As the founder and creator of Embodiment Yoga Therapy™, I draw from my personal experience as a neurodivergent individual with a history of trauma and my over 21 years of facilitating somatic yoga experiences. I have traveled as far as Thailand to find the modalities that made my heart sing and integrate Registered Massage Therapy (RMT 2200hrs), Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice™, Thai Yoga Massage, Nervous System Healing, and Embodiment Yoga Therapy™ into my sessions. I hold a special place in my heart for neurodivergent individuals and endeavor to create a brave space for you, where you feel welcome and honoured for your strengths.​ I am passionate about this community that I have created over the years, where we co-create together the reclamation of our bodies and connection with others. By leading with vulnerability and honesty from a place of fierce love, I help people return to a feeling of ease within their bodies. 

 

Called to the feminine side of yoga, my heart for facilitating ease and finding flow inspired my studies in meditation, philosophy, Adaptive Yoga, Anusara, Vinyasa Flow (Viniyoga inspired), Yoga Therapy, and Thai Massage. After the birth of my daughter in 2016, it became very clear that what it was that I was sharing was Embodiment Yoga™ . . . the pathway home, a practice of reclamation of your body, your voice, your story, and your path. I continue to follow this thread of Embodiment and continue to study Integrative Somatic Therapy Practice™ with my mentor, Ratha Chek. I am honoured as well to be on the faculty of the Integrative Somatic Studies Institute®, where I teach about the intersections between somatic therapy, yoga, and trauma healing.

 

I would like to honour my mentors who have supported me over the years. The knowledge that I have did not appear from within a vacuum. Thank you to Ratha for seeing me in my wholeness and celebrating my wildness. Thank you to Michiji (Michelle Cormack) for supporting me in finding my joy and beginning the process of tapping into my body, Thank you to Karen Heaven for opening the doors of Tantra for me and helping me to discover playfulness and ease, Thank you to Robin Rothenburg for introducing me to Viniyoga and the deeper wisdom of yoga philosophy, Thank you to Lucille Palancher and Remco for sharing your wisdom in the art of Thai Yoga Massage, and thank you to the many other teachers who have inspired this path of embracing my body with kindness.

 

ABOUT MANDORLA YOGA INSTITUTE

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Mandorla is the space of resiliency where we find healing, reclamation, and transformation.​

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The Mandorla is an ancient symbol, known as the vesica piscis or vessel of the fish. Formed when two sacred circles overlap, it is the almond-shaped space between that represents the perfect communion of two opposite energies; male/female, matter/spirit, self/other. Hence, the Italian word, 'Mandorla' means almond. In Hinduism, the Mandorla represents the feminine yoni, the symbol of Shakti, and is the gateway to fulfilling one's spiritual path. 

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A Registered School since 2007, Mandorla Yoga Institute is accredited as a 1,000-hour Registered Yoga Therapy School with the Canadian Yoga Alliance and a 150-hour Thai Yoga Massage School with the NHPC. We are registered to provide YACEP and continuing education credits for Yoga Alliance Registered teachers. Mandorla Yoga Institute was originally based in Southern Ontario and is now located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada within view of the Rocky Mountains. 

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In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that Mandorla Yoga Institute originates from Sarnia, Ontario on the ancestral land of the Chippewa, Odawa, and Potawatomi peoples, referred to collectively as the Anishinaabeg, which is part of treaty 29. We further acknowledge that Mandorla Yoga Institute now exists and operates on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Îyâxe Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation (Region 3), and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.

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OUR TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

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SLOW . . . GRACIOUS  . . . EMBODIED LEARNING . . . 

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In a world that is sped up, where it is difficult to catch your breath, we have created a curriculum that intentionally invites you to slow down. We are a neurodivergent-led school, with the majority of our teachers, Stefani included, being neurodivergent themselves. We believe that your learning experience with us should be an embodied experience that affirms how your mind works and what your body needs. We endeavor to listen and adapt our programs for the best learning experience for each individual student. Learning options are low-sensory, flexible, and allow for a sense of autonomy and self-directed learning within your program because choice and self-determination are cornerstones for truly trauma-respectful learning to occur. Our programs are offered in a modular format that includes both online and in-person options so that you can shape your studies to fit within your very real-life experience. We want your experience with us to be something that you enjoy and cherish. We trust that when the timing is supportive for you that we will be here to support you in your next steps. We are gracious with you as you navigate your program because we are gracious with ourselves. Our program schedules are structured in a manner that allows for spaciousness. This ensures that when we show up for you, we are in the best of places and ready to share what is in our hearts. We are also dedicated to consistency. When we give our word, we want you to know that that means something and we ask this of our students as well. This is the fabric that creates a community of trust that allows for the fullest experience of embodiment which occurs within the embodied community.