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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