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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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.

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