Jess Mouland

1) I am here because: I love this studio and the community it has created. 2) 6 things I can't live without: Music, hot tea, daily phone calls to my mom, warm socks, the feeling of being loved and sunshine...or at least an ocean view 3) Top 3 goals are: To have children, use my passport at least once every year, and remain active with age (aka 80 years old and still headstanding) 4) Ask me about: My career choice! 5) I'm really good at.. Baking cupcakes 6) Favorite book, movie, food: A Million Little Pieces, Ever After, Mac-n-cheese 7) My best trait is.. I am always smiling and laughing! Describe you best experience in a yoga class: During the 30 day challenge last winter I let go of so much excess emotional baggage that I really didn't need. I remember during one of those classes, Steve said, "Yoga can be the beginning of a life long romance if you let it." SO true and so powerful in that moment. 9) Favorite animal? Zebras! Such true beauty. 10) What's the most important thing you've ever learned in a yoga class? To have a beginners mind and lessen my reactions, both on and off the mat. I've recently discovered, been inspired by, and totally crushing on fellow Canadian and yogi, Matt Mays. Here's my favourite by him!

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Katy Noftall

1) I am here because: it feels like home.
2) 6 Things I can’t live without: family/friends, dance, music, yoga, travel & love.
3) My top 3 goals in life are: to share my love of dance with others for as long as my body will allow me, to eventually graduate from MUN & to see and experience as much of this beautiful world as I possibly can! 
4) Ask me about: Germany
5) I’m really good at: Dance
6) My all-time favorite book, movie, food: Eat, Pray, Love Love Actually Chocolate

7) What is your most positive character trait? I like to think of myself as hard working, patient, friendly and compassionate. 

Describe your best experience in a yoga class: The very first Moksha music class was a seriously spiritual experience for me...so emotional, beautiful and life changing!

9) Favorite animal: Dolphins- they are such intelligent, playful and happy creatures.
10) What's the most important thing you've ever learned in a yoga class? To live in the moment. BE. HERE. NOW. has become an everyday mantra of mine.

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Nadia Shalaby

1. I am here because I want to be! I love it here, I love seeing everyone’s smiling faces and positive energy. And because I need to be. It’s nice to have a place to just be who you are, without any judgment
2. 6 things I cant live without: My cat(s), coffee, yoga, music, my family, and the sun!!
3. Ask me about.. Where I’m from! Even though I’m not completely sure..
4. Top three goals:
   Travel as much as possible
   Be completely myself (yoga has helped me learn how important this really is)
   Become an environmental engineer
5. I’m really good at: anything athletic, I’ve always loved sports. Lately I’m addicted to running and yoga of course! Yoga has defiantly made running 100X easier. I’m also good at making healthy food and inventing new recipes or making old recipes healthier!
6. Most positive characteristic traits: being understanding, commitment, caring, and determination. 
7. Best yoga class experience: there are so many!! One that sticks in my mind the most was a Karma class.. It was one my sister had come with me. I remember just looking around and seeing so many different people in this one room but we were all practicing yoga together. Every mat was completely different and each pose was completely unique to each person in the room. I realized that it doesn’t matter what the pose looks like or how strong or flexible you are, what matters is that you’re on your own path or mat and that you’re being yourself. I realized that being yourself in every pose is the best pose. Each yoga teacher has said this in class in a different way before, but really experiencing it and realizing it on my own made me truly believe it and see it for myself. It just made me really happy.
8. Favorite animal: I love animals, but if I were to pick one in particular it would be a horse. I used to ride horses and it made me feel so free and alive and really connected to nature.
9. Most important thing I learned in class: Be yourself! But when this seems really challenging, just breath!

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Kayla Bixby

1) I am here because: I want to be here! I tried Moksha Yoga when I lived in Halifax in 2008 and fell in love! I heard about Jill’s Moksha Inspired classes at Soothe when I attended the Japan Red Cross Yoga Fundraiser aaannnnnd the rest is history 

2) 6 things I can’t live without: Family. My cats, Jake and Sophie. Water. Good eats. Fresh, salty air. Pictures.

3) My top 3 goals in life are:
1. To be happy.
2. To be a wonderful mother.
3. To make a difference in someone’s life.

4) Ask me about: Anything at all!

5) I’m really good at: Smiling and being happy

6) Favorite:
Book: Children books [with my niece]
Movie: The classic, Dirty Dancing…and The Lion King
Food: Traditional Newfoundland foods! I LOVE food!

7) What is your most positive character trait? Hmm, I’m easy to get along with 

8) Describe your best experience in a yoga class: One Yin class with Steve - he ended class in savasana, asking us to close our eyes and visualize a projector paired with snapshots of our life, starting with the very first memory of our childhood, friends, family, loved ones. Then we moved forward to our first date, first love, first heartache, happy moments, sad moments and moments and memories that we probably didn’t want to revisit. Steve brought us on an incredible journey of our life in just a couple of minutes. It was emotionally touching and powerful to bring light to some areas of my life that I had buried or forgotten [both good and bad]. Steve definitely deserved a big ‘bay squeeze’ after that class.

