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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Anja Sajovic-Žuži

I am here because, well because I needed to get my sweat on since St. John's can' t really offer me a tropical climate and because it's the place where I can relax and hang out with some pretty amazing people.

6 things I can't live without: Haha, wine, whiskey, rum and good food that would match those lovely addictions, preferably in a meat form (vegetarians please look away), music and traveling/camping.

My top 3 goals in life would be finding a job that would be flexible enough for me to travel around the world, building a winter residence someplace warm and to own a plane to make it easier to visit my friends and family.

Ask me about.. human fish b'y, about olive oil, wine and prosciutto from Slovenia, scandinavian interior design and movies or something else.

I am really good at: making cakes and impersonating russian accent.

Fave movie is probably The royal Tenenbaums or no, wait, Life aquatic or Moonrise kingdom, basically everything that Wes Anderson produced. Book could be On the road. When it comes to my favourite food I have say cinnamon rolls that my boyfriend was baking for me before we went on a gluten free diet. And what I've discovered just recently that every food prepared by a good chef can be my favourite food.

It may sound boring but my most positive character trait is empathy. It's not bad though because it helps me connect with different people.

Best experience I had at a yoga class was one day when I discovered that I can do most of the poses with closed eyes. That helped me connect with myself even though I was surrounded with hundreds of people that day.

Wolf is no doubt my favourite animal. Not only that this is one sexy beast but a wolf pack has the closest family organization to a human one. Pretty amazing!

What I have learned about yoga is that it's not about the postures and lululemon pants and nice yoga bums but about that perfect moment of relaxation and peacefulness that you can only get if you focus on breathing. So easy but yet so freaking hard!

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Jules Bailey

1) I am here because:
this is where i get grounded and find peace and strength.

2) 6 things I can't live without:
my kids, travel & adventure, sunshine, music, personal challenges, and knowledge

3) my top 3 goals in life are:
raising my children to have good heads on their shoulders and compassion. inner peace. changing lives.

4) ask me about:
anything - if i know something about it great, lets chat & if i don't great, teach me something new!

5) I'm really good at:
making something from nothing. I see potential everywhere & I love it.

6) Favorite book, movie, & food:
right now, Habibi by Craig Thompson, Les Mis, and fruit dipped in melted nutella! *drool*

7) most positive character trait:
i love. huge.

 best experience in a yoga class:
sinking all the way into my core & discovering pieces of myself I thought didn't exist

9) fav animal & why:
penguins - this is my romantic side *blush*, but really they mate for life & the daddys take care of the eggs, what's not to like?

10) most important thing learned in yoga class:
let go.

<3

Catherine Roberge

I am here because...
I so badly needed a place to slow down and breathe

6 things I can't live without?
good company, long walks home, a comfortable bed, parchment paper, an abundance of bobby pins & a good heart

My top 3 goals:
- in the words of the mouthbreathers, a cheesy punk band from sackville: I wanna squeeze every last drop of juice out of the fruit that is my youth/blow the tops off all the roofs because I can handle all my truths/I want to spend my days in perfect harmony with people to whom I can say I love you in casual conversation
- wander as much as possible without fear or doubt
- use my abilities to be in a constant state of creation whether it be concrete or abstract!

Ask me about?
making pie crust from scratch!!! and any other baking related question you might have, nightwalks, neighborhoods, punk shows, doing it yourself, pedestrian life, being an urban scavenger

I am good at?
feeding people, treasure hunting, book recommendations, getting people excited about stuff

Fave book:
everything is illuminated by jonathan safran foer...... and a few dozen others

Fave movie: anything wes anderson, harmonie korine or sofia coppola have made!

Fave food: wild strawberries, salmon, kale, the perfect over-easy eggs with lotsa hot sauce and every pie ever

A character trait: i am so much stronger than i knew! i'm good at making people chuckle & i will talk to anyone about anything with an open mind

Fave animal:
deers

Most important thing learned in a yoga class:
learning to breathe through everything and take the focus away from discomfort and place it on how rewarding every challenge you encounter is. there have been so many times outside the studio i have stopped and just remembered to breathe and i am never disappointed with the results.

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Meghan Hollett

1) I am here because: yoga is the best way I've found to destress. And because there's still so much to learn, I've only scratched the surface! So exciting.

2) 6 Things I can't live without: my friends, my cats, those few days of sun we get per year, fresh and tasty Newfoundland air, fruits and vegetables!

3) My top 3 goals in life are: to be happy, to be kind, and to tour with the band many, many times!

4) Ask me about.. Eastern Europe! I've been twice.

5) I'm really good at... Foreign languages! I took French, Spanish, and Russian in university and always found it incredibly easy to pick up a natural sounding accent. I also did a Master's degree in Linguistics, which complimented my efforts at the time.

6) Favourite book, movie, and food is...
Book = The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov
Movie = The Neverending Story
Food = Berries! I will eat all your berries!!!

7) What is your most positive character trait? I've always considered myself to be very good at putting myself in other people's shoes and understanding ways of thinking very different from my own.

 Describe your best experience in a yoga class: I love doing yoga to music. Not just any music, but specifically high energy dance tunes give me extra adrenaline and I find really enhance my concentration. Any class with upbeat is extra special for me!

9) What is your favourite animal and why? Well, I'm a notorious cat lady. Me and my housemates own 3. Cats are my favourite because I'm their favourite! I have a good way with them and they tend to like me and follow me around. Mutual cat love.

10) What is the most important thing you ever learned in a yoga class? To be confident and patient. Without believing in yourself and giving yourself time you can't grow or get better at really anything. Remembering that the floor is not that far away if you fall is a profound idea, in my opinion, and one that you can take literally or more generally. To be patient with myself and to allow myself time to learn gradually is something I've specifically learned from yoga and I'm very grateful for that insight.

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