Maxine and Mike Munro, Leslie Bishop, Jolene D’Entremont), which includes extensive studies on Yoga, Pranassage, Hands-on Assisting, Chakras, Anatomy, History, Philosophy and other topics, 2012
Life Coach training with Deborah Williamson
1 year of Teacher Trainer Apprenticeship with Therapeutic Approach Yoga Studio
50+hour Tantra Hatha Yoga training with Octavio Salvado
300hours of Integral Vedic Counselling Studies including Ayurveda study component with Dr. David Frawley
Various on-going studies with Kaya Mindlin including Spinal Release Fundamental, Sacred Mantras, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Sanskrit and Yoga Nīdra trainings including teachings on Māndūkya Upanishads, Subtle Body course, Bhagavad Gita pt 1.
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