9) What is your favorite animal and why? How many favorites can we have? haha. If I had to pick a top two it would be peacocks and elephants. [Male] peacocks are absolutely stunning, especially when they perform their mating dance and shake their tailfeathers! Elephants represent strength and power, stability and patience.

10) What is the most important thing you ever learned in a yoga class? To breathe. You get through the most challenging poses [and life situations off the mat] when you breathe. And a quote that stuck with me from a class at MYSJ is ‘regrets are just lessons you haven’t learned yet’. Don’t dwell on the past, focus on the present.

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Jaimie Hale

1) I am here because it’s nice to spend time being present without thinking about the past or future.

2) 6 Things I can’t live without are my cowboy boots, sunshine, the ocean, friends, kids and good food.

3) My top 3 goals in life are: My goals at the moment are to get better at Spanish, make a beautiful quilt and to appreciate the here and now more.

4) Ask me about books, French, teaching, travelling, jokes, recipes, anything really, I love to chat.

5) I’m really good at relating to kids. I spend my days surrounded by little ones and teenagers and they make me pretty happy.

6) My all-time favorite book is In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje. I love reading though so there are tons of books that I love. I don’t watch too many movies but one of my favorites is Café de Flore…. Oh and I love Matilda too. As for food, I love it! I love spicy, colorful dishes with lots of flavor.

7) What is your most positive character trait? I am really optimistic, I have a lot of faith that things will turn out.

8) Describe your best experience in a yoga class: I love feeling really strong in a pose, and I love when I manage to do it with a smirk.

9) In theory I love birds and fish because they are so speedy and free but in reality, my favorite animals are dogs. I can’t wait to have one again.

10) I think the idea that we need to concentrate on ourselves and not compare ourselves to other people is so important in yoga. We’re all there for different reasons and getting different things out of our practice, so we can only do what feels right for us.

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Darhen Sing

I am here because: I was looking for a change. I felt lost - adrift amid things that used to bring me comfort and it scared me. I was looking for something to ground me again.

Six things I can't live without:
- My friends and family; they are one and the same.
- The ocean. I can’t imagine living away from it.
- Music.
- A good pair of walking shoes.
- Tea.
- My Journal.

Top three goals:
- To pursue the things that make me happy.
- To learn how to be comfortable in my own skin.
- To teach something worthwhile, and to never stop learning.

Ask me about: Where my last name comes from.

I'm really good at: Being optimistic. I always look for the good in things, no matter how nasty they might be. You can call me naïve, but I believe that there is beauty in everything - we only have to be aware of our surroundings and open minded enough to see it.

Most positive character trait: Loyalty. Determination. Trustworthiness... Though these traits have gotten me into trouble in the past.

Best yoga class experience: Does my best studio experience count? During one of my very first trade shifts, Brianna Richardson and I were in the Dharma room, and she was trying to teach me how to do a headstand. I fell over and smacked into the wall, and I laughed so hard that I couldn’t breathe. It had been a long time since I had laughed like that, and it released a knot of tension in my chest that had been there for ages. It was at that point that I knew I had come to the right place. When I left the studio that afternoon I had a huge smile on my face. Upon releasing all that tension, I opened up a long forgotten space. It was incredible! I’d been starved for air for so long that I didn‘t even know I was suffocating. I’d forgotten what a deep breath felt like and the openness I experienced that afternoon redefined my definition of freedom.

Favorite animal: Big dogs such as German Shepherds, Labs, Retrievers, Newfs, etc. (Little dogs are cute… but they aren't as awesome as big ones). They are incredible creatures. What could be better than coming home to a wiggling, wagging, wonderful dog?

Most important thing learned in class: To listen to my body. To remember I’m only human - I make mistakes and I must learn from them. To breathe deeply and allow myself to let go. To acknowledge that it is in fact okay to let go.

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Meghan Clarke

1.) I am here because... Where is here? Just going on something steve said in bliss the other day 

2.) 6 Things I can't live without: 1. my cat, Roxy  2. my bed 3. my friends, my parents and brother 4. books 5. movies and of course 6. my yoga mat 

3.) My top 3 goals in life are: to become a yoga teacher, do a volunteer trip to a third world country, and visit india

4.) Ask me about anything! I am a very open person and love sharing 

5.) I'm really good at being silly 

6.) Favourite book is Matilda, has been ever since I read it when I was a kid. Favourite movie, god thats a hard one. Probably avatar. Such an unreal movie. And food is a toss up between pizza and ice cream! YUM!

7.) My most positive character trait is that i'm easy to get along with  Hard to find someone I can't have an easygoing conversation with.

8.) Best moment in a yoga class: Hands down, when I could close my eyes in tree pose and keep my breath and balance. Its something I had been working towards for a while and couldn't help but have the biggest grin for the rest of class 

9.) Favourite animal: CATS!! They are just the most loving, majestic and smart creatures. Something about their purr that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside haha

10.) The most important thing I have ever learned in yoga class is breathe. Its something I use every single day.

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