Hey! I'm Bren

Yoga and Mindfulness Expert

Founder of Calm, Strong, and Flexible

Nice to meet you.

I love teaching yoga.

My first experiences with yoga were self-taught at the young age of 11 or 12 from a library book about how to practice yoga asana.

As my developing mind became busier and more anxious, I wanted to learn about this 'meditation' I had heard would help. For another decade I researched and practiced all I could about Buddhism, yoga asana, meditation, and mindfulness, through many of life's dramatic ups and downs.

In my early twenties I met my now husband who was a student of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which added a layer of Daoist philosophy to my practice. I had, by then, found my love for practicing Yin Yoga, a style deeply connected with TCM, learning finally that it is possible for me to find peace in stillness.

Several years later we found ourselves in British Columbia's Okanagan Valley where I attended multiple yoga teacher training programs with a focus on philosophy. In the years since then I have continued my studies in both traditional and modern yoga styles, and have been on the teaching faculty for several 200hr yoga teacher trainings in Ottawa.

My teaching specialties are Yin Yoga (finding balance of stillness and sensation in longer-held grounded postures), intelligent and mindful sequencing, and helping practitioners to advance their asana practice for ultimate mobility and function, all through a trauma-informed lens.
After teaching and attending classes at many yoga studios, I am inspired to raise the standards of teaching in the yoga industry.

EDUCATION:
- 500hr Yoga Teacher - registered with Yoga Alliance (RYT500)
- +41hr Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner
- +50hr Yoga for Chronic Pain Certificate
- +50hr Yin Yoga Specialty Certificate (under Bernie Clark)
- +60hr Mindfulness Practitioner Training
- +100hr Trauma Informed Facilitator Training
- +1000hrs teaching experience (E-RYT200)

YOGA TEACHERS:

Check out my other business:

www.pausewithbren.com

Self-management, business skills, and continuing education for yoga teachers that want this to be the career, not the side hustle.